Higher profile: Secretary for Home Affairs Dr Patrick Ho joins other guests at the opening ceremony of International Museum Day Hong Kong.

Secretary for Home Affairs Dr Patrick Ho says museums' education and entertainment functions are growing more important, adding efforts to boost local museums' service standards will continue.

Speaking at the opening ceremony for International Museum Day, Dr Ho said while each country built up its own unique culture, museums allow people to learn about the arts, history and culture of different places around the world.

"The education and entertainment functions of museums are getting more important in the 21st century. Therefore, we will continue to strengthen the service standards provided by local museums," he added.

The International Museum Day 2005, Hong Kong, was launched today bearing the theme "Museum Bridging Cultures". About 70 museums and cultural institutes from Guangdong, Macau and Hong Kong participated in the event and more than 200 programmes are organised, including handicraft and art demonstrations, model-making, as well as free guided tours. Click here for details.

The event's highlight - Museum Panorama - held at the Heritage Museum, also started today. The two-day show, open from 10am to 6pm daily, provides visitors with entertaining booth games and a series of educational activities. Representative collections selected from major local museums are on display.

To encourage more people to visit local museums, visitors to the Museum Panorama will receive an "IMD Game Card" which enables them to take part in a game from today until August 31. Participants who bring along this game card and visit a participating museum or institute will get a stamp and receive a souvenir card. Upon the collection of 18 stamps, participants can get an "International Museum Day 2005, Hong Kong" souvenir watch. The souvenirs are available for collection while stocks last.