The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) celebrated the 25th Anniversary of its establishment on 1 July 2022. To mark the occasion, President Xi Jinping inspected Hong Kong for two days. Upon his arrival at the West Kowloon Station of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (WKS) in the afternoon of 30 June, he attended a dinner at the Government House together with his wife Ms. Peng Liyuan in the evening that day, and officiated at the meeting celebrating the 25th Anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland and the inaugural ceremony of the sixth-term Government of the HKSAR the next day. In the run-up to these events, the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) proactively carried relevant work for our client departments, assisting in tasks such as setting up District Operations Rooms (DORs) and Higher Commands (HICOMs) for the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) and temporarily renovating the WKS and the Ballroom, while fulfiling high-standard requests from various parties promptly.
To ensure the events were held smoothly, the EMSD assisted the HKPF in upgrading five major DORs and HICOMs, installing leading-edge, highly efficient high-definition audio, video and control systems for enhancing overall operational capability and effectiveness. Given the unprecedented complexity and scale of the events, the EMSD began preparation a year before. In around two to three months, we fully gauged the end-users’ needs, completed the tendering processes and commenced the construction work. All the DORs and HICOMs were successfully put into service towards the end of June. Mr. Siu Chak-yee, Raymond, Commissioner of Police, expressed his appreciation for the EMSD’s staunch support when he officiated the opening of the DOR of Yau Tsim District on 2 August.
While the welcome and farewell ceremonies for President Xi were held in the WKS in the celebration period, the WKS had to be renovated in order that its electrical and mechanical (E&M) equipment, air-conditioning, lighting and broadcasting systems would function smoothly and meet the needs during the occasions. The Railways Branch of the EMSD assisted in monitoring the E&M equipment of the station and tracks, and conducting inspections and tests. Additionally, together with the MTR Corporation Limited, we carried out tests and enhancements on the air-conditioning system. We also set up the required broadcasting system at the venue to enable the filming crew to produce the nationwide live broadcasting of speech of President Xi on the day of the ceremonies, while assisting the Information Services Department (ISD) to provide the audio channel for various media for reporting purposes.
In preparation for the dinner at the Government House, the EMSD inspected the equipment of the Ballroom and co-operated with the Architectural Services Department to upgrade the electrical and ventilating systems of the venue to fulfil the anti-epidemic requirements of the Government. During the work process, our colleagues conducted various site inspection on ventilating systems with experts from the Mainland of China and took the initiative to make changes promptly according to the improvement recommendations of the National Health Commission in terms of air flow direction, fresh air flow rate and air change rate, etc. Upon completion, the team continued to inspect the equipment every two hours until the dinner started. While there was a typhoon during the upgrade, our staff immediately strengthened weather resistance measures and carried out reinforcement works. The rapid response demonstrated the professionalism of the team.
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the establishment of HKSAR, the EMSD assisted the ISD to dress up the government’s vehicle fleet in the form of a specially designed sticker for more than 200 government vehicles from departments including the Water Supplies Department, Social Welfare Department, Fire Services Department and Labour Department. As the promotion campaign had to be postponed due to the epidemic earlier this year, our team started applying the promotional stickers in mid-June, and by flexibly allocating manpower and proactively co-ordinating with other departments, we completed the task in the shortest possible time.
With our impeccable teamwork, sound communication and active co-operation to meet the clients’ needs, the EMSD completed the works according to the planned schedule, earning much recognition of the clients.