The 2020 Honours List is published in the Government Gazette today (October 1). This is the 23rd Honours List since 1997. To accord top priority to the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic and related matters, the Government announced in May this year that the 2020 Honours and Awards and appointment of Justices of the Peace exercise would be postponed with a view to announcing the various appointments on October 1 instead of July 1, 2020.
 
     The Chief Executive has awarded a total of 687 persons in this year's Honours List, including:
 

 
     The citations of the award recipients of the 2020 Honours List are provided in the Appendix.
 
     The award recipients this year are from different walks of life with diverse backgrounds. They have made significant contributions to Hong Kong in different areas, benefiting various sectors of the community, including public and community service, medical and public health, charity and philanthropy, finance, trade and industry, research and technology, education, culture, arts, sports, youth affairs, women's affairs, ethnic harmony, and labour and welfare. 

     A government spokesman pointed out that the number of award recipients in the two categories of the Chief Executive's Commendation for Community Service and the Chief Executive's Commendation for Government/Public Service this year is exceptionally large in order to give recognition to meritorious performance by individuals involved in the handling of social incidents and the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic in the past year.
 
     "The Chief Executive is grateful to all awardees for their contributions to Hong Kong and plans to host the presentation ceremony for the awards at Government House within this year. The exact timing and arrangement will have to take into account the social distancing measures in force," the spokesman added.
 
     Announcement of next year's Honours List will return to be made on July 1.

     The Government published this year's appointments of Justices of the Peace (JPs) in the Government Gazette today (October 1). To accord top priority to the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic and related matters, the Government has announced in May this year that the appointment of JPs exercise would be postponed with a view to announcing the appointments on October 1 instead of July 1, 2020.
 
     A total of 66 persons have been appointed, including 40 JPs appointed under section 3(1)(b) of the Justices of the Peace Ordinance (Chapter 510) (commonly referred to as "Non-official JPs") and 26 JPs appointed under section 3(1)(a) of the same ordinance (commonly referred to as "Official JPs").
 
     The main function of JPs is to visit correctional institutions, detention centres and other institutions to ensure their effective management and that no individual is unfairly treated or deprived of his or her rights. JPs will ensure that complaints lodged by individuals are handled in a fair and transparent manner.
 
     The name list of JPs appointed under section 3(1)(b) and section 3(1)(a) of the Justices of the Peace Ordinance is provided in the Appendix.
 
     The announcement of JP appointments for next year (2021) will return to be made on July 1.

Attention duty announcers, radio and TV stations:

Please broadcast the following as soon as possible and repeat it at suitable intervals:

   As the Red Rainstorm Warning Signal has been cancelled, the Home Affairs Department's Emergency Co-ordination Centre and the emergency hotline 2572 8427 have ceased to operate.

     The Labour Department (LD) today (September 30) reminded employers to make practical and reasonable work arrangements for staff after rainstorms. Employers should also make flexible arrangements for staff to resume work or work from home as appropriate after a rainstorm warning is cancelled, with due consideration to road and traffic conditions and other factors. This will help maintain good labour-management relations, and ensure the safety of employees and the smooth operation of organisations.
 
     "For staff who have practical difficulties in resuming work on time upon cancellation of a rainstorm warning, employers should give due consideration to the situations of individual employees and handle each case flexibly. For example, employers may permit employees who have difficulties in returning to workplaces to work from home or allow more time for them to report for duty and resume work. As rainstorms are natural occurrences that cannot be avoided, for employees who are not able to report for duty or resume duty on time due to adverse weather conditions, employers should not withhold their wages, good attendance bonus or allowances without reasons. Employers should enquire into the reasons and give due consideration to the exceptional circumstances in each case, and should not penalise or dismiss the employee concerned rashly," an LD spokesman said.
 
     The spokesman also reminded employers to observe the statutory liabilities and requirements under the Employment Ordinance, the Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance, the Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance, the Employees' Compensation Ordinance and the Minimum Wage Ordinance.
 
     Employers should not deduct the annual leave, statutory holidays or rest days to which employees are entitled under the Employment Ordinance so as to compensate for the loss of working hours resulting from employees' failure to report for duty upon the issuance of a Black Rainstorm Warning. An employer who without reasonable excuse fails to comply with relevant provisions under the Employment Ordinance is liable to prosecution.
 
     Employers should also note that they have an obligation to provide and maintain a safe working environment for their employees under the Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance.
 
     The LD has published the "Code of Practice in Times of Typhoons and Rainstorms", which outlines the major principles, the framework, the reference guidelines and information on relevant legislation for reference. The booklet can be obtained from branch offices of the Labour Relations Division or downloaded from the department's webpage (www.labour.gov.hk/eng/public/wcp/Rainstorm.pdf).

     Hong Kong Customs yesterday (September 29) seized about 15 kilograms of suspected liquid cocaine with an estimated market value of about $25 million at Hong Kong International Airport.

     A female passenger arrived in Hong Kong from Sao Paulo, Brazil via Doha, Qatar yesterday. During customs clearance, eight liquor bottles containing suspected liquid cocaine were found inside her check-in suitcase. The 28-year-old woman was then arrested.

     Investigation is ongoing.

     Arrival passengers are subject to compulsory quarantine under the epidemic. Customs will continue to apply a risk assessment approach and focus on selecting passengers from high-risk regions for clearance to combat transnational drug trafficking activities effectively.

     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 account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk).