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The following is the speech for Postmaster General, Mr LUK Ping-chuen, at the 160th Anniversary of Hongkong Post Prestige Stamp Booklet Issuing Ceremony and the Opening of the Philatelic Exhibition:

The Honorable Mr TSANG, distinguished guests, fellow colleagues and friends from the media,

Thank you for joining us today at the issuing ceremony of the 160th Anniversary of Hongkong Post Prestige Stamp Booklet and the Opening of the Philatelic Exhibition. I would like to extend our special thanks to The Honorable Mr Donald TSANG, Chief Secretary for Administration, for officiating today's ceremony. My gratitude is extended also to Hong Kong Museum of History for kindly providing exhibits for the Philatelic Exhibition held at our Postal Gallery. I am sure these rarities conjure up a vivid picture of the local postal history.

Postal services in Hong Kong started in 1841 and we are now celebrating the 160th Anniversary of Hongkong Post. For over a century and a half's time, we have been serving the community with dedication. From conventional mail delivery to newly developed services, we spare no efforts in attaining the highest levels of customer satisfaction. Our performance pledges are reviewed annually to further enhance the quality of services rendered to the public. It is most gratifying that in the year 2000/01, we have achieved very high performance against most of our pledges and even exceeded some of the targets set, resulting in a higher level of overall customer satisfaction. According to the Public Perception Survey conducted in March this year, 97% of the respondents from the public and the business sector were "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with our services. Despite the achievements accomplished, we would not be complacent but continue to excel ourselves by further improving our services while heading towards the next 160th anniversary.

A series of activities have been launched since July in commemoration of our big day. We are now issuing the 160th Anniversary Prestige Stamps Booklet today to share our thrill with the public. The Booklet illustrates the development of Hongkong Post, our vision as well as our performance pledges and contains three stamp sheetlets embedding Stamp Collecting special stamps, 1997 and 1999 Hong Kong Definitive Stamps and Hong Kong Airport commemorative stamps. These philatelic products would definitely make valuable collections. I hope as you read on, you will have a more thorough understanding of our history and our values. Meanwhile, starting from today, exhibits on the theme of Hongkong Post 160th anniversary would be put on display at the Postal Gallery. Another function to mark our anniversary is the "Free Post Day" on 9 October 2001. On that day, local students can send their mail free of charge by using our postage prepaid lettergrammes.

Thank you.

END/Saturday, August 25, 2001

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