Presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, concerts of the "Regional Music of China Series" will be held from June to September.
 
     In addition to continuous promotion of Cantonese music, the newly introduced "Regional Music of China Series" will further present traditional music with rich regional or ethnic characteristics from the northern and southern Mainland. The concert series showcases the mesmerising diversity of China's regional soundscapes for Chinese music lovers.
 
     The programmes are as follows:
 
"Tuneful Music of South China"
———————————–
June 19 (Saturday), 8pm
Theatre, Sai Wan Ho Civic Centre
Tickets: $240
     Two generations of local musicians will perform the song artistry and traditional music of the Lingnan region over different periods. There will also be a guided musical journey to help the audience appreciate the beauty of nanyin and Cantonese instrumental music.
 
"Set Tunes of the North and the South"
——————————————-
July 23 (Friday), 8pm
Auditorium, Ko Shan Theatre New Wing
Tickets: $240
     The brothers Ko Yun-kuen and Ko Yun-hung, renowned percussion and ensemble leaders in Cantonese opera, together with their wind and percussion ensemble, will perform a programme featuring set tunes from the northern and southern Mainland. The performance will include a special treat; their double presentation of two tunes from the Kunshan and Guangdong repertoires that share the same titles. 
 
"Virtuosic Tone, Lingering Rhyme"
————————————-
September 3 (Friday), 8pm
Theatre, Hong Kong City Hall
Tickets: $240
     The concert connects and showcases different cultures in the Mainland, with the sheng as the axial guide. Apart from extant works, rearranged folk tunes from the "Anthology of Chinese Instrumental Music" will be performed. The audience's experience will be enhanced by the specially designed presentation of sheng playing and melodious tunes on stage.
 
     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 7321 or visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/Programme/en/music/groups_1122.html.

     The Secretary for Justice, Ms Teresa Cheng, SC, and Vice-president of the Supreme People's Court (SPC) Mr Yang Wanming signed the record of meeting concerning mutual recognition of and assistance to insolvency proceedings between the courts of the Mainland and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) in Shenzhen this morning (May 14). The arrangement highlights the unique role enjoyed by the HKSAR under "one country, two systems", fostering further legal co-operation in civil and commercial matters.  

     Ms Cheng said that the record of meeting signified the consensus on the mutual recognition of and assistance to insolvency proceedings between the two places. Liquidators from Hong Kong may apply to Mainland courts for recognition of insolvency proceedings in Hong Kong. Likewise, bankruptcy administrators from the Mainland may apply to the High Court in Hong Kong for recognition of bankruptcy proceedings in the Mainland. The framework facilitates the rescue of financially troubled businesses, and provides better protection of the assets of the debtor company as well as the interests of the creditors, and is hence conducive to the promotion of an orderly and efficient insolvency regime. The new co-operative framework expressly covers bankruptcy compromise and reorganisation in the Mainland as well as debt restructuring in Hong Kong, thereby encouraging the use of restructuring of debts to revive businesses with a view to reaching consensus among creditors from both places and abroad. This may open up more opportunities for the debtor company to look for a successful rescue. In the long run, the framework will give additional assurance to investors and further improve the business environment in the Mainland and Hong Kong.

     The key features of the record of meeting include: the SPC will designate a number of pilot areas where the relevant Intermediate People's Courts and HKSAR courts will commence the work on mutual recognition of and assistance in insolvency proceedings in accordance with the laws. A set of opinion and a practical guide will be issued respectively by the SPC and the HKSAR Government in respect of their relevant work on the matter. Both sides will continue to maintain close communication for sustained improvement to the mechanism, and to gradually extend beyond the pilot areas. The SPC has initially designated Shanghai, Xiamen and Shenzhen as pilot cities given their close trade ties with Hong Kong. The three cities are also the popular choices for investments from Hong Kong.

    The Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court will hold a forum on legal and practical issues concerning cross-boundary insolvency co-operation between the Mainland and Hong Kong in the afternoon. The Department of Justice is the supporting organisation. Speakers including judges, academics and legal professionals from the Mainland and Hong Kong will take part in discussions covering the scope and the specific procedures for legal assistance in cross-boundary insolvency, as well as the key mechanism on legal assistance in cross-boundary insolvency in the Greater Bay Area. This will give the audience a better understanding that the co-operative framework helps fully implement the Basic Law and consolidate the legal assistance between the two places.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:

     US Dollar Liquidity Facility tender notice: 
 

 
Note:Licensed Banks interested in participating in the tender for the first time are encouraged to provide US dollar settlement instructions by email (settlementsection@hkma.gov.hk) to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority's Settlement Team in advance, preferably two days prior to the tender. Required information includes name of corresponding bank, name of final beneficiary (must be the Licensed Bank participating in the tender), and account or CHIPS number of a US dollar bank account to be settled in the United States. Such information needs to be provided once only, unless there is further change.

     The levels of prescribed relief payment, prescribed monthly amount and prescribed monthly amount (extra) under the Employees Compensation Assistance Ordinance (ECAO) were adjusted upwards to $6,000,000, $40,000 and $40,000 respectively with effect from today (May 14).
      
     The Employees Compensation Assistance Fund (the Fund) is administered by the Employees Compensation Assistance Fund Board in accordance with the ECAO. The Fund provides relief payments to injured employees or eligible persons who have sustained injuries caused by accidents arising out of and in the course of employment, given that the court awards an amount of common law damages to be payable by their employers, but are unable to receive their entitlements from the employers or insurers after exhausting all legal and financially viable means of recovery.

     According to the ECAO, the employee (or eligible person) shall receive the full amount of the relief payment where the amount does not exceed the prescribed relief payment. Where the amount of a relief payment exceeds the prescribed relief payment, the employee (or eligible person) can receive a first payment equivalent to the prescribed relief payment, followed by monthly payments (an amount equal to the prescribed monthly amount or the monthly earnings of the employee at the time of the accident, whichever is the higher). If the employee is severely injured, he/she can receive the prescribed monthly amount (extra) at the same time.
      
     "Increasing the levels of relief payment items can provide better protection for employees injured at work (especially those who are severely injured) and their families to sustain their living and meet their needs," a spokesman for the Labour Department said.

     The Government declared by notices in the Gazette today (May 14) the existence of two vacant elected seats in the Central and Western District Council Mid Levels East Constituency and Kwun Lung Constituency.                    

     Following the resignation of elected members Mr Ng Siu Hong and Mr Leung Fong Wai Fergus of the Central and Western District Council, their offices have become vacant since May 1, 2021, pursuant to section 26(b) of the District Councils Ordinance (Cap. 547).