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Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

     The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) announced today (January 19) that services for the disposal of the dead will be suspended on Lunar New Year’s Day (February 17).

     A spokesman for the FEHD said, “All cemeteries and crematoria offices of the Department will be closed on Lunar New Year’s Day. No coffins will be accepted for burial at public cemeteries and no cremations will be undertaken at public crematoria.

     ​”Cremation services and burial services will resume normal operations on February 18.”

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

     The Civil Service Bureau (CSB) will participate in the Education & Careers Expo 2026 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai from January 22 (Thursday) for four consecutive days to publicise the work of the civil service and related information, including entry requirements, pay and fringe benefits as well as training and career development opportunities together with other government departments. 

     A spokesman for the CSB said, “Public services are closely intertwined with people’s life. The Expo provides an excellent platform for those interested in serving the community to explore the diverse career opportunities within the Government. We encourage young people to participate, grasp the latest recruitment information, map out a career path that aligns with their aspirations, and join us in building a better Hong Kong.”

     Over 30 government policy bureaux and departments are participating in the Expo, setting up a total of 29 booths. The CSB will also specially set up a government stage area (1D-A16 at Hall 1D) to hold a total of 17 sharing sessions under the Diverse Spectrum of Public Service: Careers Exploration Series from January 22 to 25. Serving civil servants from different areas of public service will share the unique work experiences and achievements of individual grades, how they apply creativity and professionalism in their daily work, introduce relevant recruitment information and answer questions from participants.

     At the booth (1D-C02 at Hall 1D) set up by the CSB at the Expo, on top of providing civil service recruitment information, representatives from the Administrative Officer Grade, Executive Officer Grade, Official Languages Officer Grade, Training Officer Grade, and Clerical and Secretarial Grades will be present to share their valuable workplace stories and career prospects with participants.

     In addition, the CSB will hold three thematic seminars at the Open Forum at Hall 1E on January 22, introducing respectively the work characteristics and public service mission of the Administrative Officer Grade, Executive Officer Grade, and Clerical and Secretarial Grades. Details of the sharing sessions and thematic seminars are set out in the Annex.

     The Education & Careers Expo 2026 will be held at Hall 1D-E of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Opening hours are from 10am to 7pm from January 22 to 24, and from 10am to 6pm on January 25. Admission is free. For information on matters related to civil service recruitment, please visit the website of the CSB: www.csb.gov.hk/english/recruit/7.html.

     For details of the Education & Careers Expo 2026, please visit its dedicated webpage: www.hktdc.com/hkeducationexpo.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

     ​Ocean Empire International Limited was prosecuted by the Labour Department (LD) for violation of the requirements under the Employment Ordinance (EO). The company pleaded guilty earlier at the Eastern Magistrates’ Courts and was fined $66,000 today (January 19).  

     The company wilfully and without reasonable excuse contravened the requirements of the EO, failing to pay 10 employees’ wages within seven days after the expiry of the wage periods and termination of employment contracts, totalling about $563,000. 

     “The ruling will disseminate a strong message to all employers that they have to pay wages to employees within the statutory time limit stipulated in the EO,” a spokesman for the LD said.

     “The LD will not tolerate these offences and will spare no effort in enforcing the law and safeguarding employees’ statutory rights,” the spokesman added.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4

Collaborating with the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK), and the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP), the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in San Francisco (HKETO San Francisco) hosted a series of events under the Economic and Trade Express (ETE) to help Hong Kong start-ups explore business opportunities in the Western United States during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2026 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
 
Following the announcement in the Chief Executive’s 2025 Policy Address, the new functional platform ETE has been established to enable overseas Economic and Trade Offices, the HKTDC, and InvestHK to deepen their work on trade and investment promotion with greater synergy. One key highlight under the ETE is to assist Hong Kong small and medium enterprises and start-ups in exploring business opportunities in overseas markets by organising overseas business missions and providing one-stop support services such as business matching.
 
The HKTDC and the HKSTP led the largest-ever Hong Kong tech delegation, featuring over 60 companies with a dynamic mix of AI, robotics, healthtech, and sustainability at the Hong Kong Tech Pavilion at CES 2026, which is an annual tech event that attracted more than 148 000 attendees from around the globe. Collaborating with the HKTDC, InvestHK, and the HKSTP, HKETO San Francisco organised a series of events under the ETE to facilitate connections and networking for Hong Kong start-ups, including:
 

1. On January 7 (Las Vegas time), the Hong Kong Tech Networking Reception, a highlighted programme to promote the ETE, attracted around 200 participants. They connected with founders, investors, corporate leaders, and ecosystem partners from Hong Kong for potential cross-border collaboration.

