Society
LegCo members: Ask schools to report vaccination numbers regularly
- 2021-07-02
- Society
- The Young Reporter
- By: Shameel IbrahimEdited by: Alison Leung
- 2021-07-02
Pro-government Legislative Council members urged the Secretary for Education, Kevin Yeung, to require schools to report the number of students and staff who are vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to better monitor and handle the pandemic. An Education Bureau (EDB) survey showed that as of May 2021, the total vaccination rate of the 2,000 schools, including kindergartens, primary and secondary schools, being polled was only 18%, according to a LegCo brief. Addressing a LegCo panel on education today, Mr. Yeung also added that a further survey may be conducted to find out the number of vaccinations in schools. Addressing a LegCo panel on education today, Mr. Yeung also added that a further survey may be conducted to find out the number of vaccinations in schools. Some health experts have said that if schools’ vaccination rate reaches 70-80%, more school activities or extracurricular activities could be allowed. Mr. Yeung said, “In the months ahead, we hope to finalize the plan with the experts, we need to see what the epidemic situation is like. If possible, we hope that schools can achieve a 70-80% vaccination rate and more activities can be held.” Lau Kwok-fan, a legislator and member of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), stressed that the government needs to have statistics on the number of persons vaccinated. “Personally, now that we don’t have any survey to collect figures about teaching staff vaccination rate, I’m a bit disappointed with that because you might expect or want to achieve 70-80% rate to allow for more activities and yet you don’t have a mechanism to collect or to record the figures in relation to vaccination. That actually cannot support your goal,” Mr. Lau said. However, Mr. Yeung said that schools can let the government know if they …
Apple Daily newspaper folds after a 26-year run
- 2021-06-24
- Society
- The Young Reporter
- By: Hamish CHANEdited by: Jenny Lam
- 2021-06-24
Long lines snaked around newsstands in Hong Kong today as supporters snapped up the last edition of the Apple Daily newspaper. Top officials of the 26-year-old tabloid-style paper have been detained or jailed. The company’s assets were frozen by the government under the National Security Law, forcing it to shut down. Its website and mobile app also stopped being updated after midnight. About a million copies of the last edition circulated around the city, about ten times its normal print run. Splashed across the front page was a photo taken from the paper’s offices in Tseung Kwan O showing a crowd outside. The headline read “ Hong Kong people bid farewell in pain”. Apple Daily’s proprietor, Jimmy Lai, is serving a 20-month jail term for taking part in illegal protests in 2019. He also faces accusations of violating the National Security Law. The newspaper has long taken an anti-communist and pro-democracy stance. Gary Sing Kai-chung, a former senior photographer of Apple Daily, who has worked at the paper for 17 years, was angry and sad about the newspaper’s closure. “It is like watching a family member get killed,” Mr Sing told The Young Reporter. He described Apple Daily as a pioneer in the Hong Kong media industry. “They sent motorbikers to the scenes to take photos when covering breaking news. More reporters would arrive later to cover the incidents and do follow up stories. This workflow was started by Apple Daily,” said Mr Sing. He said Apple Daily was also willing to invest in equipment. “The speed of changing from film cameras to DSLR cameras was so fast at the Apple Daily,” said Mr Sing. “While other media outlets were still hesitating on whether digital cameras were good, we had already swapped to the new cameras in all divisions.” “If …
Survey: More Hong Kong people feel they are both “Hongkongers” and “Chinese”
- 2021-06-22
- Society
- The Young Reporter
- By: YANG ZhenfeiEdited by: Editor
- 2021-06-22
The number of Hong Kong people who regard themselves as “Hongkongers” has remained unchanged over the past six months, but those who identify themselves as both “Hongkongers” and “Hongkongers in China” have grown, a survey has found. In its latest survey to track the sense of identity of Hong Kong people, the Hong Kong Public Opinion Programme has found that about 44% of the respondents regarded themselves as “Hongkongers” early this month, which was the same figure recorded in early December. Over the past six months, the number of respondents who identified themselves as “Chinese” dropped slightly from 15% to 13%, while those who identified themselves as both “Hongkongers” and “Chinese” rose from 38 to 42%. Taking other variables into consideration, the survey found that the number of people who regarded themselves as “Hongkongers” in a broad sense grew from 69% to 72%, while those who identified themselves