â€‹To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the reform and opening up of the country, the Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, will lead a delegation to visit Shenzhen and Beijing from November 10 to 12. The delegation comprises members of various sectors of the community who have made profound contributions to the reform and opening up of the country and to Hong Kong.
      
     The Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan; the Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr Patrick Nip; the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Edward Yau; and the Director of the Chief Executive's Office, Mr Chan Kwok-ki, will join the visit.
      
     The delegation will depart for Shenzhen on November 10 to visit a thematic exhibition on the 40th anniversary of the country's reform and opening up. They will also visit another exhibition and an iconic site relating to reform and opening up in Qianhai.

     While in Beijing from November 11 to 12, the delegation will be received by the state leaders. It will also attend a seminar co-organised by the National Development and Reform Commission and the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council which will review the history of Hong Kong's participation in the reform and opening up of the country, and look ahead to the key development aspects of the country's further reform and opening up as well as Hong Kong's role in the overall development of the country.
      
     Mrs Lam will return to Hong Kong on November 12. During her absence, the Secretary for Justice, Ms Teresa Cheng, SC, and the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, will be Acting Chief Executive. Ms Cheng will be Acting Chief Executive until Mr Cheung returns from Switzerland to Hong Kong on November 10.

The following is issued on behalf of the Office of The Ombudsman:

     At the 22nd Presentation Ceremony of The Ombudsman's Awards today (November 2), The Ombudsman, Ms Connie Lau, encouraged everybody to adopt a positive attitude towards complaints so that all parties can jointly promote a positive complaint culture and build better systems.

     â€‹Ms Lau said, "The process of lodging and handling complaints can be an effective way of communication and provides an opportunity for us to build mutual trust. In the process, complainants can give their views on public services, while departments and organisations can understand better the public's expectations so that they can make adjustments and improve their services. There is one thing in common among the winning organisations and public officers: they all understand the public's predicament and are empathetic with their feelings. They know what people need and try their best to offer assistance."

     â€‹The Grand Award this year went to the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD). In response to the Office's inquiries and investigations, the AFCD attached great importance to maintaining direct communication with the Office's investigators. The department was willing to share all the relevant legislation/procedures and related professional knowledge, and fully co-operated with the Office's investigations.

     â€‹The Customs and Excise Department (C&ED) and the Fire Services Department (FSD) were the other two winning organisations. The C&ED responded to public enquiries and the Office's investigations in an earnest and timely manner, providing detailed elaboration of case details, its follow-up actions regarding public complaints, and the relevant considerations or legal justifications behind its decisions. The FSD discharged its duties in a timely and proper manner in strict compliance with the law, and adopted a positive and impartial approach in handling complaints. It also treated the Office's inquiries seriously and provided comprehensive explanations.

     â€‹The Housing Department (HD) was presented the newly introduced Award on Mediation for a public organisation this year. Of the 237 cases the Office handled by mediation during the past year, more than 30 per cent, or 80 cases, were HD cases, among which over 40 per cent were settled within 10 days. The HD's endeavours to find a win-win solution with the complainants have significantly increased its efficiency in handling complaint cases.

     â€‹At the presentation ceremony, Ms Lau also commended the contributions made by the public officers who won the Individual Awards. She said, "Successful organisations are invariably backed by dedicated staff in delivering quality services. This year, 55 public officers have been presented the Individual Awards to recognise their professionalism in handling complaints with great diligence and a responsible work attitude." A full list of the awardees this year is in the Appendix.

     â€‹The Ombudsman's Awards Scheme was introduced in 1997. In 1999, the Scheme was extended to honour individual public officers. This year, an additional Award on Mediation for a public organisation was introduced.

      

     The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, will depart Hong Kong for Geneva, Switzerland in the early hours of November 4 to attend the meeting under the Universal Periodic Review mechanism of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to be held from November 6 to 9 (Geneva time). He will be joined by representatives from the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau, the Security Bureau, the Department of Justice and the Labour Department.   
 
     A Government spokesperson today (November 2) said, "The officials from the Hong Kong Special Administration Region (HKSAR) Government will attend the meeting as members of China's delegation. During the meeting, the UNHRC will examine China's third report under the Universal Periodic Review mechanism, which incorporates a part concerning the HKSAR. The Chief Secretary for Administration and other representatives of the HKSAR will answer questions in relation to the various human right issues in the HKSAR."
 
