The Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) has been fulfilling its duties perseveringly and standing by Hong Kong through thick and thin for 75 years with commitment to excellence. From providing day-to-day services to meeting various challenges such as the raging epidemic, post-epidemic recovery and extreme weather, we have made the best endeavours to support our clients and bring benefits to the general public. The theme of the EMSD’s 75th anniversary “Serving the Community with Heart and Innovation” represents our untiring efforts in fostering the passing on of knowledge and nurturing electrical and mechanical (E&M) talents, as well as actively promoting the application of innovation and technology (I&T) to jointly serve the community with our client departments.
Celebrating the Diamond Jubilee of the EMSD, the 75th Anniversary Ceremony was held on 30 November to commemorate this momentous milestone of the Department and kick off the E&M 75th Anniversary Fun Day held between 1 and 3 December. Mr. Paul Chan, Financial Secretary, attended the ceremony as the officiating guest. In addition, Mr. Ye Shuiqiu, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Educational, Scientific and Technological Affairs of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (LOCPG), Mr. Lam Sai-hung, Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Ms. Linn Hon-ho, Bernadette, Secretary for Development, Miss Wong Shuk-han, Diane, Acting Secretary for Environment and Ecology, Mr. Lau Chun-kit, Ricky, Permanent Secretary for Development (Works) as well as leaders and representatives of government departments and public organisations, representatives of the E&M industry, local and Mainland strategic partners also joined in.
In his speech, Mr. Paul Chan said that the EMSD has been undertaking the regulatory work in the areas of E&M safety and energy efficiency, and had played an important role in Hong Kong during challenging times over the years. He hoped that the EMSD, with its agility and spirit of innovation, would continue to contribute to making Hong Kong a more liveable, green and smart city. Speaking at the ceremony, Mr. Pang Yiu-hung, Director of Electrical and Mechanical Services, stated that the EMSD had been committed to serving the public and client departments with a “customer-oriented and people-first” approach over the past 75 years, and proactively seeking breakthroughs in the areas of energy efficiency, I&T and talent training. The EMSD would carry on with its fine tradition, pass on experience and expertise, and provide quality services continuously.
On the day of the anniversary ceremony, the guests also visited the EMSD’s 75th Anniversary Theme Zone, the exhibition booths of the E&M industry and exhibitions of our strategic partners in the E&M InnoZone, and viewed our award-winning projects at the International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva, etc., through which they gained an understanding of the EMSD’s daily work, its extraordinary journey over the past decades, as well as the achievements of the EMSD and the industry on the road to I&T.
In the three-day public event to celebrate our 75th anniversary, we organised a fascinating E&M journey with diverse and interesting activities for visitors. On 1 December, hundreds of primary and secondary school students participated in an array of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) workshops, virtual reality experience activities, booth games, etc., which sparked their interest in E&M knowledge. The E&M 75th Anniversary Fun Day on 2 and 3 December featured a wide variety of activities which raised the public awareness of E&M safety, energy efficiency, emission reduction and application of I&T. Highlights of the event included the E&M STEAM & Coding Workshops, guided tours to Kai Tak District Cooling System (North Plant), Metaracing (a virtual reality game), a showcase of government vehicles, as well as visits to our Smart World, E&M InnoZone and ai Store. The public event and the 75th Anniversary Ceremony held on 30 November were well-received, with around 15 000 participants.
The EMSD 75th Anniversary Commemorative Booklet has been published, covering the Department’s major milestones and achievements over the years. Please visit the website (https://bit.ly/75a_booklet) for details.
A series of extreme weather events occurred this year, including Super Typhoon Saola and the subsequent once-in-a-century rainstorm, which resulted in damage to E&M facilities in various districts and posed serious challenges to public services. Leveraging its extensive expertise and experience, the EMSD professional team stood united to proactively face emergencies with agility and rapid actions, successfully safeguarding these E&M facilities and public safety, and eventually helped restore normal operation of society in the shortest possible time, in demonstration of the spirit of “Serving the Community with Heart”.