as “Chinese” in a broad sense dropped from 29% to 26%. A total of 1,008 Cantonese-speaking Hong Kong residents aged 18 or above were interviewed in the survey. Tong Pan-Hang, who is a Hong Kong Baptist University student majoring in history, said he preferred the identity of "Chinese". "Many of my local friends don't like 'China' very much. They think they are 'Hongkongers' instead of 'Chinese' mostly because they think ‘China’ means 'backward'," he said. Tong said that his father now works in Guangdong Province, and his family has a sense of belonging to China. A Midland Realty worker who prefers to be known as Mr Chan said he did not regard the identities of "Hongkongers" and "Chinese" as necessarily opposite to one another. "It's not controversial that you identify with your birthplace," he said. "But Hong Kong people do live in a part of China.” Source: Hong Kong Public Opinion Programme
Trade Unions call for protection for workers of food delivery platforms
- 2021-06-14
- Society
- The Young Reporter
- By: Hamish CHANEdited by: Jenny Lam
- 2021-06-14
Delivery workers of digital food delivery platforms are not guaranteed a minimum wage and do not have reasonable work injury compensation, the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions said in a press conference today. The HKFTU asks the government to reexamine the employment status of gig workers, including delivery workers of digital platforms. All three major digital food delivery platforms, Foodpanda, Deliveroo and UberEats, recruit delivery workers under self-employed contracts. “The platforms use algorithmic management to control the actions and quality of service when they are in fact the employers of the deliverers,” said legislator Micheal Luk Chung-hung, who worked as a deliverer for a few hours. Mr. Luk said in other countries and regions, governments recognize delivery workers as employees of the digital platforms and are not considered self-employed. In Taiwan, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration of the Ministry of Labour confirmed in October 2019 that workers of six food delivery platforms, including Foodpanda and Uber Eats, were employees. In Spain, the legislation was passed in March 2021 that recognised delivery platform couriers as employees, in line with a Supreme Court judgement that confirmed a deliverer of Glove, a digital food delivery platform, was an employee. “Although we have questioned the (Hong Kong) government about this issue, they have always responded by claiming there are 'no statistics, no research and no policies at the moment’,” Mr. Luk said. He pointed out that the most significant drawback for self-employed deliverers is that they are not entitled to reasonable compensation for work injuries since the digital platforms do not need to provide labour insurance for them. “All three major platforms in Hong Kong provide accidental insurance for deliverers,” Mr. Luk “but the coverage and the insured amount are far worse than labour insurance.” Comparing the insurance provided by the three …
Educated Immigrants Leaving Hong Kong, Research finds
- 2021-06-09
- Society
- The Young Reporter
- By: Hamish CHANEdited by: Robin Ewing
- 2021-06-09
University-educated mainland immigrants aren’t staying, according to research from Hong Kong Baptist University released today. Between 2007 and 2011, 40.2% of the tens of thousands of new immigrants to Hong Kong held a bachelor’s degree, but a third of them left before 2016, according to the report. “The number continues to drop,” Yuk-Shing Cheng, Head of the Department of Economics at HKBU who led the research team, said in a press conference today. “Immigrants with higher education have a higher mobility,” Lai-shan Sze, the Deputy Director of Society of Community Organisation, a local NGO that sponsored the research, said in the press conference, “They will stay if they can blend in, but leave if they cannot.” Although the government has policies to bring talent into the city, it has failed to retain them, the report said. Prof Cheng said the government should focus on the coming generations as the research shows second and third generations have a positive impact on Hong Kong. Younger new immigrants are more likely to go to university in Hong Kong, according to the report. Around 45% of new immigrants who came to Hong Kong before age nine obtained bachelor degrees. The number drops for older immigrants. New immigrant Mandy Dai’s son, 32, is now an accountant in Hong Kong with a university degree, but it was a struggle for her to get him here, she said in the press conference. Ms Dai, who is from the mainland, married a Hong Kong man, but it took 11 years for her to be allowed to move to the city. Her son, who gained residency in Hong Kong, attended school in the mainland until he was 11 while they waited for her one-way permit, she said. “The one-way permit system can be better allocated,” Hongliang Zhang, Associate Professor …
