Secretary for Culture, Sports & Tourism Kevin Yeung has appointed Chinese contemporary artist Xu Bing as Ambassador for Cultural Promotion for about five years starting today. As Ambassador for Cultural Promotion, Mr Xu will initiate a series of large-scale art projects in Hong Kong and nurture young talent to promote cultural development. The Culture, Sports & Tourism Bureau said the appointment aims to extend the Ambassador for Cultural Promotion scheme to other fields of arts, after Chinese composer, musician and conductor Tan Dun became Hong Kong’s first Ambassador for Cultural Promotion last year. Speaking at the appointment ceremony today, Mr Yeung said Mr Xu is widely recognised as one of the most innovative and influential Chinese contemporary artists. The culture chief added that the Museum of Art collected one of Mr Xu's most well-known works A Book from the Sky, which contains both traditional and contemporary elements, just like Hong Kong
Chief Executive Carrie Lam said the restricted area in Jordan was set up for the purpose of conducting compulsory COVID-19 testing and that there is a difference between what the Government is doing and what people normally refer to as a “city lockdown” in other parts of the world.
Speaking to the media after inspecting the restricted area today, Mrs Lam explained the scope of the Government’s operation there.
“On many occasions, any public health measures - especially in terms of mandating people to be subject to COVID-19 tests and requiring shops and premises to close - require the full co-operation of the citizens and also the businesses, but the Government is obliged to provide all the needed assistance.
“In this case, for example, we know that the residents being affected are not allowed to leave their home for up to 48 hours. So what the Government has done is we provided them with food packs which we believe should be able to support them for the next two days.
“And if there are other necessary requirements, they could always call our hotline and we will try to help. So that’s the approach that we have taken in supporting this type of operation.”
Mrs Lam also explained why the Jordan restricted area operation should not be regarded as a “lockdown”.
“I must make it very clear, that what we are doing is not what people see in other places as a lockdown. Because a lockdown normally means that you are not allowed to go out for a period. But in our case, this prohibition is linked to the test, so that’s why in English we call this a restriction-testing declaration. It is for the purpose of the compulsory testing.
“Once the compulsory testing for the entire area has been completed, then the order will be lifted and people will be allowed to go out.
“I would say that there is a difference between what we are doing in Hong Kong and what people normally refer to as a ‘city lockdown’ in other parts of the world.”
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