XN000022-1980-08-07 — Page 6

THURSDAY, AUGUST 7, 1980

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PARTICIPANTS IN THE TRAINING COURSES WILL MAKE THEIR DEBUT AT A VARIETY SHOW IN OCTOBER TO MARK THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF NORTH DISTRICT WHICH COVERS SHEUNG SHUI, FANLING, SHEK WU HUI, TA KWU LING AND SHA TAU KOK AND INCLUDES A LARGE PART OF THE BORDER AREA.

IT BECAME A SEPARATE DISTRICT LAST OCTOBER FOLLOWING THE RE-ORGANISATION OF THE FORMER TAI PO DISTRICT OFFICE.

WEATHERMAN RETIRES

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CHIEF SCIENTIFIC ASSISTANT OF THE ROYAL OBSERVATORY MR LIU PING-PUI, CAN RECALL STORMY 1964 WHEN 10 TYPHOONS SWEPT THROUGH HONG KONG.

+ IT WAS THE BUSIEST TYPHOON SEASON THE OFFICE EVER HAD,+ HE SAID TODAY (THURSDAY) AT HIS RETIREMENT PARTY AT THE ROYAL OBSERVATORY.

FOR 33 YEARS, MR LIU HAS KEPT A VIGILANT WEATHER-EYE ON HONG KONG'S CLIMATIC CHANGES.

BESIDES ADVISING HOUSEWIVES ON WHEN TO CLOSE THE IR WINDOWS AND STOCK-UP THEIR KITCHENS, MR LIU HAS BEEN THE UNSEEN FRIEND OF FISHERMEN, YACHTSMAN, INTERNATIONAL MARINERS AND AIRLINE CREW THROUGH THE DISSEMINATION OF WEATHER INFORMATION.

UNDER MR LIU, STAFF OF THE ROYAL OBSERVATORY'S CENTRAL FORECASTING OFFICE ISSUE REGULAR WEATHER FORECASTS THROUGH RADIO AND TELEVISION STATIONS AND THE PRESS FOR GENERAL INFORMATION.

WHEN MR LIU JOINED THE ROYAL OBSERVATORY IN 1947, THERE WERE ONLY 15 MEMBERS ON ITS STAFF.

+ IN THOSE DAYS, THE ROYAL OBSERVATORY OBTAINED WEATHER INFORMATION FROM SHIPS AND RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT OUTSIDE HONG KONG, HE RECALLED.

AND SINCE THEN, HE HAS SEEN RAPID EXPANSION INCLUDING THE INSTALLATION OF MODERN METEOROLOGICAL EQUIPMENT AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF SIX METEOROLOGICAL STATIONS IN THE LAST DECADE.

+WITH MODERN EQUIPMENT SUCH AS RADAR, COMPUTER AND DATA ACQUISITION SYSTEMS AND THE AVAILABILITY OF PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE JAPANESE GEOSTATIONARY METEOROLOGICAL SATELLITE, WEATHER INFORMATION TODAY IS MORE ACCURATE WHICH, IN TURN, ENHANCES THE EFFICIENCY OF THE OFFICE, HE SAID.

MR LIU WAS PROMOTED TO HIS PRESENT GRADE IN 1962 AND IN 1965 WAS AWARDED AN MBE FOR HIS SERVICES TO THE GOVERNMENT +GREATLY IN EXCESS OF NORMAL DUTIES.+

AT HIS RETIREMENT PARTY TODAY, TRIBUTE WAS PAID TO MR LIU BY THE DIRECTOR OF THE ROYAL OBSERVATORY, MR GORDON BELL.

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