Hong Kong workers suffer from mental health issues, research shows
- 2021-06-02
- Society
- The Young Reporter
- By: Hamish CHANEdited by: Robin Ewing
- 2021-06-02
Hongkongers are overworked and stressed out, research shows. More than 60% of workers have symptoms of “burnout,” including easily getting tired and losing interest in everything, according to research by the Mental Health Association of Hong Kong and Tung Wah College. A quarter of interviewees said they feel “extremely depressed or anxious.” More than a third work overtime with an average 48.4 hours per week despite an average contract of 41 hours per week, the research found. “Hong Kong is starting late for promoting workplace mental health,” Lawrence Lam, Vice President of Tung Wah College, said in a press conference today. Most surveyed said they did not have flexible working hours. “We encourage enterprises to have ‘Mental Health Workplace Policies’, including family friendly policies and flexible working hours,” Stephen Wong, the Assistant Director General of the Mental Health Association of Hong Kong, said at the press conference. Mr Wong said employees should learn more about mental health, pay attention to the mental health condition of people around them and develop a caring culture in the workplace. It is normal to have high working pressure in Hong Kong and having workshops and online lessons is a waste of time, Steve Lam, 47, a clerk in a telecom firm, said. “The best way to release our pressure is to give us more holidays,” said Mr Lam. “It is good to have positive communications, but managers need to communicate and understand us first.” “I think having lessons and workshops will work, it will help reduce our working pressure,” said Brook Chan, who is in his 30s and works in customer service. The researchers interviewed 213 full-time employees from two different enterprises and plan to talk to 400 more of different backgrounds and ranks, said Prof Lam. The full report will be released at …
Tuen Ma Line to fully open on June 27
- 2021-05-28
- Society
- The Young Reporter
- By: Hamish CHANEdited by: Jenny Lam
- 2021-05-28
The Tuen Ma Line will be fully operational from June 27. It is a key section of the Central-Shatin Rail link. “The government has confirmed that the new railway is in a good and safe condition, and it is ready to operate, ” said Frank Chan, the Secretary of Transport and Housing, in a press conference today. Part of the Tuen Ma line is currently operational, providing train services between Ma On Shan and Kai Tak. From June 27, two new stations, To Kwa Wan and Sung Wong Toi, will be added to the line. Also, Ho Man Tin station of Kwun Tong Line and Hung Hom Station of East Rail Line will have new platforms in order to serve as transit stations. Train services will run at three-minute intervals during peak hours once the entire Tuen Ma line is running. The new line will shorten travel time by up to 19 minutes. Passengers going from Kai Tak to Tsim Sha Tsui East, for example, will not need to change trains. Currently, they have to change twice. Passengers using Octopus cards at the two new stations will get a fare reduction. Adults will get a HK$1 reduction per ride, while Child and Student Octopus Card users will get a HK$0.5 reduction. The same discounts will be extended for passengers using Kai Tak and Hin Keng station, where the discounts are currently active. The discounts apply until Jan 1 2022. Passengers taking longer journeys in some stations may be cheaper. For example, a passenger travelling from Tuen Mun to Hung Hom, will pay a discounted fare around HK$20.6 using an Adult Octopus Card But if he goes one station further to Ho Man Tin, then the discounted fare will be around HK$18.9. “The fare setting has historical reasons. We need to …
Parents Happy to See Schools Return to Full Capacity
- 2021-05-24
- Society
- The Young Reporter
- By: REN Ziyi DavidEdited by: Robin Ewing
- 2021-05-24
All local schools and kindergartens returned to face-to-face teaching today for the first time in six months after the relaxation of Covid pandemic restrictions. Classes are at full capacity on a half-day basis. “I am happy to have my kid back to school,” said Manto Hong, a 43 year-old father with a daughter at a primary school in Kowloon Tong. Mr Hong said he wishes the schools could be allowed to open up longer. “She will be able to meet more friends,” he said. “Learning in the classroom might be more effective.” Kelley Mang, a 42 year-old mother with two daughters studying in a primary school in Kowloon Tong, said full-time school might not be a good idea right now since the vaccination rate is too low. “It is good to send my kids back to school,” she said. “I am still a little bit worried about the close contact problem.” The Hong Kong government is considering expanding vaccine eligibility, following the US decision last week to open up Pfizer-BioNtech shots to age 12 and up. The number of fully vaccinated Hongkongers is close to 900,000, or 12% of the population.
