Hong Kong – FSD holds Big Hearts, Save Hearts Awards Ceremony cum Carnival (with photos)
FSD holds Big Hearts, Save Hearts Awards Ceremony cum Carnival (with photos)
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The Fire Services Department (FSD) is holding the Big Hearts, Save Hearts Awards Ceremony cum Carnival for two consecutive days, starting today (April 27), at D‧PARK in Tsuen Wan to share the message with the public that lending a helping hand during emergencies saves lives. The event is funded by the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust (HKJCCT), organised by the FSD and co-organised by eight Resuscitation Alliance members, namely the Auxiliary Medical Service, the Civil Aid Service, the Hospital Authority, the Hong Kong College of Cardiology, the Hong Kong Red Cross, the Hong Kong St John Ambulance, the Resuscitation Council of Hong Kong, and the Sudden Arrhythmia Death Syndromes (SADS) Hong Kong Foundation.
Addressing the ceremony, the Director of Fire Services, Mr Andy Yeung, said that many people lose their lives each year through sudden cardiac arrest, but timely intervention of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and the use of automated external defibrillators (AED) can significantly increase patients’ chances of survival. In view of this, the FSD launched the AED Anywhere for Anyone (AAA) Programme in 2021, encouraging public and private organisations to install AEDs in their premises and facilities. The department has also introduced an online information platform, named Centralized AED Registry for Emergency, which provides real-time information on the location of AEDs and other relevant data for public access. Currently, nearly 3 000 AEDs are available for public use in various public places throughout Hong Kong.
Among the 282 organisations that have participated in the AAA programme, 26 were awarded the Big Heart of the Year Award and the Big Heart Outstanding Performance Award by the FSD today in recognition of their proactive promotion of AED installations.
The Assistant Director (Ambulance) of the FSD, Mr Henry Kwok, presented the Save Heart Award at the event today to commend members of the public who had rescued people during emergencies. The award ceremony featured short videos with sharing from some of the awardees, with a view to encouraging more citizens to save people’s lives.
The event is an initiative under the Hong Kong Fire Services Department Disaster Management Programme, which is funded by the HKJCCT and consistent with the safe communities objective. It offers a variety of activities, including the Big Heart and Save Heart award ceremonies, emergency preparedness information sharing by Big Heart Ambassador Miss Rosita Kwok, CPR and AED hands-on activities, and the AED Instruction Design Competition Award Ceremony, etc.
CAS holds 87th Recruits Passing-out Parade (with photos)
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A total of 28 officer trainees and 57 recruits participated in the Parade. The graduates came from all walks of life, including tertiary students as well as members of the education, social welfare, and medical sectors. They will apply their acquired knowledge and skills to serve society.
Mr Chan presented awards to outstanding officer trainees and recruits. The graduates also performed a rescue demonstration to showcase their learning results.
Speaking at the Parade, Mr Chan said that loving the country and Hong Kong is a core value of the city’s society and an essential foundation for the successful implementation of the “one country, two systems” principle. He added that the graduates’ strong commitment to serving Hong Kong formed an indispensable part of the efforts to maintain the city’s prosperity and stability, safeguard national security and uphold the “one country, two systems” principle. He also encouraged all graduates to learn from their experiences, face challenges with determination, stay true to their original aspirations, and strive forward. He firmly believed that they would unite, work hard, and grow stronger together, upholding the CAS pledge of “Provide Emergency Relief, Serve the Community” to wholeheartedly serve the public.
The CAS Recruit Training Certificate Programme has been recognised under the Hong Kong Qualifications Framework as meeting the accreditation standards at Level 3 by the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications. Graduates will be awarded the Certificate in Auxiliary Forces Basic Training (Civil Defence).
Recruitment of CAS members is open for application throughout the year. Recruitment details and application forms are available at the CAS website (www.cas.gov.hk).
Ping Wo Fund holds Anti-gambling Get Set Go Carnival (with photos)
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Co-organised by the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau (HYAB) and the Ping Wo Fund, in association with the Hong Kong Police Force, the “Anti-gambling Get Set Go” Carnival was held at the MacPherson Playground in Mong Kok today (March 23), attracting more than 1 000 participants.
The carnival was funded by the Ping Wo Fund. Through booth games, exhibition and stage performances, the carnival aimed to promote the no-gambling message to participants and to further raise public awareness of the harm of gambling addiction.
