Terrapin Puppet Theatre from Australia will perform the puppet theatre production "Red Racing Hood" in December. This theatre performance is suitable for children aged 5 and above.
 
      "Red Racing Hood" is reimagined from the famous fairy tale "Little Red Riding Hood". It is inventively brought to life using slot car racing, with cameras situated around the circuit magnifying the action live on screen, putting the audience in the driving seat as they follow Red on her adventure.
 
     With everything she knows and loves at stake in the small town of Grinalong, Red must convince her Grandma to help her win a car race and overcome her own fears with the aim of staying in the town.
 
     Terrapin Puppet Theatre has been established in Tasmania for over 36 years. The company, touring nationally and internationally, makes contemporary puppetry for young people and their families. Telling sophisticated stories of humour and pathos, the company embraces new technologies whilst retaining the intrinsic illusions of the age-old craft of puppetry. In its productions, the company aims to inspire families to express their collective imagination through inventive play with the objects and devices that surround them.
 
      Details of the performances are as follows:
 
December 7 and 8 (Friday and Saturday), 7.30pm
December 8 and 9 (Saturday and Sunday), 3pm
Cultural Activities Hall, Tsuen Wan Town Hall
Tickets: $200
 
      Presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, "Red Racing Hood" is one of the attractions of the "Cheers!" Series. Tickets are now available at URBTIX (www.urbtix.hk). For telephone credit card bookings, please call 2111 5999. For programme enquiries and concessionary schemes, please call 2268 7323 or visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/Programme/en/f_entertainment/programs_642.html.
 

The following is issued on behalf of the Independent Review Committee on Hong Kong’s Franchised Bus Service:

     The Independent Review Committee on Hong Kong's Franchised Bus Service will resume the hearing to receive further oral evidence from the nominated representatives of the Transport Department (TD), next Tuesday (October 16) from 10am to 4.30pm (with a break between 1pm and 2.30pm) at the Auditorium of the Central Government Offices, 2 Tim Mei Avenue, Tamar. The Committee's rules of procedure for the receipt of oral evidence and notice to the public attending the hearings to receive oral evidence are available on the Committee's website (www.irc-bus.gov.hk/eng/press.html).

     Having received and considered written submissions from various interested parties, and in order to obtain further information, the Committee is in the process of inviting specific interested parties to give oral evidence to the Committee through nominated representatives. Sixteen hearings have been held so far to receive oral evidence from:

(A) Representatives of:

• the Transport and Housing Bureau;
• the TD;
• Hong Kong Police Force;
• Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Limited (KMB) and Long Win Bus Company Limited
• the New World First Bus Services Limited and Citybus Limited;
• the New Lantao Bus Company (1973) Limited;
• Tai Po, Sha Tin and Sham Shui Po District Councils;
• ZF Friedrichshafen AG and Openmatics s.r.o.;
• the Community for Road Safety;
• the Motor Transport Workers General Union, including its sub-unions of Citybus Branch, KMB Branch, Long Win Bus Branch, New Lantao Bus Branch and New World Bus Branch;
• The Federation of Bus Industry Trade Unions, including its members of KMB Staff Union, New World First Bus Company Staff Union and Citybus Limited Employees Union;
• the KMB Employees Union;
• the Staff Rights Association of KMB;
• the Monthly-Rated Drivers Union; and
• the Part-time Drivers Union

(B) Former employees of the KMB:

• Mr Alok Jain; and
• Mr Raymond Cheng

(C) Employees of the KMB:

• Ms Debby Wong; and
• Mr Kelvin Yeung

(D) Experts appointed by the Committee –

• Professor John Stanley; and
• Mr Mike Weston

     A transcript of that evidence (and a translation in Chinese) is available on the Committee's website (www.irc-bus.gov.hk/eng/transcripts.html).

     The Committee wishes to invite family members of the victims and passengers on board the bus involved in the fatal incident on Tai Po Road, and other recent serious incidents involving franchised bus services, to attend the hearing, and invites them to contact the Secretariat in advance of the hearing if they wish to attend. Except for seats reserved for such persons as well as the media and specifically identified interested parties, all available seats in the hearing venue will be open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis. A registration counter will open at 9.30am on October 16.

