o Land sharing scheme opens May 6 By www.news.gov.hk Published On :: Tue, 05 May 2020 00:00:00 +0800 The Development Bureau today announced that the Land Sharing Pilot Scheme will open for applications tomorrow to help unleash the development potential of qualified private land. The private land must be with consolidated ownership that is outside specified environmentally sensitive areas and not covered by the Government's development studies. In connection with the pilot scheme’s launch, the Chief Executive has appointed 10 members from a wide spectrum of sectors to a Panel of Advisors to offer independent opinions on the applications received and advise on the scheme's operation. Chaired by Dr David Wong, the panel members will serve a term of 3.5 years starting May 1. Secretary for Development Michael Wong said while government-led planning and land resumption remains the mainstream and continues to dominate its land creation agenda, the pilot scheme seeks to complement such efforts by tapping into market resources and efficiencies to boost both public and private housing in the short to medium term. Under the scheme, the Government will facilitate infrastructural improvements that will enhance the development intensity of the private lots under application. In return, the applicants are required to hand over part of the lots they own in the form of formed land that is capable of delivering at least 70% of the increased domestic gross floor area for public housing or Starter Homes developments intended by the Government. Each project under the scheme should be capable of delivering an increased domestic gross floor area of no less than 50,000 sq m in total and at least 1,000 additional housing units. The application period lasts for three years until May 5, 2023, subject to a cap of 150 hectares on the total area of private land to be approved. The development chief added that the Government’s target is to convert the agricultural lots into spade-ready sites ready for housing construction within four to 6.5 years from the time applications are received. Full Article
o DSE exam set for Apr 24 By www.news.gov.hk Published On :: Wed, 15 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0800 (To watch the full press conference with sign language interpretation, click here.) The Government is confident that the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE) Examination could be held on April 24. Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung made the statement when explaining the arrangements for the DSE examination at a press conference today. Mr Yeung said the Government understands that some DSE candidates are concerned about their safety. He said measures will be taken to make sure that examination venues will be as safe as possible. Exam candidates will have to wear masks, which have already been distributed, before entering the examination centres. Hand sanitisers will also be given to them. If a candidate has a fever or upper respiratory tract symptoms, they will not be allowed to take the exam. Additionally, more classrooms will be turned into examination centres and desks will be separated by at least 1.8m in most centres. Mr Yeung said: “We are now confident that the exam could be held on April 24. “We believe that with everyone’s effort and hopefully with the support of the community in trying to control the spread of the disease, we will be able to complete the DSE exam by the end of May.” Full Article
o Employment support is vital By www.news.gov.hk Published On :: Sun, 19 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0800 As we all know, Hong Kong as well as most parts of the world are facing a pandemic that has an enormous negative impact on our social and economic life. At this juncture, we don't have any accurate way to predict what will happen in the coming months. Two months ago, we were worried about whether COVID-19 would become a pandemic. Yet, the scale of the pandemic as we see now is not what we could have imagined two months ago. What we can do now is tackle the social and economic crisis upfront and build the resilience of our society, in particular, our employment market, so that when the time comes where social and economic activities can resume no matter how gradually or rapidly, our society can bounce back as soon as possible. Unemployment has edged up bit by bit since the latter part of 2019. Statistics and daily news about business closures are telling us that unemployment is going up rapidly. While we should see what can be done to help those unemployed, the more important and urgent task is to see how we can "stop the bleeding", which essentially means job retention. The Employment Support Scheme, with a budget of over $80 billion, is designed exactly for that purpose. Through providing time-limited financial support, the whole idea of this scheme is to preserve jobs by enabling employers to keep their employees in employment for the coming months, and also when business resumes, employers can immediately grab the opportunities. The central idea of the Employment Support Scheme is to provide wage subsidy that is equivalent to 50% of the wages of the employees up to a wage cap of $18,000 per month. The subsidy is given to the employers so that they can keep their staff for the coming six months. The employers will be required to have no redundancy or layoffs during the months that they receive wage subsidies from the Government. In Hong Kong, we do not have a pay-as-you-go income tax system. Neither do we have a social insurance system nor a central provident fund to cover everyone in our workforce. That means we do not have any existing system covering every employer and employee in Hong Kong that we can devise a wage subsidy scheme that covers everyone. Any system meant to cover everyone in our workforce must be mandatory in nature and that will take time for us to have the relevant legislation in place and subsequently the system built. However, schemes under the Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) and the other Occupational Retirement Schemes provide a framework that we can develop a wage subsidy scheme to cover the great majority of the workforce. This is definitely not sufficient. In particular, we have identified three sectors that do not have good coverage in the provident fund systems. They are the catering industry, the construction industry and the passenger transport sector. Under the Anti-epidemic Fund, we have three sector-specific schemes to assist the employers and the employees in these sectors. Many freelance workers or those in the so-called slash economy do not make contributions to the MPF. Though we have over 200,000 self-employed persons having an account in the MPF system, they do not pay MPF regularly. While we will provide a one-off wage subsidy to those self-employed persons who have made MPF contributions within the past 15 months, we also have three separate but mutually exclusive schemes operating under the Home Affairs Bureau, the Education Bureau and the Social Welfare Department, providing the same one-off wage subsidy to those freelance workers who provide arts and sports training. The one-off wage subsidy is $7,500. Though all the schemes I mentioned above still cannot cover everyone in the workforce, this is the best we can do in making use of existing systems so that we can launch this round of the Anti-epidemic Fund in the shortest possible time to help our employers and employees to survive the challenges that are with us now. Any new systems to be built from scratch will not be able to provide the necessary timely support that employers and employees desperately need. As mentioned earlier, unemployment is increasing at a disturbing rate. The basic unemployment protection system in Hong Kong relies on two legs. One is the Severance Payment or Long Service Payment payable by the employers, which is equivalent to two-thirds of the monthly salary times the number of years of service with the employer. The other is the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) Scheme. The CSSA provides a level of income support to families for their basic level of living in the context of Hong Kong. The CSSA provides a safety net to any family not having sufficient means, including those who are unemployed. Apart from the income test, the CSSA also has an asset test. For the purpose of providing extra help to those unemployed during this difficult time, the Government will double the existing asset limit for the able-bodied for a limited period of six months, allowing more families with people unemployed to become eligible to receive CSSA. We estimated that about 40,000 families will benefit from this enhancement. Unfortunately, over the years there is a social stigma towards the CSSA system. People in desperation may be deterred from applying for CSSA simply because of the stigma. This is the time for us to destigmatise the CSSA system. It is the safety net for citizens of Hong Kong. It is the responsibility of an affluent society like Hong Kong to provide the basic level of living to those who cannot afford to do so on their own. This is the time, this difficult time, that this safety net should perform its basic function. We are doing our best to support Hong Kong in this epidemic fight. Let's weather the storm and brave the challenges together. This is the Letter to Hong Kong by Secretary for Labour & Welfare Dr Law Chi-kwong on anti-epidemic measures and the Employment Support Scheme carried on Radio Television Hong Kong Radio 3 on April 19. Full Article
o Unemployment rises to 4.2% By www.news.gov.hk Published On :: Mon, 20 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0800 The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased to 4.2% in the period between January and March, up from 3.7% for the period between December 2019 and February, the Census & Statistics Department announced today. The underemployment rate also increased to 2.1% in the period. Total employment dropped by 48,800 to 3,720,000 while the labour force fell by 20,800 to 3,882,200. There were 134,100 unemployed people in the period, an increase of 28,100 from the period between December 2019 and February, and the number of underemployed people rose by 23,700 to 82,800. Secretary for Labour & Welfare Dr Law Chi-kwong said that the labour market further deteriorated as the COVID-19 pandemic severely disrupted a wide range of economic activities. The unemployment rate soared by 0.5 percentage point to 4.2% for the period, the highest in more than nine years, while the underemployment rate likewise surged 0.6 percentage point to 2.1%, the highest in nearly a decade, he said. The year-on-year declines in total employment and labour force widened further to 3.6% and 2.2%, both the largest on record. The combined unemployment rate of the consumption and tourism-related sectors of retail, accommodation and food services soared to 6.8%, the highest since the period between August and October in 2009 following the global financial crisis, while the underemployment rate rose to 3.9%, the highest since the period between June and August of 2003 following the onslaught of SARS. Dr Law added the situation in food and beverage service activities was severe, with the unemployment and underemployment rates surging to 8.6% and 5.4%. Meanwhile, the unemployment and underemployment rates of the construction sector went up drastically to 8.5% and 7.1% amid a visible slowdown in construction activities. The unemployment and underemployment situation worsened visibly in the transportation and education sectors as well. Labour market conditions in most other sectors also saw deterioration of various degrees. Dr Law said: "The labour market will continue to face significant pressure from the economic fallout arising from the pandemic in the near term. “The Government has rolled out relief measures of unprecedented scale, including the one-off measures in the 2020-21 Budget and the two rounds of measures under the Anti-epidemic Fund totalling $287.5 billion, with a view to preserving the vitality of the economy and relieving people's financial burdens. “Some specific measures, in particular the Employment Support Scheme and various types of support for specific sectors, should help keep workers in employment. “The Government will closely monitor the developments, including the progress and effectiveness of the various relief measures.” Full Article
o Gov't unveils employment measures By www.news.gov.hk Published On :: Mon, 20 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0800 The Government will launch a series of measures to retain and create jobs to prevent massive layoffs amid record levels of unemployment and underemployment for the first three months of the year. The seasonally adjusted unemployment and underemployment rates have soared recently due to the severe blow dealt by the COVID-19 epidemic to Hong Kong’s economy. With reference to the practice of some overseas governments in providing wage subsidies to employers and following the funding approval by the Legislative Council Finance Committee, the Government will launch the $81 billion Employment Support Scheme (ESS) as soon as possible. The scheme will provide time-limited financial support to employers to retain workers who will inevitably be made redundant due to the downturn in business. The provision of subsidies for employers, together with other relief measures and loan arrangements under the Anti-epidemic Fund and the 2020-21 Budget will help businesses stay afloat and retain jobs to prepare for a quick recovery once the epidemic is over. Except for the Government, statutory bodies and government-funded organisations whose employees' salaries are not affected by the epidemic, employers who have been making Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) contributions or have set up Occupational Retirement Schemes will be eligible for the ESS. Employers joining the scheme have to provide an undertaking not to implement redundancies during the subsidy period and spend all wage subsidies from the Government in paying wages to their employees. Wage subsidies provided under the ESS are calculated based on 50% of wages in a specified month subject to a wage cap of $18,000 per month for six months. Payment will be made in two tranches, with the first payout no later than the end of June to subsidise employers to pay employees' wages from June to August. After approval of the application, the number of employees on payroll shall not be less than the number of employees in March and the wage subsidies applied by employers must be used fully for employees' wages. Under the ESS, self-employed people who have contributed to the MPF from January 1, 2019 to March 31 will be granted a one-off subsidy of $7,500. The scheme is expected to benefit over 260,000 employers who have been making MPF contributions or have set up Occupational Retirement Schemes for 1.7 million employees, and about 215,000 self-employed people. Employers and employees in the catering, construction and transport sectors that are not covered by the MPF will be taken care of by sector-specific schemes. Regarding job creation, the Government has earmarked $6 billion to create about 30,000 time-limited jobs in public and private sectors in the coming two years for people of different skills and academic qualifications. This is in addition to more than 10,000 civil service job openings for replacing retirees and filling new posts to be created in the 2020-21 Estimates, and about 5,000 short-term interns for young people. In the second half of the year, the Labour Department will raise the ceiling of the on-the-job training allowance payable to employers under the Employment Programme for the Elderly & Middle-aged, the Youth Employment & Training Programme and the Work Orientation & Placement Scheme to further encourage employers to hire seniors, youngsters and the disabled. The department plans to launch a pilot scheme in the second half of the year to encourage these people to undergo and complete on-the-job training under the above-mentioned employment programmes through the provision of a retention allowance. A time-limited unemployment support scheme will be launched through the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance Scheme at the same time to provide timely and basic financial support to the unemployed who may not be covered by the ESS. To maintain Hong Kong's economic vibrancy and relieve the financial burden of the public under the epidemic, the Government has introduced the largest package of relief measures to date, including the one-off relief measures in the Budget costing $120 billion and two rounds of measures under the Anti-epidemic Fund totalling $287.5 billion. This accounts for about 10% of Hong Kong's gross domestic product, the Government added. Full Article
