2023 holidays announced

OFWs are now entitled to 13 statutory holidays aside from their regular rest day per week.

 

The government has published the list of general holidays which residents can enjoy next year.

Of these general holidays, foreign domestic workers are entitled to the 13 statutory holidays plus one day off a week, which should be determined in accordance with an agreement with their  employers.

The statutory holidays were increased by one this year (Buddha's Birthday) in line with a law that mandates a progressive overlap of the holidays. 

In 2024, the first weekday after Christmas will be turned into a statutory holiday; in 2026, Easter Monday will be added, in 2028, Good Friday; and in 2030, the day following Good Friday.

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The holidays (the statutory holidays are in bold) are:

• Every Sunday
• The day following the first day of January, January 2
• The second day of Lunar New Year, January 23
• The third day of Lunar New Year, January 24
• The fourth day of Lunar New Year, January 25

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• Ching Ming Festival, April 5
• Good Friday, April 7
• The day following Good Friday, April 8
• Easter Monday, April 10

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• Labour Day, May 1
• The Birthday of the Buddha, May 26
• Tuen Ng Festival, June 22
• Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Establishment Day July 1
• The day following the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival, September 30

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The day following National Day, October 2

Chung Yeung Festival, October 23

Christmas Day, December 25

The first weekday after Christmas Day, December 26

In an explanatory note, the government said: "As the first day of January and National Day in 2023 both fall on a Sunday, the day following them will be designated as a general holiday in substitution. Moreover, as Lunar New Year's Day in 2023 falls on a Sunday, the fourth day of Lunar New Year will be designated as a general holiday in substitution."

 

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4k Filipino helpers arrived last month, highest in 2 years

By The SUN

 

If quarantine rules are eased, more migrant workers will be able to enter HK, recruiters say

Employment agency operators are calling for home quarantine for foreign domestic workers coming into Hong Kong, or if that is not feasible, for their hotel quarantine to be cut to just three or four days.

The call came after Labour Secretary Law Chi-kwong said in a blog post that the lifting of the flight ban on the Philippines on April 1 had led to a total of 4,005 Filipino workers to arrive in Hong Kong last month.

This was the biggest number of FDW arrivals from the Philippines since the Covid-19 pandemic prompted tighter border controls two years ago, said Law.

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An additional 2,188 FDWs arrived from Indonesia at the same time, also another post-pandemic record.

Law said frequent flight suspensions also cut the number of people flying in from Indonesia at the same time.

Despite the surge in arrivals, the labour chief said 16,000 other FDWs with employment visas remain stuck in their home countries.

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From a peak of more than 400,000 in 2019, the total number of FDWs had plummeted to 328,000 at the end of March this year.

That went up slightly to 332,000 by the end of last month, and Law said he hoped the rise in the number of FDHs would continue.

He noted that with fewer FDWs coming in, many working residents had to give up their jobs to stay at home and look after young children or elderly family members.

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“If the number of foreign domestic helpers can be increased, more labour force can be released to return to the market,” Law wrote in his blog.

This prompted employment agency operators for an easing of the quarantine requirements for incoming FDWs, including allowing them to quarantine at the home of their employer.

Thomas Chan, head of the Hong Kong Union of Employment Agencies, said the easing of the coronavirus situation in the Philippines and Indonesia is shown by the fact that no flights from either country was suspended last month.

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The so-called “circuit breaker mechanism” is triggered when an incoming flight carries a certain number of infected passengers into Hong Kong. Currently, the threshold is five passengers on each flight testing positive on arrival.

Due to limited quarantine hotel rooms, he said it would take another three months before all the stranded workers are able to come in.

Chan suggested the government allow home quarantine, or if this is not possible, to shorten the quarantine period for helpers from seven days to four days.

He is also asking that some of the makeshift quarantine facilities most of which are now vacant, to be set aside for occupancy by FDWs, at minimal cost to employers.

Chan said industry members expect between 5,000 to 6,000 more migrant workers to arrive this month and next, if no more flight suspensions are meted for flights coming from the Philippines and Indonesia, and the quarantine rules are eased further.

