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The two culler-facer-canceller machines which the Post Office recently procured were to replace two old facer canceller tables - one at the General Post Office and the other at the International Mail Centre. The two new machines have successfully passed a two-month confidence trial.
The culler-facer-cancellers segregate letters into local and foreign mail by detecting the phosphor-tagged stamps affixed on them. Stamps tagged with two phosphor bars are used on local letters and those with one bar on air letters to overseas countries. The machines can also automatically segregate Business Reply mail items which bear two vertical black ink bars.
The Post Office is developing plans to replace the remaining facer canceller tables in phases.
The commissioning ceremony held at the General Post Office was attended by members of the Post Office Customer Liaison Group, members of the Central and Western District Board and members of the Post Office Bulk Mailer Group.
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New Guidelines on school outdoor activities
School heads and teachers are advised to follow new Education Department Guidelines on school outdoor activities, which are being issued to all schools in Hong Kong.
The 57-page Guidelines, which are an expanded version of previous Guidelines, cover a wide range of outdoor activities including excursions, camping, swimming, canoeing, sailing and fieldwork, with the insertion of new topics including expedition, orienteering, rowing, windsurfing and cycling.
An Education Department spokesman said that the comprehensive Guidelines, which are issued in English and Chinese versions, focus on safety precautions and how to respond to accidents.
The Guidelines are the work of a special task force, the Working Group on Guidelines on Outdoor Activities, which was set up in April 1996 under the chairmanship of an Assistant Director of Education to compile updated guidelines on safety aspects for school outdoor activities.