Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

​The Government welcomed the passage of the Basic Housing Units Bill by the Legislative Council today (September 26), which seeks to introduce a regulatory regime for the letting of subdivided units (SDUs) in residential buildings to ensure the provision of safe and reasonable living conditions in SDUs, thereby tackling the long-standing, big and difficult issue of substandard SDUs in an orderly and comprehensive manner.
 
The Basic Housing Units Ordinance requires SDUs in residential buildings to comply with a set of minimum standards of living conditions, including minimum area, minimum height, fire safety, structural safety, separate toilet, water supply requirements, lighting and ventilation, as well as separate water and electricity meters, and to obtain Basic Housing Unit (BHU) recognition before they are allowed to be let out for habitation. There will be criminal liability on the person who lets out unrecognised SDUs, while the tenants concerned will not be held liable.
     
The Ordinance will be gazetted on October 3 and come into effect on March 1, 2026. Upon commencement of the Ordinance, the Housing Bureau (HB) will start accepting applications for BHU recognition. At the same time, as a transitional arrangement to implement the BHU regulatory regime progressively, the HB will concurrently launch a 12-month registration system for existing SDUs to make applications for registration to enjoy a 36-month grace period from March 1, 2027, to February 28, 2030, which will enable necessary alteration works to be carried out gradually and applications for BHU recognition to be made. To encourage SDU owners and/or operators to submit registration and recognition applications as early as possible, starting from March 1, 2026, the Government will provide “early-bird” reduction/waiver on recognition fees, i.e. application fees will be fully waived for early registration/application.

Given that there are currently about 110 000 SDUs in residential buildings in Hong Kong, involving about 220 000 residents, the Government will adopt a pragmatic and people-oriented approach, and take into account the future supply of BHUs and public housing, when taking orderly enforcement actions against illegal letting of unregistered and unrecognised SDUs upon completion of the 12-month registration period (i.e. starting from March 1, 2027). The Government will also provide appropriate temporary rehousing assistance to the affected households in need. To this end, the Ordinance stipulates that the provisions concerning the offence of illegal letting of SDUs will come into effect on March 1, 2027, allowing SDU owners and/or operators time to understand the impact of the new regulatory regime and gradually adapt to the requirements of BHU.

The Secretary for Housing, Ms Winnie Ho, said, “For a long time, Hong Kong has suffered from a shortage of land and public housing due to various factors, resulting in some less well-off citizens resorting to residing in SDUs with extremely poor conditions. To this end, the current-term Government has introduced a number of innovative and groundbreaking housing policies since taking office. These include continuously enhancing speed, quantity, efficiency and quality of public housing, significantly increasing the public housing supply, launching the unprecedented Light Public Housing, and continuously promoting the development of transitional housing. All these have successfully increased the housing supply significantly in a short period of time and allowed SDU households waiting for public housing to be housed in public housing more quickly, thereby enabling us to tackle the issue of substandard SDUs. The Government will implement the BHU regulatory regime in an orderly manner, with a view to gradually resolving the deep-rooted social issue of substandard SDUs in Hong Kong and ensuring that everyone, including the most vulnerable, can enjoy safe, hygienic and reasonable living conditions and live with dignity in this city.”

Before the Ordinance comes into effect on March 1, 2026, the Government will carry out a series of publicity activities, including launching a thematic website, maintaining continued liaison with stakeholders such as professional bodies and estate agents, arranging talks or seminars at the district level, distributing promotional materials, and broadcasting promotional videos, with the aim of helping SDU owners, tenants and other stakeholders understand how to comply with the BHU regulatory regime through different channels.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

　　The Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, led a number of Principal Officials to receive seasonal influenza vaccination (SIV) earlier and called on members of the public to get vaccinated as early as possible to build an immunity barrier in the community together and better protect their health and that of their family members. Mr Lee and some of the officials also received COVID-19 booster shots concurrently.

　　Mr Lee said, “Vaccination is one of the most effective means for preventing seasonal influenza and its complications, as well as reducing the risk of hospitalisation and death arising from influenza. The Department of Health (DH) had earlier reminded members of the public that Hong Kong has entered the summer influenza season. Members of the public should get vaccinated as early as possible to protect themselves and their family members.”
 
　　Under the vigorous promotion by the Government and with the strong support from all sectors of the community, more than 2.09 million doses of SIV were administered under various government vaccination programmes in the year of 2024/25, representing an increase of nearly 12 per cent compared to the year of 2023/24, reaching a record high. As a result, the number of severe influenza cases and the influenza mortality rates among adults and children in the previous influenza season declined significantly compared to earlier periods, in particular those before the COVID-19 epidemic.
 
