News

on December 3, 2025 at 4:00 pm

The Government has announced that the living allowance for each household affected by the Wang Fuk Court fire, channelled via the Support Fund for Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, will be increased from $50,000 to $100,000. At least 674 households will benefit. The Government will also provide a $200,000 token of solidarity to the families of each deceased victim, as well as $50,000 to cover funeral costs. As of today, 67 cases have been processed. Separately, the Government has so far made emergency subsidy payments of $10,000 to 1,929 households. Social workers from the Social Welfare Department have been in contact with more than 1,700 affected households to help them register for the “one social worker per household” service. Departmental staff also paid a visit to affected residents staying in transitional housing units in Yuen Long today, and distributed Octopus cards with a face value of $2,000. The Monetary Authority and the Hong Kong Association of Banks today met again with 28 retail banks, including digital banks, and introduced additional measures to continue assisting those affected by the blaze. The Support Fund for Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, set up to assist residents in rebuilding their homes and to offer them long-term support, amounted to $2.8 billion as of noon today. Of that sum, $2.5 billion comes from donations, whilst $300 million is the Government’s start-up capital. Accommodation supportAs of this morning, 1,241 residents had been accommodated, via the co-ordination of the Home & Youth Affairs Bureau, in youth hostels, camps, or hotel rooms. Another 2,235 residents have moved into transitional housing units provided by the Housing Bureau or units from the Housing Society. Meanwhile, the Transport Department has been steering public transport operators to strengthen the provision of franchised bus, green minibus and residents’ bus services by deploying additional vehicles and manpower to support residents staying in transitional housing in various districts. Relief suppliesAn online platform for the donation of supplies, established by the Government and the information technology sector, has received over 1,300 registrations for donations including food and beverage items, clothing, daily necessities, bedding, and electrical appliances. Handling of reported missing personsPolice have completed searches inside all seven buildings which caught fire. Following searches conducted by around 300 officers from the Disaster Victim Identification Unit, areas around the buildings and near the collapsed scaffolding were confirmed to be safe. No human remains were found, and the number of the deceased remains at 159. The officers also handed over suspected human remains found earlier to forensic pathologists for further testing. InvestigationsThe Inter-departmental Fire Investigation Task Force, led by the Fire Services Department and also involving the Electrical & Mechanical Services Department, inspected the gas pipeline on the exterior wall where the fire started and found no damage to the pipeline. Regulation, inspection workThe Housing Bureau began sending emergency maintenance contractors to help Police clear away miscellaneous items in the surroundings of the buildings. Support works have also commenced in a small number of units which may be subject to further damage. The Housing Bureau’s Independent Checking Unit visited Fung Wah Estate in Chai Wan (under the Tenants Purchase Scheme), as well as four Home Ownership Scheme courts, namely Sui Wo Court in Sha Tin, Ching Lai Court in Sham Shui Po, Yee Kok Court in Sham Shui Po, and On Kay Court in Kwun Tong, to oversee the progress of work to remove protective nets by registered contractors. The Housing Department also completed the removal of protective nets in 15 public housing estates today. As of 4pm, the Labour Department had inspected 239 construction sites, issued 130 written warnings and 61 improvement notices, and taken out 17 prosecutions. 

on December 3, 2025 at 4:00 pm

The Education Bureau announced today that parents of Primary 6 students participating in the 2026 cycle of the Secondary School Places Allocation (SSPA) system who wish to apply for Secondary 1 Discretionary Places (DPs) for their children must submit their applications to the secondary schools concerned between January 2 and 16, 2026. Parents who have registered as SSPA e-platform users and bound their accounts to “iAM Smart+” can from tomorrow browse revelant information, submit DP applications and subsequently view their application results. Paper application forms will still be accepted. Parents of P6 students will each receive two paper application forms from their children’s primary schools. Parents of students not studying in primary schools participating in the SSPA system can obtain the application forms at the bureau’s School Places Allocation Section. The bureau remarked that parents should not submit applications to more than two secondary schools participating in the SSPA, otherwise their applications will be rendered void. In addition, parents should not submit duplicate applications via the e-platform and in paper. Primary and secondary schools should not request students or parents to disclose their order of school preference. Likewise, applicants and their parents should not disclose such information. Additionally, parents are strongly advised to consider the schools in all respects, so as to make suitable choices for their children. They may refer to the Secondary School Profiles for reference. As students who are successful in the DP application stage will not be allocated a school place in the central allocation, parents are advised to only apply to schools of their preference. The bureau will match students’ preferences against schools’ Successful/Reserve Lists for Discretionary Places. If a student is successful in both schools to which he or she has applied, allocation will be based on the student’s order of preference. If students are included in the Successful Lists for Discretionary Places, their parents will receive notifications from the relevant schools on March 31 next year. From 10am on the same day, e-platform users can also view notifications for successful DP applicants online. Parents do not need to reply to the secondary schools to accept or decline the DP offers. The DP allocation results and the central allocation results will be released on July 7 next year.

