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The Government gazetted today (May 20) the Public Health and Municipal Services (Fees and Charges) (Museums) (Amendment) Regulation 2016 (the Amendment Regulation) to implement the offer of free admission to permanent exhibitions of designated museums under the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD).
In his 2016 Policy Address, the Chief Executive announced that the Government would make free admission to permanent exhibitions of designated LCSD museums a standing practice, a Government spokesman said.
Under the new arrangement, the permanent exhibitions of five designated fee-charging museums, namely the Hong Kong Museum of Art, the Hong Kong Museum of History, the Hong Kong Heritage Museum, the Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence and the Dr Sun Yat-sen Museum, will be open for free to all members of the public, whereas the permanent exhibitions of the Hong Kong Science Museum and the Hong Kong Space Museum will offer free admission to full-time students.
To complement the free admission initiative, admission fees for the permanent exhibitions of the Hong Kong Science Museum will be reduced by 20 per cent. The new fees for standard, group and concessionary tickets to the Science Museum will be $20, $14 and $10 respectively. Moreover, the price of annual museum passes will be reduced by 50 per cent, with the revised charges for standard, concessionary and family passes set at $50, $25 and $100 respectively.
"The new initiative will help enrich the cultural life of Hong Kong people and make museum visits more accessible to people from all walks of life," the spokesman said.
Currently, the Hong Kong Museum of Art and the permanent exhibition halls of the Hong Kong Space Museum are closed for renovation. They will be re-opened to the public in 2019 and late 2016 respectively.
"Subject to the passage of the Amendment Regulation within this legislative session, the new fees will come into effect from August 1, 2016," the spokesman added.
The regulation will be tabled at the Legislative Council on May 25.
Ends/Friday, May 20, 2016
Issued at HKT 11:02
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