Hong Kong Symposium Enhances Social Welfare Sector's Awareness of National Security Responsibilities

Social welfare sector actively participates in symposium to raise awareness of safeguarding national security (with photos/video)

The symposium on safeguarding national security for the social welfare sector of Hong Kong, jointly organised by the Labour and Welfare Bureau (LWB) and the Social Welfare Department (SWD) of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and the Connecting Hearts, was held today (April 8) to further enhance the sector's awareness of safeguarding national security.

Officiated by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Chan Kwok-ki, the symposium attracted over 8 000 participants from the social welfare sector of Hong Kong, who took part both online and offline. The Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Chris Sun; the Director-General of the Social Work Department of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR, Mr Liu Songlin; and Vice-Chairman of the Connecting Hearts and head of the Connecting Hearts Academy, Professor Annie Tam, also attended the symposium.

Addressing the symposium, Mr Chan said that the HKSAR Government has achieved fruitful results in safeguarding national security and promoting patriotic education over the past year or so, including the completion of the legislation on Article 23 of the Basic Law that ensures the smooth implementation of the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance as well as the amendments to the Social Workers Registration Ordinance which foster a better environment for social welfare professionals to leverage their expertise.

Mr Chan said that the social welfare sector is charged with the important and long-term responsibilities in serving the community and caring for members of the public. It is also their mission and duty to safeguard national security. He urged the social welfare sector to continue collaborating with the HKSAR Government to sustain efforts in safeguarding national security, thereby ensuring the healthy development of welfare services in Hong Kong and enhanced safeguards for public well-being.

A sharing session was held at the symposium where Mr Sun was joined by six representatives from different fields of the social welfare sector, including professors from education institutions, management of social welfare organisations and professional social workers, to explore how the sector can fulfil the responsibility of safeguarding national security and promote patriotic education. Mr Sun said that the LWB and the SWD have been working closely with social welfare organisations in the previous year to promote national security education within the sector through organising symposiums, seminars and visits with a view to enhancing the sector's understanding of national affairs. A dedicated fund of $500 million was rolled out last year, in which $100 million was allocated to non-governmental organisations operating subvented welfare services to arrange Mainland exchange tours and national studies programmes for their staff members. Among these tours and programmes, the "Thousands of Hong Kong Social Workers Exploring the Motherland" exchange tours organised by the Connecting Hearts have achieved remarkable results. Visits to Chaozhou, Shaoguan, Guangzhou and Foshan have attracted about 1 400 participants in total.

Member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, Ms Starry Lee, and the Director of the National Security and Legal Education Research Centre of the Education University of Hong Kong, Professor Gu Minkang, also shared their valuable insights on patriotic education as well as national security and the law at the symposium respectively, which enabled participants to have deeper and more comprehensive understanding of the relevant topics.

Social welfare sector actively participates in symposium to raise awareness of safeguarding national security (with photos/video) Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Social welfare sector actively participates in symposium to raise awareness of safeguarding national security (with photos/video) Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Social welfare sector actively participates in symposium to raise awareness of safeguarding national security (with photos/video) Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Social welfare sector actively participates in symposium to raise awareness of safeguarding national security (with photos/video) Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Social welfare sector actively participates in symposium to raise awareness of safeguarding national security (with photos/video) Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Speech by SCST at British Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong 2025 Asia's World City - 4th Business Forum themed "PLAY: Culture and Entertainment in Hong Kong"

Following is the speech by the Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Miss Rosanna Law, at the British Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong 2025 Asia's World City - 4th Business Forum themed "PLAY: Culture and Entertainment in Hong Kong" today (December 5):

Jeremy (Chair of the British Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong's (BritCham) General Committee, Mr Jeremy Sheldon), Nick (Head of HK CEO Office, HSBC, Mr Nick Holmes), Paul (Executive Director of the BritCham, Mr Paul McComb), Anthony (Executive Director of theHong Kong Tourism Board, Mr Anthony Lau), friends,

Good morning.

The theme of today's Business Forum is "PLAY: Culture and Entertainment in Hong Kong". In the last few days, of course I have been reviewing my speech, and I couldn't help but wonder: should I ask to speak on a different theme during this difficult juncture, a juncture when the city of Hong Kong is collectively working hard to get out of the haze of the Tai Po fire?

