Non-official Member of the Executive Council Mr Ip Kwok-him reviewed the 186th Fire Services passing-out parade for the passing-out teams of station officers, ambulance officers, senior firemen of the Mobilising and Communications Group, firemen and ambulancemen at the Fire and Ambulance Services Academy today (June 6).
      
     Speaking at the parade, Mr Ip commended the fire and ambulance personnel of the Fire Services Department (FSD) for their outstanding performance in terms of operational efficiency, professional skills and teamwork, especially when handling major incidents.
 
     Noting that two people were killed and more than 10 were injured in a fatal traffic accident on the West Kowloon Highway in March this year, Mr Ip said the FSD's Mobilising and Communications Group immediately dispatched fire and ambulance personnel to the scene to carry out rescue operations. During the operation, firefighters used professional tools to rescue trapped passengers from a bus and a truck, both severely damaged, without delay while ambulance crews treated the injured persons at the scene and sent them hospitals.
 
     Mr Ip also encouraged the graduates to strive for continuous improvement and uphold the value of serving the public with sincerity. Regardless of the challenges and difficulties they may face, they should spare no effort to work together to continue the fine traditions of the FSD, he added.
 
     The parade was followed by a demonstration of firefighting and rescue techniques by the graduates. The 143 graduates will be posted to the Fire Services Communications Centre as well as various fire stations and ambulance depots.

     The Government today (June 6) announced that the Chief Executive has appointed Mrs Margaret Leung Ko May-yee as a member of the Advisory Committee on Post-office Employment for Former Chief Executives and Politically Appointed Officials (Advisory Committee) for a term of two years from July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2021.

     The Chief Executive has also re-appointed Professor Liu Pak-wai as the Chairman of the Advisory Committee, and Ms Susanna Chiu Lai-kuen, Mr Thomas Brian Stevenson and Mr Simon Ip Sik-on as members, for another term of two years to June 30, 2021.

     A Government spokesman said, "Under the chairmanship of Professor Liu and with the wealth of experience of its members, the Advisory Committee will continue to discharge its functions in a professional manner."

     The Government also expressed appreciation for the dedicated service of Ms Elaine Lo Yuen-man as a member of the Advisory Committee in the past six years.
    
     The terms of reference of the Advisory Committee are:

(a) to draw up the principles and criteria to be adopted for the purpose of advising former Chief Executives and politically appointed officials on their post-office employment or appointment;

(b) on the basis of the principles and criteria adopted, to consider and advise former Chief Executives and politically appointed officials on post-office employment or appointment; and

(c) to consider and advise the Government on other cases which may be referred by the Chief Executive's Office.

     The Thematic Household Survey Report No. 65 is published by the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) today (June 6).

     This publication contains key findings of the Thematic Household Survey conducted during November 2017 to January 2018. The survey mainly collected information from Hong Kong residents on the educational history and employment profile of young and middle-aged persons (YMP), referring to persons aged 22 to 47 at the time of enumeration, i.e. those born between 1970 and 1995 (excluding foreign domestic helpers). At the time of enumeration, there were some 2 564 600 YMP in Hong Kong.
 
Educational history
 
     The survey results showed that at the time of enumeration, there were 1 266 700 (49.4%) YMP whose highest level of education completed was "secondary and below" (including "Diploma Yi Jin" and "craft level"), 268 700 (10.5%) YMP whose highest level of education completed was "post-secondary (non-degree)" (including technical/ vocational training) and 1 029 300 (40.1%) YMP whose highest level of education completed was "post-secondary (degree and above)".
 
     Among the YMP whose highest level of education completed was "secondary and below", 356 700 (28.2%) had used various means, such as participation in occupation-related apprenticeship, acquisition of professional licences/ recognised qualifications, and participation in training of professional knowledge etc, to improve vocational skills. Among the YMP whose highest level of education completed was "post-secondary (non-degree)", the corresponding number was 59 800 (22.3%). 
 
     For the YMP whose highest level of education completed was "post-secondary (degree and above)", the majority (77.6%) had completed one degree course (including degree courses at bachelor, master and doctoral levels), 19.8% had completed two and 2.6% had completed three or more degree courses.
 
Employment profile

     The survey collected information regarding YMP's total duration of working experience accumulated in all full-time jobs in which YMP had been engaged for 6 months and over (referred to as "full-time working experience" hereunder), as well as information regarding the first full-time job in which YMP had been engaged for 6 months and over (referred to as "first full-time job" hereunder) and the full-time job in which YMP had been engaged at the time of enumeration for 6 months and over (referred to as "current full-time job" hereunder).

