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Policy Address 2026: Hong Kong to support AI training for employees and SMEs
- 2026-09-16
- Society
- The Young Reporter
- By: YANG Shuyi、Yutong SuEdited by: Lou Zhengzheng、QIN Ziyang
- 2026-09-16
The policy address proposed several AI training programs to support employees in enhancing practical AI skills and optimized the existing AI support program for small and medium-sized enterprises. The government will release more than 200 training courses and activities under the “AI for All” programme before the first quarter of 2028. The government’s Employees Retraining Board will release an 18-month AI upskilling campaign in the first half of 2027, offering free online courses on workplace AI applications, expected to benefit at least 40,000 employees. Calvin Cheng, the Executive President of the Hong Kong Small and Medium Enterprises Association, said that with subsidies from the government and corporate training, employees would be more willing to spend time learning how to use AI. “Many employees hold conservative views against AI, fearing job displacement,” Cheng said. “Companies need to educate their employees that AI is not meant to replace them, but to help improve their work efficiency.” According to Peter Shum, Deputy Chairman of the Federation of Hong Kong Industries, a lack of clear AI strategies from management creates a gap with employees keen to adopt AI but remaining cautious due to data leakage and security risks. Microsoft’s May 2026 Work Trend Index reveals that only 19% of AI users in Hong Kong believe their leadership has set a clear and consistent AI strategy. “The market is flooded with information about AI for SMEs, leaving them confused and unsure of what to do,” said Cheng. “The government can provide some successful showcases as guidance for them.” According to the Census and Statistics Department, as of March 2026, there were approximately 360,000 SMEs, accounting for more than 98% of the enterprises in Hong Kong. “The government needs to prioritize supporting SMEs in the field of AI, because large companies have substantial financial resources to …
Policy Address 2026: New museum in HK to focus on national security and patriotism
- 2026-09-16
- Society
- By: Ye Enyi、ZHOU ShiqingEdited by: Lan Xinbei
- 2026-09-16
The Hong Kong government will enrich Hong Kong’s patriotic education resources to build a museum in Kwu Tung North to showcase national development and achievements. The Leisure and Cultural Services Department will collaborate with museums from mainland China to support preparatory work in the Northern Metropolis, said Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu in the Policy Address 2026. The museum highlights will include technology, sports, and culture, as well as Hong Kong’s role in the country. Gu Minkang, the Director of the National Security and Legal Education Research Centre at the Education University of Hong Kong, said the Museum of National Development and Achievement can help local youth better understand the significance of safeguarding national security. Gu said that by highlighting Hong Kong’s role in national development, the museum allows local visitors to develop a stronger sense of national identity and responsibility. Data from the Hong Kong LegCo Secretariat in 2023 shows that national identity among young people remains weak. Only 44% identify as "Chinese" or "Hong Konger and Chinese," significantly lower than the 69% among those aged 35 and older. Zhou Qingmeng, from the mainland and working in a Hong Kong school known for its patriotic education, said patriotic education in local schools is ineffective, including student visits to mainland patriotic centres. “We only need to take photos of the students visiting to complete the task, without having to consider the effectiveness,” Zhou said. “My students always said those activities are meaningless,” she added. Most students at Hong Kong Polytechnic University take a lecture called Tomorrow’s Leader, which includes national security, in their first year. Wong Yat-fei, 21, said she and her classmates did not find value in the lecture. Many students don't often attend classes, she said. “The museums should not only tell the truth, but should also use …
Policy address 2026: Expert questions government expectations on expanding new university town
- 2026-09-16
- Society
- The Young Reporter
- By: LI Jinyang Carlos、ZHENG XinyiEdited by: CHEN Ziyu
- 2026-09-16
The Northern Metropolis University Town will expand to about 300 hectares, as announced in the Policy Address 2026 today, more than triple the size in a 2025 press release from the Development Bureau. The University Town is intended to resolve insufficient land resources, providing more space for the development of innovation and technology, higher education and the cultivation for high caliber talents. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said today this town will become the main development thrust of the Northern Metropolis. The town also encourages institutions from the mainland and overseas to establish campuses in the area, according to the consultation document before the announcement of Hong Kong’s five-year plan. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said the government has prepared HK$10 billion in loans to assist the campus development in the Northern Metropolis in his 2026 budget speech. “For now, the return of investing in the university town is uncertain,” said Terence Chong Tai-leung, Executive Director of the Lau Chor Tak Institute of Global Economics and Finance at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Chong said this depends primarily on its ability to attract major companies, yet those companies will not locate there based simply because of the surrounding infrastructure and that the government should adopt a public-private partnership model. “By providing land use to universities free of charge, while the universities themselves are responsible for constructing campus infrastructure. The government could then share the profits once the project becomes profitable,” he said. According to the Government's e-Tendering System, the estimated tender values for San Tin Technopole's supporting facilities,connected to the University Town, exceed HK$1.2 billion in Q3 and Q4 alone this year. Liu Xiao, owner of Golden Harbour Group Limited, a real estate company, said the long-term outlook for real estate around the university town is positive, though short-term …