Speaking at the kick-off ceremony of the carnival, the Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs, Miss Alice Mak, said that, as addiction to gambling could cause harms to individuals and to the society, it has been the Government’s established policy not to encourage gambling. To address problems caused by gambling, the Government established the Ping Wo Fund in September 2003 to finance public education and counselling, treatment and other support services for gamblers with a view to preventing and alleviating problems relating to gambling.
Miss Mak said that, the HYAB wished to instill in children and the youth the values of no-gambling and to promote the message of “Healthy Living, No Gambling” in the community. The Bureau also wished to further raise public’s awareness of the Gambling Counselling Hotline 183 4633, financed by the Ping Wo Fund and its services through the carnival.
Miss Mak appealed to people who found themselves or their family members or relatives facing gambling-related problems to call the Gambling Counselling Hotline for prompt assistance at the carnival. “The Ping Wo Fund’s counsellors will definitely uphold the spirit of serving the community with heart and provide appropriate support to individuals affected by gambling problems, including their family members,” she said.
Meanwhile, a new TV Announcement in the Public Interest (API) with the theme of “Stay away from gambling. Don’t bet your life on it” was premiered at the carnival. The new API highlights the harm of addiction to gambling, urges members of the public to avoid excessive gambling and encourages gamblers with gambling disorder and those affected by them to call the Gambling Counselling Hotline for assistance. The TV API and the corresponding radio API will be broadcast in late March.
Other officiating guests of the carnival included the Chairperson of the Ping Wo Fund Advisory Committee, Ms Lu Hai; and the Chief Superintendent of Organized Crime and Triad Bureau of the Hong Kong Police Force, Mr Kwan King-pan.
The establishment of the Ping Wo Fund aims to finance public education and other measures to prevent or alleviate problems relating to gambling; provide counselling, treatment and other remedial or support services for gamblers with gambling disorder and those affected by them; and conduct research and studies into problems and issues relating to gambling. The Ping Wo Fund Advisory Committee is a non-statutory body to advise the HYAB on the use and application of the Ping Wo Fund.
HKPF holds recognition ceremony to commend banks and their staff for making joint efforts to combat scams (with photos)
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Addressing the ceremony, the Commissioner of Police, Mr Siu Chak-yee, said that countries and regions are all facing the challenge of increasing numbers of deception cases and financial losses. A total of 39 824 deception cases were recorded in Hong Kong in 2023, registering an increase of 42.6 per cent compared with that of 2022, with loss as high as $9.18 billion. Nearly one out of every two crime cases involved deception. Apart from pecuniary losses, scam victims often face immense pressure and suffer psychological trauma due to self-blame or broken relationships with their families. In some extreme cases, victims may even commit suicide and lose their precious lives. The impact of deception on public order should not be overlooked. Therefore, Police have been furthering their collaboration with the banking sector in combatting deception cases in recent years.
The Anti-Deception Coordination Centre (ADCC) was established in July 2017. Up to December 2023, the ADCC prevented 915 deception cases identified by bank staff, arrested 708 fraudsters and intercepted crime proceeds of over $12.5 billion, through close collaboration with the banking sector.
Police and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) continued to enhance their co-operation with the banking sector in 2023 and launched a number of joint measures, including:
2) launching the Upstream Scam Intervention Scheme to proactively identify potential scam victims, contact them and provide them with anti-scam advice by phone, SMS messages or via deployed police officers, based on co-ordination between Police and banks. Since the launch of the scheme in May 2023 to February 2024, 900 people were dissuaded from continuing to transfer funds to fraudsters;
3) establishing the Anti-Deception Alliance which gathers staff deployed by 10 participating banks to work at the ADCC, facilitating communication and co-operation with Police in a more direct and immediate manner on stop-payment processing, identification of potential scam victims and intelligence exchange;
4) introducing Financial INtelligence Evaluation Sharing Tool (FINEST), a financial intelligence sharing platform for banks to enhance their ability to exchange information to more effectively detect and stop fraudulent activities and stooge account networks; and
5) introducing Faster Payment System (FPS) High Risk Alert. By integrating the data of Scameter into the FPS platform, members of the public are notified of high risk transactions and thus can identify scams more easily. Sinceits launch in November 2023 to February2024, nearly 400,000 alerts were issued to the public.
