News from GITPA (March 2022)

GITPALeaks 2022

To welcome our newly recruited APIIs, GITPA will hold a casual gathering GITPALeaks 2022 on 14 April 2022. GITPA ExCo will be sharing topics such as career development and continuous study during the vitural meeting. We look forward to meet our smart and enthusiastic new joiners! In addition, GITPA ExCo also prepared an “AP Grade 達人挑戰” with a number of challenge questions for you to see how much you know about our Grade.

In the meeting, the Grade Management expressed appreciation to APRO(IT)s’ and Elite Team’s dedicated efforts contributed to the success of the election, and would consider presenting the letter of appreciation to the colleagues concerned. The Grade Management also encouraged colleagues with specific needs to approach their Grade Manager for assistance or advice. You may access the challenge via the following link: https://forms.gle/EHbWpvKgkjF5jtTP9

Membership Renewal Exercise

It is time for GITPA membership renewal again! GITPA’s site representatives should have approached you for membership renewal already. Have you renewed your GITPA membership? If you haven’t done so or haven’t joined GITPA yet, please take this opportunity to join this only professional association that represents AP grade staff.

Your continual support is essential to sustain the development of our staff association. Surely GITPA will not succeed without your recognition, support and participation. Please continue to join and support GITPA as only you have the power to make GITPA serve and speak for you!

Tips for Fighting COVID-19

Under the recent challenging COVID-19 epidemic situation, it is important for us to keep up good hygiene to protect yourself and the people around you. Here are some health tips for your reference:

Stay healthy and safe!

GITPA Ex-Co 2021-22

News from GITPA (January 2022)

Feedback on the 2021 Legislative Council General Election

GITPA had received a number of enquiries and concerns regarding the recruitment of electoral staff for the 2021 Legislative Council General Election (LCGE 2021). As the labour union of the AP Grade, we believe that it is indispensable for us to represent our colleagues and reflect on the difficulties and issues encountered in the special duty. A survey was conducted from 22 December 2021 to 7 January 2022, and more than 300 replies representing nearly half of the appointed APRO(IT)s and Elite Team were received. We provided our collective feedback and had a meeting with the Grade Management on 21 January 2022 to reflect the collected comments and deliberate suggestions for the LCGE 2021.

In the meeting, the Grade Management expressed appreciation to APRO(IT)s’ and Elite Team’s dedicated efforts contributed to the success of the election, and would consider presenting the letter of appreciation to the colleagues concerned. The Grade Management also encouraged colleagues with specific needs to approach their Grade Manager for assistance or advice.

The Grade Management channelled our concerns to REO on 26 January 2022, and we have appealed to REO for critical review and serious consideration of our comments and suggestions. A follow-up discussion with the Chief Electoral Officer was scheduled for 7 April 2022. Further updates would be provided in due course.

Invitation for Contribution to GITPA Newsletter 2021-22

The next issue of the annual GITPA Newsletter is currently open for submission of articles. Following a series of international sporting events in 2021, we would like to know your story on sports or recreation activities. Feel free to share with us your stories by emailing GITPA/OGCIO/HKSARG. For further enquiries, please feel free to contact our editor Mr Arran LAI at 3855 6937 or email us.

GITPA Ex-Co 2021-22

News from GITPA (December 2021)

GITPA X EMSD Staff Club FIFA 21 E-sports Tournament

Congratulations to GITPA representatives for winning the GITPA X EMSD Staff Club FIFA 21 E-sports Tournament! Following four rounds of intense matches between the GITPA and EMSD Staff Club, the GITPA team took champion with a 17-15 win at the grand finals. Both teams displayed their extraordinary capability and formed close friendship. The GITPA ExCo would like to extend our heartfelt thank to Cyberport for providing the professional venue, equipment and technical support so that our representatives could have a taste of a e-sports player.