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41 Covid cases now linked to Sheung Wan restaurant

By The SUN

 

Chuang says a waiter at the restaurant lives in Sai Wan estate where an outbreak happened earlier

Health authorities reported 284 new Covid-19 cases on Saturday, including 11 more linked to the Sky Cuisine restaurant in Sheung Wan.

According to Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan, the restaurant cluster has now grown to 41 cases, 39 of them diners and two waiters. The customers, aged seven to 90, were from 15 different families.

"In one family's case, all eight members have been infected,” said Chuang.

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Environmental samples collected in the men’s toilet and an exhaust fan in the women’s toilet were said to have tested positive for the virus.

"The whole third floor has around 29 tables, we haven't been able to trace all of the seating arrangements but we know that some 17 tables were affected. They were rather dispersed, and some tables were near the toilets," Chuang said.

One of the waiters lives at West Terrace in Sai Wan Estate, which was earlier locked down after the virus with a heavy viral load was found in its sewage.

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Chuang said investigators will see if the two outbreaks are linked.

Among the new cases, six more were detected from an outbreak at the Sun Mong snooker club in Hung Hom, raising the total number of infections there to 12.

According to Chuang, four of the patients had played darts at the venue on Monday, while the two were staff members who worked at the bar.

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Around 150 people who had been to the club on Monday evening were told to get tested for Covid after six customers who were all there at the time tested positive.

Chuang also reported 33 imported cases, including 10 who tested positive on arrival in Hong Kong. Three flew in Friday aboard CX288 while two were on CX495. The five others traveled on CX170, TR980, KL819, TK070, and EK384. 

Twenty-two were detected during the seven-day hotel quarantine while the last involved a 31-year-old man who arrived on May 1 from Thailand via Singapore. He tested positive on Thursday, the 12^th day of his arrival. As he was found to carry a heavy viral load, health authorities suspect he caught the virus in the community.

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The ongoing genomic sequencing detected a third case involving the Omicron BA.4 variant, said Chuang.

The patient was a 60-year-old woman who arrived with a sore throat on Monday, after traveling from the United States via Switzerland.

Meanwhile, Dr Sara Ho of the Hospital Authority reported one more Covid-related death, taking the city’s death toll to 9,147.

The deceased patient was a 77-year-old woman who had no vaccination record. 

Ho said 755 are currently being treated at public hospitals and various treatment facilities. They include one in critical condition and three in serious condition.

In the past 24 hours, a total of 80 patients had recovered and were discharged from hospitals.

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Malilinis ang mga beach ng Hong Kong ngayong weekend

 

Deep Water Bay

Karamihan sa mga beach sa Hong Kong ay malinis at pwedeng languyan ngayong darating na Sabado at Linggo, ayon sa report ng Environmental Protection Department (EPD).

Sinabi ng EPD na 32 sa mga beach ay binigyan ng rating na Good (Grade 1), tatlo na Fair (Grade 2) at apat na Poor (Grade 3), base sa taglay na mikrobyong nakita ng laboratoryo sa mga sample ng kani-kanilang tubig. Ang 15 sa listahan sa ibaba na may asterisk o * ay nilagyan ng lifeguard service ng Leisure and Cultural Services Department:

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Ang mga Grade 1 beach: 

Big Wave Bay Beach

Butterfly Beach*

Cafeteria New Beach

Cafeteria Old Beach

Castle Peak Beach

Cheung Chau Tung Wan Beach

Chung Hom Kok Beach

Clear Water Bay Second Beach*

Deep Water Bay Beach*

Discovery Bay

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Golden Beach*

Hap Mun Bay Beach*

Hung Shing Yeh Beach*

Kadoorie Beach

Kiu Tsui Beach

Kwun Yam Beach

Lo So Shing Beach

Lower Cheung Sha Beach

Middle Bay Beach

Pui O Beach*

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Repulse Bay Beach*

Shek O Beach*

Silver Mine Bay Beach*

Silverstrand Beach*

South Bay Beach

St. Stephen's Beach

Stanley Main Beach

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Tai Po Lung Mei Beach*

Tong Fuk Beach

Trio Beach

Turtle Cove Beach

Upper Cheung Sha Beach

 

