XN000022-1985-12-08 — Page 3

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SUNDAY, DEC.MBER 8, 1985

SPEAKING AT THE INAUGURATION OF THE UNION AT THE OUTWARD BOUND SCHOOL IN SAI KUNG THIS MORNING, THE CHIEF SECRETARY SAID THAT THE UNION PROVIDED A FOCUS FOR THESE ACTIVITIES IN HONG KONG.

→AND FOR THOSE WHO ARE MORE ADVENTUROUS, IT WILL TAKE THEM TO THE MOUNTAINS OF OTHER LANDS, AND NOTE WITH GREAT INTEREST THAT OUR MORE ADVENTUROUS CLIMBERS HAVE SUCCESSFULLY SCALED A NUMBER OF PEAKS IN THE HIMALAYAS, IN NEW GUINEA AND IN AFRICA, HE SAID.

SIR DAVID SAID IT SEEMED FITTING THAT THE UNION SHOULD CELEBRATE ITS INAUGURATION WITH A CROSS-COUNTRY RUN AS IT WAS +A CLEAR MANIFESTATION OF ENERGY AND PHYSICAL FITNESS NEEDED FOR MOUNTAINEERING+.

THE UNION WAS FORMALLY CONSTITUTED IN MARCH BUT FOR THE LAST 18 MONTHS HAD ORGANISED A NUMBER OF ACTIVITIES: THE LANDS SPORTS PLAY SAFE DAY, SLIDE SHOWS AND TALK ON ROCK CLIMBS AND COURSES ON CLIMBING TECHNIQUES.

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IT HAD ALSO ORGANISED FIRST AID COURSES FOR CLIMBING INSTRUCTORS AND ROCK-CLIMBING TRAINING COURSES FOR PROBATIONARY YOUTH AND PROBATION OFFICERS, HE ADDED.

GAS SAFETY CAMPAIGN IN FULL SWING ******

A GAS SAFETY EXHIBITION OPENED TODAY (SUNDAY) AMIDST SINGING AND DANCING WHEN AN OPENING CEREMONY AND VARIETY SHOW WAS STAGED AT NEW TOWN PLAZA, SHA TIN.

SPEAKING AT THE OPENING CEREMONY, THE HON H.K. CHENG, LEGCO MEMBER AND CONSULTANT ENGINEER, URGED THE PUBLIC TO OBSERVE THE SAFETY MESSAGES OF THE GAS SAFETY EXHIBITION AND TAKE CARE WHEN USING GAS WATER HEATERS AND LP GAS CYLINDERS.

+ IN FEBRUARY-MARCH 1981, THERE WERE FIVE GAS-RELATED DEATHS WITHIN THREE WEEKS, ALL OF WHICH WERE CAUSED BY UNSAFE USE OF SUB-STANDARD GAS WATER HEATERS,+ SAID MR CHENG.

QUOTING STATISTICS ON DEATH INCIDENTS IN THE PAST FEW YEARS, HE RECALLED THAT IN 1984 THERE WERE SIX FATALITIES RELATED TO UNSAFE GAS WATER HEATERS COMPARED TO THREE IN 1983 AND FOUR IN 1982.

+ALTHOUGH THERE HAVE BEEN ONLY TWO FATALITIES SO FAR THIS YEAR, THERE HAVE BEEN MANY NEAR-MISSES WHERE PEOPLE, VERY LUCKILY, ESCAPED DEATH.+

/+THIS CLEARLY