Regarding a civil service staff union's move to call on civil servants to participate in a so-called "referendum on strike" to oppose the legislation of the national security law in Hong Kong, a spokesman for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government today (June 12) strongly condemned the union for planning to use radical means by staging a political strike, which would undermine the interests of the whole community of Hong Kong and tarnish the reputation of the civil service.

     The spokesman stressed, "National security is a matter under the purview of the Central Authorities. Hong Kong is an inalienable part of the People's Republic of China. It is a local administrative region that comes directly under the Central People's Government and enjoys a high degree of autonomy. Safeguarding national sovereignty, security and development interests is the constitutional requirement of the HKSAR, is the duty of the HKSAR Government, and is also in the interest of all Hong Kong residents. The constitutionality, lawfulness and reasonableness of formulating at the national level the legal framework for national security for the HKSAR is beyond doubt.

     "The law for the HKSAR to safeguard national security, to be introduced by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) as authorised under the Decision by the NPC on establishing and improving the legal system and enforcement mechanisms for the HKSAR, targets four types of acts or activities that seriously endanger national security, namely splitting the country, subverting state power, organising and carrying out terrorist activities, and interference in the HKSAR's affairs by foreign and external forces. Such laws target the very small minority of people who participate in acts or activities which seriously undermine national security. They will not affect the legitimate rights and freedoms enjoyed by the vast majority of Hong Kong residents including civil servants under the law, including freedoms of speech, of the press, of assembly, of demonstration and of procession. Moreover, the national security law will better maintain safety and stability in society and ensure that Hong Kong can become a safer and more stable city, making it conducive to maintaining a favourable environment for business and investment. All relevant law enforcement will be conducted strictly in accordance with the law as well as statutory powers and procedures.

     "The HKSAR Government will fully co-operate with the Standing Committee of the NPC to complete the legislation as soon as possible to discharge its responsibility of safeguarding national security. Civil servants, as the backbone of the HKSAR Government, should stand united and be dedicated to their duties. They should firmly support and fully co-operate with the Government under the leadership of the Chief Executive to accomplish the tasks of safeguarding national security to ensure the robustness of 'one country, two systems'.

     "Hong Kong's economy is experiencing a tough time, having suffered the double blow of a series of violent incidents and the COVID-19 epidemic in the past year. The HKSAR Government has been assisting Hong Kong in riding out the difficult times as soon as possible by rolling out several rounds of relief measures. At this critical juncture, it is deeply regretted that a civil service staff union is openly calling on civil servants to participate in a so-called 'referendum on strike', planning to use radical means by staging a political strike to oppose the legislation of the national security law, completely ignoring that such acts will affect the effective operation of the Government and the stability of the community, and undermine Hong Kong's economy and the interests of Hong Kong people. The HKSAR Government will not turn a blind eye to any such action. Moreover, the Basic Law and Hong Kong's legal system do not provide for any 'referendum' mechanism. Conducting any form of a so-called 'referendum' will have no constitutional basis or legal effect. Civil servants must recognise the fact and remain rational. They must not participate in the referendum, or else they will fail to meet the expectations of the community at large.

     "The HKSAR Government has all along been steadfastly safeguarding freedom of speech, but, as in other jurisdictions, such freedom is not absolute. Article 99 of the Basic Law stipulates that public servants must be dedicated to their duties and be responsible to the Government of the HKSAR. Civil servants, being a key component of the public service, have a constitutional role. Moreover, according to the Civil Service Code, civil servants should be committed to the rule of law and politically neutral. Political neutrality means that civil servants shall serve the Chief Executive and the Government of the day with total loyalty and to the best of their ability, no matter what their own political beliefs are. For civil servants who blatantly violate the Code, we will follow up seriously."

     The Leisure and Cultural Services Department is inviting organisations that wish to sponsor the 2020 National Day Fireworks Display to submit applications on or before June 26 (Friday).

     The fireworks display will be held on October 1 (Thursday).

     Applications should be submitted to the Secretariat of the Fireworks Vetting Committee (address: Community Programmes Office, Leisure and Cultural Services Department, 8/F, Queen Elizabeth Stadium, 18 Oi Kwan Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong).

     Further enquiries can be made on 2591 1207.

     The exhibition "A Different Brilliance – The D & B Story", organised by the Hong Kong Film Archive (HKFA) of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, is being held from today (June 12) to August 30 at the Exhibition Hall of the HKFA. It revisits D & B Films Company's productions in the 1980s to 1990s, which marks a golden age of Hong Kong movies.
 
     The exhibition begins with a brief timeline introducing D & B's history, which leads visitors to three thematic zones. The first zone includes "Women in D & B Films" and "The First Timers in D & B". The former introduces D & B's movies produced from female perspectives while the latter highlights the debuts of renowned directors, scriptwriters and actors. The second zone displays rare film artefacts such as a hand-written screenplay of "An Autumn's Tale" (1987), hand-painted stills of "The Owl vs Bumbo" (1984), black-and-white portrait photos of "Love unto Wastes" (1986) and colour slides of various movies. A light box portraying stills and behind-the-scenes photos is placed above the artefacts, allowing visitors to learn the stories behind D & B's production process.
 
     Moreover, the zone "Hall of Songs" features a pub setting which is inspired by a scene in Patrick Tam's "Final Victory" (1987). Film scores from D & B's films will be played to rekindle visitors' memories of the classic moments in D & B films as well as collective memories of the 1980s.
 
     Admission to the exhibition is free. For details, please call 2739 2139 or visit www.filmarchive.gov.hk/en_US/web/hkfa/programmesandexhibitions/exhibitions/tdbs.html.
 
     In view of the latest situation of COVID-19, special opening hours from 10am to 5pm daily (closed on Tuesdays) will be implemented. Children aged under 12 must be accompanied by an adult. For details, please visit www.filmarchive.gov.hk/en_US/web/hkfa/aboutus/openhl.html or contact the HKFA at 2739 2139.

        

     A spokesperson for the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau today (June 12) announced that about 3 400 applications had been approved for disbursement of subsidies totalling over $150 million under the five tourism industry support schemes in the second round of the Anti-epidemic Fund, covering travel agents, travel agents' staff, freelance practitioners whose main occupations are tourist guides and tour escorts, hotels and drivers of tour service coaches mainly serving tourists.

     As at June 11, under the five support schemes, applications from about 1 500 travel agents and about 13 700 of their staff, about 4 000 freelance practitioners whose main occupations are tourist guides and tour escorts, about 330 hotels and about 3 530 tour service coach drivers had been received.

     The spokesperson said that the Government will process the applications as soon as possible to provide eligible applicants with timely financial support. Furthermore, the application period of the Travel Agents and Practitioners Support Scheme will close next Monday (June 15).

     Details about application and the subsidies of the aforementioned schemes are available at the Tourism Commission's website (www.tourism.gov.hk).

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     Here is an item of interest to swimmers.

    The Leisure and Cultural Services Department announced today (June 12) that the Environmental Protection Department has classified the water quality at Golden Beach in Tuen Mun District as Grade 3, which means the water quality has improved and the beach is suitable for swimming. The red flag has been lowered.

     The red flag was hoisted at the beach earlier on due to the water quality being classified as Grade 4 and unsuitable for swimming.