Issued by Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government Information Services
Garden Road, 5th-8th Floors, Murray Building, Hong Kong. Tel: 2842 8777
Sunday, March 15, 1998 CONTENTS ======== 1. Update on cholera 2. 12,000 civil servants walk for charity 3. New products safety regulations effective from April 4. Winners performances of Schools Dance Festival 5. Employees must be insured 1. Update on cholera ***************** The Department of Health today (Sunday) announced seven more suspected cholera cases - five imported and two local. Of the five suspected imported cases, three are related to the two tour groups to Thailand known to be involved in the recent cholera outbreak. The other two are from a third tour group from the same travel agency, which went to Thailand between March 4 and March 10. This tour group has 30 members. Other members of the tour group are being followed up. The two local suspected case involve a 26-year-old female and a 63-year-old male who presented with diarrhoea on March 12 and February 25 respectively. Information gathered so far revealed that both cases had no travel history. Investigations into these two suspected cases are continuing. The total number of confirmed cholera cases so far this year remains at 18 including five imported cases and 13 local cases. The total number of suspected cases is 23, with 21 imported and 2 local cases. End 2. 12,000 civil servants walk for charity ************************************** About 12,000 community-spirited civil servants from 90 government bureaux and departments took part in a walks-for-a-million in Sha Tin today (Sunday) to raise funds for the Hong Kong Community Chest. The Civil Service Walk for Charity, which commemorates the 30th Anniversary of the Chest, is the first of its kind since the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. About $10 million was raised in a similar walk which was held in October 1995. The 7.5-kilometre walk, which started at the Sha Tin Park Main Plaza, was officiated by the Chief Executive, Mr Tung Chee Hwa; the President of the Hong Kong Community Chest, Mrs Betty Tung, and the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mrs Anson Chan. Lion dance teams from the Fire Services Department led the officiating guests and other senior government officials to the Lek Yuen Bridge to mark the beginning of the walk which toured round the Shing Mun River. Walkers also enjoyed live band performances by the Hong Kong Police, the Correctional Services Department, Auxiliary Medical Service and the Civil Aid Service at various locations throughout the route. End 3. New products safety regulations effective from April **************************************************** Two new regulations on consumer goods, toys and children's products, which seek to further enhance consumer protection, will come into force on April 1, 1998. The two regulations, the Consumer Goods Safety Regulation and the Toys and Children's Products Safety Regulation, stipulate that safety warning labels on all consumer goods covered by the Consumer Goods Safety Ordinance and toys and children's products covered under the Toys and Children's Products Safety Ordinance have to be in both English and Chinese. In addition, all toys and children's products covered under the Toys and Children's Products Safety Ordinance will have to carry the names, trade or other identification marks and the local addresses of the manufacturers, importers or suppliers of the products in English, Chinese or both. A person who commits an offence under these regulations will be liable to a fine of $100,000 and imprisonment of one year on the first conviction and a fine of $500,000 and imprisonment of two years on subsequent conviction. The Commissioner of Customs and Excise will be responsible for enforcing both regulations. A spokesman for the Trade and Industry Bureau today (Sunday) said that the bilingual safety labelling requirement would allow more local consumers to better understand the message behind the safety warning labels concerning the safe keeping, use, consumption and disposal of the products. This would contribute towards enhancing consumer safety. "The identification marking requirement will enable enforcement officials to easily identify the sources of supply of unsafe toys or children's products to facilitate any necessary enforcement action," he said. The new regulations were approved by the former Legislative Council in April 1997. After a 12-month grace period, they will become effective from next month. End 4. Winners performances of Schools Dance Festival ********************************************** The 34th Schools Dance Festival Prize Presentation and Winners Performances will be held next month (April). The performances are jointly organised by the Education Department, the Provisional Urban Council, the Provisional Regional Council and the Hong Kong Schools Dance Association. Participating teams from schools that have obtained Honours Awards in the Festival this January will be performing a selection of Chinese, Oriental, Modern and Western/Folk/National Dances. Over five thousand students from 270 schools are participating in this annual event. The champion for the Secondary School Section and the Primary School Section went to SHK Bishop Mok Sau Tseng Secondary School and St Paul's Convent School (Primary School) respectively. In the Secondary School Section, the first, second and third runners-up were awarded to Bishop Hall Jubilee School, Sacred Heart Canossian School and St Paul's Convent School. In the Primary School Section, the first, second and third runners-up were awarded to Sam Shui Natives' Association School (AM), Yaumati Catholic Primary School (PM) and HK Taoist Association Ng Lai Wo Memorial School (AM). Besides, Bishop Hall Jubilee School and HK Taoist Association Ng Lai Wo Memorial School (AM) were also awarded with the Most Progressive School Awards. Winners performances will be staged on separate nights at the Auditorium, Sha Tin Town Hall on April 9 and April 10; and at the Grand Theatre, Hong Kong Cultural Centre on April 20 and April 21. Tickets at $30, $40 and $50; and student tickets at $15 are now available at URBTIX outlets. A 10 per cent discount will be offered for the bulk purchase of 10 or more tickets for each performance. End 5. Employees must be insured ************************* Employers must take out insurance policies for their employees, otherwise they will face severe punishment. Senior Labour Officer (Prosecutions), Mrs Tonia Leung, gave this warning today (Sunday) following two recent court cases in which the owners of two restaurants were fined $15,000 and $10,000 respectively in the North Kowloon Magistracy for failing to provide insurance cover for employees as required under Section 40(1) of the Employees' Compensation Ordinance (ECO). "Under the ECO, employers are required to take out insurance cover for all their employees so that they can fulfil their legal obligations to pay compensation for work-related injuries," said Mrs Leung. "The Labour Department takes a serious view on compliance with this provision and our labour inspectors conduct frequent inspections to establishments to detect offences." The maximum penalty for committing the offence is a fine of $25,000 and imprisonment for 12 months. End