　　To encourage and offer convenience to members of the public to receive SIV, the Government will implement five optimising initiatives this year, namely expanding the eligibility coverage, further enhancing the SIV School Outreach Programme, providing recombinant influenza vaccines for the elderly living in institutions, launching the pilot scheme on vaccine procurement for family doctors, and optimising information dissemination. The Government will also continue implementing the Civil Service Eligible Persons SIV Pilot Scheme this year. Since civil servants frequently interact with members of the public, vaccinations can not only better safeguard their health, but also are conducive to reducing the risk of influenza transmission in the community.
 
　　The Secretary for Health, Professor Lo Chung-mau, said, “Various SIV programmes have been fully commenced on September 25 to provide free or subsidised SIV services for eligible persons. Among these are the Vaccination Subsidy Scheme (VSS), including the pilot scheme on vaccine procurement for family doctors which was newly introduced this year. The VSS has also been advanced by three days and launched on September 22. The scheme involves an additional procurement of 100 000 doses of injectable inactivated influenza vaccines by the Government to enable eligible family doctors to order vaccines from suppliers at a price according to Government-subsidised programmes. Since it takes about two weeks after receiving SIV for antibodies to develop in the body and provide protection against influenza virus infection, I once again urge members of the public to get vaccinated as early as possible. Get vaccinated once a year and sooner is better than later.”
 
　　For more details, members of the public may call the Centre for Health Protection of the DH at 2125 2125 or visit the Vaccination Schemes page.

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

Some 80 representatives from prosecution authorities from China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states attended the 15th China-ASEAN Prosecutors-General Conference held in Hong Kong.

The three-day conference this year was focused on dealing with money laundering and corruption.

Secretary for Justice Paul Lam said given the fact that Hong Kong was given the chance to organise this annual event, shows the trust and confidence Beijing and ASEAN member states have in the city.

He added that Hong Kong will spare no effort in strengthening its co-operation with ASEAN countries on addressing and combatting transnational crimes.

“I am hoping that Hong Kong will take the lead to organise more training sessions, or knowledge or experience sharing sessions to enable friends coming from both the Mainland and ASEAN countries to have a better understanding as to how to tackle transnational crimes,” he said.

Those attending the event acknowledged the need for closer co-operation when it comes to tackling international crimes and lauded the conference for being a great platform for exchanging ideas.

A representative from Laos agreed that communication and exchanging experiences are crucial regarding co-operation in tackling such crimes. The country’s Supreme People’s Procuracy International Cooperation Bureau Deputy Director Somboun Soukthavi said Laos and Hong Kong have agreed to hold bilingual meetings to foster enhanced co-operation.

Indonesian Deputy Attorney General for Civil & State Administrative Affairs R Narendra Jatna noted that China, including Hong Kong and Macau, and ASEAN countries share the same goal of countering transnational crimes, making the conference a great opportunity to boost co-operation.

Thailand’s Department of Minburi Criminal Litigation Deputy Director General Charern Tanchatchawan, on the other hand, was interested in the topic of human trafficking. He mentioned a case where a Chinese citizen was being lured to Thailand and expressed concerns that these kinds of cases may affect tourism in Thailand.

Representatives from different jurisdictions also expressed their concerns regarding technology used in crimes and hope to learn from others’ experience in tackling such issues.

Additionally, Malaysian Attorney General Tan Sri Mohd Dusuki bin Mokhtar and Philippine Prosecutor General Richard Anthony D Fadullon highlighted the challenges posed by technology in transnational crimes. They both agreed that closer co-operation is the key to fighting such problems.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

     The Registered Contractors’ Disciplinary Board (the Board) has completed two disciplinary inquiries under the Buildings Ordinance (BO) and decided that a registered minor works contractor (RMWC) should be disciplined for having been convicted by a court of offences relating to building works, and the other RMWC and its Authorized Signatory (AS) should be disciplined for having certified and carried out minor works belonging to a class for which it is not registered.
 
     The Board’s written decisions and orders issued on September 8 were published in the Gazette today (September 26). Details are available at the following links:
 

• Case 1: https://www.gld.gov.hk/egazette/pdf/20252939/egn202529395916.pdf
• Case 2: https://www.gld.gov.hk/egazette/pdf/20252939/egn202529395915.pdf

 
     The first case involved a fatal incident that occurred at a shop under renovation in San Po Kong on March 15, 2021. A worker undergoing levelling work was suspected to have fallen from a ladder platform when the ladder platform toppled. The worker passed away on the following day. The RMWC was prosecuted by the Labour Department for violation of the Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance. The RMWC was convicted and fined $71,000 at the Kowloon City Magistrates’ Courts on October 4, 2021. In view of the conviction of the RMWC, the Buildings Department (BD) notified the Board for its consideration of disciplinary action against the RMWC under the provisions of section 13(1) of the BO.
 
