Leisure and Cultural Services Department

Leisure and Cultural Services Department

康樂及文化事務署
Agency overview
Formed	1 January 2000; 25 years ago (2000-01-01)
Preceding agency	The leisure and cultural functions of: Urban Council Regional Council Home Affairs Bureau
Jurisdiction	Hong Kong
Headquarters	Leisure and Cultural Services Headquarters, 1-3 Pai Tau Street, Sha Tin, Hong Kong
Employees	10108 (March 2019) [1]
Annual budget	5,054.9m HKD (2008-09) [2]
Agency executive	Lau Ming Kong, Director
Parent agency	Culture, Sports & Tourism Bureau
Child agency	Hong Kong Public Libraries
Website	www.lcsd.gov.hk

Leisure and Cultural Services Department
LCSD headquarters
Traditional Chinese	康樂及文化事務署
Simplified Chinese	康乐及文化事务署
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Kānglè jí Wénhuà Shìwù Shǔ Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Hōng lohk gahp màhn fa sih mouh syúh Jyutping Hong^1 lok^6 gap^6 man^4 faa^3 si^6 mou^6 syu^5 IPA [hɔ́ːŋlɔ̀ːk kɐ̀p mɐ̏nfāː ɕìmòutɕʰy̬ː]

The Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD), is a department in the Government of Hong Kong. It reports to the Culture, Sports & Tourism Bureau, headed by the Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism. It provides leisure and cultural activities for the people of Hong Kong, which was also one of the tasks of the former Urban Council, and Regional Council and Home Affairs Bureau. It manages various public facilities around Hong Kong including public libraries, swimming pools, sports centres, parks, beaches and waterfront areas. The well-known Hong Kong Cultural Centre and Hong Kong Space Museum are among several museums also managed by the department. It was established in 2000 and its headquarters is in Shatin, New Territories.

Until July 2022, the department was headed by the Secretary for Home Affairs.

List of directors for LCSD

• Thomas Chow Tat-ming (2000–2009)
• Betty Fung Ching Suk-yee, JP (2009–2014)
• Michelle Li Mei-sheung, JP (2014–2019)^[1]
• Vincent LIU Ming-kwong, JP

Facilities and services

Museums

Hong Kong Museum of History

• Flagstaff House Museum of Teaware
• Hong Kong Film Archive
• Hong Kong Heritage Museum
• Hong Kong Museum of Art
• Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence
• Hong Kong Museum of History
• Hong Kong Railway Museum
• Hong Kong Science Museum
• Hong Kong Space Museum
• Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre
• Law Uk Folk Museum
• Lei Cheng Uk Han Tomb Museum
• Sam Tung Uk Museum
• Sheung Yiu Folk Museum

Parks

Princess Margaret Road garden

See also: List of urban public parks and gardens of Hong Kong

Most public parks and gardens are managed by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department.

Public libraries

See also: Hong Kong Public Library

Hong Kong Public Libraries (HKPL) consists of 67 static and 10 mobile libraries offering a total collection of 12.3 million items of books, audio/video materials, newspapers and periodicals, etc.^[2] Among the most significant libraries are the Hong Kong Central Library, Kowloon Public Library, and Sha Tin Public Library.

Beaches

See also: Beaches of Hong Kong

Among Hong Kong's many hundreds of beaches, there are 42 gazetted beaches, which are provisioned and managed by LCSD. Services usually include toilets and showers, shark nets (although actual shark sightings are rare), a lifeguard service, regular cleaning, and water quality monitoring.

Sports and fitness

See also: Public swimming pools in Hong Kong

The LCSD operates two stadiums, (Hong Kong Stadium and Mong Kok Stadium), along with numerous sports grounds, indoor sporting halls and courts, and public swimming pools.

Sports Subvention Scheme

Under the Sports Subvention Scheme, the LCSD provides recurrent subvention to 62 national sports associations (NSAs) in Hong Kong, at levels ranging from around HK$0.5 million to HK$10 million (in 2011–12). Until 2004–2005, NSAs received subventions from the statutory Hong Kong Sports Development Board.^[3][4] NSAs are members of the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China, which is the National Olympic Committee in Hong Kong responsible for the co-ordination of all local sports organisations and the promotion of sports in Hong Kong.

National security

In August 2023, it said that the next operator of the Avenue of Stars would have to comply with national security concerns.^[5]

See also

• Hong Kong cultural policy
• The former Urban Council and Urban Services Department
• The former Regional Council and Regional Services Department

Home Affairs Bureau

References

1. "Senior appointments (with photos)". Government of Hong Kong. 18 June 2014. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
2. "Hong Kong Public Libraries - Introduction". Leisure and Cultural Services Department. 14 April 2009. Archived from the original on 21 December 2005. Retrieved 10 October 2009.
3. Legislative Council Panel on Home Affairs LC Paper No. CB(2)772/11-12(04)
4. Contact Information of Subvented National Sports Associations, LCSD. Accessed 30 Dec 2024
5. Lee, James (25 August 2023). "Avenue of Stars operator must safeguard national security, Hong Kong gov't says". Hong Kong Free Press HKFP. Retrieved 26 August 2023.