The following is issued on behalf of the Committee on the Promotion of Civic Education:

     The 2017 desktop calendar produced by the Committee on the Promotion of Civic Education (CPCE) will be available for collection free of charge at various locations from tomorrow (December 2).

     The CPCE has continued to adopt "Respect and inclusiveness", "Responsibility" and "Love" as the main themes for this year's calendar with the aim of enabling members of the public to better understand Hong Kong's core civic values, encouraging them to put those values into practice in daily life and to be good citizens. Furthermore, as 2017 marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the calendar includes relevant elements to let the public look ahead and to encourage young people to broaden their horizons and have more interaction with people from different places.

     The calendar was designed by young local illustrator Jane Lee. With a variety of colourful smiling characters, her artwork "Messy Desk" aims to offer a little joy each day. The calendar's design follows her illustrative style of depicting different characters and animals living together happily.

     Ms Lee said that she enjoyed the process of designing the calendar and found it very meaningful to promote positive civic values and seek to bring positive energy to Hong Kong people through her artwork. She said she particularly likes the illustrations for May and June. In addition to depicting a jolly dragon boat race, the picture for May shows an airplane carrying animals and visually impaired people to portray a message of social inclusion. She carried out research for June's illustration of a global map with the characteristics of different countries, and hopes that it can encourage people to seize every opportunity to create a better future.

     The calendar is available on a first-come, first-served basis at Home Affairs Enquiry Centres, public libraries, town halls, Hong Kong City Hall, the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, the Hong Kong Museum of History and the Civic Education Resource Centre on 7/F, Youth Square, 238 Chai Wan Road, Hong Kong.

     An electronic version of the calendar will also be available on the CPCE website (www.cpce.gov.hk/calendar2017) for downloading from tomorrow. For enquiries, please call 2802 0131.

Ends/Thursday, December 1, 2016
Issued at HKT 12:30

NNNN