Issued by Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government Information Services
Garden Road, 5th-8th Floors, Murray Building,
Hong Kong. Tel: 2842 8777
Saturday, January 3, 1998
CONTENTS
========
1. CS's transcript
2. Fourth round of retired leaders to visit Hong Kong
3. H5N1 infected boy located
4. Update on avian flu
5. Appointment of new Chairman of Vocational Training Council
6. Eight Social Workers Registration Board members elected
1. CS's transcript
***************
Following is the transcript of the media session
given by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mrs Anson
Chan, after attending a Housing Authority ceremony this
(Saturday) afternoon:
Reporter: Mrs Chan, could you tell me what the next step
the government is going to take to help...?
Mrs Chan: The first task is that we have destroyed a well
over one and a half million chickens. We have also taken
specimens from other types of poultry, for examples ducks,
geese, quails and pigeons, to see whether this virus
exists in these poultry. And if so, we would consider
what the appropriate action should be. I want to stress
that in the absence of experience in tackling this type of
virus, particularly as it has not been experienced in any
other country, the government must take a responsible
attitude and that is to make decisive action when
developments indicate that this is necessary, but not to
take precipitated action which will in any way adds to the
anxiety of the population at large. And this is what we
have been trying to do all along. At the same time, we
are discussing with the mainland authorities the
establishment of the system that will ensure that as and
when we agree to resume importation of poultry from China
that there is in place a system that will ensure that all
poultry imported into Hong Kong will be free of this
virus. We are receiving very good co-operation from
mainland authorities and I am hopeful that in a short
while we will be able to devise such a scheme. As you
also know, with the help of international experts and with
the participation of the Director of Health, this team of
experts will also be going into mainland to see for
themselves the situation on the ground.
Reporter:... criticism has been... government's handling
of the crisis...what will change when the government
approaches to tackle this criticism?
Mrs Chan: I think the community at large believes that the
action that the government has taken to destroy all
chickens is the appropriate action in the light of
developments and in the absence of experience, and also
with very very limited resources. We do not pretend that
the whole operation has gone on one hundred per cent
smoothly and as usual with such a big operation, we will
be reviewing the procedures and the actions that we have
taken to see in what way we can improve co-ordination and
improve communication between different government
departments. But I do want to stress that in the current
circumstances, given that we have destroyed well over one
and a half million chickens within a matter of a few days,
our colleagues in various departments have worked
extremely hard and I am sure the community will be aware
of the great efforts they have put into this whole
exercise.
End
2. Fourth round of retired leaders to visit Hong Kong
**************************************************
The fourth round of retired national leaders will
visit Hong Kong shortly, an SAR government spokesman said
today (Saturday). The leader coming this time is Mr Yang
Shangkun, former president of the PRC.
The Central People's Government is responsible for
organising and arranging the visits of retired national
leaders to Hong Kong. The SAR Government will assist in
arranging some visit programmes for this batch. As
before, the retired leader is on private visit and hence
his itinerary will not be announced.
End
3. H5N1 infected boy located
*************************
The Department of Health announced early today
(Saturday) that the Department had successfully traced the
3-year-old boy involved in the 15th confirmed case of H5N1
infection.
"The boy was found to be in satisfactory condition,"
a department spokesman said.
"However, on the advice of department medical staff,
the boy has now been admitted into Princess Margaret
Hospital for treatment and observation."
Information gathered so far indicated that the boy
had gone to the vicinity of local poultry market stalls on
a number of occasions a few days before the onset of his
illness on December 28, 1997, the spokesman added.
End
4. Update on avian flu
*******************
A spokesman for the Department of Health (DH) said
that there were no new cases of influenza A (H5N1) today
(Saturday). However, a suspected case (Case 3 on
yesterday's suspected case list involving a 19-year-old
female) had been classified as confirmed case.
This brings the total number of cases to 16 confirmed
cases and five suspected cases.
Staff of DH have been able to contact the three-year-
old boy whose case was confirmed yesterday (Case 15). The
boy attended a DH's general out-patient clinic on December
29, 1997. He is now under observation in Princess
Margaret Hospital and in satisfactory condition.
In the meantime, DH announced that the service of the
14 special centres set up for poultry workers and traders
to obtain health checks and tests would be extended for
one more week. These centres would be open from 6 pm to
10 pm between January 5 to January 10, 1998. As at
yesterday, some 1,630 persons made use of these centres.
Following is a list of the cases and their latest
conditions:
Confirmed cases
***************
Case 1
Sex / Age: Male / 3 yr
Condition: Died
Case 2
Sex / Age: Male / 2 yr
Condition: Recovered and discharged
Case 3
Sex / Age: Female / 13 yr
Condition: Died
Case 4
Sex / Age: Male / 54 yr
Condition: Died
Case 5
Sex / Age: Female / 5 yr
Condition: Recovered and discharged
Case 6
Sex / Age: Male / 37 yr
Condition: Recovered and discharged
Case 7
Sex / Age: Female / 24 yr
Condition: Under treatment, condition critical
Case 8
Sex / Age: Male / 2 yr
Condition: Recovered and discharged
Case 9
Sex / Age: Male / 4 yr
Condition: Recovered and discharged
Case 10
Sex / Age: Male / 1 yr
Condition: Recovered and discharged
Case 11
Sex / Age: Female / 3 yr
Condition: Recovered and discharged
Case 12
Sex / Age: Female / 60 yr
Condition: Died
Case 13
Sex / Age: Female / 25 yr
Condition: Under treatment, condition critical
Case 14
Sex / Age: Female / 14 yr
Condition: Under treatment, condition satisfactory
Case 15
Sex / Age: Male / 3 yr
Condition: Under observation, condition satisfactory
Case 16
Sex / Age: Female / 19 yr
Condition: Under treatment, condition critical
Suspected cases
***************
Case 1
Sex / Age: Female / 3 yr
Condition: Recovered and discharged
Case 2
Sex / Age: Male / 6 yr
Condition: Recovered and discharged
Case 3
Sex / Age: Male / 3 yr
Condition: Recovered and discharged
Case 4
Sex / Age: Male / 7 yr
Condition: Recovered and discharged
Case 5
Sex / Age: Male / 72 yr
Condition: Under treatment, condition stable
End
5. Appointment of new Chairman of Vocational Training Council
**********************************************************
The Government announced today (Saturday) the
appointment of Mr Yeung Kai-yin as the new Chairman of the
Vocational Training Council (VTC).
The chairmanship of the Council has been vacant since
the former Chairman, Dr Samuel P W Wong, passed away in
June, 1997.
Mr Yeung is the Chairman and Chief Executive of the
Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation. He was a civil
servant for over 30 years, and held a variety of senior
posts including Secretary for the Treasury, Secretary for
Education and Manpower, and Secretary for Transport. Upon
retirement from the civil service, he joined the private
sector.
The Secretary for Education and Manpower, Mr Joseph W
P Wong, welcomed the appointment. He said: "The
Vocational Training Council is undergoing reforms with the
aim of making it more responsive to the changing needs of
the economy and the increasing demands of the service
sector. Mr Yeung's proven accomplishments in the public
and private sectors will be particularly useful to lead
the VTC into a new era."
The Government also announced the reappointment of
the current Deputy Chairman of the VTC, Dr Ng Tat-lun. Dr
Ng was appointed to the VTC in January, 1994 and assumed
the deputy chairmanship a year later.
Both the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman have been
appointed from January 1, 1998 to December 31, 1999.
The Government also announced that all serving non-
official members of the VTC (other than Dr Law Song-seng,
from Singapore, who was appointed from December 12, 1997
to December 31, 1999) will have their present terms of
office extended until June 30, 1998. They are:
Professor J Barrett
Professor Y C Cheng
Dr Lily Chiang
Mr William R Donald
Ms Li Fung-ying
Dr the Hon Raymond Ho
Professor Joseph Lai Ki-leuk
Mr Ronald Lau Yiu-fai
Mr T Brian Stevenson
The Hon Tam Yiu-chung
Mr Larry Tchou
Professor Joshua Wong
Mr Yeung Kwok-keung
The Hon Howard Young
"The membership of the VTC after June 30, 1998 will
be considered further by the Government, in consultation
with Mr Yeung, after he has had time to examine the
decision-making structure of the VTC and the relationship
between the Council and the training boards and general
committees," Mr Wong said.
The VTC was set up in 1982 to advise the Government
on measures to ensure a comprehensive system of technical
education and vocational training suited to Hong Kong's
development needs.
It currently runs two technical colleges, seven
technical institutes, 24 industrial training centres and
three skills centres for persons with a disability, as
well as the statutory apprenticeship scheme. It has an
enrolment of some 110,000 students, both full-time and
part-time.
End
6. Eight Social Workers Registration Board members elected
*******************************************************
Eight social workers from various organisations were
selected as members of the Social Workers Registration
Board when its Initial Board held an election this
(Saturday) afternoon.
A total of 1,543 registered social workers cast their
vote but only 1,471 ballots were found valid.
The eight elected members are:
(1) Dr LAW Chi-kwong (University of (1,176 votes)
Hong Kong)
(2) Mrs Justina (Boys' & Girls' Clubs ( 833 votes)
LEUNG NGAI Mou-yin Association of Hong Kong)
(3) Ms Sandra (Hong Kong Council of ( 814 votes)
WONG King-yee social Service)
(4) Mr MAK Hoi-wah (City University ( 812 votes)
of Hong Kong)
(5) Mr WOO Leung-hee (St James' Settlement)( 700 votes)
(6) Miss Ophelia (Social Welfare ( 603 votes)
CHAN Chiu-ling Department)
(7) Mr Paul (Hong Kong Federation ( 599 votes)
CHAN Kam-cheung of Youth Groups)
(8) Miss Joyce (Caritas - Hong Kong) ( 546 votes)
CHAN Sau-han
The Social Workers Registration Board shall comprise
15 members, of whom eight shall be elected, six shall be
appointed and one shall be the Director of Social Welfare.
It is responsible for setting registration
eligibility, maintaining a register, formulating a 'code
of practice' for the profession and exercising
disciplinary control of registered social workers.
Today's vote counting was witnessed by the Initial
Board's chairperson Mrs Patricia CHU, deputy chairperson
Mr Hui Yi-fat, and members Professer Grace TANG and Mr NG
Shu-lai.
End