Daily Information Bulletin
Issued by Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government Information Services
Garden Road, 5th-8th Floors, Murray Building, Hong Kong. Tel: 2842 8777

Monday, March 2, 1998 CONTENTS ======== 1. Secretary for Housing recovering after operation 2. Quality Education Fund launching ceremony announced 3. TAC members visit cross boundary facilities 4. First SAR Government charity walk 5. Water storage figure 1. Secretary for Housing recovering after operation ************************************************ In response to press enquiries, a government spokesman said today (Monday) that the Secretary for Housing, Mr Dominic Wong Shing-wah, has been admitted to hospital for an operation of the vocal chord. According to the doctor, the operation is successful and Mr Wong is recovering. Mr Wong thanks everyone for their concern and good wishes. He will be discharged from the hospital shortly and will resume duty on March 9 (Monday). End 2. Quality Education Fund launching ceremony announced *************************************************** The Quality Education Fund (QEF)Steering Committee will launch the first call for applications on March 5 at a ceremony to be officiated by the Chief Secretary for Administration. The Chairman of the QEF Steering Committee, Mr Irving Koo Yee-yin, said after a meeting today (Monday): "Heads of nurseries, kindergartens, primary, secondary and special schools have been invited to attend the launching ceremony." "We also expect academics in tertiary institutions, and representatives of school sponsoring bodies and teachers unions to join us at the ceremony," said Mr Koo. Immediately following the launching ceremony, there will be seminars on quality education at different levels of basic education. Guest speakers for these seminars are Professor Cheng Kai-ming, Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Hong Kong; Professor Chung Yu-ping, Dean of Education, Chinese University of Hong Kong; and Professor Cheng Yin-cheong, Director of Centre for Research and Development, Hong Kong Institute of Education. "We hope the speeches by the educational experts will elicit constructive exchanges of views among the audience on the subject of quality education. Following the seminars, Members of the Steering Committee will be chairing open forums during which participants are welcome to raise questions on the operational aspects of the QEF," added Mr Koo. Between March 5 and April 30, schools, education bodies, teaching professionals are invited to submit applications to the QEF for funding to undertake innovative school-based projects to promote quality education. The QEF Steering Committee expects to release the first batch of grants in June. "The success of establishing a quality education culture in Hong Kong hinges on the support of our front- line educators. The launching of the QEF is thus an event for all key players in the education sector, we hope they will actively participate in the open forums and the on- going process of providing better education to our younger generation," said Mr Koo. The QEF Launching Ceremony will be held at 10 am on March 5 (Thursday) in the Convention Hall, second floor, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Wan Chai, Hong Kong. The guest of honour is Mrs Anson Chan, Chief Secretary for Administration. Other guests include Mr Joseph W P Wong, Secretary for Education and Manpower; Professor Rosie Young, Chairman of the Education Commission; and Mrs Helen C P Lai Yu, Director of Education. End 3. TAC members visit cross boundary facilities ******************************************* Transport Advisory Committee (TAC) members today (Monday) visited the boundary-crossing facilities at Lo Wu and Lok Ma Chau to see for themselves the general traffic situation there and to get the first hand knowledge of future improvement proposals. Led by the TAC chairman, Dr Cheng Hon-kwan and accompanied by the Secretary for Transport, Mr Nicholas Ng, members first called on the Kowloon-Canton railway Corporation at Fo Tan, where they were met by the Chairman of the Corporation, Mr K Y Yeung. After being briefed by the senior staff of the Corporation on various aspects of operations, members visited the Lo Wu station and the Lok Ma Chau Crossing. At Lok Ma Chau, members were led to a vantage point to observe road traffic at the crossing and were briefed on traffic control operations. They also saw the Passenger Check Point at the arrival/departure hall and were briefed on passenger movement issues. Before concluding the visit, members boarded a cross- boundary bus and toured the public transport interchange at Lok Ma Chau, and observed how the shuttle bus operated. End 4. First SAR Government charity walk ********************************* The first Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government Civil Service Charity Walk will be held on March 15 (Sunday) in Sha Tin. Announcing details of the walk at a press conference today (Monday), the Secretary for the Civil Service, Mr W K Lam, said the Government had accepted the Community Chest's invitation to organise the charity walk. An organising committee comprising representatives from concerned government departments and the Community Chest was set up for the walk. "The walk will raise funds for the Community Chest and will benefit 140 welfare agencies rendering various services to the needy in our community. "The walk will also commemorate the Community Chest's 30th anniversary," Mr Lam said. This year, about 10,000 civil servants, their families and friends will be participating in the walk. "The response from civil servants is encouraging, and many colleagues, their relatives and friends are sponsoring our walkers," Mr Lam added. The walk will be officiated by the Chief Executive, Mr Tung Chee Hwa; the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mrs Anson Chan; the Secretary for Justice, Miss Elsie Leung; the Secretary for the Civil Service, Mr W K Lam; the President of the Community Chest, Mrs Betty Tung; the Community Chest's Executive Community Chairman, Mr Charles Lee; the Campaign Chairman, Mr Dennis Sun; and the Chairman of Chevalier Group, Mr Chow Yei-ching. Two similar walks were held in 1993 and 1995 with about $10 million raised on each occasion. End 5. Water storage figure ******************** Storage in Hong Kong's reservoirs at 9 am today (Monday) stood at 81.3 per cent of capacity or 476.340 million cubic metres. This time last year the reservoirs contained 460.281 million cubic metres of water, representing 78.5 per cent of capacity. End


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