"Talks on Cantonese Opera Libretti and Scripts – From Texts to Performance" will be held at the Function Room, Ko Shan Theatre New Wing, from January to March.
 
     The series of seven talks (to be conducted in Cantonese) hosted by Sun Kim-long aims to enhance audiences' understanding of the libretti of Cantonese opera. Renowned Cantonese opera stars will share their experiences in performing and interpreting the libretti of various productions by playwrights such as Tong Tik-sang, Tsui Tsi-long, Yip Shiu-tak and Lee Siu-wan.
 
     Details of the talks are as follows:

January 4 (Saturday) 3pm
Speaker: Lee Lung
 
January 11 (Saturday) 3pm
Speaker: Ng Mei-ying
 
February 1 (Saturday) 3pm
Speaker: Wong Chiu-kwan
 
February 8 (Saturday) 3pm
Speaker: Leung Siu-ming
 
February 22 (Saturday) 3pm
Speaker: Chan Wing-yee
 
March 7 (Saturday) 3pm
Speaker: Ng Chin-fung
 
March 21 (Saturday) 3pm
Speaker: Liu Kwok-sum
 
     Presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, all talks are free of charge. There is a limit of 80 audience members for each talk. Free tickets will be distributed at the enquiry counter of the Ko Shan Theatre New Wing on the event day from 1pm on a first-come, first-served basis. Each person is entitled to one ticket only.
 
     Free guided tours to visit the Cantonese Opera Education and Information Centre featuring digitised versions of the libretti will take approximately one hour and will be held after each talk. Participants are welcome to stay and join the tour.
 
     For enquiries, please call 2268 7325 or visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/Programme/en/chinese_opera/programs_942.html.

     The effective exchange rate index for the Hong Kong dollar on Thursday, January 2, 2020 is 105.8 (down 0.1 against Tuesday's index).

     The Youth Music and Dance Marathon will be staged at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Piazza on January 5 (Sunday) from 1pm to 6pm, featuring more than 30 local music and dance groups sure to bring energetic performances to this outdoor event. Admission is free and members of the public are welcome to join.
 
     Event highlights include performances by singers and groups from the Renaissance Foundation and My Main Stage as well as other local bands such as Chonotenki and Gainorva. The School of Dance of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, the Hong Kong Schools Dance Association and other groups will also provide a variety of dance performances such as Chinese, street, jazz, modern, cha-cha-cha, jive, J-pop and more.
 
     The Youth Music and Dance Marathon is presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department. Programme partners are the Renaissance Foundation, My Main Stage, the Boys' and Girls' Clubs Association of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups, the Hong Kong Young Women's Christian Association, the School of Dance of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and the Hong Kong Schools Dance Association.
 
     For more details, please call 2591 1340 or visit the website at
www.lcsd.gov.hk/en/cpo/territoryevents/youthbandmarathon/2020_ymadm.html.

    

     â€‹In the light of local demands for drugs during the long holidays, Hong Kong Customs mounted a special operation codenamed "Wave" from October 23 to December 31 last year to fight against drug trafficking activities involving cross-boundary express parcels. Seizures of different kinds of dangerous drugs worth about $39 million were made.

     During the 70-day operation, Customs officers detected a total of 15 dangerous drug trafficking cases using express parcels conveyed by incoming goods vehicles at the Lok Ma Chau Control Point. About 60 kilograms of suspected dangerous drugs including cocaine, methamphetamine, ketamine and ecstasy with an estimated market value of about $39 million were seized.  

     After follow-up investigations of the abovementioned cases, Customs officers arrested five men and two women in town, aged between 16 and 46, and further seized about 480 grams of suspected dangerous drugs.

     To evade Customs officers' attention, criminals often adopt ever-changing concealment methods. The methods revealed in this special operation included the use of oil filters, sports shoes, puzzle play mats, trousers, powdered formula, drink powder, meat products, canned fruit, health supplements and packages of dog food as cover-ups.

     Hong Kong Customs has all along striven to eliminate dangerous drug inflows through passenger or cargo channels by strategies of risk-profiling and intelligence analysis. The "Wave" anti-narcotics operation achieved significant results in intercepting dangerous drugs. The department will continue its special enforcement operations from time to time to strengthen efforts against different kinds of dangerous drug trafficking activities. 

     Under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, trafficking in a dangerous drug is a serious offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $5 million and life imprisonment. 

     Members of the public may report any suspected drug trafficking activities to Customs' 24-hour hotline 2545 6182 or its dedicated crime-reporting email (crimereport@customs.gov.hk).

                

     The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) will hold a dog inoculation campaign at various fishing ports in Hong Kong. Fishermen can have their dogs vaccinated against rabies and microchipped and the licences renewed.
 
     AFCD mobile vaccination teams will visit the following fishing ports according to the schedule below:
 
Aberdeen              　January 9
Sam Mun Tsai           January 10
Sha Tau Kok             January 15
Sai Kung                  January 16
Shau Kei Wan      　  January 16
Castle Peak              January 17
Cheung Chau     ã€€   January 21
 
     The half-yearly dog inoculation campaign was launched in 1980 with the aim of providing a licensing renewal and rabies vaccination service for dogs kept by fishermen who work on board fishing vessels most of the time. The vaccination teams will visit the fishing ports from 10am to 3pm. A fee of $80 will be charged for each dog. To date, more than 7 300 vaccinations have been given to dogs on fishing vessels.
 
     An AFCD spokesman said that the service is one of the proactive measures to prevent rabies, a fatal disease that is transmitted to humans from animals. Dogs on board vessels that have visited overseas countries may have come in contact with other animals carrying diseases, making them more susceptible to rabies infection.
 
     "Although Hong Kong has been free from animal rabies since 1987, we must remain vigilant to prevent any possible outbreak," the spokesman said.
 
     Under the Rabies Ordinance, all dogs aged over 5 months must be vaccinated against rabies, licensed and microchipped. Dogs have to be revaccinated against rabies and their licences have to be renewed at intervals not exceeding three years. Dog owners who fail to do so are liable to a maximum fine of $10,000.