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Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs Alice Mak on Saturday said 12 care teams have been deployed to Sai Kung in response to the severe rainfall that hit the area.

At one point, the Observatory recorded over 200 millimetres of rain in the district, causing significant flooding on several roads, including Po Lam Road North and Wan Po Road in Tseung Kwan O, as well as Pak Sha Wan Street in Sai Kung.

The home affairs minister said some care team members were already on duty in temporary shelters while others were checking the district for floods and reporting to the Sai Kung district officer.

She also dismissed claims that some care team members didn't turn up when the rain was at its hardest on Saturday morning.

“Care team members are volunteers and they are fully dedicated to their work. However, during periods of heavy rainfall and when there are floods, the responsibility for addressing standing water and flooding falls to the government's professional departments,” she said. “I think the general public don’t expect care teams to deal with the floods without the necessary equipment.”

She added that most floods in the district had been dealt with before noon and most roads affected had been reopened by 2 pm.

She said the Home Affairs Department had opened nine temporary shelters across Hong Kong for people in need of temporary accommodation.

The heavy rain over Hong Kong has started to ease with the Observatory replacing the red rainstorm warning with the lower amber signal just before 4 pm on Saturday. But the forecaster says another intense band of thundery showers is edging towards the Pearl River Estuary, and this might still affect Hong Kong.

The red signal had been in place since about 9 am and, at around noon, the Observatory warned it might issue its maximum black signal as even heavier rain started to fall across Hong Kong, especially in the east.

The Drainage Services Department reported at least 15 flooding reports in Po Lam, Tseung Kwan O, Lohas Park, Sai Kung, Kwun Tong, and Fanling; while the Civil Engineering and Development Department reported over a dozen landslides again in the east.

Over 400 millimetres of rain fell over Tseung Kwan O, and Sai Kung was also hit hard.

Two out-patient clinics in the areas had to run a limited service and the Home Affairs Department opened temporary shelters.

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Last updated: 2024-05-04 HKT 17:26

The Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun on Saturday said the new minimum wage formula will provide support to Hong Kong's 17,000 low income workers, who currently earn an hourly rate of HK$40.

The new formula - which bars any reduction - takes effect next year, after being given the go-ahead on Tuesday by the Chief Executive, John Lee, and the Executive Council.

Speaking to reporters after appearing on a Commercial Radio programme, Sun said the reform balanced the interests of both labour and employers.

"It has taken into account, on the one hand, the need to protect those earning a minimum wage, that their wage is being protected; and also, at the same time, to ensure that the formula is affordable, and also acceptable to the business sector," Sun said.

Earlier the labour minister told an RTHK radio programme that the government would enhance safety awareness following the deaths of two sewer maintenance workers, who are believed to have been exposed to toxic gas in a manhole last week in Sha Tin.

Sun stated that new guidelines for those working in confined spaces, to be announced this month, will make it mandatory to install CCTV at the entrance and exit of manholes.

Catering sector representative Simon Wong on Saturday said restaurants saw 10 percent less business than usual this May 1 public holiday, which was also the first day of the mainland's Golden Week break.

Speaking to reporters after appearing on a radio programme, the Hong Kong Federation of Restaurants and Related Trades president said this was partially due to 20,000 fewer mainland arrivals on that day, although the May 1 firework display had helped trade near Victoria Harbour.

“We see that business in some areas in Hong Kong - like in Tsim Sha Tsui, Mong Kok, and along the harbour - because of the fireworks, recorded some increase," he said. "I did visit several districts in Hong Kong and saw that there were not too many people visiting shopping malls.”

Wong added that reduced spending power among individual travellers and the bad weather during the week contributed to the lower sales. He also attributed the lower sales to many locals heading north.

Meanwhile, a hotel group says the occupancy rate for its two hotels also dropped about six to seven percent when compared to last year.

Alan Chan, the operations officer of Miramar Group, said the group had offered substantial price discounts to retain hotel guests, with prices per night decreasing by approximately 23 percent year-on-year.

“For the hotel industry, if we need to drop prices by 23 percent to retain a certain occupancy rate, I think it’s not really ideal,” he said

He said that this year, many mainland flights had resumed to other countries, and visa requirements had also been relaxed for mainlanders, giving them more travel options.

Chan urged the government to liaise with mainland authorities to further expand the Individual Visit Scheme so more mainlanders could visit the SAR.

The five-day mainland holiday will conclude on Sunday.

According to the Immigration Department, arrivals on May 1 reached 460,000, with over 180,000 coming from the mainland.

The Observatory on Saturday said it may issue the Black Rainstorm Warning Signal, as heavy rain continues to batter Hong Kong, particularly in the east of the territory. It had issued the Red Rainstorm Signal just before 9 am, as the rainy weather that has hit Hong Kong over the past few days worsened.

Sai Kung and Tseung Kwan O have seen very heavy rain with the Observatory saying more than 200 millimetres have been recorded and that severe rainstorms would continue to affect the eastern part of the SAR. It also warned people to stay away from watercourses across the territory due to the possibility of flash floods.

Meanwhile, a Hospital Authority spokesman for the Kowloon East Cluster said road flooding meant only limited services could be provided at the Mona Fong General Out-patient Clinic in Sai Kung and the Tseung Kwan O Jockey Club General Out-patient Clinic.

Earlier, the government had called on the public to report flooding to the Drainage Services Department following wet weather overnight. There have been reports of flooding and a fallen tree in Chai Wan, and flooding on Silver Cape Road in Tseung Kwan O.

Schools have also been told to make sure conditions are safe before allowing students to leave, while all classes have been suspended for the afternoon

The government has also told employers to make arrangements for staff.

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Last updated: 2024-05-04 HKT 12:37

The Hospital Authority (HA) is launching a new round of its overseas training sponsorship programme, fully subsidising eligible participants to earn a bachelor's degree in podiatry at the University of Northampton in the UK.

The scheme to send people abroad for training on foot treatment was first introduced in 2005 due to the lack of recognised programmes among local tertiary institutions.

Stanley Wan, who works as a resident podiatrist at Yan Chai Hospital, participated in the programme in 2014 and joined the HA in 2017.

He had graduated with an engineering degree, but decided to switch to a new career.

“In terms of my profile, I think I'm not really as good as other competitors, which could possibly already have a degree related to chemistry or bio-engineering,” he said.

“But I think I showed the interviewer that I have great determination of preparing myself. I applied for the course of physiology, trying to learn something that I probably [did not] know before.

"Also I participated in my church activities, which mainly serve the elderly.”

Two or three places are on offer each year, and successful applicants must commit to working for the HA for at least five years upon graduation.

Priscilla Poon, the HA's chief manager of allied health, said applicants actually find the requirement attractive because Hong Kong doesn't have its own podiatry registration process.

“I think it's a kind of encouragement to them… For those graduates who have graduated in the UK – despite the fact that they are able to register in the UK – [but because] there’s no registration in Hong Kong, there won't be any guarantee of job opportunities,” she said.

“But if we ask them to serve in HA at least for five years, I think that will be a very positive message for them… they're still able to get a very good pay and a very good job opportunity in HA.”

Poon said the HA currently employs 54 podiatrists, but lost about 5 percent of staff each year in recent years due to retirement or resignations.

She added that while the current staff level is sufficient, Hong Kong's ageing population is expected to increase the demand for podiatrists further.