Author Archives: hksar gov

     The Tobacco and Alcohol Control Office (TACO) of the Department of Health (DH) conducted an enforcement operation, codenamed “Pipepurge”, in Wan Chai district last night (January 24) against illegal waterpipe smoking activities in no smoking areas.

     “During the operation, officers from TACO (including plainclothes officers) carried out inspections and enforcement action at a bar in Wan Chai District, and issued a total of five fixed penalty notices (FPNs) to persons illegally smoking waterpipes. TACO’s investigation is ongoing, and prosecution may also be taken against operators of the bar who are suspected of aiding and abetting smoking offences. TACO will also refer the cases to the Liquor Licensing Board for appropriate follow-up action,” a spokesman for the DH said.

     Under the Ordinance, conducting a smoking act in a statutory no smoking area (such as indoor areas of bars or restaurants) is prohibited. Any person doing a smoking act in statutory no smoking areas is liable to a fixed penalty of $1,500. Moreover, where smoking products (including waterpipes) are sold, in bars or otherwise, the restrictions on the promotion and sale of smoking products stipulated in the Ordinance apply. Offenders are liable on summary conviction to a maximum fine of $50,000. Venue managers of statutory no smoking areas are empowered by the Ordinance to request a smoking offender cease the act; if the offender is not co-operative, the manager may contact the Police for assistance.

     In addition, under the Criminal Procedure Ordinance, any person who aids, abets, counsels or procures the commission by another person of any offence shall be guilty of the same offence.

      “The DH will continue to closely monitor and take stringent enforcement action against illegal waterpipe smoking. Last year (2024), TACO conducted 162 operations against illegal waterpipe smoking activities in no smoking areas. A total of 162 FPNs were issued against smoking offenders, while 89 summonses were issued to staff members and operators of the bars/restaurants for other related offences,” the spokeman said.  

     The spokesman reminded the public that waterpipe is also a smoking product, and its combustion of fuel (e.g. charcoal) releases carbon monoxide. Exposure to a low concentration of carbon monoxide can lead to a range of symptoms such as dizziness, headache, tiredness and nausea; whereas exposure to a high concentration of carbon monoxide can lead to impaired vision, disturbed co-ordination, unconsciousness, brain damage or even death. People should seek medical attention immediately if they suspect they are developing symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning.

     “Due to deeper inhalation and longer smoking sessions, waterpipe users usually inhale more toxins than they would when smoking cigarettes. A typical one-hour waterpipe smoking session exposes the user to 100 to 200 times the volume of smoke inhaled from a single conventional cigarette. Moreover, sharing a waterpipe apparatus increases the risk of transmitting infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis. Furthermore, areas in bars/restaurants where waterpipes are handled or kept have been found to be unhygienic during previous enforcement action,” he said. 

     The spokesman cautions against waterpipe smoking and the use of other smoking products. Smokers should quit smoking as early as possible for their own health and that of others. For more information on the hazards of waterpipe smoking, please visit www.livetobaccofree.hk/pdfs/waterpipe_leaflet_new.pdf.

    

Attention TV/radio announcers: Please broadcast the following as soon as possible:      Here is an item of interest to swimmers.      The Leisure and Cultural Services Department announced toda… read more

     The Security Bureau (SB) today (January 25) said that a Hong Kong resident who had been detained for illegal work in Myanmar was recently rescued and safely arrived in Thailand earlier. With the co-ordination by the SB’s dedicated task force in Thailand over the past few days and the concerted efforts by different parties, the individual will return to Hong Kong next Monday (January 27) together with the dedicated task force.

     Members of the dedicated task force had met with the Hong Kong resident at a detention centre last night (January 24) after his transferral to Bangkok. The task force members expressed sympathy to the individual, who expressed gratitude for the visit to Thailand by the task force members to follow up on his case. He was also very pleased to learn that he will be able to return to Hong Kong next Monday. He was in good mental and physical conditions. The task force members immediately made arrangements for his return to Hong Kong, and will continue to follow up to investigate his case after his return.

     The Secretary for Security, Mr Tang Ping-keung, was very relieved that one more Hong Kong resident was rescued and able to return to Hong Kong to re-unite with his family before the Chinese New Year. He thanked sincerely for the support and assistance, as well as the importance attached to the case, by the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Chinese Embassy in the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, the Chinese Embassy in the Kingdom of Thailand, the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in Chiang Mai, the Consulate General of Myanmar in Hong Kong, the Royal Thai Consulate-General, Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Bangkok and the relevant Thai authorities, enabling the return of the Hong Kong resident to Hong Kong within a short period of time as far as practicable. He also commended the dedicated task force for the committed efforts in following up the case and assisting the Hong Kong resident’s return to Hong Kong as soon as possible.

     The dedicated task force, comprising members from the SB, the Hong Kong Police Force and the Immigration Department, has been contacting and liaising with different parties since their arrival in Thailand on January 21. They met with the Chinese Embassy in the Kingdom of Thailand, the Deputy Commissioner of the Immigration Bureau of the Royal Thai Police, Mr Phanthana Nutchanart; the officer-in-charge of the Immigration Detention Centre of the Royal Thai Police; the Director of Special Investigation and the Director of Human Trafficking under the Ministry of Justice of Thailand to discuss the arrangements for the rescued Hong Kong resident to return to Hong Kong as soon as possible and follow up on the remaining cases. The dedicated task force will continue to maintain close liaison with the relevant parties and proactively follow up on the remaining 10 request-for-assistance cases in which the individuals have not yet returned to Hong Kong.

  

     Breakthrough, Limited has been issued a Public Subscription Permit to hold a territory-wide flag sale from 7am to 12.30pm today (January 25), a spokesman for the Social Welfare Department (SWD) said. 
      
     Details of the charitable fund-raising activities, including any updated information, covered by the issued Public Subscription Permits have been published on the GovHK website (www.gov.hk/en/theme/fundraising/search). Permits for flag days containing information on contact methods of the flag-selling organisations and the approved flag-selling activities have also been uploaded to the SWD’s website (www.swd.gov.hk/en/ngo/controlofc/flagdays) for reference. For enquiries, please call the SWD’s hotline at 2343 2255, or the designated hotline of the 1823 Call Centre at 3142 2678.
      
     In the case of suspected fraudulent flag day activities, people should not make any donation and should immediately report the matter to the Police, the spokesman added. read more

     The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Chan Kwok-ki; the Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Ms Mable Chan; the Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Miss Rosanna Law; the Secretary for the Civil Service, Mrs Ingrid Yeung; and the Exercise Director of Inter-departmental Task Group on Test and Drills and Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations), Mr Chow Yat-ming, met the media after the stress test at the Kai Tak Sports Park this evening (January 24). Following are the remarks of the media session:
 
Reporter: Can you confirm that the Kai Tak Sports Park will open officially on March 1? What can we expect to see at the opening ceremony? This is the first time such a large crowd disperse at the same time and we observed that sometimes the paths were quite packed. Are there any concerns about the potential bottleneck or crowd crush and how can we prevent that? Thank you.
 
Chief Secretary for Administration: We will have many stress tests in the future, as I just told you that we have two large scale stress tests in the future. So up to now, depending on the results of the tests, I think we cannot confirm the official opening day of the Kai Tak Sports Park. But once when everything is ready, we will make an announcement as soon as possible. Today, the dispersal is very smooth, I would say, and I really don’t see any bottleneck actually, because the situation, I would say, is far better than my expectation.
 
(Please also refer to the Chinese version of the remarks.) read more