     Upon completion of the disciplinary inquiry, the Board ordered the RMWC to be fined $150,000 and to pay a total of $39,100, being the costs of the Board and the BD for conducting the inquiry.
 
     The second case involved the installation of supporting frames for solar panels on the roof of an industrial building at Wing Shun Street, Tsuen Wan. The RMWC and its AS submitted a certificate to the BD in April 2021, certifying that the subject minor works had been completed under Class III minor works. An investigation by the BD revealed that the supporting frames were located on “inaccessible roofs”, therefore the subject works should have been classified as Class I instead of Class III minor works; but the RMWC was not registered as a Class I minor works contractor. The above showed that the RMWC and its AS had certified and carried out minor works belonging to a class for which it is not registered. In view of the investigation results, the BD notified the Board for its consideration of disciplinary action against the RMWC and its AS under the provision of sections 13(1) and 13(3) of the BO.
 
     Upon completion of the disciplinary inquiry, the Board ordered the RMWC be removed from the register of minor works contractors for two months, with effect from the date of the Gazette, and the AS be fined $4,000. Also, the RMWC and its AS were ordered to pay a total of $37,300, being the costs of the Board and the BD for conducting the inquiry.
 
A spokesperson for the BD reiterated that any registered contractor who contravenes the relevant provisions of the BO in carrying out building works, or is convicted by any court of an offence relating to building works, or has been negligent or has misconducted himself in building works, will be subject to enforcement action including criminal prosecution and disciplinary action under the BO.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

​The Government today (September 26) gazetted the United Nations Sanctions (South Sudan) Regulation 2019 (Amendment) Regulation 2025 (Amendment Regulation), which came into operation today.
 
“The Amendment Regulation amends the United Nations Sanctions (South Sudan) Regulation 2019 to give effect to certain decisions relating to sanctions in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 2781 in respect of South Sudan,” a Government spokesman said.
 
The amendments renew the arms embargo, travel ban and financial sanctions.
 
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has all along been implementing fully the sanctions imposed by the UNSC. The Amendment Regulation aims to give effect to the instructions by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for fulfilling the international obligations of the People’s Republic of China as a Member State of the United Nations.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

The Government announced today (September 26) the reappointments of Dr Will Leung Lok-hang and the Controller, Regulatory Affairs, Department of Health, as members of the Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health (COSH) for a term of two years with effect from October 1 this year.

COSH is a statutory body established in 1987 to advise the Government on matters related to smoking and health. It is also tasked to advance public education concerning the effects of smoking on the community and individuals as well as to engage in smoking-related research.

The full membership of the Council with effect from October 1, 2025, is as follows:

Mr Henry Tong Sau-chai (Chairman)
Dr Johnnie Casire Chan Chi-kau (Vice-Chairman)
Mr Langton Cheung Yung-pong
Mr Clement Fung Cheuk-nang
Dr Celine Ho Ming-wai
Mr Terence Lau Chun-kai
Ms Lee Yi-ying
Dr Will Leung Lok-hang
Professor Vitus Leung Wing-hang
Dr Haston Liu Wai-ming
Professor Phoenix Mo Kit-han
Dr Chris Ng Chun-kong
Professor Or Ka-hang
Mr Simon Wong Hin-wing
Mr Tang Fei
Controller, Regulatory Affairs, Department of Health

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

The following is issued on behalf of the Office of The Ombudsman:

     The Ombudsman, Mr Jack Chan, today (September 26) announced the completion of a full investigation into the Hospital Authority (HA)’s deposit refund arrangements for the assistive device loan service, with 12 recommendations on improvement measures made.

     Hospitals under the HA have assistive devices available for loan, free of rental charge, to patients with clinical needs, aiming to facilitate their rehabilitation progress and daily living during the initial post-discharge period. The HA requires borrowers to pay a deposit refundable upon the proper return of the loaned devices.

      Mr Chan said, “The Office received a complaint that after returning the wheelchair to the Occupational Therapy Department (OTD) of a hospital under the HA, the complainant brought a written certificate issued by the OTD confirming that the wheelchair had been properly returned to the Shroff Office to request a refund of the deposit. However, the staff insisted that the complainant could not obtain a refund without presenting the deposit receipt. The complainant considered the certificate from the OTD, together with his own identity document, sufficient to prove the return of the wheelchair and his identity as the borrower. He alleged that the hospital concerned was unreasonable in requiring him to present the deposit receipt as a prerequisite for the refund. 

