The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health today (August 30) said that two new confirmed melioidosis infection cases had been recorded in the past week (August 23 to 29). The first case… read more
The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Development Office of the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau today (August 30) again appealed to members of the public for heightened vigilance against counterfeit mobile apps purporting to be made by the Office.
The spokesman for the Office said that some mobile apps which carry the Office’s name and logo are again circulating online for public downloading recently. The Office solemnly clarified that it has no connection with those mobile apps. Members of the public should stay vigilant and are strongly advised not to visit or download them. The Office has not provided mobile apps on any online platform about the joint development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
The Office has reported the incident to the Police for follow-up.
For enquiries about the online information of the Office, please call 2810 2059 or email to enquiry@bayarea.gov.hk. read more
The Government announced today (August 30) its financial results for the four months ended July 31, 2024. Expenditure for the period April to July 2024 amounted to HK$242.6 billion and revenue … read more
The Education Bureau (EDB) today (August 30) issued a circular memorandum to all secondary day schools, primary schools, special schools and kindergartens in Hong Kong, announcing the arrangements for the provision of a student grant to day-school students in the 2024/25 school year.
An EDB spokesman said, “The Government provides a student grant of $2,500 for secondary day-school, primary school and kindergarten students every school year. The provision of the grant has been regularised starting from the 2020/21 school year to alleviate the burden of educational expenses on parents.”
The student grant is non-means-tested. All students, at the date of application, studying in secondary day-schools, primary schools, special schools and kindergartens in Hong Kong are eligible for the grant. Students of evening schools, students of private studies, holders of student visas for entry into Hong Kong for studies and students holding Recognisance Forms issued by the Immigration Department are not within the scope of the subsidy.
The spokesman continued, “The following students are deemed eligible for the grant owing to special circumstances: (a) children at the age of 2 years and 8 months or above as at September 1 of the 2024/25 school year concerned attending a Special Child Care Centre subsidised by the Social Welfare Department owing to special needs; (b) newly arrived children attending a full-time Initiation Programme funded by the EDB; and (c) students taking full-time programmes for Secondary Three school leavers offered by the Vocational Training Council. We will issue letters to relevant organisations and institutions today to inform them of the details.”
The spokesman added, “Starting from the 2024/25 school year, electronic submission of student grant applications (e-submission) will be expanded to cover all school types. Parents may log in to the e-platform via an ‘iAM Smart+’ account with a digital signing function to submit applications for all their eligible children in one go. For the 2024/25 school year, the e-platform will open from 6am on September 13 to 11.59pm on October 2. Parents are encouraged to use e-submission to enjoy more convenient and efficient e-service. A series of videos on e-submission is available on the EDB website (www.edb.gov.hk/en/student-parents/support-subsidies/student-grant/e-submission.html).”
To cater for the needs of individual parents, apart from e-submission, the EDB provides an option for parents to return the completed applications in paper form to schools. Only one application, either in electronic form or paper form, can be submitted for each eligible student. Schools are required to submit the completed forms to the EDB for follow-up on or before November 13. The EDB will normally disburse the subsidy in about six weeks after receiving the duly completed application forms and will inform parents of the application progress via SMS and email as appropriate.
Details of the student grant are available on the EDB website (www.edb.gov.hk/en/student-parents/support-subsidies/student-grant/index.html). read more
The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (August 30) that it had completed an investigation and disciplinary proceedings for WeChat Pay Hong Kong Limited (WPHK) under the Payment Systems and Stored Value Facilities Ordinance (Chapter 584 of the Laws of Hong Kong) (PSSVFO). The Monetary Authority (MA) has ordered WPHK to pay a pecuniary penalty of HK$875,000 for contravening section 8Q of the PSSVFO as it failed to fulfil the minimum criterion under section 6(2)(b) of Part 2 of Schedule 3 to the PSSVFO.
The disciplinary action (Note 1) follows the filing of a self-report by WPHK and further investigation by the HKMA which found that, during the period from 25 August 2016 to 24 October 2021, WPHK failed to have in place adequate and appropriate systems of control to comply with the relevant paragraphs of the Guideline on Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Financing of Terrorism (For Stored Value Facility (SVF) Licensees) (Guideline) (Note 2).
Specifically, the contravention relates to deficiencies in WPHK’s systems of control in two areas, namely: