The Chief Executive in Council has approved the draft Ma Tau Kok Outline Zoning Plan (OZP). "The approved OZP provides a statutory land use planning framework to guide development and redevelopment … read more
The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) today (January 15) released the latest grading of water quality for four gazetted beaches that are open all year round for swimming (see Note).
Four beaches were rated as Good (Grade 1).
Grade 1 beaches are:
| Clear Water Bay Second Beach | Golden Beach |
| Deep Water Bay Beach | Silverstrand Beach |
The Government announced today (January 15) the following senior appointments:
(a) Miss Agnes Wong Tin-yu, Director of Marine, will take up the post of Permanent Secretary for Transport and Housing (Housing)/Director of Housing on February 1, 2021. She will succeed Mr Donald Tong Chi-keung, who has commenced his pre-retirement leave;
(b) Ms Carol Yuen Siu-wai, Deputy Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development (Communications and Creative Industries), will take up the post of Director of Marine on February 1, 2021;
(c) Ms Doris Ho Pui-ling, Deputy Secretary for Development (Planning and Lands), will take up the post of Head, Policy Innovation and Co-ordination Office on January 18, 2021; and
(d) Mr Kevin Siu Ka-yin, Deputy Commissioner of Rating and Valuation, will assume the post of Commissioner of Rating and Valuation on February 8, 2021, when Mr Choi Lap-yiu commences his pre-retirement leave.
Commenting on the appointments of Miss Wong, Ms Yuen and Ms Ho, the Secretary for the Civil Service, Mr Patrick Nip, said, “The three appointees are seasoned Administrative Officers with proven leadership and management skills. I have every confidence that they will serve the community with professionalism in their new capacities.”
Commenting on the appointment of Mr Siu, Mr Nip said, “Mr Siu has proven management and leadership skills, as well as rich professional knowledge and experience in rating and valuation work. I am confident that he will be able to lead the Rating and Valuation Department to meet the challenges ahead.”
On the retirement of Mr Tong, Mr Nip said, “Mr Tong has rendered 37 years of loyal and dedicated service to the community of Hong Kong. During his tenure as Permanent Secretary for Transport and Housing (Housing)/Director of Housing, he made commendable efforts in formulating and reviewing the Government’s policies and strategies relating to the development of public and private housing. He made invaluable contributions in implementing the key aspects of the Long Term Housing Strategy, including ensuring the rational use of public housing resources and promoting good sales practices for private residential properties. I wish him a fulfilling and happy retirement.”
Speaking on the retirement of Mr Choi, Mr Nip said, “As Commissioner of Rating and Valuation, Mr Choi has served with professionalism and commitment, and made sustained efforts in enhancing the efficiency and service quality of the Department. I wish him a fulfilling and happy retirement.”
Brief biographical notes of the six officers are set out below:
Mr Donald Tong Chi-keung
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Mr Tong joined the Administrative Service in July 1987 and rose to the rank of Administrative Officer Staff Grade A1 in April 2018. He has served in various bureaux and departments, including the Transport Department, the former Trade and Industry Branch, the former City and New Territories Administration, the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Washington, the former New Airport Projects Co-ordination Office, the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Toronto, the former Environment and Food Bureau, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department and the Home Affairs Bureau. He was Commissioner for Economic and Trade Affairs, USA, from October 2008 to February 2014, Commissioner for Labour from March 2014 to September 2016, Permanent Secretary for the Environment/Director of Environmental Protection from September 2016 to May 2019 and has been serving as Permanent Secretary for Transport and Housing (Housing)/Director of Housing since October 2019.
Miss Agnes Wong Tin-yu
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Miss Wong joined the Administrative Service in November 1989 and rose to the rank of Administrative Officer Staff Grade A in April 2019. She has served in various bureaux and departments, including the former City and New Territories Administration, the former Chief Secretary’s Office, the former Trade Department, the former Industry Department, the Innovation and Technology Commission, the Civil Service Bureau, the Home Affairs Department and the Chief Secretary for Administration’s Office. She was Deputy Secretary for Transport and Housing (Housing)/Deputy Director of Housing (Strategy) from October 2012 to August 2017, Director-General of Communications from August 2017 to May 2019 and has been serving as Director of Marine since May 2019.
Ms Carol Yuen Siu-wai
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Ms Yuen joined the Government in June 1986 as a Chinese Language Officer. She later joined the Administrative Service in June 1988 and rose to the rank of Administrative Officer Staff Grade B1 in April 2014. She has served in various bureaux and departments, including the former Royal Hong Kong Police Force, the former City and New Territories Administration, the former Planning, Environment and Lands Branch, the former Education and Manpower Branch, the Civil Service Bureau, the Trade and Industry Department and the Security Bureau. She was Deputy Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development (Commerce and Industry) from October 2012 to September 2016, Deputy Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury (Treasury) from October 2016 to July 2019, and has been serving as Deputy Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development (Communication and Creative Industries) since May 2020.
Ms Doris Ho Pui-ling
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Ms Ho joined the Administrative Service in August 1991 and rose to the rank of Administrative Officer Staff Grade B1 in April 2019. She has served in various bureaux and departments, including the former City and New Territories Administration, the former Health and Welfare Branch, the former Civil Service Branch, the former Finance Branch, the former Constitutional Affairs Bureau and the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau. She was Deputy Director of Administration from January to March 2013, the Head of Policy and Project Co-ordination Unit from April 2013 to June 2017 and has been serving as Deputy Secretary for Development (Planning and Lands) since July 2017.
Mr Choi Lap-yiu
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Mr Choi joined the Government as Student Rating and Valuation Surveyor in November 1984. He was appointed as Assistant Rating and Valuation Surveyor in February 1986, and promoted to Principal Valuation Surveyor in November 2004, to Assistant Commissioner of Rating and Valuation in July 2008 and to Deputy Commissioner of Rating and Valuation in July 2015. He has been Commissioner of Rating and Valuation since January 2019.
Mr Kevin Siu Ka-yin
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Mr Siu joined the Government as Assistant Valuation Surveyor in December 1994. He was promoted to Principal Valuation Surveyor in August 2012, to Assistant Commissioner of Rating and Valuation in July 2016 and to Deputy Commissioner of Rating and Valuation in April 2020.
The Secretary for Security, Mr John Lee, and the President of the Care of Rehabilitated Offenders Association (CROA), Mr Wong Kin-keung, officiated at the Correctional Services Department’s (CSD) community education programme “Mission in Prison” opening ceremony today (January 15) at Ma Hang Prison in Stanley and witnessed the kick-off of the programme.
Introduced under the Rehabilitation Pioneer Project (RPP), “Mission in Prison” is a new programme based on the concept of escape room activity with elements of role-playing, problem-solving and team-building, which simulates various emergencies and daily situations confronted by CSD staff to bring young people the most authentic learning experience.
Incorporated with the concept of Smart Prison, “Mission in Prison” has 18 checkpoints. With the aid of smart applications on tablets, participants will become correctional officers to carry out various tasks to deter illegal activities organised by persons in custody and formulate a rehabilitative programme for them to turn over a new leaf. Through the programme, participants are expected to deepen their understanding towards the duties of CSD staff and observe from another perspective the custodial environment and livelihood so as to be aware of the dire consequences of committing crimes.
Speaking at the ceremony, Mr Lee said that the CSD’s RPP has consistently collaborated with many social service organisations to hold diverse activities to cultivate students’ development of positive values, sense of responsibility, and to help them become law-abiding citizens. The department upholds the belief of “correction” and “education” to lead young persons in custody to reflect, correct and equip themselves to start a new journey of life.