     Enquiries regarding the hearing may be directed to the Secretariat of the Committee at 2867 5324.

     Police yesterday (October 11) held the Regional Traffic Day in Kowloon West to raise public awareness of road safety through stringent enforcement actions.

     A total of 233 officers from Traffic Kowloon West and District Traffic Teams of Kowloon City, Mong Kok, Sham Shui Po and Yau Tsim Districts were deployed to take enforcement actions at traffic black spots in Kowloon West.

     The operation resulted in the issue of 1 806 fixed penalty tickets and 111 summonses. Among the fixed penalty tickets and summonses issued, a total of 1 669 fixed penalty tickets were issued for illegal parking and the rest were for other traffic offences.

     Police figures revealed that a total of 2 422 traffic accidents involving casualties occurred in Kowloon West in the first nine months of 2018, of which 593 cases involved pedestrian injuries.

     Police will continue to take regular enforcement actions to ensure road safety.

     The Labour Department (LD) is highly concerned about the work accident that happened at a construction site in Tin Shui Wai this afternoon (October 11), in which a male worker while working inside the hoistway of a material hoist, fell from 4/F to 2/F as the receptacle descended suddenly. He was certified dead in hospital. The LD is saddened by the death of the worker in the accident and expresses its deepest sympathy to the victim's family.

     The LD's spokesman said, "We commenced immediate on-site investigation as soon as we were notified of the accident and have issued suspension notices to the contractors concerned to suspend the use of the material hoist involved and the work inside the hoistway of the hoist. The contractors cannot resume the work process until the LD is satisfied that measures to abate the relevant risk have been taken."

     The spokesman added, "We will complete investigation as soon as possible to identify the cause of the accident, ascertain the liability of the duty holders and recommend improvement measures. We will take actions pursuant to the law if there is any violation of the work safety legislation."

     The general duty provisions of the Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance require employers to provide safe working environments, safe plant and safe systems of work for their employees. Those who contravene the above provisions are liable to a maximum fine of $500,000 and imprisonment for six months.

     In regard to today's accident, the LD will issue a Work Safety Alert through its website and email, giving a brief account of the accident concerned to duty holders, workers' unions, professional bodies of safety practitioners and others, and reminding the industry of the importance of following safety precautionary measures to prevent recurrence of similar accidents.

     The LD will also remind the employer concerned of the liability for employees' compensation under the Employees' Compensation Ordinance, assist family members of the deceased to claim employees' compensation and closely follow up on the case. If family members of the deceased have financial difficulties, the LD will assist them to apply for appropriate emergency funds. Subject to the needs and wishes of family members of the deceased, the LD will also liaise with the Social Welfare Department for financial or other assistance.

     For the sake of securing the safety and health of employees at work, the LD appeals to employers to provide plant and systems of work that are safe and without risks to health. Employees should co-operate with their employers, adopt all safety measures and use personal protective equipment provided properly to avoid endangering their own work safety and that of other workers.

     Hong Kong Customs today (October 11) arrested a female person-in-charge of a beauty parlour suspected of engaging in unfair trade practices involving misleading omission in the sale of beauty service, in contravention of the Trade Descriptions Ordinance (TDO).

     Customs earlier received information alleging that a female person-in-charge of a beauty parlour in Lai Chi Kok misled a customer to believe that a beauty treatment was charged at a certain sum. After undergoing the beauty treatment, the customer was requested to pay an amount which was 5 times different from expected.

     After investigation, Customs officers today arrested a 33-year-old woman.

     Investigation is ongoing and the arrested woman has been released on bail pending further investigation.

     Customs reminds traders to comply with the requirements of the TDO and consumers to procure services at reputable shops.

     Under the TDO, any trader who engages in a commercial practice that omits or hides material information or provides material information in a manner that is unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely, and as a result causes, or is likely to cause, an average consumer to make a transactional decision commits an offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $500,000 and imprisonment for five years.

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