Ang mga Grade 2 beach ay:

Clear Water Bay First Beach

Hoi Mei Wan Beach

Ting Kau Beach

 

Ang mga Grade 3 beach ay:

Approach Beach

Casam Beach*

Lido Beach*

Ma Wan Tung Wan Beach*

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30 new Covid cases linked to Sheung Wan restaurant

By The SUN

 

30 people who were at Sky Cuisine on May 7 have tested positive for Covid

Health authorities reported a new coronavirus outbreak on Friday, involving a restaurant on Des Voeux Road in Sheung Wan in which at least 30 of the more than 200 people who dined there on Saturday have been found infected.

Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection said 29 diners who were at Sky Cuisine between  6pm and 11pm on Saturday, May 7, as well as one staff member, have tested positive for Covid.

The customers are aged between eight and 117 years old.

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Chuang said a compulsory testing notice will be issued to all diners and about 50 staff members who were at the restaurant during the relevant times.

An investigation is also underway into how the virus had spread in the restaurant.

"We’re still interviewing the patients and their family contacts. So far, we understand most of them were sitting on the third floor of that restaurant. And we’re still ascertaining the distribution of the cases, the tables, and the seating. We understand there are more than 10 tables involved so far,” she said.

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Meanwhile, an overnight lockdown of Sai Wan Estate in Kennedy Town in which more than 1,600 residents were tested, yielded 22 new Covid cases. They took to 27 the number of people in the estate found infected so far.

Among the new cases, 16 live in West Terrace where the five earlier cases also reside; four in East Terrace and two in Central Terrace.

One resident was found not to have complied with the CTN, and was issued a compulsory testing notice.

22 infected residents were found during the lockdown on Sai Wan Estate

Separately, two more customers of Sun Mong Snooker club in Hung Hom tested positive for the coronavirus, taking the number of infections there to six.

Chuang said investigators found the coronavirus on a snooker table, and told management to suspend operations so the club can be disinfected.

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More than 150 people who visited the venue between 5pm and 12 midnight on Monday have been told to get tested.

The new infections were among 298 new Covid cases reported today, which also included 21 imported from abroad.

Six of the imported cases were detected at the airport, 14 tested positive during the seven-day hotel quarantine, while the last was found infected on the 12^th day.

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The city’s caseload from the fifth wave now stands at 1,195,332. 

Dr Sara Ho of the Hospital Authority reported three more Covid deaths, involving two men aged 80 and 84, and a woman aged 86.

They took the death toll from the Omicron outbreak to 9,146.

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Mga migrante, nagprotesta laban sa mga dagdag-bayarin sa Araw ng Kalayaan

 

Ang apat sa mga nagprotesta sa tapat ng United Centre, kung nasaan ang Konsulado

Itinaon sa mismong Araw ng Kalayaan ng Pilipinas ng ilang grupo ng mga migrante ang pagprotesta kanina laban sa mga dagdag-bayarin na ipinapataw ng gobyerno sa mga overseas Filipino workers o OFW.

Isinagawa ang protesta na umabot ng isang oras sa tapat ng United Centre, ang gusali kung nasaan ang Konsulado ng Pilipinas.

Itinatayang aabot sa P50,000 taon-taon ang aabutin ng mga bayarin ng karaniwang OFW dahil sa sapilitang pangungulekta at pagtaas ng mga bayad sa Philhealth, Pag-IBIG Fund, Social Security System, at mandatory insurance sa lahat ng OFW.

Sinabi ni Dolores Balladares, lider ng Asian Migrants Coordinating Body: “Sana pakinggan ang mga daing ng mga OFW: Wakasan na ang pagturing sa atin na gatasang baka.”