      “Assistive devices help patients in need manage daily living activities and facilitate their rehabilitation progress. We commend the HA for providing free-of-charge assistive device loan service to support patients and their carers. As the refund of deposits involves financial transactions, we acknowledge that the HA must handle these with caution. Nevertheless, during our full investigation, we were concerned about the inconvenience caused to the public by the HA’s requirement and any room for improvement.

      “The Office’s investigation found that hospitals already record the complainant’s name and deposit amount in the computer system at the time of payment. On the day of returning the wheelchair, the Deposit Refund Notice issued by the Allied Health Department certifying that the borrower has returned the device intact, and identity document presented by the complainant were sufficient to confirm the return of the wheelchair and his identity. After confirming the hospital’s records in the computer system, it was actually unnecessary for Shroff staff to require the complainant to present the deposit receipt for verifying such information and status. Hence, in our view, the hospital concerned insisting that the complainant present the deposit receipt for refund collection after returning the assistive device was overly rigid, inflexible and redundant in practice. The HA should modernise and enhance its existing arrangements. This would help avoid the inconvenient situations where members of the public are denied a refund for not bringing a receipt.”

      The Office is pleased to note that the HA is in the process of reviewing and enhancing the procedures for the assistive device loan service. The HA agreed that borrowers will no longer be required to present the deposit receipt when applying for a refund. This Office in this full investigation made 12 recommendations for improvement to the HA, and the HA expressed its agreement and full commitment to implementing them.

      The main recommendations for improvement made by this Office to the HA include:

• expediting the enhancement of arrangements and workflow for the assistive device loan service at public hospitals to standardise the current practice of allowing the authorisation of a representative to collect deposit refunds, and removing the requirement for borrowers to present the deposit receipt when applying for a refund;
• after completing the enhancements, clearly specifying in the relevant internal guidelines and the booklet for the borrowers the supporting documents the authorised representative of borrowers must present to collect deposit refunds;
• sharing this case with staff responsible for handling applications for borrowing assistive devices and related deposits, and providing staff training to ensure their awareness and understanding of the newly formulated guidelines; and
• formulating measures to ensure that all public hospitals consistently adhere to the new guidelines in handling assistive device loan cases in future.

      The full investigation report has been uploaded to the website of the Office of The Ombudsman at www.ombudsman.hk for public information.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

     Firing practice will take place at two military sites, namely the San Wai/Tai Ling Firing Range and the Tsing Shan Firing Range, next month (October).

     Red flags or red lamps will be hoisted at the firing areas before and during firing practice. For their safety, people are advised not to enter the firing area.

     Following are the dates and times for the firing practice sessions in October 2025:

San Wai/Tai Ling Firing Range
————————————-
 

Date

Time

October 2 (Thursday) October 3 (Friday) October 4 (Saturday) October 6 (Monday) October 8 (Wednesday) October 9 (Thursday) October 10 (Friday) October 11 (Saturday) October 13 (Monday) October 14 (Tuesday) October 15 (Wednesday) October 16 (Thursday) October 17 (Friday) October 18 (Saturday) October 20 (Monday) October 21 (Tuesday) October 22 (Wednesday) October 23 (Thursday) October 24 (Friday) October 25 (Saturday) October 27 (Monday) October 28 (Tuesday) October 30 (Thursday) October 31 (Friday)

8am-9pm 8am-9pm 8am-9pm 8am-9pm 8am-9pm 8am-9pm 8am-9pm 8am-9pm 8am-9pm 8am-9pm 8am-9pm 8am-9pm 8am-9pm 8am-9pm 8am-9pm 8am-9pm 8am-9pm 8am-9pm 8am-9pm 8am-9pm 8am-9pm 8am-9pm 8am-9pm 8am-9pm

Tsing Shan Firing Range
——————————-
 

Date

Time

October 2 (Thursday) October 3 (Friday) October 4 (Saturday) October 6 (Monday) October 8 (Wednesday) October 9 (Thursday) October 10 (Friday) October 11 (Saturday) October 13 (Monday) October 14 (Tuesday) October 15 (Wednesday) October 16 (Thursday) October 17 (Friday) October 18 (Saturday) October 20 (Monday) October 21 (Tuesday) October 22 (Wednesday) October 23 (Thursday) October 24 (Friday) October 25 (Saturday) October 27 (Monday) October 28 (Tuesday) October 30 (Thursday) October 31 (Friday)

8am-9pm 8am-9pm 8am-9pm 8am-9pm 8am-9pm 8am-9pm 8am-9pm 8am-9pm 8am-9pm 8am-9pm 8am-9pm 8am-9pm 8am-9pm 8am-9pm 8am-9pm 8am-9pm 8am-9pm 8am-9pm 8am-9pm 8am-9pm 8am-9pm 8am-9pm 8am-9pm 8am-9pm