on December 2, 2025 at 4:00 pm

A new round of applications under the Electronic Advance Application System for Post-secondary Programmes (E-APP) will open tomorrow. Current Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (HKDSE) Examination candidates can use E-APP to make advance applications for full-time locally accredited sub-degree and undergraduate programmes not covered under the Joint University Programmes Admissions System (JUPAS) for the 2026-27 academic year. Sub-degree programmes under the Study Subsidy Scheme for Designated Professions/Sectors and most of the eligible programmes under the Non-means-tested Subsidy Scheme for Self-financing Undergraduate Studies in Hong Kong will be included. Around 30 post-secondary institutions and their subsidiaries will take part in this round of E-APP applications, the bureau added. The main round of enrolment will run from tomorrow until May 19, 2026 and the second round will last from May 22 to July 6. Students can browse the Concourse for Self-financing Post-secondary Education website for information on post-secondary institutions and programmes, including tuition fees, entry requirements, and accreditation and recognition by relevant professional bodies. Institutions’ estimated intake numbers, their application and admission arrangements, and their past admission scores and graduate statistics will also be uploaded to the website. The E-APP is a free application platform that allows applicants complete one application to apply for most post-secondary programmes that are not covered under JUPAS. Relevant institutions can give eligible candidates conditional offers before the announcement of HKDSE Examination results.

on December 2, 2025 at 4:00 pm

The Labour Department (LD) today appealed to eligible workers and foreign domestic helpers (FDHs) employed at Wang Fuk Court, Tai Po to submit their applications for a $20,000 special subsidy as soon as possible.   The LD will disburse the special subsidy to each local worker and FDH affected by the Wang Fuk Court fire, and is contacting trade unions, service contractors, concerned consulates-general in Hong Kong and affected households, to arrange for applications. The subsidy for workers supports construction workers, cleaning workers and security guards who have originally worked at Wang Fuk Court. They may also download the application form, and complete and return it by fax to 2697 3394, email to lrd-hq@labour.gov.hk, post to the Office of Labour Relations Division (Shatin & Taipo) at Rooms 304-313, 3/F, Sha Tin Government Offices, or in person. The subsidy for FDHs supports helpers who have originally worked at Wang Fuk Court. They may download the application form and return the completed form by fax to 3101 0604, email to fdh-subsidy@labour.gov.hk, post to the LD’s Foreign Domestic Helpers Division at 16/F, One Mong Kok Road Commercial Centre, or in person. Call 2929 4054 for enquiries on the workers’ subsidy, and 3582 8987 for the FDH subsidy.     The LD added that it will process and verify the applications expeditiously and disburse the subsidies.

on December 1, 2025 at 4:00 pm

The Education Bureau today announced that students of Tai Po Baptist Public School (TPBPS) will resume face-to-face classes in classrooms of two other Tai Po schools from mid-December, as their own school will remain closed for a certain period of time due to the fire at Wang Fuk Court last week. In order to facilitate early resumption of the school’s normal teaching routine and provide proper care for the students, the bureau has co-ordinated with others schools in Tai Po district to deploy available classrooms. TPBPS students will attend classes at the premises of Tai Po Government Primary School and N.T.W.J.W.A Christian Remembrance of Grace Primary School from mid-December. For the next two weeks, TPBPS has arranged for students to resume classes in various modes. This includes attending classes in classrooms of other schools in Tai Po District and participating in learning activities at different venues. The bureau said it fully supports Tai Po Government Primary School in lending out its classrooms and is grateful for the support and co-operation of N.T.W.J.W.A Christian Remembrance of Grace Primary School in helping affected students resume their studies. The bureau has set up a working group dedicated to implementing the arrangements outlined. The Government will earmark $5 million to support the operations of the abovementioned schools during the transition period and to provide appropriate learning and teaching assistance to students and teachers. The bureau said it will continue to maintain close contact with the schools and provide necessary assistance.