Invitation for Contribution to GITPA Newsletter 2021-22

The next issue of the annual GITPA Newsletter is currently open for submission of articles. Following a series of international sporting events in 2021, we would like to know your story on sports or recreation activities. From now till March 2022, feel free to share with us your stories by emailing to GITPA/OGCIO/HKSARG. For further enquiries, please feel free to contact our editor Mr. Arran LAI at 3855 6937 or email us.

Chinese New Year Pudding Discount Offer

The Chinese New Year is coming soon. GITPA ExCo would like to take this opportunity to wish all colleagues a joyful festival with your beloved family! This year, we arranged the first-ever Chinese New Year pudding offers for members to select and celebrate with families in the Year of the Tiger. Members who have placed orders will be receiving the redemption coupons from us soon. Please stay tuned to our further notice!

GITPA Ex-Co 2021-22

News from GITPA (November 2021)

GITPA X EMSD Staff Club FIFA 21 E-sports Tournament

To select four players representing GITPA for the “FIFA 21 E-sports Tournament Grand Finals”, GITPA held a series of selection matches on 17 November 2021. Ziv CHEONG and Walter NG, won three rounds in a row with the highest score of nine points, followed by Samuel YUEN and Neo KONG who scored six points with the second-highest score. These four outstanding players will represent GITPA to compete with the representatives of EMSD Staff Club on the stage of the Cyberport’s Digital Entertainment Leadership Forum 2021 (DELF2021)! All the best in the grand finals!

Left to Right: Walter NG (DH), Samuel YUEN (HKPF), Ziv CHEONG (DH), Neo KONG (HKO

GITPA Ex-Co 2021-22

News from GITPA (October 2021)

GITPA X EMSD Staff Club FIFA 21 E-sports Tournament

For the first time, GITPA will co-organise the “FIFA 21 E-sports Tournament” with the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) Staff Club! Players of the tournament will be competing in the popular football simulation video game, FIFA 21. Four players representing GITPA will compete against representatives from EMSD Staff Club in a single-elimination tournament finals in the Cyberport’s Digital Entertainment Leadership Forum 2021 (DELF2021) at Arcade@Cyberport! To select the four GITPA representatives for the grand finals during DELF2021, GITPA will arrange a series of selection matches in November. Stay tuned for our updates in the next issue!

In addition to e-sports, football lovers are also welcomed to join the AP Football WhatsApp Group. On 25 October, we had a friendly football match with the EO Football Team and the match ended in a 3:3 draw. Colleagues who are interested to join the AP Football Whatsapp Group can contact Mars YU (2835 2204) or Alfred TO (2844 9980) for details.

GITPA Ex-Co 2021-22

News from GITPA (September 2021)

MOONCAKE PURCHASE DISCOUNT OFFER

Distance cannot keep us apart from our beloved ones or stop us from sending our love and care across.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and travel restrictions, many people have not been able to gather with their beloved ones or family during festivals.  In view of this, GITPA and Instagram illustrator Tom Choy Ho hope that through digital portraits, families who are separated can gather together in a portrait again.

For the first time, GITPA and illustrator Tom have jointly held a Mid-Autumn Festival Paintings for Charity event.  By donating to a charity that provides social services for the elderly, colleagues can get a unique portrait of them and their loved ones for the Mid-Autumn Festival.  It is hoped to encourage members to send kindness and blessings to others and the elderly during the festival with meaningful portraits as commemoration. 

All portraits were delivered to our members who have donated.  Hope that they like their own unique portraits.  We would like to thank all members for your continual support and participation to make this charity event successful!

GITPA Ex-Co 2021-22

News from GITPA (August 2021)

Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games

Congratulations to the Hong Kong, China Delegation in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games! The delegation produced the best results in Hong Kong history by bringing home a total of six medals at the Tokyo Olympics including one gold, two silver and three bronze in fencing, swimming, table tennis, karate and track cycling. For the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, the delegation has won two silver and three bronze in table tennis, boccia, and badminton. The delegation displayed their extraordinary capability at the Tokyo Games and achieved the city’s best results in history, with a number of them breaking Hong Kong records or their own records in the competition. The GITPA ExCo would like to extend our best wishes and support to athletes in Hong Kong in the coming competitions.