Consumer Council Finds Children’s Art Supplies Pose Safety Risks
- 2021-05-17
- Society
- The Young Reporter
- By: Hamish CHANEdited by: Robin Ewing
- 2021-05-17
More than half of the children’s crayons and fingerpaints tested were found to release toxic metals, the Consumer Council said in a press conference today. “Although there is no immediate risk, potential long term diseases may appear,” Nora Tam Fung-yee, Chairman of the Research and Testing Committee of the Consumer Council, said in the press conference. The Consumer Council tested 12 models of crayons and seven models of fingerpaints. The blue crayon from Swiss company Caran d'Ache’s “Hobby Line 1/2 watersoluble wax pastel” had the highest amount of aluminium, exceeding the EU Toy Safety Directive limit by almost five times. “Blue and black crayons contain the most harmful elements as black coal is one of the raw materials,” said Prof. Tam in the press conference. Children’s paints in Hong Kong must comply with one of four standards, including the EU standard used in the test, according to the Hong Kong Toys and Children's Products Safety Ordinance. Over half of the tested fingerpaints failed to comply with the EU Toy Safety Directive which requires children’s paints to taste bitter so they won’t be eaten. Fingerpaints produced by Spanish companies Jovi and Jar Meló, Korean company Mungyo and US company Crayola did not contain embittering agents at the EU standard, according to the Council. The council said parents should read package instructions and select paints based on the child's age. Parents should also consider purchasing crayons with a plastic barrel to reduce risk for ingesting harmful substances and be sure children clean their hands after use. Caran d'Ache responded to the council that the product involved stopped production in 2013 and had complied with the EU standard then. New products comply with the latest standard, said the company. Jar Meló and Mungyo responded to the council that they had added embittering agents …
HKFTU urges mandatory testing for school staff for the resumption of face-to-face classes
- 2021-05-13
- Society
- The Young Reporter
- By: WANG Jingyan 王婧言Edited by: Robin Ewing
- 2021-05-13
The government should implement free mandatory COVID-19 testing for teaching staff in primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong and take measures to reduce children’s addiction to electronic products, the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Union urged at a press conference today. Primary and secondary schools will start half-day face-to-face classes from May 24. “The first thing is mandatory tests for all teachers and workers in school to keep students at low risk of infection,” said Tang Ka-piu, Kowloon East Chief Community Officer of HKFTU, adding that the union hopes the government can also provide free tests for students if possible. The union interviewed 849 parents and 1,158 school children in early May. Over 90% of children interviewed spent more than four hours on online studying and nearly 80% spent an hour or above on electronic devices for entertainment, Mr Tang said at the conference. He also said that 95% of parents interviewed agreed that online teaching increased children’s dependence on electronic devices and nearly 90% agreed that online teaching causes problems to their children’s health, such as poor eyesight, back and neck strain and unstable moods. “Online learning also increases the conflicts in families as parents want to prevent their children from spending too much time on phones, but the children reject it,” said Yu Siu-lun, Kowloon East Community Officer of the Union. Parents at the press conference said they are concerned about the efficiency of online teaching, as they both found their children pay less attention to class and play games or watch YouTube instead. Parents said they required extra-curricular tutoring to help students catch up with courses. Smaller classes for online teaching would increase the quality of online classes, Tam Mei-po, Kowloon East Community Director of HKFTU, said. The union also encouraged the Leisure and Cultural Services …