Mr Wong said, “This year, the CROA donated $1 million to the CSD to jointly organise ‘Mission in Prison’, providing a unique crime prevention learning experience for participants at a real prison. Educational messages are disseminated to participants during after-activity evaluation to deepen their understanding towards crime prevention and rehabilitation.” He reiterated that the CROA has all along been promoting rehabilitative messages to all sectors of society, helping persons in custody to rehabilitate in order not to repeat the same mistake, and playing a role in maintaining social order.
The CSD has earlier promoted “Mission in Prison” in different events and during school visits. More stakeholders and schools will be invited to participate in the programme. In addition, the Department will open the programme for application by teams formed by individual students on a trial basis in phases so as to reach out to more young people and cultivate positive values among them.
The CSD launched the RPP in 2008 and collaborated with various schools and social services organisations to hold diverse learning activities, including the establishment of the uniform group “Rehabilitation Pioneer Leaders” in 2018 to disseminate to young people the messages of leading a law-abiding, drug-free life and supporting the rehabilitation of offenders. The CSD hopes that they can understand the heavy price paid for committing crimes. Since the introduction of the RPP, about 70 per cent of secondary schools in Hong Kong have participated in the activities, with nearly 400,000 participants including youths and educators. Such participation rate definitely shows the wide support of society and schools. read more
The Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) published today (January 15) the January 2021 issue of the “Hong Kong Monthly Digest of Statistics” (HKMDS).
Apart from providing up-to-date statistics, this issue also contains two feature articles entitled “Hong Kong’s External Direct Investment Statistics, 2010 to 2019” and “The Four Key Industries in the Hong Kong Economy”.
“Hong Kong’s External Direct Investment Statistics, 2010 to 2019”
Hong Kong is an international financial centre and commercial hub. It is also a gateway to the vast market of the mainland of China (the Mainland) as well as a platform for facilitating the Mainland enterprises to gain access to the global market. External direct investment (DI) between Hong Kong and the rest of the world, including the Mainland, is very sizable. Analysis of Hong Kong’s DI statistics over the past years is useful in understanding the characteristics and trend of DI in Hong Kong.
This feature article presents the salient features of Hong Kong’s DI statistics in the past decade.
For enquiries about this feature article, please contact the Balance of Payments Branch (2), the C&SD (Tel: 3903 7016; email: di@censtatd.gov.hk).
“The Four Key Industries in the Hong Kong Economy”
The Government has been actively pursuing economic development in order to keep up the competitive advantage of Hong Kong. The traditional Four Key Industries in Hong Kong, namely financial services, tourism, trading and logistics, and professional and producer services, have been the driving force of Hong Kong’s economic growth, providing impetus to growth of other sectors and creating employment.
This feature article analyses the economic contribution and employment situation in respect of the Four Key Industries in 2019. Taken together, the share of the total value added of the Four Key Industries in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was 56.4%, while the percentage share of total employment was 45.4%. Compared with 2018, the value added of financial services industry recorded the largest growth (+8.4%) among the four industries, with its share to the GDP increased to 21.2%. The industry employed 272 600 persons in 2019, or 7.1% of total employment.
For enquiries about this feature article, please contact the National Income Branch (2), the C&SD (Tel: 3903 7002; email: gdp-p@censtatd.gov.hk).
Published in bilingual form, the HKMDS is a compact volume of official statistics containing about 140 tables. It collects up-to-date statistical series on various aspects of the social and economic situation of Hong Kong. Topics include population; labour; external trade; National Income and Balance of Payments; prices; business performance; energy; housing and property; government accounts, finance and insurance; and transport, communications and tourism. For selected key statistical items, over 20 charts depicting the annual trend in the past decade and quarterly or monthly trend in the recent two years are also available. Users can download the Digest at the website of the C&SD (www.censtatd.gov.hk/hkstat/sub/sp460.jsp?productCode=B1010002).
Enquiries about the contents of the Digest can be directed to the Statistical Information Dissemination Section (1) of the C&SD (Tel: 2582 4738; email: gen-enquiry@censtatd.gov.hk). read more