Police today (May 4) appealed to the public for information on a man who went missing in Wong Tai Sin.

     Lam Kam-yiu, aged 71, went missing after he left his residence in Lower Wong Tai Sin Estate yesterday (May 3) morning. His family made a report to Police on the same day.
         
     He is about 1.65 metres tall, 48 kilograms in weight and of medium build. He has a long face with yellow complexion and short black hair. He was last seen wearing a grey jacket, dark-coloured trousers, sports shoes and a white cap.
         
     Anyone who knows the whereabouts of the missing man or may have seen him is urged to contact the Regional Missing Person Unit of Kowloon East on 3661 0335 or 9347 2596 or email to rmpu-ke-2@police.gov.hk, or contact any police station.

  

     The Secretary for the Civil Service, Mr Patrick Nip, visited the Inland Revenue Department and the Labour Department today (May 4) to inspect their resumption of public services. 

     The Government has announced earlier that public services will be resumed under a phased approach starting from today. Counter services of most government departments, including the Inland Revenue Department and the Labour Department, have returned to normal. 

     Mr Nip first visited the Inland Revenue Department in Revenue Tower, where he was briefed by the Commissioner of Inland Revenue, Mr Wong Kuen-fai, on counter services at the Central Enquiry Counter, the Business Registration Office and the Stamp Office which have resumed normal business hours today.

     Mr Nip learnt that the department has implemented various infection control and crowd management measures, such as a ticketing system, to safeguard the health of colleagues and the public. To reduce social contact, the department has also encouraged the public to send documents to it by post and use its electronic services to handle their tax matters as much as possible.

     Later, Mr Nip, accompanied by the Assistant Commissioner for Labour (Employment Services), Mr Charles Hui, visited the Hong Kong East Job Centre and a recruitment centre for the catering industry and the retail industry, and he was briefed on the resumption of normal services at job centres and recruitment centres of the Labour Department. Mr Nip also learnt about the social distancing measures and measures to regulate the flow of people, such as arranging interviews by appointments.

     "While maintaining a high degree of vigilance and adopting all necessary precautionary measures, the Government gradually resumed public services today in a smooth and orderly manner," Mr Nip said. 

     "Various infection control measures have been put in place at government buildings and offices. These include checking the body temperature of persons at entrances, providing alcohol-based hand sanitiser and enhancing the cleaning of public facilities.

     "The Government will closely monitor the situation to determine when to embark on full resumption of normal business."

        

     The Secretary for the Civil Service, Mr Patrick Nip, visited the Inland Revenue Department and the Labour Department today (May 4) to inspect their resumption of public services. 

     The Government has announced earlier that public services will be resumed under a phased approach starting from today. Counter services of most government departments, including the Inland Revenue Department and the Labour Department, have returned to normal. 

     Mr Nip first visited the Inland Revenue Department in Revenue Tower, where he was briefed by the Commissioner of Inland Revenue, Mr Wong Kuen-fai, on counter services at the Central Enquiry Counter, the Business Registration Office and the Stamp Office which have resumed normal business hours today.

     Mr Nip learnt that the department has implemented various infection control and crowd management measures, such as a ticketing system, to safeguard the health of colleagues and the public. To reduce social contact, the department has also encouraged the public to send documents to it by post and use its electronic services to handle their tax matters as much as possible.

     Later, Mr Nip, accompanied by the Assistant Commissioner for Labour (Employment Services), Mr Charles Hui, visited the Hong Kong East Job Centre and a recruitment centre for the catering industry and the retail industry, and he was briefed on the resumption of normal services at job centres and recruitment centres of the Labour Department. Mr Nip also learnt about the social distancing measures and measures to regulate the flow of people, such as arranging interviews by appointments.

     "While maintaining a high degree of vigilance and adopting all necessary precautionary measures, the Government gradually resumed public services today in a smooth and orderly manner," Mr Nip said. 