AP Grade Football Interest Group

A group of colleagues with a passion for football is actively forming a football interest group within the AP grade. We sincerely invite colleagues who are interested to join the AP Grade Football Whatsapp group to meet friends and play football together in their spare time. Please contact Alfred TO (2844 9980) or Mars YU (2835 2204) for details.

As the Premier League begins, which also means that the official game Fantasy Premier League is about to start. Fantasy Premier League is a game in which participants assemble an imaginary team of real-life footballers and score points based on those players’ actual statistical performance or their perceived contribution on the field of play. Colleagues who are interested can click on the link below to join our own league:

GITPA Ex-Co 2021-22

News from GITPA (July 2021)

MOONCAKE PURCHASE DISCOUNT OFFER

The Mid-Autumn Festival is coming soon.  GITPA ExCo would like to take this opportunity to wish all colleagues a joyful festival with your beloved family! 

This year, we continue to arrange mooncake offers  for members to select and celebrate with families under the beautiful full moon.  Apart from the traditional ones like Haagen-Dazs, Taipan and Saint Honore Cake Shop, we have introduced new popular brands including Mandarin Cake Shop and Patisserie La Lune, providing a total of over 40 choices of mooncakes.  With the overwhelming response from members, we have received a record-breaking amount of orders for 281 boxes of mooncakes!  Thank you very much for your continual support.  Members who have placed order will be receiving the redemption coupons from us soon.  Please stay tuned to our further notice!

COMING ACTIVITIES

GITPA ExCo will continue to help maintain Work-Life Balance for members.  We are gearing up for the activity plan with a bunch of exciting activities to enrich and liven up your spare time throughout the year!  Please stay tuned to our invitation email for more details.  See you there!

GITPA Ex-Co 2021-22

News from GITPA (June 2021)

GREETINGS FROM THE NEW GITPA EXCO

At the beginning of the new term, we wish to take this opportunity to thank members and friends of GITPA for your support and participation.  Members are more than welcome to contact us to express your views and convey ideas on matters relating to the Analyst/Programmer Grade.

The new ExCo will continue to prepare a variety of recreational activities for you.  Further updates will be announced in upcoming GITPA news, the GITPA Blog on Knowledge & Information Collaborative Platform (KICP) and our website: gitpa.org.hk.  Stay tuned!

MEETING WITH OGCIO GRADE MANAGEMENT

The meeting between GITPA and OGCIO Grade Management was held on 5 May 2021.  We discussed several topics which our members most concerned about, as highlighted below –

• We noticed some colleagues had resigned recently and showed our concerns. According to information collected by Grade Management, the majority of the reasons for the resignation given were personal reasons.
• In response to our enquiry whether more APIIs would be recruited to fill the vacancies left by those who had resigned in recent months, Grade Management assured that sufficient number of eligible candidates had been selected for appointment and waiting list in the APII recruitment exercise conducted this year to fill the vacancies. It was expected that the vacancies, including those arising from recent resignation cases, would be filled and new APIIs would start to report duty later this year. 
• Concerning colleagues who leave the service, we requested Grade Management to issue posting order earlier as possible before officers started their leave.
• We suggested Grade Management to inform all colleagues upon the commencement of the annual deployment planning exercise so that colleagues could take the opportunity to discuss their deployment plans with line management. Grade Management has sent the email for the exercise 2021/22 to all APIs and APIIs on 21 June 2021.

The full minutes had been uploaded to the OGCIO portal (link to download) and we encourage you to provide any feedback and suggestion to us for our next meeting with Grade Management.

GITPA Ex-Co 2021-22