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The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mrs Carrie Lam, today (November 16) officiated at the launching ceremony of the "Appreciate Hong Kong" Campaign. This five-month territory-wide public participation campaign will run from December this year until April next year.
A number of Principal Officials and heads of departments, as well as more than 250 representatives from different sectors, also attended to show their support.
Speaking at the ceremony, Mrs Lam said that the "Appreciate Hong Kong" Campaign is the third campaign of its kind following the "Hong Kong: Our Home" Campaign and the "Bless Hong Kong" Campaign, held by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government in 2013 and by the Commission on Poverty in 2014 respectively. This campaign is intended to be even more meaningful and possess a greater cohesive force than the past two campaigns.
Mrs Lam elaborated on the four meanings behind the English name of the "Appreciate Hong Kong" Campaign. The first reflects an appreciation of Hong Kong. Hong Kong is a highly secure and efficient city. It has many beautiful country parks and Victoria Harbour, as well as highly efficient infrastructure and prominent achievements in culture, art and sport. It is also an international financial centre. All these aspects deserve appreciation, she said.
The second meaning relates to showing gratitude for Hong Kong. Most of the Hong Kong people are educated in Hong Kong, and families are built and careers are developed here. As new generations inherit from the previous ones, many Hong Kong people have a sense of gratefulness towards the city. Mrs Lam said she especially hoped that enterprises would help to reflect this gratitude and contribute more to Hong Kong.
The third meaning reflects an understanding of Hong Kong. Hong Kong is nowadays facing a number of difficulties and challenges. People should take more action so that Hong Kong can continue to shine, Mrs Lam said.
The fourth meaning reflects the need to add value to Hong Kong. The numerous policies implemented by the Central Government have provided many opportunities for Hong Kong. Mrs Lam noted that Hong Kong people must pull together to add value to the service industry and foster youth development.
The "Appreciate Hong Kong" Campaign will feature 10 highlighted programmes. The Secretary for Security, Mr Lai Tung-kwok; the Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Lau Kong-wah; the Acting Secretary for Food and Health, Professor Sophia Chan; and representatives of other relevant organisations briefly introduced their attractive programmes.
The highlighted programmes will straddle various fields and comprise Free Visits to Ocean Park for Low-income Families, the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort "We Did It" Award Scheme, the 50th Hong Kong Brands and Products Expo - Bringing Love to Society, One-month Free Admission to Museums, "Home Market Shopping Fun Fun Fun", Farmfest 2016, the Hong Kong Marathon Carnival, Open Days of the Disciplined Forces Training School, the Food and Culture Festival and the West Kowloon Cultural District Freespace Happening - Enhanced Version.
The "Appreciate Hong Kong" Campaign is an open platform to unite forces from different sectors, bringing together the public, the business sector, the Government, academia and others in the community for all sorts of activities that complement the main campaign themes. The Government encourages different sectors to organise a wide variety of activities and programmes. The relevant government officials have been assigned to be responsible for co-ordination according to the 12 different sectors. Please refer to the Annex for more details.
Any programme suiting the themes of the "Appreciate Hong Kong" Campaign, whether it is an initiative newly devised for the campaign or an existing item that may be enriched to suit the campaign, can be proposed to the government officials of the relevant sectors. The Government will include suitable items in the schedule of events and programmes of the "Appreciate Hong Kong" Campaign.
The Government will launch the website of the "Appreciate Hong Kong" Campaign in early December. The website will list the details of the activities and programmes for the public's viewing.
Ends/Monday, November 16, 2015
Issued at HKT 19:47
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