o Anti-epidemic fund committee meets By www.news.gov.hk Published On :: Mon, 20 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0800 Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung today chaired the fourth meeting of the Anti-epidemic Fund Steering Committee, during which the funding commitment for 33 measures under the second-round of the fund was approved. The Legislative Council Finance Committee last Saturday approved a funding application of $137.5 billion, including an injection of $120.5 billion to the Anti-epidemic Fund to roll out the second round of measures to provide further assistance or relief to the public and enterprises hard hit by the current epidemic or affected by anti-epidemic measures. Mr Cheung said: "The pandemic has caused an unprecedented impact on Hong Kong's economy and various sectors have been hard hit. “The Government will take resolute and unprecedented measures to expeditiously relieve the imminent needs of the businesses and members of the public. "To provide assistance and relief to relevant enterprises and members of the public as soon as possible, I have asked the bureaus and departments to implement the measures at full steam to address the pressing needs of the community promptly and achieve the effect of safeguarding jobs and supporting enterprises." Separately, the Education Bureau said the Finance Committee’s approval of the funding application for the second round of the fund and other relief measures included a one-off interest-free deferral of loan repayment for two years to self-financing post-secondary institutions under the Start-up Loan Scheme, non-profit-making international schools and student loan repayers. All borrowers of the Tertiary Student Finance Scheme - Publicly-funded Programmes, Financial Assistance Scheme for Post-secondary Students, Non-means-tested Loan Scheme for Full-time Tertiary Students, Non-means-tested Loan Scheme for Post-secondary Students and Extended Non-means-tested Loan Scheme will be offered an interest-free deferral of loan repayment from April 1 this year to March 31, 2022, including their loan instalments and interests. The annual administrative fee of $180 charged on the non-means-tested loan repayers during the suspension period will be waived. The risk-adjusted-factor rate for setting the interest rate will also be maintained at zero. Additionally, support for the construction sector will be enhanced. The Development Bureau today said a one-off subsidy of $7,500 will be offered to each eligible construction worker. More than 530,000 workers will benefit from the subsidy, including workers of construction sites as well as those registered under the Electrical & Mechanical Services Department, the Buildings Department, the Water Supplies Department and the Fire Services Department. At the same time, a one-off subsidy will be provided to 30,000 construction-related enterprises, generally small-scaled, which cannot benefit from the first round of the Anti-epidemic Fund. Each eligible contractor, specialist contractor, works contractor and supplier can receive a one-off subsidy of $20,000, while minor works contractors, registered contractors of electrical, gas, lift, escalator and fire service installation along with suppliers of construction-related machinery and equipment rental can receive $10,000 each. About 600 consultant firms offering engineering, architectural and related professional services will receive a subsidy of $50,000 each to support professionals in the sector. The Government will also provide a direct subsidy of $3 million to each non-profit-making organisation running the 10 projects under the Revitalising Historic Buildings Through Partnership Scheme, PMQ and the Energizing Kowloon East - Fly the Flyover Operation. Full Article
o More support set for education sector By www.news.gov.hk Published On :: Tue, 21 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0800 The Education Bureau today issued a circular memorandum to tutorial schools, inviting them to apply for a relief grant under the Anti-epidemic Fund. The bureau said a total of about $120 million has been allocated from the fund to provide a one-off relief grant of $40,000 to each eligible tutorial school. These tutorial schools must be registered under the Education Ordinance, have been operating in the three months before the class suspension - November, December and January - and be in operation on the application date. Designated centres under the Financial Assistance Scheme for Designated Evening Adult Education Courses, which offer evening secondary school courses for adult learners, are also eligible for the grant. The measure is expected to benefit about 3,000 tutorial schools, and the relief grant will be disbursed about four weeks upon receipt of an application. Additionally, the fund will also provide relief grants to school-related service providers who have been affected by the prolonged class suspension, incurring an expenditure of about $419 million. Beneficiaries will include operators of catering outlets at primary schools, secondary schools and post-secondary institutions and lunchbox providers of primary and secondary schools. School bus drivers, school private light bus drivers and escorts, or nannies, as well as instructors, coaches, trainers and operators of interest classes engaged by schools, will also benefit from the relief grants. The bureau will distribute application forms for the relief grant through post-secondary institutions to the catering outlets operating on their campuses within this week. The application details for other relief grants will be announced as soon as possible. Separately, the bureau announced earlier that it would provide a one-off relief grant of $80,000 to each private school offering full and formal curriculum. The grant has been disbursed progressively to schools under the English Schools Foundation, international schools, private independent schools, and other private secondary day schools and private primary schools. Full Article
o Minimum wage views sought By www.news.gov.hk Published On :: Wed, 22 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0800 The Minimum Wage Commission today launched an eight-week public consultation to review the statutory minimum wage rate. The commission said it adopts an evidence-based approach in conducting the minimum wage rate review and will consider the community's views. Views can be sent by email before June 16. Click here for information. Full Article
o Extra transport allowance set By www.news.gov.hk Published On :: Wed, 22 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0800 Recipients of the Individual-based Work Incentive Transport Subsidy (I-WITS) will receive a one-off extra allowance after the passage of the Appropriation Bill 2020, the Government announced today. The extra allowance was proposed in the 2020-21 Budget and would be disbursed one month after the bill’s passage at the earliest. Eligible recipients are those whose I-WITS applications were made in the applicable period - from the first day of the month in which the bill is passed to the date of the bill’s passage, and six calendar months before that month. New applicants or previous I-WITS recipients who have yet to submit applications in the applicable period should do so on or before the date of the bill’s passage to be eligible for the extra allowance. The extra allowance will be the average monthly amount of approved months payable to the applicants in their I-WITS applications which were most recently submitted in the applicable period and eventually approved. Click here for details. Full Article
o Transport arrangements for DSE set By www.news.gov.hk Published On :: Wed, 22 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0800 The Transport Department today said that public transport operators will resume and strengthen services to meet the travelling needs of candidates sitting for the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination (DSE), which will start on April 24. At the department's request, KMB, Citybus, New World First Bus and New Lantao Bus will resume bus routes serving school areas that were previously suspended, and will strengthen the services as appropriate to meet passenger demand. For the Mass Transit Railway, except for the Airport Express and Disneyland Resort Line, heavy rail services will be gradually enhanced, starting from 6.15am to 6.30am during the exam period. Light Rail and MTR bus services serving school areas will also be strengthened. The department has reminded green minibus operators to closely monitor the transport demand and strengthen services as appropriate throughout the exam period. Its Emergency Transport Co-ordination Centre will closely monitor the traffic situation and co-ordinate with major public transport operators to adjust frequency flexibly and strengthen services when necessary. The department appealed to all DSE candidates to familiarise themselves with public transport routes to be taken to examination centres in advance and allow sufficient travelling time. Full Article
o EdUHK council chair reappointed By www.news.gov.hk Published On :: Thu, 23 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0800 The Chief Executive has reappointed Frederick Ma as Chairman of the Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK) Council from April 25 to December 31, the Government announced today. Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung thanked Mr Ma for accepting the reappointment, saying that under his leadership, EdUHK continues to focus on educational research, development and innovation and promoting and supporting the development of teacher education in Hong Kong by nurturing outstanding and committed educators and professionals. Mr Ma cannot accept a three-year term up until 2023 due to personal reasons. In the meantime, the Government will identify a suitable candidate for the chairmanship of the EdUHK Council. Full Article
o P1 allocation results to be mailed By www.news.gov.hk Published On :: Thu, 23 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0800 To reduce social contact in light of the COVID-19 epidemic, the Primary One Central Allocation results will be posted to parents. Announcing the move today, the Education Bureau said it will deliver door-to-door the Primary One Registration Form with Central Allocation results to parents from June 3 to 4 through Hongkong Post’s Local CourierPost service. If no one is present to receive the item at the time of delivery, a mail collection notification card will be left for parents to collect it from the designated post office from the afternoon of the following working day. If parents have not received the Primary One Registration Form or the notification card by June 5, they can collect the registration form at the designated Collection Centre from June 6 to 7. The Education Bureau will send letters to parents tomorrow to notify them of the arrangements. Parents can get updates on the latest arrangements for the release of Central Allocation results and registration through the bureau’s press releases and messages posted on its website. Call 2891 0088 for information on Primary One admission. For further enquiries, contact the bureau's School Places Allocation Section (Primary One Admission) on 2832 7700 or 2832 7740. Full Article
o Minimum wage report due Oct By www.news.gov.hk Published On :: Fri, 24 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0800 The Minimum Wage Commission will submit to the Chief Executive in Council its recommendation report on the statutory minimum wage rate by the end of October at the latest. In accordance with the Minimum Wage Ordinance, the Chief Executive has required the commission to submit its recommendation report on or before October 31. Pursuant to the ordinance, the commission must maintain an appropriate balance between the objectives of forestalling excessively low wages and minimising the loss of low-paid jobs as well as the need to sustain the city's economic growth and competitiveness. The commission is conducting a public consultation on the statutory minimum wage rate review. Views can be sent by email before June 16. Click here for the consultation details. Full Article
