John Tsang and other officials observe a minute's silence.
The Hong Kong SAR Government and the Macao SAR Government announced on April 20 that all government organizations in Hong Kong and Macao will lower their flags at half-mast to observe a minute of silence during the 21st National Mourning Campaign for the compatriots who lost their lives in the earthquake that struck Yushu, Qinghai.
A spokesman for the HKSAR government said Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, together with Secretaries of Departments and Directors of Bureaux and other officials, will observe a minute's silence at the Central Government Offices (CGO) Plaza at 9:30 a.m. on the 21st. The Tourism Commission will cancel the "Illuminations of Hong Kong" light and music show that night.
The government announced that Mr. Tsang expressed his condolences to the earthquake victims and called on the public to express their grief in an appropriate way on the 21st.
In addition, the HKSAR government will apply to the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council on the 23rd for an allocation of HK$130 million to be injected into the Disaster Relief Fund to provide assistance to Qinghai earthquake victims. Of this amount, HK$100 million will be donated to the Qinghai Provincial People's Government to support the relief work, while the rest will be available for voluntary organizations to apply for grants for disaster relief.
After consulting the Disaster Relief Fund Advisory Committee, the Hong Kong SAR Government on 19 November approved the allocation of HK$4.5 million from the fund to a voluntary organization to provide emergency assistance to earthquake victims.
Macao SAR will stop all public ****entertainment activities on the 21st
The Macao SAR Government is highly concerned about the serious disaster caused by the strong earthquake that struck Yushu County recently, and in order to support the relevant anti-earthquake and disaster relief work, the government has decided to allocate 100 million yuan to assist the disaster area on the 19th, and hopes that the victims will overcome the disaster and get out of the difficult situation as soon as possible.
At the same time, the Macao SAR Government has discussed with the Macao Red Cross and agreed to support the Macao Red Cross to carry out disaster relief and reconstruction work in Qinghai Province. The Macao Red Cross is now actively communicating and coordinating with the Red Cross Society of China, and the Macao Red Cross will submit a proposed program of reconstruction support to the Macao SAR Government.