In the end, I decided that I should continue to speak on the original theme. All of you who are with me here today are no strangers to Hong Kong. From the introduction of Nick and Jeremy, you could see they probably call the city their home, or at least their second home. A lot of us actually were born here, grew up here. And we love this city. As a community we need time to bring relief to the disaster, and to heal from the immense sorrow. But we also need to see hope, to see light at the end of the tunnel, in order to stay motivated and focused enough to help one another, and help ourselves in the process.

So my sincere thanks once again must therefore go to Jeremy for the invitation, so that I may, through addressing the distinguished British business community here today, have an opportunity to introduce our cultural and mega events which can bring light and hope for a better tomorrow.

One year ago, on December 5, 2024, I was appointed the Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China. I outlined a few priorities as I took up office, and two of the most important items among them were the opening of the Kai Tak Sports Park and the successful organisation of the 15th National Games of the People's Republic of China. These are no child's play indeed.

The successful opening of the Kai Tak Sports Park on March 1, 2025, now seems a long time ago, right? I believe quite a number of you in the audience would have taken part in some of Kai Tak's inaugural events -the World Snooker Grand Prix 2025 in early March, the Hong Kong Sevens, which Jeremy just now spoke about, in end-March which was rated by many veterans as the best Sevens ever, although this is the very first time it took place in Kai Tak. The Coldplay "Music of the Spheres" concerts in early April, the Hong Kong Football Festival in late July which we saw Liverpool facing AC Milan and also Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspurs staging their first ever North London Derby outside of London. That is a big thing for football fans. The list goes on, but I won't try to describe the excitement one feels when one steps into Kai Tak Stadium for the very first time; be it a sports or entertainment mega event, no words can fit that bill of describing how amazing, how really wonderful Kai Tak Stadium is.

The completion of the Kai Tak Sports Park, the biggest ever sports and entertainment infrastructure in Hong Kong worthy of over $30 billion, puts Hong Kong right back on the global and regional events map. We were kind of losing out a little bit before the operation of Kai Tak because we simply didn't have a big enough stadium for international major events or major tournaments or pop concerts. But Kai Tak not only puts us back on the map; it makes us shine. With the 50 000 capacity Kai Tak Stadium and the 10 000 capacity Kai Tak Arena, the Kai Tak Sports Park is now a prime destination for regional and international concert tours and sports tournaments, and fans of pop and sports stars from either Hong Kong, the Chinese Mainland even Asia now find the Kai Tak Sports Park both novel and familiar, huge but accessible, and some even have their own secret havens for post-event supper in the Kowloon City area. Talk about the night economy!

The smooth opening and operation of the Kai Tak Sports Park significantly boosted our capacities and confidence to successfully cohost the 15th National Games of the People's Republic of China together with Guangdong and Macao.

First of all, I need to tell you how incredibly proud I am of our 602 athletes of Team Hong Kong. Their final tally of nine gold, two silver and eight bronze medals surpassed the achievement of any previous Hong Kong delegation to the National Games.

But there is so much more beyond the medals. This edition of the National Games - our country's highest-level multi-sport event - is historic; it is the first time that the Games are staged across the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. It promotes sports exchange and co-operation within the Greater Bay Area, and provides an invaluable experience for Hong Kong to host more mega and cross-boundary events with other cities in the Greater Bay Area. It is, more importantly, a shining example and testament to the "one country, two systems" principle. The unprecedented cohosting arrangement powerfully affirms that Hong Kong, Guangdong and Macao, each with unique systems, can join hands and leverage our respective strengths to achieve something truly exceptional and inspirational.

Building on that success, we are now cohosting the 12th National Games for Persons with Disabilities and the 9th National Special Olympic Games with Guangdong and Macao. Events in Hong Kong begin just this week. I invite you all to join us in giving strong support to all the participating athletes.

Integration of the Greater Bay Area and sports development aside, the National Games also provides Hong Kong with valuable opportunities to promote ourselves and attract visitors from the Chinese Mainland and overseas. For example, some of you would have noticed or even taken part, we have staged the triathlon event along the world-famous Victoria Harbourfront, the beach volleyball event at Victoria Park in the heart of Causeway Bay, the golf event at Hong Kong Golf Club in Fanling, and the rugby sevens event, of course, at Kai Tak Stadium.

This integration of sports events with tourist attractions has created a new experience for our visitors. And I am pleased to note that our tourism sector has started to capitalise on this, and especially on the National Games to roll out tailor-made tourism products across the Greater Bay Area. Such efforts have borne fruit - more than 1.7 million visitors came to Hong Kong during the National Games period, a 19 per cent increase over the same period last year.

