RTHK：Video News RTHK.HK

Police on Sunday said they have arrested two people on suspicion of vandalising a tombstone in Tseung Kwan O Chinese Permanent Cemetery.

According to video circulating online, it belonged to Wong Ka-kui, the late singer of the now-disbanded musical band, Beyond.

The video purportedly showed someone smashing the tombstone with a hammer, as well as spraying liquid and writing with a black marker on it.

Officers said the pair arrested are aged 15 and 23.

Writing on social media, a former member of Beyond, Yip Sai-wing, called the incident "truly outrageous" and said anyone found guilty of carrying out the act must be punished.

Wong died in 1993 at the age of 31.

Senior Beijing official Xia Baolong highly values Macau's position as an international metropolis and its cooperation with nearby Hengqin, Macau Chief Executive Ho Iat-seng said on Sunday as the director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office wrapped up his week-long inspection trip to the gambling hub.

During his visit, Xia met representatives from various sectors, including healthcare, education and technology, to learn more about the latest social and economic developments in the SAR.

Ho said the senior Beijing official described Macau as "the apple of the motherland's eye" and stressed the need to use its advantages to build a "golden business card".

"From my understanding, Director Xia's visit this time is to make an assessment of the current term of the SAR government. It's a great support for our work. They provide suggestions on areas where our work is insufficient," the Macau leader told reporters.

"Regarding our existing problems, they convey what the central government expects from us in meetings with executive, legislative and judicial bodies."

This is Xia's second visit to Macau in as many years and came ahead of the 25th anniversary of the SAR's handover and a new term of government.

Ho said Xia didn't mention the Macau CE election during the visit.

"This time, he emphasised a lot the 'golden business card' of Macau, and he also emphasised that Macau is now an international city, or an international cosmopolitan," Agnes Lam, associate professor at the University of Macau and a former lawmaker, told RTHK.

"I think he didn't mention 'international' that many times last time. I think this is a new emphasis for Macau."

During his trip, Xia visited the Guangdong-Macau In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin and inspected a number of projects there, and Lam believes it shows the central government wants quicker integration of Macau and Hengqin.

"I think they urge the progress to be faster. This time, I think Director Xia also visited several key projects, including a residential project named Macau [New] Neighbourhood. And also he asked the whole society to support the government to speed up that project. So I think he also sent a stronger message about we should progress with that project."

The DAB on Sunday called on the government to transform the disused Covid isolation facility in Kai Tak into a base for the arts and sport.

Speaking at a press briefing, lawmaker Starry Lee said the facility, spanning around 80,000 square metres, has remained unused for a long time while incurring a monthly maintenance cost of HK$400,000.

"Now, we believe it is a good time to sort of restructure and reshape (it) as an international exchange art, sport hub, because this can leverage on the existing facility including the opening of the sport centre in Kai Tak area and also we have the cruise terminal," she said.

"We are expecting more tourists to come through the cruise terminal."

Lee, who represents the Kowloon Central geographical constituency, suggested the government develop a water sports centre, a dedicated space for youth art creation, as well as an exhibition area to showcase Hong Kong's intangible cultural heritage within the Kai Tak complexes.

But she said the transportation facilities in the Kai Tak area are inadequate, and called on the government to expedite the development of an eco-transportation system there.

Last month, Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn told the Legislative Council that the government was considering turning the Covid-19 isolation facility in Kai Tak into a hub for the cultural and creative industries.

Police said they have seized about 225 kilograms of suspected cocaine at a warehouse in Ta Kwu Ling and arrested two men.

They said the haul had a market value of HK$204 million.

Police said the suspected drugs were hidden among containers said to be carrying scrap iron and shipped from the South American country of Suriname.

Officers raided the warehouse in Ping Che on Friday.

“Our investigation reviewed that the drug-trafficking syndicate employed some, we believe, unwitting truck workers to assist them to dismantle approximately those 40 tonnes of scrap iron from the containers, with the syndicate overseeing the unloading,” superintendent Wilson Tam said in a press briefing on Sunday.

“Subsequently, our officers conducted the raid, and we found two workers and arrested the other two suspected members of the drug syndicate.”

The pair, aged 22 and 29, were held on suspicion of trafficking in dangerous drugs and will appear before Fanling Magistrates' Courts on Monday.

Tam added that intelligence indicated the suspected drugs were being stored in Hong Kong before they were to be sold in other countries.

Police on Saturday said they have arrested a truck driver on suspicion of causing a light rail carriage to derail, and disrupting light rail services in the western New Territories for about three hours.

It is suspected that a plank, measuring 50 centimetres by 20 centimetres, fell from the truck the man was driving onto the light rail tracks.

Officers arrested the 49-year-old man for alleged dangerous driving.

The incident occurred at around 9:40am, when a carriage derailed near Chung Uk Tsuen Station and affected light rail routes 610, 614, 615, and 715.

As a result, services were suspended at Lam Tei, Nai Wai, Chung Uk Tsuen and Hung Shui Kiu stations. But there were no injuries.

The MTR Corporation said it's investigating the incident, adding a preliminary investigation found that the train involved was not speeding.

Citing sources, lawmaker Gary Zhang, the deputy chairman of the subcommittee on matters relating to railways at the Legislative Council, said the incident happened at a busy crossing.

“Although the incident is unrelated to the operations and maintenance of the light rail services, I think the MTR Corporation can still use technology to prevent similar incidents from happening again. For example, they can consider installing AI cameras at its junctions, or maybe install some vehicle-based detection systems so that early detections can be done,” he said.

Zhang doesn't expect the incident to trigger any penalty mechanisms.

Separately, the city’s transport chief Lam Sai-hung said that he had expressed concern about the incident.

The Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) has conducted an immediate investigation at the scene of the incident and will study improvement measures along with the MTR Corporation.
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Last updated: 2024-05-18 HKT 17:58

An infectious disease expert on Saturday warned that Hong Kong could be hit by a double whammy in which its peak influenza seasons are dominated by two flu virus strains - one after another this year.

Speaking on a Commercial Radio programme, Ivan Hung, who's also a professor at the University of Hong Kong, said that influenza virus infections have rebounded to a relatively high level recently, as residents have low immunity to influenza after three years of the pandemic.

He said while the peak flu season dominated by the A subtype H3 virus strain ended last October, infections have continued this year and the SAR also has to contend with a peak season dominated by the A subtype H1 flu virus strain.

"In January we have already had the influenza peak season for the subtype H3 virus, and then starting in April and May, we had the peak season that's dominated by the subtype H1 virus.

“While the H1 virus-led inflections might ease from June and July, there's a chance that we might see the H3 virus making a comeback to form another small peak season from August and September,” he explained.

“But I think overall, the H3 virus-dominated peak season might be less serious compared with the one seen last year,” he added.

The infectious disease expert again called on parents to take their children to get a flu vaccine shot prior to the summer vacation, as there were many serious cases of children infected by the subtype H1 virus.

He also noted that the city’s Scientific Committee on Vaccine Preventable Diseases had recommended that the Department of Health increase the procurement of the nasal vaccine to raise vaccination rates, as young children were more willing to receive the nasal vaccine.

Separately, Hung predicted that the new Covid variant - KP.2 strain - that was discovered in the city’s sewage system, will replace the current prevalent variant - JN.1 - as the dominant Covid strain. But he said the new variant will not cause severe cases.