2. Also on January 7, the Breakfast Networking Seminar on Start-up Partnership between the State of Nevada and the Hong Kong/Greater Bay Area was held. The event, jointly organised by HKETO San Francisco, the Hong Kong Business Association of Nevada, the HKTDC, and the HKSTP, served as a welcome session for the Hong Kong delegation. Around 40 participants, including representatives of tech start-ups from the HKSTP and the HKTDC, learned about the ecosystem and business opportunities in Nevada, as well as policy incentives and packages of the state that help companies expand their businesses.

3. At the Silicon Dragon CES 2026 Seminar and Reception on January 6, an HKETO San Francisco-sponsored event organised by Silicon Dragon Ventures, five start-ups represented the Hong Kong delegation and showcased their products and services to over 70 venture capitalists, start-ups, and tech talents in attendance.

In addition, to further promote the business profiles of participating start-ups and facilitate business matching, HKETO San Francisco organised a series of visits to the Hong Kong Tech Pavilions by business leaders and economic development agencies from cities across the US West. They were also briefed on Hong Kong’s latest innovation and technology landscape.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 3

In order to further enhance road, passenger and driving safety, the Government today (January 2) reminded members of the public that, starting from January 25, 2026, all public transport and commercial vehicles’ seated passengers must wear seat belts. From the same day onwards, all drivers must not use more than two mobile telecommunications devices (MTDs) during driving.

(1) Extending requirements for mandatory fitting and wearing of seat belts
All passenger’s seats in public and private buses (including franchised buses and student service vehicles (SSVs)); rear passenger’s seats in private light buses (including SSVs) and goods vehicles (GVs); and driver’s seats and all passenger’s seats of special purpose vehicles (SPVs) must be equipped with seat belts for these vehicles first registered from January 25.

From the same day, passengers occupying the seats of these vehicles (whether newly registered or not), where seat belts are fitted, will be required to wear them. Any vehicle owner, driver or passenger breaching the seat belt-fitting or wearing requirements will be liable to a maximum fine of $5,000 and imprisonment for up to three months. Of note, any driver who still operates the vehicle with a passenger aged under 15 seated in the rear seat of a GV or the passenger’s seat of an SPV without wearing a seat belt will be subject to a maximum fine of $2,000.

In addition, to strike a balance between enhancing protection for students and addressing the trade’s operational needs, existing SSVs must retrofit seat belts and safer seats on all passenger seats before December 31, 2028. From that day onwards, vehicles failing to meet such requirement will no longer be permitted to carry students. The full implementation of the fitting of seat belts in SSVs helps cultivate the habit of wearing seat belts from an early age, thereby strengthening students’ awareness of road safety.

(2) Tightening use of MTDs during driving

From January 25, any driver must not place more than two MTDs (i.e. mobile phones, tablet computers or laptop computers) in front of them during driving. The diagonal length of their screen must not exceed 19 centimetres. The MTDs must not obstruct the driver’s view of the road and traffic as well as any mirror, device or camera-monitor fitted for viewing the roads. Drivers contravening the new requirements may be liable to a maximum fine of $2,000, the spokesman added.

Members of the public may refer to the TD’s webpage on seat belts (www.td.gov.hk/en/road_safety/sb) and the use of MTDs during driving (www.td.gov.hk/en/road_safety/mtd) or the Agent T Facebook page (www.facebook.com/AgentT.hk), or call the hotline 2804 2600 for details.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Housing Authority:
 
     At the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) meeting today (January 19), the HA endorsed the Corporate Plan for 2026/27 and the 2026/27 Proposed Budget.
 
     In 2026/27, the HA will focus its efforts on providing quality homes, promoting sustainable living, rationalising the use of public resources and encouraging upward mobility, and enhancing the attractiveness of commercial properties. Based on these four themes, a total of 25 key activities and 17 key performance indicators have been drawn up for the 2026/27 Corporate Plan.
 
