In the central and western parts of the Hong Kong Island, there are a number of “City of Victoria boundary stones”, which were erected over a hundred years ago. At the mountain peaks in our city, there are triangulation stations — concrete cylindrical pillars painted black and white. Moreover, there are quite a number of survey markings on the streets, around building corners or along hiking trails used for land boundary delineation or survey positioning across Hong Kong. For this post, I have invited a colleague from the Survey and Mapping Office (SMO) of the Lands Department (LandsD) to take us on a tour to trace these markings scattered around our city, including boundary stones from the early days of Hong Kong and survey control points currently used for mapping and land boundary survey. He will also brief us on their history and uses......

The Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) set up the E&M InnoPortal in 2018 to match the service needs of government departments and public organisations with local start-ups’ deliverables, as well as providing suitable venues to field-test projects and validate their effectiveness and performance. Facing the challenges brought by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, the EMSD has particularly launched an anti-epidemic thematic page on the platform to liaise with innovation and technology (I&T) enterprises for the development of new technology projects on fighting and curbing of the epidemic. This time, I have invited the Director of Electrical and Mechanical Services (DEMS), Mr SIT Wing-hang, Alfred, to introduce two I&T solutions to facilitate our understanding of the department’s efforts in fighting the virus together with the I&T sector......

Many of us may still remember, during the onslaught of super typhoon Mangkhut on Hong Kong in September 2018, a large wall-growing tree at Duddell Street in Central collapsed and damaged the adjacent declared monument over a century old – the Duddell Street Steps and Gas Lamps. After more than a year of hard work by the Antiquities and Monuments Office (AMO) of the Development Bureau (DEVB), together with the Highways Department and Towngas, the steps have now been restored to their previous appearance and the gas lamps have been relit. This time, I have invited my colleagues from the AMO to talk about the restoration process and challenges involved......

As mentioned in the latest Budget, the Government continues to invest in infrastructure projects. In the coming years, the annual capital works investment will reach $100 billion on average. The increasing construction volume has brought opportunities and challenges to the construction industry. All along, the Development Bureau (DEVB) has led the industry to implement Construction 2.0 for promoting its sustainable development by advocating innovation, professionalism and revitalisation. Among the initiatives, the Centre of Excellence for Major Project Leaders (CoE), established in July last year, is to equip public officers with leadership skills for the delivery of public works projects. We are also actively promoting the digitisation of the works supervision system to enhance the standard and efficiency of works supervision. This time, I have invited Principal Government Engineer, Mr KWONG Ka-sing, John, of the DEVB to talk about the work of the Government in enhancing the management of works projects......

Many industries in Hong Kong have been affected by the novel coronavirus epidemic, and the construction industry is no exception. The Government has announced the establishment of the Anti-epidemic Fund to enhance the city’s capability in combating the epidemic and to provide assistance to sectors or industries and their employees who are hard hit by the epidemic. The Fund has set aside $710 million to support the construction industry by providing it with extra resources to enhance anti-epidemic measures in construction sites and offices, and to enhance personal protective measures among workers. The subsidy will be disbursed through the Construction Industry Council (CIC) and the application process will be made as simple as possible, to ensure fast and accurate disbursement to enterprises and in-service construction workers......