Category: MIL-OSI

New District Officer for Yau Tsim Mong assumes office (with photo) 
     Since joining the Administrative Service in 2009, Mr Lee has served in various bureaux and departments, including the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, the Chief Secretary for Administration’s Private Office, the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau, the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Singapore, and the Civil Service Bureau.
 
     He was the Principal Assistant Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury (Financial Services) before taking up the new post of District Officer (Yau Tsim Mong).
Issued at HKT 15:00

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Online auction of vehicle registration marks to be held from January 22 to 26 
     A spokesman for the TD said, “A total of 220 Ordinary VRMs will be available at this online public auction. The list of VRMs (see Annex) has been uploaded to the E-Auction website. Applicants who have paid a $1,000 deposit to reserve an Ordinary VRM for auction should also register as an E-Auction user in advance in order to participate in the online bidding, including placing the first bid at the opening price of $1,000. Otherwise, the VRMs reserved by them may be bid on by other interested bidders at or above the opening price. Auctions for VRMs with ‘HK’ or ‘XX’ as a prefix, special VRMs and personalised VRMs will continue to be carried out through physical auctions by bidding paddles and their announcement arrangements remain unchanged.”
 
     Members of the public participating in the online bidding should take note of the following important points:
 
(1) Bidders should register in advance as an E-Auction user by “iAM Smart+” equipped with the digital signing function; or by using a valid digital certificate and an email address upon completion of identity verification. Registered “iAM Smart” users should provide their Hong Kong identity card number, while non-Hong Kong residents who are not “iAM Smart” users should provide the number of their passport or other identification documents when registering as E-Auction users.
 
(2) Bidders are required to provide a digital signature to confirm the submission and amount of the bid by using “iAM Smart+” or a valid digital certificate at the time of the first bid of each online bidding session (including setting automatic bids before the auction begins) to comply with the requirements of the Electronic Transactions Ordinance.
 
(3) If a bid is made in respect of a VRM within the last 10 minutes before the end of the auction, the auction end time for that particular VRM will be automatically extended by another 10 minutes, up to a maximum of 24 hours.
 
(4) Successful bidders must follow the instructions in the notification email issued by the TD to log in to the E-Auction within 48 hours from the issuance of email and complete the follow-up procedures, including:
 (5) A VRM can only be assigned to a motor vehicle registered in the name of the purchaser. Relevant information on the Certificate of Incorporation must be provided by the successful bidder in the Purchaser Information of the Memorandum of Sale if the VRM purchased is to be registered under the name of a body corporate.

(6) Successful bidders will receive a notification email around seven working days after payment has been confirmed and can download the Memorandum of Sale from the E-Auction. The purchaser must apply for the VRM to be assigned to a motor vehicle registered in the name of the purchaser within 12 months from the date of issue of the Memorandum of Sale. If the purchaser fails to do so within the 12-month period, in accordance with the statutory provision, the allocation of the VRM will be cancelled and a new allocation will be arranged by the TD without prior notice to the purchaser.
 
     The TD has informed all applicants who have reserved Ordinary VRMs for this round of auction of the E-Auction arrangements in detail by post. Members of the public may refer to the E-Auction website or watch the tutorial videos for more information. Please call the E-Auction hotline (3583 3980) or email (e-auction-enquiry@td.gov.hkIssued at HKT 15:00

Preliminary Report and Public Notice on BGD Base 3 paraglider accident released                
     “The investigation team is conducting a detailed analysis of the data and information collected in order to determine the circumstances and causes of this occurrence, with a view to preventing a recurrence in conjunction with identifying areas for further investigation or lines of inquiry to follow up,” the spokesperson said.  Issued at HKT 15:15

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Death on arrival case in Tsim Sha Tsui reclassified as manslaughter          　
     Upon Police arrival, the 36-year-old foreign man was found lying in the corridor of a hotel on Nathan Road while another 24-year-old man was found lying inside a hotel room. They were rushed to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in unconscious state. The 24-year-old man was certified dead at 7.26pm on the same day (January 2). Some six grams of suspected methamphetamine and drug‑consumption paraphernalia, etc. were seized.Issued at HKT 16:10

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Hong Kong Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service “Pop-up” Tseung Kwan O Donor Centre commences service tomorrow (with photo)Issued at HKT 16:15

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Three incoming passengers convicted and jailed for importing / dealing with duty-not-paid cigarettes and importing alternative smoking products       
     Customs officers intercepted three incoming male passengers aged 42, 38 and 31 at Hong Kong International Airport yesterday (January 6). Customer officers seized about 45 000 and 44 000 duty-not-paid cigarettes from the personal baggage of the 42-year-old and the 38-year-old passengers respectively, with both market values at about $200,000 and both duty potentials at about $150,000. Also, around 5 800 duty-not-paid cigarettes with a market value of about $26,000 and a duty potential of about $20,000, and 27 000 alternative smoking products and 31 alternative smoking product devices with a market value of about $81,000 were seized from the personal baggage of the 31-year-old passenger. All three passengers were subsequently arrested.

     ​The 42 year-old and 38 year-old passengers were each sentenced to four months’ imprisonment by the court today in contravention of the DCO while the 31 year-old passenger was sentenced to 3 months’ imprisonment in contravention of the DCO and the IEO.
      
     Customs welcomes the sentence. The custodial sentence has imposed a considerable deterrent effect and reflects the seriousness of the offences. Customs reminds members of the public that under the DCO, tobacco products are dutiable goods to which the DCO applies. Any person who imports, deals with, possesses, sells or buys illicit cigarettes commits an offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $2 million and imprisonment for seven years.
      
     Members of the public may report any suspected illicit cigarette activities to Customs’ 24-hour hotline 182 8080 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account ((crimereport@customs.gov.hkIssued at HKT 20:26

Hong Kong Customs seizes suspected cannabis buds worth about $570,000 (with photo)      
     During an anti-narcotics operation conducted in the vicinity of Fo Tan this afternoon, Customs officers intercepted a 28-year-old man and found about 14 grams of suspected cannabis buds from him. He was then arrested. Customs officers later escorted the arrested man to his rented flat nearby for a search, and further seized about 2.8kg of suspected cannabis buds and a batch of drug packaging paraphernalia.
      
     The arrested man has been charged with one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug. He will appear at the Sha Tin Magistrates’ Courts tomorrow (January 8).
      
     Under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, trafficking in a dangerous drug is a serious offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $5 million and life imprisonment. Members of the public may report any suspected drug trafficking activities to Customs’ 24-hour hotline 182 8080 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hkIssued at HKT 20:49