The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority: The spokesperson for Caritas Medical Centre (CMC) today (January 21) announced that a patient confirmed with COVID-19 passed away today.  … read more
To enhance creativity in ceramic art and to stimulate general awareness of and interest in ceramic art and tea culture in Hong Kong, the Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware is organising the “Tea Ware by Hong Kong Potters 2021” competition, which is now calling for entries.
Works submitted should be functional and creative contemporary tea ware or tea-drinking related ware. The competition offers both an open category and a school category. The open category is for holders of a Hong Kong identity card. For the school category, the entrant should be a full-time Hong Kong student aged 18 or below who has submitted their entry through a local registered school. All entrants should submit their works in a personal capacity.
In addition to first, second and third prize awards for both the open and school categories, additional prizes of excellence will be awarded to winners of the open category. Selections will be made by a panel of adjudicators. The judging criteria will be based on originality, creativity, technical competence and functionality. All the awarded and selected works will be showcased in the “Tea Ware by Hong Kong Potters” exhibition at the Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware at the end of this year for the public to appreciate the works by local potters.
All entries must be submitted from June 16 to 20 between 10.30am and 5pm to the Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware, 10 Cotton Tree Drive, Central, Hong Kong (inside Hong Kong Park). Entry forms and details of the competition can be downloaded from the museum’s website at hk.art.museum/en_US/web/ma/hk-potters.html. They can also be collected at the K.S. Lo Gallery of the Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware. For enquiries, please call 2869 0690.
The competition of “Tea Ware by Hong Kong Potters” has been organised at regular intervals since 1986 by the Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware. It fosters a tea drinking culture, to let more people enjoy the fun of tea tasting, and enhances creativity in the local art of pottery tea ware, so as to create more aesthetic, creative and functional tea wares. read more
The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) announced today (January 21) that to achieve the target of making testing services available as far as possible for those who should be tested, it will continue to arrange free COVID-19 testing services for targeted groups, including high-exposure groups such as front-line staff of catering businesses, staff and personnel working in markets, licensed hawkers and practitioners of cold stores, to safeguard public health. The deadline for online registration for the scheme has been extended to February 21. People in high-exposure groups who have already registered and undergone testing may register again.
A spokesman for the FEHD said, “To broaden surveillance at the community level, and incorporate disease prevention and infection control into the new normal of the daily operation of society, the Government has integrated and regularised the Targeted Group Testing Scheme (TGTS) as part of its sentinel surveillance. The TGTS has become part of the surveillance and early warning system. By facilitating contact tracing and epidemiological investigation, it is conducive to early identification, early isolation and early treatment, and can provide reference data for the overall assessment of the epidemic situation.”
Under the scheme, the testing agency (Prenetics Limited) will be responsible for the provision of one-stop services covering specimen taking and testing. The testing agency will deliver specimen bottles to the premises for collecting deep throat saliva samples, and then collect the samples in the subsequent one to two days for testing. The person-in-charge of the premises should return all unused specimen bottles to the testing agency on the day of the sample collection. Cases with preliminary positive results will be relayed to the Centre for Health Protection of the Department of Health for follow-up.
The FEHD strongly appeals to the groups concerned to actively participate in the testing scheme, and continue to comply with the directions made under the Prevention and Control of Disease (Requirements and Directions) (Business and Premises) Regulation (Cap. 599F), and to maintain personal and environmental hygiene continuously with a view to ensuring cleanliness of the premises and food safety. Details of the scheme are available at the FEHD’s website (www.fehd.gov.hk/english/events/covid19_test/info_20200926.html).
​For details of the testing programme, please call the hotline of the testing agency at 3008 8319 or visit the FEHD website (www.fehd.gov.hk). read more
The following is issued on behalf of the University Grants Committee:
The University Grants Committee (UGC) and the Quality Assurance Council (QAC) will allocate additional funding of $165 million to support the eight UGC-funded universities in implementing various initiatives between 2021 and 2023 to promote the strategic development of virtual teaching and learning (VTL) in the medium to long run.
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, online teaching has been widely adopted and has become the prevalent mode of teaching and learning as the universities suspended face-to-face classes most of the time. Both the UGC and the QAC believe that, after the pandemic, universities will continue to make use of VTL to enhance the overall effectiveness and experience of teaching and learning. The UGC and the QAC will thus allocate additional funding of $165 million (including $15 million dedicated to inter-institutional collaborative activities) to the eight UGC-funded universities to facilitate more systemic collaborations among them to promote the strategic development of VTL in the medium to long run.
The universities are welcome to deploy the additional funding to implement a diverse range of project initiatives, including:
(1) developing the governance framework, assessment methods, quality assurance system and professional best practices of VTL;
(2) enriching the overall educational experience of virtual learning, such as organising staff development and encouraging interaction among students during online classes;
(3) exploring new strategies, pedagogies, platforms and facilities in pursuit of longer-term visions on VTL; and
(4) promoting the integration of VTL into scenarios such as practicums and on-site training.
The Chairman of the UGC, Mr Carlson Tong, said, “Teaching and learning is the most important mission of universities and enhancing teaching quality is crucial to the nurturing of talents. The UGC has all along attached great importance to the development of teaching and learning, and we devote substantial resources to the universities for such activities each year. While the pandemic has brought about immense challenges to teaching and learning on one hand, it has also offered opportunities for transformation on the other. The UGC and the QAC hope that the additional funding will catalyse innovative and strategic thinking among our universities, and prepare them for the ever-changing teaching and learning environment as well as their development needs under the ‘new normal’.”
The UGC and the QAC will invite the universities to submit their work plans and detailed proposals. The universities may use the funding to take forward various project initiatives from the first half of 2021 to mid-2023. read more
The Transport Department (TD) said today (January 21) that online applications will be introduced for the quarterly parking tickets of the three government car parks managed by the TD, namely Kennedy Town Car Park, Sheung Fung Street Car Park and Rumsey Street Car Park, which are currently allocated by ballot, in addition to submission of applications in person at the shroff offices of the car parks.
During the period from January 23 to February 5, an intending applicant for the quarterly parking ticket of Kennedy Town Car Park or Sheung Fung Street Car Park covering March to May 2021 may submit an online application at the following websites: