Hotel quarantine cut to 3 days |
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Starting Aug 12, mandatory hotel quarantine for overseas arrivals to Hong Kong will be reduced to three days from the current 7. This will be followed by 4 days of medical surveillance at home. During the medical surveillance period, the arriving passengers will be subject to health code restrictions. While they will be able to leave their homes and take public transportation, they cannot visit high-risk places that require a vaccine pass, such as restaurants, bars and gyms. They will also need to take repeated nucleic acid tests as well as rapid antigen tests during this period.
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June retail figures down 1.2% |
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Hong Kong’s value of total retail sales in June fell 1.2% year-on-year to a provisionally estimated US$3.55 billion. The retail sales performance improved in the second quarter, with the value of retail sales rebounding sharply from the first quarter and reverting to mild year-on-year growth. The momentum softened in the latter part of the quarter alongside the increased number of local COVID-19 cases and sharp interest rate hikes by many major central banks, with retail sales value registering a modest year-on-year decline in June. Looking ahead, the upcoming disbursement of Phase II consumption vouchers will support consumption demand. However, retail sales performance will be subject to how the local epidemic evolves and the ways the tighter financial conditions affect consumer spending power and sentiment.
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Gala dinner marks successful completion of dragon boat festival in New York |
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About 250 guests joined a gala dinner on the shore of Central Park Lake (Aug 4) to celebrate the successful completion of the 30th anniversary of the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in New York. Addressing the gala dinner, Director of Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, New York, Candy Nip, thanked the participating teams, sponsors, volunteers and media partners for their support in making the festival a resounding success. This year’s festival paddled its way back to Flushing Meadows Corona Park on Jul 30 and 31 at full capacity, attracting over 170 teams and about 40,000 participants. The dragon boat fever will continue in Atlanta, GA on Sep 10.
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Chilli Laugh Story wins Audience Award
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Congratulations to Hong Kong comedy Chilli Laugh Story for taking home the Audience Award at the 2022 New York Asian Film Festival. This hilarious, heartwarming comedy about a bickering family who begin bottling and selling their tasty home-made chilli sauce was one of 14 Hong Kong productions featured under “Hong Kong Panorama” film series at the festival (Jul 15 – 31).
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Hong Kong Cinema - A Virtual Photo Exhibition |
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This is the final week to check out the virtual exhibition of “Making Waves: Navigators of Hong Kong Cinema”, which showcases the works of four unit photographers in Hong Kong: Jupiter Wong, Wong Wai-lun, Quist Tsang, and Sharon Salad. The four have created exceptional still images for nearly 200 Hong Kong films over the last 25 years, each telling a unique story of Hong Kong cinema in a new artistic dimension. Audience can see remarkable still images of actors on and off-screen, the intriguing filming process, Hong Kong’s unique landscape, and the creative paths that local filmmakers are forging. Presented by Create Hong Kong, the virtual photo exhibition is part of the celebrations to mark the 25th Anniversary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. This exhibition, available to US audience for a limited time, will close on Aug 14.
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Hong Kong and its Basic Law |
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The Basic Law is the constitutional document of the HKSAR. Put into effect on July 1, 1997, it enshrines within a legal document the important concept of “One Country, Two Systems”.
Q: Are Hong Kong people administering Hong Kong with a high degree of autonomy?
A: In accordance with the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China, the National People’s Congress (NPC) enacted the Basic Law, authorizing the HKSAR to exercise a high degree of autonomy and enjoy executive, legislative and independent judicial powers, including that of final adjudication, in accordance with the Basic Law. The Central People’s Government (CPG) shall be responsible for for the foreign affairs and defense relating to the HKSAR and other matters authorized by the Basic Law. It also authorizes the HKSAR to conduct relevant external affairs on its own in accordance with the Basic Law. The HKSAR shall have independent finances and shall use its financial revenues exclusively for its own purposes. We are not required to pay taxes to the CPG. (BL Preamble and BL Articles 2; 12-17; 19; 22; 106)
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