Public Can Pre-register Online to Observe Wang Fuk Court Fire Direction Conference

Online pre-registration arrangements announced for public observation at direction conference of Independent Committee in relation to fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po

The following is issued on behalf of the Independent Committee in relation to the fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po:

The Independent Committee in relation to the fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po announced today (January 21) that members of the public can make online reservations from 10am tomorrow to 10am on January 25 to pre-register for observing the direction conference.

The Independent Committee in relation to the fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, Photo source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The direction conference will be held at 10am on February 5 at the Multi-purpose Room, 3/F, City Gallery, 3 Edinburgh Place, Central. The Chairman of the Committee, Mr Justice David Lok, will give directions on the subsequent hearings. There will not be any presentation of evidence or examination of witnesses. The direction conference will be open to the public to observe. To allow more members of the public to observe the conduct of the conference, the proceedings will be broadcast simultaneously in transmission areas set up on the ground floor of the City Gallery and in the Lecture Theatre of the Hong Kong Central Library. Some members of the public will be arranged to observe the conference in these two areas. A total of about 400 seats will be available for the public, with separate arrangements for the media.

Individuals who wish to observe the direction conference are required to make an online reservation in advance through the submission of a pre-registration form (eform.cefs.gov.hk/form/ic-hearing/en/) from 10am tomorrow (January 22) to 10am on January 25. The Secretariat of the Committee will allocate seats on a first-come, first-served basis according to the system's record of the time that the pre-registration forms are received.

Successful registrants will receive a "Confirmation of Successful Registration" issued by the Secretariat of the Committee by February 3: an SMS notification will be sent from the sender name "#IC-hearing". If an email address is also provided during pre-registration, an email notification will be sent from hearing@ic-wangfukcourtfire.gov.hk. The pre-registration will be considered unsuccessful for those who have not received a notification by that date. Each person can only pre-register once. Duplicate registrations will not be processed.

The Chief Executive has established the Independent Committee in relation to the fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po to review the causes of the incident and related issues of the fire, and to make recommendations to prevent similar incidents from occurring again. The Committee formally commenced its work on December 19, 2025.

Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, Photo by Bastille Post

CMAB responds to media enquiries

In response to media enquiries regarding the Director of the Tianjin Liaison Unit of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau has further responded today (January 21) as follows:

Regarding the concerns arising from the social media posts issued by Mr Ricky Cheng Chun-sang, the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau has undertaken further investigation. It has been considered that the incident in which Mr Cheng's seat being upgraded on a vessel during his earlier trip to Macao is suspected of breaching the provisions under the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance regarding civil servants accepting advantages without permission. The matter has already been referred to law enforcement agencies for follow up.

Mr Cheng is a contract staff of the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau. The bureau has decided to terminate his contract with immediate effect.