Attention duty announcers, radio and TV stations:

Please broadcast the following message as soon as possible and repeat it at suitable intervals:

     At around 8pm today (June 12), some crowds gathered outside the vicinity of a shopping mall on Argyle Street, Mong Kok and behaved in a disorderly manner. Participating in such events may contravene of "taking part in an unauthorised assembly" in accordance with the Public Order Ordinance, and may commit certain offences under the Prevention and Control of Disease (Prohibition on Group Gathering) Regulation. Police warn participants to leave immediately.

     Police will step up patrols and conduct stop-and-searches on suspicious persons. Any group gatherings taking place during the ongoing pandemic may also increase the risk of spreading the virus. Police call upon members of the public to refrain from taking part in unauthorised assemblies and prohibited group gatherings.

     The National Anthem Ordinance (NAO) has been published in the Gazette and comes into effect today (June 12).

     The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress added the Law of the People's Republic of China on National Anthem (National Anthem Law) to Annex III to the Basic Law on November 4, 2017. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government has fulfilled its constitutional responsibility to implement the National Anthem Law locally in accordance with Article 18 of the Basic Law.

     A Government spokesman said, "The core legislative principle of the NAO is to promote respect for the national anthem, which is the symbol and sign of the country, and provide guidance on the standard, etiquette, and occasions for playing and singing of the national anthem. The NAO prohibits and imposes penalties to the misuse of the national anthem or the lyrics or score of the national anthem, and public and intentional acts with an intent to insult the national anthem. There is no cause for concern of breaching the law inadvertently if one does not misuse the national anthem or the lyrics or score of the national anthem, nor has any public and intentional act with an intent to insult the national anthem."

     The spokesman also said, "The HKSAR Government will strengthen the publicity and educational efforts of the national anthem, and has set up a dedicated webpage (www.cmab.gov.hk/en/issues/national_anthem.htm) to inform the public about the content of the NAO and provide the standard scores and official recordings of the national anthem for occasions on which the national anthem must be played and sung. The Government will also launch promotional videos on social media platforms, government websites and electronic media. Apart from the above, the Education Bureau will update its learning and teaching materials to educate students on the history and spirit of the national anthem and the etiquette for playing and singing the national anthem."

Attention duty announcers, radio and TV stations:

Please broadcast the following message as soon as possible and repeat it at suitable intervals:

     As Tropical Cyclone Warning Signal No.1 has been issued, the Marine Department reminds vessel owners, masters and persons-in-charge of vessels that they should take precautionary measures immediately and properly secure their vessels at safe locations.

     In case of an accident, a report should be made immediately to the Vessel Traffic Centre at 2233 7801.

     The Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Fund (SIE Fund) Task Force announced today (June 12) the successful appointment of four organisations as the second batch of intermediaries recently. New rounds of initiatives under the innovative programmes are being launched with a view to sustaining the momentum within the social innovation sector and facilitating the further development and enhancement of the ecosystem.

     The four intermediaries appointed are Fullness Social Enterprises Society Ltd (FSES), the Hong Kong Council of Social Service (HKCSS), PolyU Technology and Consultancy Co Ltd (PolyU) and the Society of Rehabilitation and Crime Prevention, Hong Kong (SRACP). While they share the common vision of addressing poverty and social exclusion by innovative solutions, individual programmes being designed and administered are unique in their own rights. The programmes also cater to different development stages of social ventures by nurturing and supporting social innovators to develop innovative projects with diversity and impact.

     The FSES and SRACP are first-time appointees with new innovative programmes being launched. Organised by FSES, "Innovator Farm" targets at youngsters aged 15 to 25 by offering them a co-working hub to incubate innovative ideas, explore and test possibilities of different ideas and thus realise their social innovation dreams. "BEHub" of SRACP sets sight on fostering interactions between the disadvantaged and social innovators in the hope of nurturing and inspiring the disadvantaged to become social innovators. The programme is expected to be launched in September this year.

     This is the second time PolyU and HKCSS joined hands with the SIE Fund, and their programmes have already commenced. "Good Seed" of PolyU continues to help students and alumni of higher education institutes unleash their innate ability to develop innovative solutions with applications of design, technology and business concepts for tackling social problems. "Impact Incubator" of HKCSS is open to individuals as well as organisations and companies registered in Hong Kong. It provides a one-stop platform to support and nurture innovative projects at various stages, including late prototypes, start-ups, growing and scaled-up stages to drive a sustainable impact. More information about the innovative programmes can be found on the SIE Fund website (www.sie.gov.hk/en/intermediaries/programme.page).
    
     The SIE Fund looks forward to working in close co-operation with the intermediaries. This would help the social innovation ecosystem to further prosper and enable the Fund to deliver a greater and more extensive impact through connecting existing resources and working in collaboration with social innovative experts to nurture and incubate more social entrepreneurs and innovative projects, hence benefiting more people in need.
      
     The SIE Fund was inaugurated in 2013 and is overseen by the SIE Fund Task Force under the Commission on Poverty. By facilitating social innovation and cultivating social entrepreneurship, the SIE Fund aims to drive impact in alleviating poverty and social exclusion, promote social integration as well as enhance the well-being and cohesion of society. The Fund engaged the first batch of intermediaries in 2015 to enable continuous development of the social innovation ecosystem and to build a larger, more diversified and sustainable cross-sector community for social innovators and entrepreneurs to flourish in.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

     The Hospital Authority (HA) spokesperson today (June 12) said a supplier had been requested to look into an incident of unsatisfactory image quality with the radiopharmaceuticals technetium-99m sestamibi (Tc-99m MIBI) and technetium-99m sulphur colloid (Tc-99m SC) showing altered biodistribution.
 
     The HA spokesperson said, "Reports were received from a few Nuclear Medicine Centres in the HA about unsatisfactory image quality of some patients earlier this week. All of the Centres were alerted to review procedures that involved the use of Tc-99m. The affected radiopharmaceuticals were immediately suspended for use in the HA.
 
     "While the nuclear medicine scans with the affected radiopharmaceuticals have not caused any adverse effects to patients, a total of 12 patients will need to repeat the scans to complete the diagnostic procedures for appropriate clinical management and treatment planning."
 
     The hospitals concerned have contacted the patients to explain the incident and schedule repeat nuclear medicine scans.
 
     "The amount of radiation exposure associated with a repeat nuclear medicine scan is assessed to be low and within the usual limits for a radiological examination," the spokesperson added.
 
     The HA apologised to the patients for the inconvenience caused in repeating the scans and will closely liaise with the supplier for the investigation to prevent recurrence of the incident. The HA has communicated with the Department of Health regarding this particular incident.