Building on this, the Hong Kong SAR Government is now working hand-in-hand with our partners in the commercial sector to bring more attractive events here. Just now, I think it's Nick who alluded to a prime example, and that is our recent multi-year partnership with LIVGolf to host the LIV Golf League in Hong Kong in 2026 and 2027. I am actually very hopeful that English golfers such as Paul Casey and Tyrrell Hatton will compete in the event from March 5 to 8, 2026.

Right after the LIV Golf 2026, Hong Kong Sevens, organised by Hong Kong China Rugby since 1976, will celebrate its Golden Jubilee from April 17 to 19, 2026. Now don't worry. We close the roof and there will be air conditioning. Not scorching at all. But I look forward to seeing all of you in an event jersey at Kai Tak over the Rugby Sevens period.

I am confident that what I just said has already had you marking your diaries to ensure that you won't miss out on any of the attractive events. Indeed, Hong Kong's mega events are not isolated occurrences; many a time they are much more than mere entertainment. Collectively, they are a powerful magnet, a dynamic engine, and a key pillar solidifying Hong Kong's position as a premier international city. That's our soft power. And, unlike in many other places, mega events in Hong Kong are not held in distant, far-away venues. They happen right in the heart of our city - among our streets, contributing to our city's architecture, and becoming an integral part of our daily life.

Remember attending the Wine and Dine Festival, such a successful comeback under the able leadership of Anthony Lau here, this past October with a glass of wine in your hand while enjoying the glittering Victoria Harbour nightscape? Or taking your little ones to the world's first "WATER PARADE at Victoria Harbour" concluded in early November to greet globally renowned IP characters such as Doraemon; KAWS and Sesame Street's Elmo; McDonald's Grimace; and Labubu, a popular creation by a Hong Kong artist that has now become a global phenomenon? Or enjoying a cool picnic at Symphony Under the Stars, the iconic annual outdoor music extravaganza presented by the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra with generous support from Swire Pacific Limited just last week?

Such good memories have people longing for more, and we have indeed planned to stage more heartwarming events over the festive season. Of course, as a society, Hong Kong's priority at this juncture is doing all we can to bring comfort to the aggrieved, as well as to bravely confront the aftermath of the fire, including electing a new legislature that would work wholeheartedly with the Government on disaster relief and essential reforms on the coming Sunday. And of course, healing of physical wounds and the heartstrings takes a lot of time and much more care. But I hope that, for those in society who could use a drop of light, both literally and emotionally, the Christmas lightings that would be lit-up later this month under Hong Kong WinterFest could bring some warmth and comfort in a chilly season.

With Hong Kong's diverse offerings, we welcomed some 45 million visitors in the first 11 months of this year, already surpassing the entire of 2024. This is a 12 per cent increase year on year. Visitors from the UK (United Kingdom) grew even more significantly, by 15 per cent, meaning our long-haul visitors are actually coming back, thanks to mega events, but also thanks to an increase in air flight capacity.

Beyond economic benefits, mega events allow people to experience the real and authentic Hong Kong firsthand. Visitors become our best ambassadors, telling Hong Kong's good stories far and wide. As someone familiar with and care deeply about Hong Kong, which is all of you here, I sincerely encourage you to invite your friends to explore the real Hong Kong and the opportunities here. I have spoken enough about sports and entertainment, and I would like to mention that with the strong participation of British artists, Hong Kong's cultural offerings in the coming months are equally attractive. A few examples are Sir John Eliot Gardiner conducting the Constellation Choir and Orchestra at the 54th Hong Kong Arts Festival, and the "Wildlife Photographer of the Year" exhibition at the Hong Kong Science Museum in collaboration with the Natural History Museum, London, not to mention the highly anticipated annual mega art and creative events of Art Basel, Art Central and ComplexCon.

Ladies and gentlemen, Hong Kong is globally acclaimed as an international financial centre. This is, of course, absolutely true and important. In good times or bad, Hong Kong is always a city full of dynamic energy, and a vibrant and unique blend of East and West. But in closing, I hope to drive home this equally important message: as it is stated in 1 Corinthians 13:13, "these three remain: faith, hope, and love, but the greatest of these is love". Let us remember this and live out this spirit in full!

Thank you very much.

Source: AI-found images