     "Various infection control measures have been put in place at government buildings and offices. These include checking the body temperature of persons at entrances, providing alcohol-based hand sanitiser and enhancing the cleaning of public facilities.

     "The Government will closely monitor the situation to determine when to embark on full resumption of normal business."

        

     Following is the transcript of remarks by the Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, at a media session with the Government Economist, Mr Andrew Au, this afternoon (May 4):
 
Reporter: Secretary, can you give any forecast when the economy may be able to rebound, given the local COVID-19 situation appears to have, you know, somewhat under control? And also, in light of the latest GDP data, will the Government consider introducing even more stimulus package, cash handouts or other relief measures to help the economy to recover even quicker? Thank you.
 
Financial Secretary: Thank you. Our economic situation is very challenging. We are deep into recession. In terms of contraction in the GDP, it has been consecutively for four quarters now. If we look back in history, back in 2008 during the global financial crisis, we experienced similarly four consecutive quarters of contraction. Back to 1998 during the Asian financial crisis, there was a five-quarter consecutive contraction. At the moment, the situation in Hong Kong economically is very challenging. Although locally the epidemic situation seems to be under control, but the external environment is still very challenging. Globally, the epidemic is yet to be put under complete control. That will affect our export. That will also affect international traveling and business investment. So, going forward to the second quarter, we believe that even if there is improvement, it will be gradual and small. If we are able to work together, if we can unite together, not just to fight the virus but to stimulate consumption, to promote economic development, I think the economic situation will be able to stabilise somewhat in the second quarter. And if the global epidemic situation improves, we will be able to come out of recession gradually towards the end of this year.
 
     As to you question about whether there will be additional stimulus packages, I will appeal to people’s support for us to roll out the various measures in the Anti-epidemic Fund – round one and round two – as well as the relief measures in the Budget as soon as possible. Many of those initiatives are still yet to be implemented. Upon full implementation of those measures, I think the positive impact on the economy would be better felt by the community, and we will be monitoring the situation carefully. If there is a need, we stand ready to roll out additional measures to help our people, to help our businesses. But at this stage, we will be working full steam to roll out all the measures as soon as possible. Thank you.

(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)

     Following is the transcript of remarks by the Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, at a media session with the Government Economist, Mr Andrew Au, this afternoon (May 4):
 
Reporter: Secretary, can you give any forecast when the economy may be able to rebound, given the local COVID-19 situation appears to have, you know, somewhat under control? And also, in light of the latest GDP data, will the Government consider introducing even more stimulus package, cash handouts or other relief measures to help the economy to recover even quicker? Thank you.
 
Financial Secretary: Thank you. Our economic situation is very challenging. We are deep into recession. In terms of contraction in the GDP, it has been consecutively for four quarters now. If we look back in history, back in 2008 during the global financial crisis, we experienced similarly four consecutive quarters of contraction. Back to 1998 during the Asian financial crisis, there was a five-quarter consecutive contraction. At the moment, the situation in Hong Kong economically is very challenging. Although locally the epidemic situation seems to be under control, but the external environment is still very challenging. Globally, the epidemic is yet to be put under complete control. That will affect our export. That will also affect international traveling and business investment. So, going forward to the second quarter, we believe that even if there is improvement, it will be gradual and small. If we are able to work together, if we can unite together, not just to fight the virus but to stimulate consumption, to promote economic development, I think the economic situation will be able to stabilise somewhat in the second quarter. And if the global epidemic situation improves, we will be able to come out of recession gradually towards the end of this year.
 
     As to you question about whether there will be additional stimulus packages, I will appeal to people’s support for us to roll out the various measures in the Anti-epidemic Fund – round one and round two – as well as the relief measures in the Budget as soon as possible. Many of those initiatives are still yet to be implemented. Upon full implementation of those measures, I think the positive impact on the economy would be better felt by the community, and we will be monitoring the situation carefully. If there is a need, we stand ready to roll out additional measures to help our people, to help our businesses. But at this stage, we will be working full steam to roll out all the measures as soon as possible. Thank you.

(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)