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South China Morning Post
3 days ago
- Climate
- South China Morning Post
‘Better safe than sorry', Hong Kong's No 2 official says over school suspension
Hong Kong's No 2 official has responded to parents' concerns about the suspension of day schools on Friday despite the fine weather, saying it was a difficult decision due to the low predictability of rainstorms and a wish by authorities to be safe rather than sorry. Chief Secretary Eric Chan Kwok-ki, who chairs the steering committee on handling extreme weather, said the government had decided to halt certain classes due to the local forecaster predicting that Hong Kong could have faced its fifth-largest rainfall, or 390mm (15.4 inches) a day, in an 'extreme' case. The predictions factored in the effects of remnants of then tropical cyclone Danas, which brought heavy showers and thunderstorms to the city. 'Therefore, we chose to issue early warnings and make proactive preparations, even if it meant 'doing too much', even if the safety margin was excessively large, and even if volatile weather might lead to forecast deviations,' Chan said in a social media post. 'We would rather be safe than sorry.' He explained that issuing the warning the day before ensured residents had more time to prepare than if they were notified on the morning of the day of a school suspension.
South China Morning Post
13-05-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong fast-tracks security law changes amid geopolitical tensions
Hong Kong gazetted a subsidiary legislation to its domestic security law on Tuesday, with new regulations taking effect on the same day, as a government spokesman said the law needed to enact as soon as possible due to potential unforeseen circumstances amid escalating geopolitical tensions. Advertisement The gazetted document was signed by Acting Chief Executive Eric Chan Kwok-ki as the city's leader Lee Ka-chiu is in Qatar for a business trip. On Monday, the government announced the new legislation, which aims to amend the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance to provide greater clarity and better support to Beijing's Office for Safeguarding National Security. However, a day after the new subsidiary law was tabled to a Legislative Council panel for deliberations, a government spokesman stated that this would no longer be the case. He explained that it would now be subject to a 'first enactment, then vetting' process in the Legislative Council. Advertisement 'Against the increasingly turbulent global geopolitical landscape, national security risks to which the HKSAR is exposed can arise all of a sudden,' he said.