There are 287 bank staff members commended in the ceremony this year, assisting Police in identifying and discouraging 364 deception cases in the past year and a half. The number of frontline staff commended this year has significantly surpassed the 192 individuals last year, reaching a 50 per cent increase. Moreover, six outstanding corporate awards are established, including Anti-Scam Excellence Award (Gold, Silver, Bronze), Anti-Scam Advancement Award, Effective Collaboration with Police Scam Response Team Award, Effective Publicity and Education Award, Exemplary Efforts in Upstream Scam Intervention Award and Effective Regtech Application Award, in recognition of the banks which assist Police in the prevention and proactive detection of deception cases (the awardees are listed in the Annex).
Mr Siu thanked the HKMA, the Hong Kong Association of Banks (HKAB) and the banking industry for their continued support and contributions, and looked forward to partnering with the banking industry to deepen “police-bank cooperation”, jointly developing more strategic, proactive and innovative measures to comprehensively improve the effectiveness in combatting deception cases, protecting the properties of the public and maintaining Hong Kong’s reputation as an international financial centre.
In addition to Mr Siu, the officiating guests also included the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations), Mr Chow Yat-ming; the Director of Crime and Security, Mr Yip Wan-lung; the Assistant Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ms Chung Wing-man; the Executive Director of the HKMA, Ms Carmen Chu, and the Chairperson of Anti Money Laundering Committee of the HKAB, Ms Carol Li.
Hong Kong Customs holds Regional High-Level Conference on IP Protection (with photos)
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This is the first time for Hong Kong Customs to host a large-scale regional conference on IP protection, which is expected to gather as many as 200 representatives from law enforcement agencies, the World Customs Organization, Interpol, Europol and the business sector.
In his speech at the conference, Mr Chan said that the conference provided an ideal platform for the exchange of knowledge and experiences in the field of intellectual property protection and development. He also commended Hong Kong Customs for its stringent enforcement of IP laws, continuous engagement with stakeholders, and dedication in public education, as well as for forging close partnerships with regional law enforcement agencies. He also shared in his speech the advantages and new initiatives for Hong Kong to develop into a regional IP trading centre, including the introduction of the “patent box” tax incentive, the establishment of a World Intellectual Property Organization Technology and Innovation Support Centre and the introduction of regulatory arrangements covering local patent-agent services.
Also speaking at the conference, Mr Yau said he hoped that the conference serves not only as a platform to address IP enforcement issues but also as an opportunity for economies in the Asia-Pacific Region to forge stronger alliances, share best practices, and develop innovative solutions for the challenges ahead. He added that collective wisdom will light the path towards a future where IP not only drives creativity and economic growth but also serves as a beacon for societal advancement and global well-being.
The theme of the conference centres around three key elements, namely “Enforcement,” “Engagement,” and “Education.” It features a series of thematic presentations and discussions in relation to IP, enabling participants to examine the enforcement effectiveness and strategies from diverse perspectives, as well as fostering co-operation and information exchanges between law enforcement agencies and industry stakeholders.
In addition, Ms Ho also took the opportunity to hold bilateral meetings with commissioners of Indian Customs and the Philippines Customs respectively on various topics, and had a brief meeting with the Deputy Director General of the General Department of Customs and Excise of Cambodia to enhance co-operation.
Looking ahead, Hong Kong Customs together with law enforcement agencies and industry stakeholders from different regions will continue to work closely and exchange information to enhance the effectiveness in combating IP infringement crimes.
Hong Kong – CAS holds 87th Recruits Passing-out Parade (with photos)
The Civil Aid Service (CAS) held the 87th Recruits Passing-out Parade at the CAS headquarters today (March 24). The parade was reviewed by Non-official Member of the Executive Council and Legislative Council Member Mr Chan Hak-kan.Hong Kong – Ping Wo Fund holds Anti-gambling Get Set Go Carnival (with photos)
The following is issued on behalf of the Ping Wo Fund Advisory Committee:Hong Kong – HKPF holds recognition ceremony to commend banks and their staff for making joint efforts to combat scams (with photos)
The Hong Kong Police Force held the Bank Staff Recognition Ceremony today (March 22) to commend and thank banks and their staff for their close collaboration with Police and excellent performance in preventing and combatting deception cases.
1) extending the 24/7 Stop-Payment Mechanism to cover all retail banks and improve the effectiveness of the mechanism;Hong Kong – Hong Kong Customs holds Regional High-Level Conference on IP Protection (with photos)
Hong Kong Customs today (March 12) organised a three-day Regional High-Level Conference on IP Protection. The Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan; the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Algernon Yau; and the Commissioner of Customs and Excise, Ms Louise Ho, officiated at the kick-off ceremony of the conference.Ads
