MIL Asia Pacific Publishing Engine

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4

The following is issued on behalf of the Electoral Affairs Commission:

     The 2025 Legislative Council General Election (LCGE) will be held tomorrow (December 7).The Chairman of the Electoral Affairs Commission (EAC), Mr Justice David Lok, and the Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr Erick Tsang Kwok-wai, accompanied the Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, to visit the Near Boundary Polling Station (NBPS) at Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Hong Kong Port and the Ordinary Polling Station at Tung Chung Man Tung Road Sports Centre this morning (December 6) to see for themselves the final preparatory work including the set-up of the venue and rehearsals for the LCGE.

     Mr Justice Lok said that the preparatory work for the 2025 LCGE is ready and the staff members are carrying out final preparations and drills. He thanked the staff members for their efforts to ensure that the LCGE tomorrow would be conducted in an open, honest, fair as well as safe and orderly manner.

     This morning, EAC member Professor Daniel Shek also inspected the Outreach Polling Station for Residential Care Homes at Kwu Tung North Multi-welfare Services Complex and the Hospital Authority Healthcare Staff Designated Polling Station at St. Rose of Lima’s College, whereas EAC member Mr Bernard Man, SC, inspected the Ethnic Minorities Designated Polling Station at Tang Shiu Kin Victoria Government Secondary School and the Ordinary Polling Station at Lai Chi Kok Sports Centre.

In the afternoon, the two EAC members joined Mr Justice Lok to visit the ballot paper sorting station cum consolidated main counting stations at Kowloon Park Sports Centre. They then visited the polling station of the Election Committee constituency (ECC) at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in the company of the Commissioner for Digital Policy, Mr Tony Wong, and the Convenor and Members of the Technical Advisory Committee, to inspect the on-site drill conducted by staff members to ensure a smooth operation of the electoral work.

     Every constituency is contested in this LCGE. A total of 161 candidates will contest 90 seats, including 20 seats from 10 geographical constituencies, 30 seats from 28 functional constituencies and 40 seats from the ECC.

     The polling hours for the Ordinary Polling Stations, the ECC polling station, the three Dedicated Polling Stations set up at police stations and the NBPSs will be from 7.30am to 11.30pm. For the Dedicated Polling Stations set up at penal institutions, for security reasons, the polling hours will be from 9am to 4pm. For the Designated Polling Stations (namely the Civil Servant Designated Polling Stations, Hospital Authority Healthcare Staff Designated Polling Stations and Ethnic Minorities Designated Polling Stations) and Outreach Polling Stations for Residential Care Homes under the pilot arrangements, their polling hours are from 8.30am to 9.30pm, and from 8.30am to 6.30pm respectively.

     On the polling day, electors can check the approximate waiting time of Ordinary Polling Stations, the ECC polling station and NBPSs on the election website (www.elections.gov.hk). Depending on the waiting time and their schedule, electors can make their own arrangements on when to vote.

     For enquiries, please call the election hotline on 2891 1001 or visit the election website for more information about the LCGE.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4

The Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs, Miss Alice Mak, and the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Chris Sun, met the media today (December 6) regarding the follow-up work on the fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, after attending a radio programme. Following are their remarks at the media session:

Reporter: Miss Mak, right now the funds are being used for immediate relief. How does the Government plan to ensure that funds allocated for the fire victims are used effectively in the long term to help them rebuild their lives? Are there any specific schemes or initiatives being developed to assist affected families? And how will the funds be allocated toward long-term housing solutions? And in terms of scaffold netting, how will the authorities help those who are unable to meet the deadline by today? Mr Sun, what specific penalties do you foresee for companies or workers who violate the proposed smoking ban that comes into effect?

Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs: For the Support Fund (“Support Fund for Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po”), right now we have already raised a total of $3 billion from the private sector and also from the Government’s allocation fund. We hope we will make the best use of this Support Fund to help our residents being affected in this fire incident. As you know, we have already launched several relief funds to cater for their short-term needs. We will also make the best use of the Support Fund to provide long-term and sustainable support and assistance to those residents to help them rebuild their homes and let their lives resume normal.

Secretary for Labour and Welfare: Thank you. On the prohibition of smoking at construction sites, of course, it’s subject to a discussion with the Legislative Council (LegCo) upon its establishment next year, on January 1. One of the issues we have to discuss is about if the consensus among the LegCo and the administration is to prohibit smoking at construction sites in general, we have to consider what kind of penalty we have to put in place.

One of the possible options we could explore is possibly a fixed ticket, so this is one of the ideas we need to explore. But of course, the detailed proposal is to be hammered out after discussions with LegCo and also we’re going to consult the trade to make sure that whatever new prohibition is going to be introduced, it is enforceable. Thank you.

(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the remarks.)

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region