     Of the 2 564 600 YMP, 2 331 300 (90.9%) ever had full-time working experience, whereas 233 300 (9.1%) never had. At the time of enumeration, 1 880 400 YMP (73.3%) had a full-time job, with median monthly employment earnings at $20,200. Employment earnings of YMP tended to increase with educational attainment. For those employed YMP whose highest level of education completed at the time of taking up their current full-time job were "secondary and below", "post-secondary (non-degree)" and "post-secondary (degree and above)", the median monthly employment earnings at the time of enumeration was $16,800, $19,200 and $26,800 respectively.

YMP generally satisfied with current full-time job

     Of those 1 880 400 YMP having a full-time job at the time of enumeration, over half (57.0%) of them were very satisfied or quite satisfied with their job, while only 2.2% were very dissatisfied or quite dissatisfied. Meanwhile, 40.7% considered job satisfaction as average. The level of job satisfaction was generally higher for employed YMP with higher educational attainment.

YMP with higher educational attainment or longer duration of working experience more likely to experience upward occupational mobility

     By comparing the occupation that YMP were engaged in the current full-time job with that in the first full-time job, an attempt was made to study their occupational mobility. Among the 1 880 400 YMP having a full-time job at the time of enumeration, 1 307 100 (69.5%) had ever changed job since they took up the first full-time job. In particular, 296 100 YMP had experienced a relatively substantial upward occupational mobility, meaning that they were engaged in high-skilled occupation groups of managers and administrators; professionals and associate professionals for the current full-time job but in occupation groups of lower skills for the first full-time job. Meanwhile, it should be noted that, for YMP whose first and current full-time jobs were both in high-skilled occupation groups or both in non-high-skilled occupation groups, they might have also experienced occupational mobility, upward or downward, to certain extent.
 
     Educational attainment and working experience may have an effect on the prospect of YMP to move upward in the occupation ladder. Among those 296 100 employed YMP with relatively substantial upward occupational mobility, a higher proportion of them (68.9%) had completed post-secondary education. This compared to 55.8% for all employed YMP taken together. Those employed YMP with relatively substantial upward occupational mobility also tended to have longer duration of full-time working experience, with 26.1% of them having full-time working experience of 20 years and over. The corresponding proportion for all employed YMP taken together was 19.3%.
    
YMP more likely to be engaged in jobs matching with their educational attainment upon accumulating more working experience

     Results of the survey showed that, at the time of taking up their current full-time job, about 30% (29.9%) of YMP employees whose highest level of education completed was "post-secondary (degree and above)" were engaged in job with lower academic requirement than their educational attainment. As for YMP employees whose highest level of education completed was "post-secondary (non-degree)", the corresponding proportion was about 50% (49.2%). The two proportions were both lower than the corresponding proportions (at 41.6% and 55.6% respectively) when similar comparison is made in respect of the first full-time job of YMP employees. This reflected that with the accumulation of working experience, it became more common for YMP employees to be engaged in jobs that matched with their educational attainment.

Effect of family background

     The survey also collected information about the family background of the YMP in an attempt to study how the socio-economic characteristics of YMP were related to those of their parents. 

YMP more likely to have completed higher education if parents had completed higher education

     Amidst the expansion in education opportunities over the past few decades, the highest level of education completed by YMP was in general higher than their parents. 

     Yet the survey results showed that the educational attainment of YMP was correlated with that of their parents to some extent. Among those YMP whose father had completed post-secondary education at degree level, 85.2% attained such level of education as well. As for those YMP whose father had completed primary education and below, only 25.4% attained post-secondary education at degree level. A similar picture was observed when comparing the highest level of education completed by YMP and their mother.

YMP more likely to be engaged in high-skilled occupation groups if parents had worked in high-skilled occupation groups when they were young

     Along with the higher demand for working population with better knowledge and skills as a result of the structural change of Hong Kong towards a knowledge-based economy, the proportion of employed YMP engaging in high-skilled occupation groups increased notably in the past few decades. The proportion of employed YMP engaging in high-skilled occupation groups was higher than their father when YMP were 15 years old (46.2% vs 19.5%). 