     The part concerning the HKSAR in China's third report under the UNHRC Universal Periodic Review mechanism has been uploaded to the website of the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau (www.cmab.gov.hk/en/press/reports_human.htm).
 
     Mr Cheung will leave Geneva on November 9 (Geneva time) and arrive in Hong Kong the following day. During his absence, the Secretary for the Environment, Mr Wong Kam-sing, will be the Acting Chief Secretary for Administration.

     The Lands Department (LandsD) announced today (November 2) that a site, New Kowloon Inland Lot No. 6575 at Kai Tak Area 4B Site 2, Kai Tak, Kowloon, in the 2018-19 Land Sale Programme will be disposed of by public tender. The tender invitation for the lot will commence on November 9 and close on December 21.
            
     New Kowloon Inland Lot No. 6575 has a site area of about 9,048 square metres and is designated for private residential purposes. The minimum gross floor area is 33,116 sq m and the maximum gross floor area that may be attained is 55,192 sq m.
      
     Land sale documents including the Form of Tender, the Tender Notice, the Conditions of Sale and the sale plan of the lot will be available for downloading from the LandsD website (www.landsd.gov.hk), and the sale plan will be available for distribution and inspection by the public from November 9, when the particulars of the tender will also be gazetted.   

     With the northeast monsoon successively affecting south China coastal areas, October 2018 was slightly cooler than usual in Hong Kong. The monthly mean temperature of 25.3 degrees was 0.2 degrees below the normal figure of 25.5 degrees. The monthly rainfall was 104.3 millimetres, slightly above the normal figure of 100.9 millimetres. The accumulated rainfall recorded in the first 10 months of the year was 2077.6 millimetres, a deficit of 11 per cent compared to the normal figure of 2334.0 millimetres for the same period.
 
     Under the influence of the northeast monsoon, the local weather was generally fine and dry from October 1 to 8, with a few morning showers on October 1. With abundant sunshine, temperatures at the Hong Kong Observatory rose to 31.4 degrees on the afternoon of October 5, the highest of the month. Affected by an easterly airstream, there were sunny periods and a few showers on October 9.
 
     A cold front crossed the coastal areas of Guangdong on the afternoon of October 10. Heavy showers associated with the cold front brought more than 20 millimetres of rainfall to most parts of the territory, with more than 40 millimetres of rainfall recorded in the urban areas and Shek Kong. The northeast monsoon brought mainly cloudy and cooler weather, as well as a few rain patches to Hong Kong in the next four days. With an easterly airstream setting in, it was cloudy with showers on October 15.
 
     A weak cold front crossed the coast of Guangdong on the morning of October 16. The associated northeast monsoon brought some rain and slightly cooler weather to Hong Kong on October 16 and 17. Under the influence of a strong easterly airstream, it was windy and cooler with rain patches on October 18. The temperature at the Hong Kong Observatory dropped to 20.9 degrees under the rain on the morning of October 18, the lowest of the month. Apart from a few rain patches, the local weather became gradually brighter during the day on October 19 and 20.
 
     Dominated by an anticyclone above southern China, the local weather became generally fine on October 21 and the next morning. With a weak northeast monsoon arriving at the coast of Guangdong on October 22, the weather turned mainly cloudy with light rain patches in the afternoon and for the next two days. Under the influence of anticyclone aloft, the weather in Hong Kong became brighter with sunny periods on October 25 and 26. A cold front moved across the coastal areas of Guangdong on the night of October 26. Under the influence of the dry northeast monsoon, the weather in Hong Kong became fine and very dry with cooler mornings from October 27 to 30. Meanwhile, tropical cyclone Yutu entered the northern part of the South China Sea and edged closer to the coast of Guangdong on October 31. Locally, it was very dry with winds picking up gradually from the north that day.
 
     Three tropical cyclones occurred over the South China Sea and the western North Pacific in October 2018.
 
     Details of issuance and cancellation of various warnings/signals in October are summarised in Table 1. Monthly meteorological figures and departures from normal for October are tabulated in Table 2.