o Gov't committed to labour rights By www.news.gov.hk Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 +0800 The Government said it will continue to spare no effort in improving workers' benefits and protection and enhance occupational safety and health in various industries at a pace commensurate with Hong Kong's overall socio-economic development. The Government made the statement today in response to the demands of different labour groups, noting that it would take into account both employees' interests and employers' abilities to afford the benefits, despite the severe blow dealt by the COVID-19 epidemic to the local economy. "The seasonally adjusted unemployment and underemployment rates for January to March this year have soared to their highest levels in recent years. The labour market will continue to face significant pressure in the near term. “The Government has rolled out relief measures of unprecedented scale, including the one-off measures in the 2020-21 Budget and two rounds of measures under the Anti-epidemic Fund (AEF) totalling $287.5 billion, with a view to preserving the vitality of the economy and relieving people's financial burden. “The Government will launch as soon as possible the Employment Support Scheme under the second round of the AEF, with a total commitment of $81 billion, to provide time-limited financial support to employers to help them retain employees who will otherwise be made redundant.” Moreover, the Government explained that it has earmarked $6 billion to create around 30,000 time-limited jobs in the public and private sectors in the coming two years for people with different skills and academic qualifications. It emphasised that the Labour Department will raise the ceiling of on-the-job training allowance payable to employers under the Employment Programme for the Elderly & Middle-aged, the Youth Employment & Training Programme and the Work Orientation & Placement Scheme in the second half of this year. It will also launch a pilot scheme to encourage eligible participants of these programmes to undergo and complete the training by offering a retention allowance. On improvements to other labour benefits, the Government pointed out that it is working at full steam on the preparatory work to abolish the arrangement of 'offsetting' severance payments and long service payments with employers' mandatory contributions under the Mandatory Provident Fund System. It stressed that it will strive to introduce the enabling bill into the Legislative Council by the end of this year, aiming to secure its passage by 2022. Meanwhile, the Government introduced the Employment (Amendment) Bill 2019 into LegCo on January 8 this year. The bill, which proposes to extend statutory maternity leave by four weeks, is now being handled by the LegCo Panel on Manpower. The Chief Executive announced on January 14 this year 10 new initiatives on improving people's livelihood, one of which is to increase progressively the number of statutory holidays so that it will be on par with that of general holidays. The Government stated that it will work out the relevant proposal, invite the Labour Advisory Board to discuss, and will facilitate and support its work. The Minimum Wage Commission is conducting a new round of review on the Statutory Minimum Wage rate and will submit a report on its recommendation to the Chief Executive in Council by end-October. The Government added that it attaches great importance to employees' occupational safety and health. It said the Labour Department has been adjusting its strategies of inspection and enforcement, publicity and promotion, education and training according to the occupational safety and health risk levels of different industries as well as taking sufficient precautionary measures to prevent accidents by driving employers and employees to work together. Full Article
o EDB, AFCD to resume services By www.news.gov.hk Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 +0800 The Education Bureau and the Agriculture, Fisheries & Conservation Department (AFCD) today announced their latest arrangements on public services starting May 4. All Regional Education Offices, the Joint Office for Kindergartens & Child Care Centres, the School Places Allocation Section, the Qualifications Framework Secretariat and other service units will resume normal opening hours from May 4. However, the Hong Kong Teachers' Centre, Special Education Resource Centre, Central Resources Centre and Young Achievers' Gallery located at Kowloon Tong Education Services Centre, as well as the Arts & Technology Education Centre will remain closed until further notice. The AFCD’s licensing services and reception counters at Cheung Sha Wan Government Offices and the Marine Parks Office at CDW Building in Tsuen Wan will resume normal services Monday to Friday from 8.30am to 12.30pm and 1.30pm to 5.45pm. The anti-rabies dog inoculation and dog licensing services at the animal management centres will also resume as normal from May 4. Meanwhile, the Hong Kong Wetland Park (except some indoor facilities and play areas), eight Country Park Visitor/Education Centres, seven Hong Kong Geopark Park Visitor Centres and the Endangered Species Resources Centre will reopen from May 4. However, school and public programmes will remain suspended until further notice. The barbecue sites and campsites in country parks will also continue to be closed until May 7. Click here for the latest public service arrangements. Full Article
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