FS Visits Island District

Financial Secretary Paul Chan visited Islands District today to meet District Councillors, the elderly and secondary school students.

He visited the Neighbourhood Advice-Action Council's Tung Chung Integrated Services Centre, which provides social, recreational, educational and volunteer activities to 500 elderly members.

It also provides services to elderly singletons and doubletons, and carers to help them make good use of the resources and services available within the community.

Mr Chan said supporting the disadvantaged and building a caring and inclusive society are high on the Government's agenda.

To improve elderly services, he has allocated resources in the Budget to implement Policy Address measures, including increasing the number of vouchers under the Pilot Scheme on Community Care Service Voucher for the Elderly and setting up the Innovation & Technology Fund for Application in Elderly & Rehabilitation Care.

Additional resources will also be allocated for speech therapy services for elderly service units, benefiting 22,000 people with swallowing difficulties or speech impairment.

Mr Chan later visited Buddhist Fat Ho Memorial College in Tai O where he spoke with its students and watched their performances.

The college accepts ethnic minority students and helps them to integrate into society through various extra-curricular activities, such as lion dancing and Cantonese opera.

Mr Chan also met Islands District Councillors to discuss local developments.