     “The Corporate Plan is the platform through which the HA directs its work and focuses its efforts to address the challenges of public housing. In his 2025 Policy Address, the Chief Executive (CE) reiterated that the Government will increase the public housing supply, redevelop public rental housing (PRH) estates, enrich the housing ladder and reduce construction costs. A series of new housing measures have been announced, some of which are to be implemented by the HA in the coming financial year,” a spokesman for the HA said.
 
     “In 2026/27, we will continue to work at full steam to develop both PRH units and subsidised sale flats (SSF) with a view to increasing the supply of public housing units and enriching the housing ladder, and will expedite the circulation of PRH units and SSF through various measures. On development and construction of public housing, we will continue enhancing residents’ living environments and promoting their well-being by enhancing the design for public spaces, facilities and estate environments. On estate management, we will strike a balance between strengthening measures against the abuse of PRH and exercising reason and compassion, thereby effectively safeguarding the rational use of PRH resources,” the spokesman added.
 
     The HA also endorsed the 2026/27 Proposed Budget today. It is projected that the HA will have the necessary financial resources to meet its recurrent and capital expenditures (including construction expenditure) up to 2029/30. Construction expenditure remains the largest expenditure item of the HA. It is estimated that the HA’s construction expenditure will continue to rise beyond 2026/27 due to the increase in the number of new public housing projects.
 
     “To ensure its long-term financial sustainability, the HA will continue to explore various revenue-enhanced/cost-saving measures. A Project Facilitation Office has been established to co-ordinate various departments to facilitate the completion of public housing projects and to enhance the cost-effectiveness of public housing construction. In addition, the HA will trim its annual recurrent expenditure by 2 per cent for both 2026/27 and 2027/28. With a view to enhancing the HA’s income and providing the public with more home ownership opportunities, public housing supply will continue to advance in the direction towards a 60:40 ratio between PRH/Green Form Subsidised Home Ownership Scheme and other SSF,” said the spokesman.
 
     The HA’s 2026/27 Corporate Plan and Proposed Budget will be submitted to the CE for approval in accordance with Housing Ordinance.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 3

The Education Bureau, the Hong Kong Education City and the Committee on Home-School Co-operation, will co-organise the parent seminar “e-Generation Connected Joy Parent Seminar (3): Guiding Children on the AI Path X Effective Eye Care in Chinese Medicine”. The seminar will be held on 30 Jan 2026 (Friday) from 8:00 pm to 9:30 pm in webinar mode. Registration is now open (application deadline: 30 Jan 2026 10:00 am). An unit in-charge of Wellness PLUS of the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups will analyse AI’s impact on learning, values, and psychological development for parents, using real-life examples to illustrate its risks and opportunities, and guiding parents on cultivating their children’s AI literacy. A Chinese medicine practitioner at the TWGHs Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine Treatment Centre will analyse the relationship between e-learning and eye health from both modern medical and traditional Chinese medicine perspective, and explain how to utilise Chinese medicine approaches to promote eye health. Parents are cordially invited to join the seminar. For details, please refer to the website (https://info.edcity.hk/en/event/11807).

For inquiries, please email carman.ng@hkecl.net or call 2624 1078 to reach Ms. Ng.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 3

The Education Bureau, the Hong Kong Education City and the Committee on Home-School Co-operation, will co-organise the parent seminar “e-Generation Connected Joy Parent Seminar (3): Guiding Children on the AI Path X Effective Eye Care in Chinese Medicine”. The seminar will be held on 30 Jan 2026 (Friday) from 8:00 pm to 9:30 pm in webinar mode. Registration is now open (application deadline: 30 Jan 2026 10:00 am). An unit in-charge of Wellness PLUS of the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups will analyse AI’s impact on learning, values, and psychological development for parents, using real-life examples to illustrate its risks and opportunities, and guiding parents on cultivating their children’s AI literacy. A Chinese medicine practitioner at the TWGHs Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine Treatment Centre will analyse the relationship between e-learning and eye health from both modern medical and traditional Chinese medicine perspective, and explain how to utilise Chinese medicine approaches to promote eye health. Parents are cordially invited to join the seminar. For details, please refer to the website (https://info.edcity.hk/en/event/11807).

For inquiries, please email carman.ng@hkecl.net or call 2624 1078 to reach Ms. Ng.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 3

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region