New Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development appointed
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Mrs. Rita Lau Ng Wai-lan is the new Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development. |
On July 12, China's Central People’s Government, on the nomination and recommendation of Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang, approved the appointment of Mrs. Rita Lau Ng Wai-lan as the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development (SCED) and the removal of Frederick Ma from the post of SCED.
On June 24, Mr. Ma released a statement indicating that he has decided to resign for health reasons. In the statement, Mr. Ma said he was recently diagnosed as having cavernous hemangioma and venous angioma — blood vessel tumors in the brain. After discussions with his family, he decided to step down from his position.
The Chief Executive commended Mr. Ma for his dedication in serving the people of Hong Kong and his tremendous contributions in the areas of monetary and financial services, commerce and economic development during his service in the government. Mr. Tsang also expressed appreciation for Mr. Ma's outstanding abilities and sound communication with various sectors of the community. The Chief Executive wished Mr. Ma a good rest and a speedy recovery.
Mrs. Lau joined Administrative Service in October 1976 and rose to her present rank of Administrative Officer Staff Grade A1 in September 2004. Mrs. Lau has served in various bureaus and departments. She was appointed Deputy Secretary (Information Technology and Broadcasting) in 1998; Director of Urban Services in 1999; Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene in 2000; Permanent Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works (Environment and Transport) in 2002; and Permanent Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands (Planning and Lands) in 2004. Mrs Lau has been Permanent Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development (Communications and Technology) since 2007.
LegCo election to be held September 7
Hong Kong’s Legislative Council election will be held September 7, when 60 members will be returned, 30 by geographical constituencies and 30 by functional constituencies. The nomination period for the election ends August 1.
Chairman of the Electoral Affairs Commission Pang Kin-kee said a candidate must be a registered geographical constituency voter age 21 or above and must have ordinarily resided in Hong Kong for the three years immediately before the nomination. The candidate should also meet the relevant requirements for running in the geographical constituency or functional constituency election.
Each candidate for the geographical constituency election must be endorsed by 100 registered voters of the constituency concerned and pay an election deposit of US$6,410.25.
For the functional constituency election, each nominee must be endorsed by 10 registered voters of the respective constituency and pay US$3,205.12 as an election deposit.
Nomination forms are available from District Offices, the respective Returning Officers' offices or the Registration and Electoral Office at 10/F, Harbour Centre, 25 Harbour Road, Wan Chai. They can also be downloaded at the election Web site [www.elections.gov.hk].
Justice Pang urged the 3.37 million geographical constituency and 230,000 functional constituency voters to place their votes September 7, when approximately 530 polling stations across Hong Kong will be open from 7.30 a.m. to 10.30 p.m.
He reminded electors about the importance of safeguarding the secrecy of votes.
“Electors should mark the ballot papers by themselves. An elector in need may ask the presiding officer or his deputy to mark the ballot paper on his behalf, in the presence of a polling officer as witness,” he said.
After the polls close, most polling stations will count the geographical constituency votes. Functional constituency votes will be delivered to the Hong Kong International Trade and Exhibition Centre in Kowloon Bay for central counting.
Election results for all 60 seats will be announced from the Hong Kong International Trade and Exhibition Centre.
On July 10, the commission released the Guidelines on Election-related Activities. Justice Pang urged all candidates to familiarize themselves with the guidelines before conducting electioneering activities. The guidelines were updated after a 30-day public consultation exercise ended in late April.
The guidelines and information about the election are available on the Web site [www.elections.gov.hk].
West Kowloon Cultural District clears hurdles
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government recently welcomed the Legislative Council’s passage of the West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD) Authority Bill on July 3 and the approval of the upfront endowment of US$2.76 billion by the council’s Finance Committee on July 4.
Chief Secretary for Administration Henry Tang thanked the Legislative Council for approving both the bill and the funding. He also thanked the Bills Committee for its dedicated work in scrutinizing the bill, and in particular Selina Chow, for her leadership. He also commended the Subcommittee on West Kowloon Cultural District Development for its useful advice and suggestions throughout the project’s deliberations.
Mr. Tang said the WKCD is an important strategic investment in the long-term development of Hong Kong’s arts and culture. It should also be a major initiative for building up the city as a vibrant and creative cosmopolitan center.
“The general public has expressed strong support for the early implementation of this important project, which promotes arts, culture and creative industries, provides further impetus to our economic activities and creates jobs.
“We plan to establish the authority by making appointments to the board during the coming months so as to push ahead with the early implementation of the project.”
According to Mr. Tang, the WKCD Authority’s board “will comprise a balanced composition of individuals from the arts and cultural sector, as well as from a wide range of disciplines or fields relevant to the WKCD. We also welcome suggestions from the community on possible candidates for the appointments.
“We will work together with the community to create an arts and culture hub, which we will all be proud of,” he said.
The government will establish the WKCD Authority later this year to take the project forward.
Hong Kong a partner in gambling crackdown
Hong Kong Police took part between May 1 and June 30 in an Interpol-led crackdown on illegal soccer bookmaking activities in Asia.
In an operation code-named “SOGA,” law-enforcement authorities from China, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia detected 1,088 illegal soccer bookmaking cases and arrested 1,316 people, resulting in the seizure of betting slips worth US$1.457 billion and US$16 million in cash. In Hong Kong, police detected 75 illegal soccer bookmaking cases, arrested 87 people and seized betting slips worth more than US$12.82 million.
The crackdown was part of efforts to stamp out illegal bookmaking activities in Asia, a growing concern associated with transnational syndicated soccer gambling activities.
In June, Hong Kong Police and their Shenzhen counterparts neutralized two cross-boundary illegal soccer bookmaking syndicates headed by Hong Kong residents. Fifteen men and four women were arrested in Hong Kong and Shenzhen, and betting slips worth more than US$3.84 million were seized.
A similar cross-regional operation was held in fall 2007, when law-enforcement officials detected 266 illegal soccer bookmaking cases, arrested 423 people and seized betting slips worth US$680 million and US$680,000 in cash.
The success of the 2007 operation led to this most recent action.
Hong Kong Police has maintained close contact with their counterparts through special channels established for intelligence exchange. The authorities have a platform for conducting efficient joint operations among the participating countries and regions, along with mutual understanding, cooperation and intelligence exchange. They also continue to discuss mounting similar joint operations in the future to fight against various forms of transnational organized crimes.
Home Affairs Bureau lauds young pianists
The Home Affairs Bureau recently congratulated young Hong Kong pianists Aristo Ching-toa Sham and Rachel Wai-ching Cheung on their success in international competitions.
Mr. Sham won first prize in the Gina Bachauer International Junior Piano Competition in Salt Lake City, Utah, on June 22, while Miss Cheung took second prize in the Alessandro Casagrande International Piano Competition in Terni, Italy, which concluded June 8.
Mr. Sham beat 33 other young pianists in the Salt Lake City contest, one of four U.S. piano competitions that attracts the finest international pianists. He is in Grade 6 and is a junior student at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, with a double major in Piano Composition and Computer Music Technology. He has won a number of international prizes, including gold in the 6th Chopin International Competition in Asia (Japan), the Group A championship of the 69th Steinway International Children and Youth Piano Competition (China Regional final) in Beijing, the Mozart Sonata championship group of the 3rd Asian Youth Music Competition in Shanghai and first prize in category A at the Ettlingen International Competition for Young Pianists 2006 in Germany.
Miss Cheung, 16, was the youngest of the 26 pianists at the Terni competition, one of the few Italian piano competitions to be part of the prestigious World Federation of International Music Competitions. She was the only Asian among the three finalists. Miss Cheung studies music at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, having won first prize in the Gina Bachauer International Junior Piano Competition in 2004 and the International Competition for Young Pianists in Memory of Vladimir Horowitz in 2003.
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