Cantonese Opera Day Returns with Exciting Performances and Activities on November 24 at Ko Shan Theatre.

Online registration for free tickets to LCSD's Cantonese Opera Day 2024 to start on November 6

The annual Cantonese Opera Day, presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD), will be held on November 24 (Sunday) afternoon at the Ko Shan Theatre and Ko Shan Theatre New Wing for the first time. The 22nd edition of the event, themed "Fun with Cantonese Opera, Joy at Ko Shan Theatre", will feature a wide array of exciting performances and activities, which include Cantonese opera excerpt performances, demonstration sessions, workshops, a trial performance playground, talks, booth games, guided tours, autograph sessions and an exhibition. Members of the public are invited to join for free. Tickets are required for some of the performances and activities, which will be available through online registration starting November 6 (Wednesday) on a first-come, first-served basis. A small quantity of tickets will be reserved for walk-in participants while stocks last. The event is one of the programmes of the 4th Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Culture and Arts Festival.

Exciting programmes of this year’s Cantonese Opera Day include two Cantonese opera excerpt performances, namely "Up and Coming New Forces in Cantonese Opera" and "Child Cantonese Opera Stars Showcase", featuring local talented young and child Cantonese opera performers respectively to showcase their learning outcomes. Audience members may also have the opportunity to sing classic Cantonese opera songs with veteran Cantonese opera stars and up-and-coming talent on the spot. Winners of primary and secondary school groups in the Hong Kong Schools Music Festival Cantonese Opera Competition and young Cantonese opera students will gather at the Ko Shan Culture Tea & Coffee for "Cantonese Operatic Songs Unplugged" and share their experience in learning Cantonese opera.

To enable participants to learn more about Cantonese opera, a world intangible cultural heritage item, from multiple perspectives, a number of workshops and demonstration sessions will be held on that day, covering stylised movements and postures, make-up, costume dressing, as well as miniature mask production. This year, the "Cantonese Opera Trial Performance Playground" is a newly added activity in which a Cantonese opera instructor will teach parents and their children to collaborate in performing a short segment of Cantonese opera, allowing them to experience the joy of acting and singing. The "Laugh and Craft: Cantonese Opera Playgroups" will feature a variety of family-friendly booth games such as quiz competitions and handicraft workshops to let members of the public have a taste of Cantonese opera culture. Talks on Cantonese opera culture and behind-the-scenes happenings, as well as guided tours of the Cantonese Education and Information Centre will also be arranged for participants. The Cantonese Opera Day features many fascinating programmes, and participants can redeem a souvenir by collecting stamps at designated locations while stocks last.

In addition, this year's Cantonese Opera Day will once again feature the popular "Autograph Session" with Cantonese opera virtuosos such as Loong Koon-tin, Tang Mi-ling, Wan Fai-yin, Lau Wai-ming, Leung Siu-ming and Cheng Wing-mui. The "Cantonese Opera Art Exhibition", which is co-ordinated by the Hong Kong Heritage Museum, will also be held at the Exhibition Gallery of the New Wing from November 19 to 24.

Tickets are required for some of the performances and activities on a first-come, first-served basis. Members of the public can collect free admission tickets through the following methods:

Online registration

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Online registration will be open from 10am on November 6 (Wednesday) at www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/Programme/en/chinese_opera/programs_1799.html#tab_13_0. For "Up and Coming New Forces in Cantonese Opera" youth Cantonese opera excerpt performances and the "Child Cantonese Opera Stars Showcase" child Cantonese opera excerpts performances, each person is entitled to register for one of the performances only and obtain a maximum of two tickets with free seating. For workshops, demonstration sessions, talks and the "Cantonese Opera Trial Performance Playground", each person is entitled to register for two of the activities only and obtain a maximum of two tickets for each activity with free seating. Ticket availability will be on a first-come, first-served basis while stocks last.

On-site ticket distribution

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Tickets for the child Cantonese opera excerpt performances "Child Cantonese Opera Stars Showcase" and the youth Cantonese opera excerpt performances "Up and Coming New Forces in Cantonese Opera" will be distributed at the Foyer areas of Ko Shan Theatre and New Wing respectively from 1.45pm on the event day (November 24). Tickets for workshops, demonstration sessions, talks and the "Cantonese Opera Trial Performance Playground" will be distributed at the entrance of individual venues 15 minutes before the commencement of the activities. Each person is entitled to one ticket with free seating, distributed on a first-come, first-served basis while stocks last.

Limited seats are available at the "Cantonese Operatic Songs Unplugged" on a first-come, first-served basis. Admission is free and no admission ticket is required for the "Autograph Session", "Laugh and Craft: Cantonese Opera Playgroups" game booths and the "Cantonese Opera Art Exhibition". Members of the public are welcome to join on the spot.

For venues and time of the performances and activities of Cantonese Opera Day 2024, please see the Annex. For related event and ticketing information, please visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/Programme/en/chinese_opera/programs_1799.html or call 2268 7325.

In support of Cantonese Opera Day 2024, the "Your Memories with the Timeless Theatre" interactive exhibition, organised by the Yau Ma Tei Theatre of the LCSD, is being held at the Red Brick Building, 8 Waterloo Road, Kowloon. An online version of the exhibition is also available. Please visit the above-mentioned website for the relevant programmes and web links.

Hong Kong is the host city of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Culture and Arts Festival for the first time. It organises and co-ordinates over 260 performances and exchange activities to be held across the "9+2" cities of the Greater Bay Area. The festival aims to showcase the vibrant and diverse cultural richness of the region and foster cultural exchanges and co-operation among the cities. For detailed information about the festival, please visit www.gbacxlo.gov.hk.

Building Safety Symposium 2024 held

More than 400 building professionals, property management practitioners, government officials and academics attended the Building Safety Symposium organised by the Buildings Department (BD) at the Y-Theatre, Youth Square, Chai Wan today (November 1) to exchange views on the application of innovative technologies to enhance building safety as well as the safety of construction works.

Speaking at the symposium, the Secretary for Development, Ms Bernadette Linn, said as a regulator, the Government must provide a legal framework that meets the needs of the society. The Government is conducting a comprehensive review of the Buildings Ordinance in three major areas, including encouraging owners to expedite building repairs; rationalising the enforcement policy on unauthorised building works (UBWs); and regulating more effectively the quality and safety of building works. The main approach of the review is to increase penalties while lowering prosecution threshold and rationalising enforcement priorities. A public consultation on specific proposals is expected to be launched by the end of this year, with relevant legislative amendment proposals to be submitted in the first half of 2026. In addition, the Government has actively adopted innovative technologies to enhance enforcement and work efficiency, including using new technologies such as drones and artificial intelligence to speed up building inspections, strengthening enforcement against UBWs and defective signboards, and enhancing site safety. The Government will also soon put forward elderly-friendly building design proposals to tie in with the aging in place policy. To promote Building Information Modelling technology, the Government has announced a roadmap for the preparation and submission of building plans, which is generally supported by the industry, with a view to making it mandatory for the private sector to adopt the technology in 2029. The Government will continue to work with the industry to make preparations.

In her welcoming speech, the Director of Buildings, Ms Clarice Yu, said that regarding the adoption of innovative technologies, the BD will continue to implement and enhance the Electronic Submission Hub and commence the consultancy study and consult stakeholders on the full adoption of Building Information Modeling by the private sector for preparation and submission of plans for the BD's approval. The BD has introduced mandatory measures since July this year requiring the adoption of two alert systems of the Smart Site Safety System for superstructure works with an estimated construction cost over $30 million, and is exploring the feasibility of extending the systems to other types of works; and to use drones and artificial intelligence for regularly conducting special inspections on the external walls of higher-risk buildings. All these measures are the BD's efforts to leverage smart technologies to facilitate building design and construction, enhance site safety, and promote preventive maintenance of existing buildings.

Ms Yu said that the BD will continue to apply its professional expertise and innovative approach and work together with the industry to create a safer and sustainable built and living environment.

The Building Safety Symposium is a highlight event of Building Safety Weeks 2024. The theme of this year's symposium is "Building for Our Future: Smart Technologies for Building Safety and Sustainability". In the symposium, a number of local experts spoke on the following topics:

• Extreme Weather in Hong Kong - the Past and the Future;

• The 2°C Impact on Building Safety;

• Smart Management for Safe Construction;

• The Role of Modern Technologies in Construction Safety;

• Promoting Elderly-friendly Building Design;

• Application of New Quality Productive Forces in Enhancing Safety and Sustainability in Building Management;

• Transforming Public Housing Management with Smart Technologies; and

• Enhancing Building Safety in Hong Kong: Challenges and Effective Strategies.

In addition to the above speeches, the symposium also featured two panel discussion sessions. An innovative technology booth was set up in the venue's foyer to demonstrate how the BD utilises drones and artificial intelligence to assist in inspecting the external walls of old buildings.

An award ceremony for the Exploring Livable Communities - Short Video Competition under the Building Safety Pioneer Programme and the Building Facade Design Competition was also held today at the same venue. The two competitions aimed to encourage students and members of the public to participate in building a more liveable city and to understand that building maintenance and repair are closely related to daily life.

In addition, the BD will hold the Building Safety Carnival on November 9 and 10; and November 16 and 17, at Tuen Mun Town Plaza and Olympic City 2, respectively. This carnival will serve as the finale of this year's Building Safety Weeks, allowing the public to acquire proper building safety knowledge in a fun and engaging way through game booths.

Building Safety Symposium 2024 held Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Building Safety Symposium 2024 held Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases