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PRESS, BROADCASTING AND CINEMA

equipment was installed in May and all end processes of currently produced films are now carried out within the department.

The department's distribution section handles all publicity mate- rial produced; it also distributes posters, literature and magazines received from Britain. The department's first mobile cinema con- tinued in service and 101 travelling film shows were organized during the year for audiences numbering almost 415,000 in multiple locations.

At the end of the year there were 100 cinemas in Hong Kong. Films for public exhibition within Hong Kong are subject to censor- ship in accordance with the law and must be viewed by the depart- ment's film censorship section, which has two theatres for this purpose. Films censored during the year totalled 4,748.

The Hong Kong Government Office in London is administratively part of the Commerce and Industry Department, but the information section works in close collaboration with the Information Services Department. Press relations form an important part of the work of the London office, and releases for the British press are prepared from information bulletins sent daily from Hong Kong. Major news items, despatched by press cable, are processed immediately and passed on to newspapers and news agencies. The information section also acts as a distributing agency in Britain for photo- features prepared by the Information Services Department and these, together with press releases, play a major role in the continu- ing effort to inform the British public about Hong Kong and its achievements through the medium of newspapers and magazines.

PUBLIC ENQUIRY SERVICE

The object of the Public Enquiry Service is to maintain a close link between the government and the people. Its primary business is to give the man in the street quick and clear guidance to, and an explanation of, the various services and functions performed by government departments, and to help him understand government rules and procedures, particularly when they affect him personally. It also supplements broadcast information about typhoons. When local storm signal No 1 is hoisted, a 24-hour service goes into opera- tion and any member of the public can telephone an enquiry centre