Musicians in protest

FOUR hundred young musicians staged an unprecedented three-hour concert yesterday in a bid to persuade the Government not to abolish the Music Office.

Standing on the windy Tsim Sha Tsui seafront, violinists, cellists and others with Chinese instruments played while their parents collected signatures for a petition protesting at the plan.

In a consultation paper on arts policy published in March, the Government suggested transferring the Music Office's work to non-government organisations like the Academy for Performing Arts.

The chairman of the Music Office Parents' Association, Wong Yeung Yin-ling, criticised the Government for depriving children of low-cost musical education.