ENG-1959 — Page 319

268

HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT

Forces stationed in the Colony and to the British Council Repre- sentative, with all of whom the department works in close liaison.

The Radio News Section, now separate from the Press Room, prepares and edits radio bulletins covering both world and domes- tic news in Chinese and English for broadcasting by the various Hong Kong stations. News is gathered from news agencies and from Government and other local sources.

The Press Division's services necessitate an almost round-the- clock operation, and Night Duty Officers are available from 10 p.m. every night, including week-ends and public holidays.

Publicity Division. The output of Government publicity showed further expansion. The production of photographs increased about three-fold, due to improved equipment and accommodation, and the photographic library was reorganized and largely restocked, especially with colour pictures. It was possible in consequence to widen considerably the choice of material for use in government publications and to meet requests for photographs from newspaper and magazine editors abroad.

With extra staff a big increase in the output of illustrated fea- tures was achieved during the latter half of the year. Major projects included a folding wallsheet on the refugee problem for use over- seas, particularly by voluntary bodies, in connexion with World Refugee Year; an illustrated White Paper on, and a publicity campaign against, the problem of narcotic drugs (described more fully in Chapter 11); and the commissioning of an information film on Hong Kong for commercial distribution.

The division gives regular' assistance to other departments of Government, such as the Commerce and Industry Department which issues a monthly Trade Bulletin and an annual Commerce, In- dustry and Finance Directory, and the Urban Services and Medical and Health Departments in their public health campaigns. 'Miss Ping On', who exhorts the public against anti-social habits through the medium of posters which are changed every month has been joined on the bill-boards by the 'White-Throat Ghost', who urges parents to have their children inoculated against diphtheria. Con- siderable design-work was also put into social education displays at a number of departmental exhibitions.

Preliminary steps were taken to increase channels for the dis- tribution of Hong Kong publicity overseas, and as in previous