In the event of an emergency in Hong Kong, such as severe weather and natural disasters, the EMSD activates its Emergency Control Centre (EMCC) to monitor the operation of major public E&M facilities in the territory around the clock. We had activated the EMCC and done thorough preparation to be braced for Super Typhoon Saola before its arrival on 1 September. For the first time, we adopted a dual-team duty model with two senior engineers and two engineers on duty simultaneously. Afterwards, in the late night of 7 September, the EMCC was swiftly activated again when the extremely heavy rainstorm hit unexpectedly under the black rainstorm signal. We kept in constant contact with various government departments and public organisations and co-ordinated the work among different teams within the EMSD then to immediately provide emergency services for the community and our clients, as well as urgently repairing damaged public facilities, in order to ensure the continual and safe functioning of E&M equipment.
While Super Typhoon Saola hit Hong Kong, more than 60 signalised traffic junctions was blacked out and over 100 traffic light facilities were damaged across the territory. The adverse weather posed considerable difficulties and challenges to the emergency repair works. On the day of the massive rainstorm, public facilities in various districts were flooded, so the EMSD promptly dispatched staff to pedestrian and vehicular underpasses to carry out repairs. Among them, a vehicular underpass at Winslow Street in Hung Hom was temporarily closed due to flooding, and the level of flood in the underpass had reached the chest of our staff then. Once the water was pumped away, our maintenance team entered the underpass and carried out emergency repairs to the facilities concerned. Consequently, the underpass was re-opened that night. Our team’s undaunted efforts and dedication enabled the swift completion of the emergency repair works.
The once-in-a-century rainstorm also heavily flooded the office and hangar of Kai Tak Division, Government Flying Service (GFS) due to backflow of rainwater. The EMSD immediately dispatched staff to the site to check out the situation and set about handling the affected facilities and addressing the issue of rainwater backflow. The adverse weather at the time resulted in traffic paralysis in multiple locations across Hong Kong, making our support work extremely challenging. Thanks to the abundant hands-on experience gained through the EMSD’s regular emergency drills, our team concertedly dealt with the emergencies with agility and solved the problems for the GFS, so that they could restore normal operation.
In addition, some government vehicles broke down as a result of severe road inundation in various districts brought by the extreme weather conditions. These vehicles were stranded on the roads, which affected the traffic. Owing to the large number of stranded vehicles, the contractors responsible for removing the vehicles had difficulty coping at first. Monitoring the situation carefully, we actively co-ordinated and shared the tasks with the contractors, so that the broken-down vehicles were moved to the EMSD’s depots for repair as soon as possible, and smooth road traffic was restored.
The Central Government handed the Central Government-aided Emergency Hospital (Emergency Hospital) located in the Lok Ma Chau Loop over to the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for operation and management at the end of 2022. Subsequently, the EMSD had a technical handover on 4 and 5 January 2023. Later on 13 January 2023, the Health Bureau (HHB) signed a five-year Service Level Agreement with the Electrical and Mechanical Services Trading Fund to engage it to provide maintenance services for the E&M facilities and medical equipment of the Emergency Hospital.
To facilitate the urgent commissioning of the Emergency Hospital, the EMSD promptly deployed staff with diverse skills to test the E&M systems and facilities of the hospital. By the end of March 2023, the EMSD had completed the essential phase-one testing and commissioning, including safety tests of power systems, adjustments to negative pressure systems, emergency power generators and changeover tests, as well as relevant work on fire equipment, water supply facilities, emergency call and broadcast systems, etc. Despite the tight schedule, the EMSD strived together to overcome the challenges and took care of every minute detail in a meticulous manner. Ultimately, we finished all the tasks on time, enabling the Emergency Hospital to commence operation as scheduled on 25 April 2023 and launch the Ambulatory Diagnostic Radiology Service Pilot Programme as its phase-one operation on the same day. This initiative alleviated the pressure on public hospitals while benefiting more patients.