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“Maraming pagkakataon nang pinahiwatog natin ang ating kahilingan ng bigyan ng trabaho ang mga Pilipino para hindi na tayo mapwersa na mangibang bansa. Pero sa halip na tugunan nang pagbbigay ng trabaho sa mga Pilipino, hindi ito nangyayari. Sa halip ay pinalakas pa ang pangungulekta, ang pangigikil, ang pangigipit sa mga OFW,” ika niya.

“Nais naming iparating sa ating gobyerno ngayon at sa susunod na gobyerno na hangga’t hindi nareresolba ang pangmatagalang problema natin -- ang kahirapan, kagutuman at kawalan ng trabaho -- patuloy na lalabas ng bansa ang mga migranteng Pilipino,” dagdag niya

Sinabi naman ni Shiela Tebia, na kumatawan sa Gabriela Hong Kong at Bayan Hong Kong-Macau, na huwad ang kalayaang ipinagdiriwang ng mga Pilipino.

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“Hindi natin ramdam na may tunay na kalayaan ang mga Pilipino at mga OFW dahil hindi tayo malaya sa mga bayarin, hindi tayo malayang mamili kung kaya ba natin itong bayaran o hindi. Ang ating pamilya ay wala ring kalayan dahil hndi rin nila maiwasan ang mga buwis at ipinapataw ng gobyerno sa atin.”

Ang kinatawan ng Abra Tinguian Ilocano Society naman ay nagtanong: Bakit pagdating sa koleksyon, ang bilis nila, pero pagdating sa serbisyo, galaw-pagong? Ito ba ang gobyernong nagmamalasakit sa mga OFW? Hindi pa man natatapos ang pandemya, bakit parang tinapos lang ang eleksyon at sinalubong tayo ng sandamakmak na listahan ng sapilitng bayarin?”

Dapat pa nga, ika niya, ay exempted na ang mga OFW sa mga bayaring ito dahil sa laki ng kontribusyon nila para isulong ang ekonomiya ng bansa.

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“Bakit? Kulang pa ba ang mahigit 30 bilyong dolyar na remittance na kinikita ng gobyerno mula sa atin at kailangan pang dagdagan ng mga bayarin?”

Ayon naman sa tagapagsalita ng Cordillera Alliance, “Walang malasakit ang gobyernong Duterte sa ating mga OFW. Ang mahalaga lang sa kanila ay remittances at kita na nakukuha nila sa mga koleksiyong ito. Sa halip na bigyan ng tunay na serbisyo, tulong at proteksiyon ang mga OFW, lalo tayong pinapahirapan ng mga dagdag-singilin na ito.”

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Daing ng tagapag-salita ng Unifil-HK: “Hindi man lang tayo kinunsulta kung tayo ba ay payag na magbayad ng expanded insurance na isa pang pabigat sa atin. Ang mga amo ay mayroon nang insurance na ipino-provide sa atin dito sa Hong Kong. Bakit dadagdagan na naman ng expanded insurance ang mga OFW bago umalis at tuwing mag-renew ng ating kontrata?”

Sinabi ng tagapagsalita ng Mamamayang Liberal na ang gobyerno ay walang malasakit sa mga OFW.

“Ang Philhealth hindi natin kailangan dahil alam natin na libre ang pagpapagamot natin dito. Para saan ang karagdagang bayaring hinihingi sa atin ng gobyerno? Bakit tuwing may ayuda sa Pilipinas, hindi nabibigyan ang ating pamilya?

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Ang Filipino Migrant Workers Union naman ay nakiisa sa mga manggagawa sa Pilipinas na itaas sa P750 ang minimum wage sa buong Pilipinas. “Hindi na nakakaagapay ang mga manggagawa sa Pilipinas sa sobrang taas ng bilihin at mga bayarin,” ika ng tagapagsalita nito.

Nagpahiwatig din sila sa biglang pagtaas ng presyo ng gasolina at ibang mga bilihin, dahilan para dagdagan nila ang pinapadalang pera sa kanilang mga pamilya sa Pilipinas.

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