     Notwithstanding the above, the survey results showed that the occupation of YMP was somewhat correlated with that of their parents. For employed YMP whose father had worked in non-high-skilled occupation groups when YMP were 15 years old, 8.9% to 13.6% of them worked as managers and administrators; and 26.4% to 39.4% as professionals and associate professionals at the time of enumeration. As for those employed YMP whose father had worked in high-skilled occupation groups, notably higher proportions worked as managers and administrators (26.4%); and professionals and associate professionals (43.2%) at the time of enumeration. When comparing the occupation groups of employed YMP and their mother, except that more than half (53.8%) of YMP's mother were non-working when the YMP were 15 years old, a similar picture was also observed.

Self-perceived social class and degree of life satisfaction

     YMP in the enumerated households were also asked about their self-perceived social class and degree of life satisfaction in the survey. As the rate of non-response of these opinion-type questions was relatively high, the results should be interpreted with caution.

     Among YMP respondents who answered the questions on self-perceived social class, less than 1% (0.4%) perceived themselves as upper class; 5.3% perceived themselves as upper middle class; 40.3% as middle class; 34.8% as lower middle class; and 19.1% as lower class. 

     In rating their degree of satisfaction with their current life, YMP respondents were asked to give a score from 0 to 10. The degree of satisfaction gradually increased from 0 score (meaning that they were not at all satisfied with life) to 10 scores (meaning that they were completely satisfied with life). Among those YMP who answered this question, the average score was 6.2, with 2.5% giving 10 scores; 43.4% giving 7 to 9 scores; 47.0% giving 4 to 6 scores, 6.0% giving 1 to 3 scores and 1.1% giving 0 score.

Other information

     The survey successfully enumerated target respondents in some 10 000 households in accordance with a scientific sampling scheme to represent the population of Hong Kong.

     Detailed findings of the survey, together with the population coverage and concepts/definitions of key terms, are presented in the publication. Users can download the publication free of charge at the website of the C&SD (www.censtatd.gov.hk/hkstat/sub/sp140.jsp?productCode=B1130201).

     Enquiries about the contents of the publication can be directed to the Social Surveys Section (2) of the C&SD (Tel: 2887 0592 or email: thematic@censtatd.gov.hk).

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
 
     The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (June 6) that the official foreign currency reserve assets of Hong Kong amounted to US$437.8 billion as at the end of May 2019 (end-April 2019: US$436.4 billion) (Annex).
 
     Including unsettled foreign exchange contracts, the foreign currency reserve assets of Hong Kong at the end of May 2019 amounted to US$430.6 billion (end-April 2019: US$429.2 billion).
 
     The total foreign currency reserve assets of US$437.8 billion represent about seven times the currency in circulation or 45 per cent of Hong Kong dollar M3.

****************************************************************
 
     At present, four press releases relating to the Exchange Fund's data are issued by the HKMA each month.  Three of these releases are issued to disseminate monetary data in accordance with the International Monetary Fund's Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS).  The fourth press release, on the Exchange Fund's Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account, is made in accordance with the HKMA's policy of maintaining a high level of transparency.  For the month of June 2019, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows:
 

     Following is the transcript of remarks by the Secretary for Food and Health, Professor Sophia Chan, at a media session at the Legislative Council Complex today (June 6):

Reporter: Would you consider a request from traders not to cull all pigs at the slaughterhouse when there is an African Swine Fever case? And what other measures would you take to maintain a stable supply of pork?

Secretary for Food and Health: First of all, the Sheung Shui Slaughterhouse resumes operation to provide slaughtering service after thorough cleansing. To strengthen the prevention of African Swine Fever at local level, the Government reached a consensus with the live pig trade to start imposing a daily clearance arrangement upon reopening of our Sheung Shui Slaughterhouse. It is projected today that there will be 1000 pigs from the Mainland, plus 400 pigs from local farms for (fresh pork) supply tomorrow, the Tuen Ng Festival. Regarding the 24 hours clearance (of live pigs) upon admittance into the slaughterhouse, under this arrangement, the lairages in different areas of the slaughterhouse will be cleared and undergo thorough cleansing every day to further enhance the bio-security of, and also minimise the risk of infection among pigs in, the slaughterhouse. Of course, we would continue to monitor. Our colleagues from the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department would continue to monitor this new arrangement, and also discuss and continue to have close communication with the trade.

Reporter: How about the request from the traders?

Secretary for Food and Health: As far as the new arrangement is concerned, and also in terms of the bio-security, we would consult experts and also maintain close communication and discussion with the trade about the future situation.