Upon commissioning of the Emergency Hospital, the EMSD assisted in taking forward its phase-two service programme by repurposing the ventilation systems of the endoscope and equipment sterilisation rooms, repairing and adjusting negative pressure systems, installing and altering power supply facilities and sockets, as well as installing standalone automatic door systems, emergency lighting systems and other E&M equipment. Eventually, we finished the various repurposing and adjustment work of the microbiology laboratory and sleep test centre, enabling the successful launch of the microbiology laboratory testing service on 3 October 2023 and the endoscopy service and sleep test service on 31 October 2023. Thanks to the highly efficient and competent EMSD team, who demonstrated a professional service spirit and co-operated sincerely with relevant parties, this project was successfully completed within a short period of time.
As the Innovation Facilitator of the Government, the EMSD has been committed to collaborating with its clients to promote customer-oriented innovative services. One of our recent initiatives is the introduction of the regenerative media filter system to the Lai Chi Kok Park Swimming Pool managed by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD), with a view to enhancing the filtration capacity and efficiency of the swimming pool and improving the quality of pool water.
Adopting regenerative filtration technology and using perlite as the filtration media, the system is capable of filtering impurities as small as one micrometre, demonstrating excellent filtration efficiency. It also eliminates the need for backwashing as adopted in conventional sand filters, thus reducing water and electricity consumption, as well as minimising the risk faced by workers as they no longer need to work in confined spaces. In addition, the system takes up less space, which significantly shortens the time required for replacement work and brings down the impact on public services.
Being the successful result of our collaboration with the LCSD, the swimming pool upgrading project fully embodies the two main strategies “Providing Customer-oriented Innovative Services” and “Strengthening Innovative Collaboration between Stakeholders” of the third Five-year Strategic Plan of the Electrical and Mechanical Services Trading Fund. By providing the innovative solution to the client, we help them enhance service quality and foster public understanding of the development and application of I&T while facilitating the realisation of I&T solutions. Looking ahead, we will persist in the implementation of more I&T solutions to bring benefits to the general public.
For details about the third Five-year Strategic Plan, please visit the thematic website at http://5yearplan.emsd.gov.hk and subscribe to our e-newsletter for updates.
Mr. Lee Chi-leung, Eric has been appointed as Acting Assistant Director/1 of the EMSD with effect from 1 October 2023. He leads the Boundary Crossing Facilities and Transport Services Division and the Security and Vehicle Services Division of the Electrical and Mechanical Services Trading Fund to provide operation, maintenance, consultancy and project management services relating to E&M, electronics, building services systems and vehicles for various client departments in venues such as the airport, boundary control points, transportation facilities, disciplined services facilities, etc.
Dedicated to providing clients with quality E&M engineering solutions and excellent services, the EMSD has earned multiple accolades for its remarkable performance over the years. In 2023, the EMSD team once again won numerous awards for its professional and supreme services, as well as efficient and innovative technical solutions. We are grateful for the recognition of all sectors and will continue to contribute to society by striving tirelessly to enhance our service quality and the effectiveness of public services.
In the Hong Kong ICT Awards 2023, the Location Tracking System for Hikers at Remote Areas developed by the EMSD won the Smart Mobility (Smart Tourism) Silver Award, while the Light-weight Adaptive Internet of Things Intrusion Detection and Prevention System enabled by Artificial Intelligence (AI), a project jointly developed by the EMSD and the Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute Company Limited, won the Smart Business (Solution for Business and Public Sector Enterprise) Bronze Award.
In the 21st International Customer Relationship Excellence (CRE) Awards, the EMSD was the first government department to win three awards, namely the Best AI Technology Service of the Year 2023 (Government), the Best Blockchain Solutions of the Year 2023 (Government) and the Best Internet of Things Project of the Year 2023 (Government), of the 1st International Greater Bay Area CRE Innovation Leadership Awards; in addition, two senior engineers and two engineers of the EMSD received individual awards.
Ms. Cheng Man-yee and Mr. Leung Ka-chun, both engineers of the EMSD, were presented with the Ombudsman’s Awards 2023 for Officers of Public Organisations in recognition of their outstanding performance.