Science in Public Service fun fair 2008 launched today

The three-day "Science in Public Service" fun fair 2008, jointly organised by more than 30 government policy bureaus, departments and collaborating organisations, was launched today (November 14) at Victoria Park, Causeway Bay.

The fun fair is the highlight of the "Science in the Public Service" campaign for 2008. The Chief Executive, Mr Donald Tsang; the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mrs Rita Lau and the Director of Hong Kong Observatory, Mr Lam Chiu-ying, officiated at the opening ceremony of the fun fair.

Mrs Lau commended various departments for their achievements in innovation and the deployment of technology. "The development of science and technology has not only made life more convenient, but has also increased the work efficiency of all business sectors. There are also many success stories among government departments and the public sector in the application of science as well as research and development."

Today's fun fair is the largest inter-departmental event since the launch of the "Science in the Public Service" campaign two years ago. Mrs Lau said that the Chief Executive's presence in the 2006 launching ceremony and today's fun fair showed that the Government attached great importance to science education and technology application.

Mr Lam, one of the campaign initiators, added that "Science in the Public Service" had been widely recognised over the past two years, with the number of partners increasing from 30 to 43. The various activities organised by the campaign have reached out to hundreds of thousands of people.

The participating bureaus, departments and collaborating organisations of the fun fair will showcase their scientific work and the application of science and technology in the provision of their services through exhibitions, demonstrations, interactive games and workshops in their pavilions or booths.

There will also be a wide variety of stage programmes throughout the three days, including band performances, demonstrations by police dogs and quarantine detector dogs, rescue performances, quizzes, lectures and talk show, each with a scientific theme.

The opening hours for the fun fair will be from 10am to 6pm tomorrow (November 15) and Sunday (November 16). Admission is free.

Launched in 2006, the "Science in Public Service" campaign is to publicise how government departments apply advanced science and technology to the provision of public services through a series of public education activities. For information about the campaign, please visit: http://www.science.gov.hk .