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