Policy Address 2026: Northern Metropolis to build larger subsidised housing amid concerns
- 2026-09-16
- Society
- The Young Reporter
- By: YAM Long Hei JamieEdited by: LEUNG Chi Ngai
- 2026-09-16
Subsidised housing in the Northern Metropolis will include a higher proportion of larger flats for purchase, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said at today's annual Policy Address. The share of units measuring around 45 square metres or more will rise from 20% to 25% from 2031, aiming to improve residents' overall quality of life, Lee said. The average public housing unit was 37.2 square metres in 2024, according to the Hong Kong Future Economy Institute. “If the transport can’t keep up, then no matter how good a place is to live, or how new and beautiful the developments are, it’s all meaningless,” Lai Chun-kit, 32, a chef, said. The Northern Metropolis, roughly one-third of Hong Kong’s total land area, is expected to provide over 70,000 public and private housing units within five years, according to the five-year plan announced today. The area’s transport is mainly linked by the Northern Link railway and the Northern Metropolis Highway. Both transport infrastructures are expected to be delivered by 2034 and 2036. Lai, together with his wife Chung and their daughter, will move into a public housing unit in Tuen Mun within a month, after five years of waiting. He said they have no intention of moving to the Northern Metropolis if they are allocated a flat there. The couple said that the quality of education provided by the school network would be the most important factor in their decision to relocate. “It’s not that people don’t want to choose that place, but the supporting infrastructure has to catch up as well,” Lai said. The government is set to advance transport infrastructure, building a new hospital in Ngau Tam Mei and develop cultural facilities. Job opportunities and adequate basic infrastructure are the key drivers in attracting people to settle in the Northern …
Live: Hong Kong Policy Address 2026
- 2026-09-16
- Politics
- By: Baguio Anne、Man Cheok Lam LorraineEdited by: Baguio Anne、Man Cheok Lam Lorraine
- 2026-09-16
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu is announcing Hong Kong’s 2026 Policy Address alongside Hong Kong's Five-Year Plan at 11am today. TYR reporters will be covering the policy address live and will be making regular updates. 2:00 PM The 2026 Policy Address has now concluded, being the shortest policy address in Lee's term as Chief Executive. 1:48 PM In response to extreme weather caused by global warming, Hong Kong civil engineering will enhance resilience by adapting updated building standards and upgrading utilities collaborating with AAHK and MTR Corporation. Facilities for resilience include drainage systems, sewage tunnels, and wave walls, 20 areas of which have been completed and the remaining is under active construction, expected to be done by 2030. 1:47 PM Hong Kong will get an “AI city brain” to help the government run better. Big data analytics and real time data will help the city handle emergencies, Lee said, such as during extreme weather. He announced a task force to manage this. 1:35 PM Regarding elderly support, an additional 2,000 community care service vouchers for the elderly will be provided, bringing the total to 18,000 in 2027–28. The number of residential care service vouchers will also be increased to 8,000. In addition, five new subsidised day care facilities offering around 200 service places will be set up, along with five new neighbourhood elderly centres that will help older people integrate into the community and are expected to serve 5,000 people a year. 1:32 PM Lee announced new measures to support the city’s caregivers, including a 10% increase in subsidies for carers of low-income elderly people and people with disabilities. Caregiver welfare is an escalating social issue in Hong Kong driven by a large aging population, with more than 1 million caregivers estimated in the city …
Youth summit focuses on opportunities for HK ethnic minority youth
- 2026-09-13
- Society
- The Young Reporter
- By: YANG Shuyi、XIE Xinni CindyEdited by: Lou Zhengzheng
- 2026-09-13
More than 300 ethnically diverse people aged 18 to 30 gathered on Saturday at a youth leadership Summit, which centred on prospective opportunities and challenges for ethnic minority youth in Hong Kong. The Ethnically Diverse Youth Leadership Summit 2026 was the second edition of the summit held by the Zubin Foundation in Ngau Tau Kok. The summit aimed to focus more on job opportunities, although much of the discussion about diverse ethnic communities centers on the negative barriers and challenges, said Shalini Mahtani, Founder and CEO of the foundation. “We're not downplaying them, but we also wanted to focus on something like your aspirations, leadership, and future in Hong Kong,” she said. Delivering his opening remarks as a guest speaker, Chris Sun Yuk-han, Secretary for the Labor and Welfare Bureau, said that as a policymaker, he is keen to listen to the group’s passion and concern. Sun encouraged young minorities to overcome difficulties in their work and said it was a great opportunity for him to hear the participants' thoughts. The summit revolves around the challenges and opportunities of the ethnically diverse community and features a debate titled “Are you optimistic or pessimistic about your future in Hong Kong?” Arvind Singh Dhaliwal, 23, an engineering student at the University of Hong Kong, is of Indian descent and grew up in Hong Kong. He speaks some everyday Cantonese and English, and represented the opposition side in debate. “A lot of engineering companies prefer people who can speak Mandarin, since many firms and departments are moving head to the mainland,” said Dhaliwal. “For Cantonese, I can speak enough to get by, but it is too stressful for me to speak Mandarin.” Subha Abedin, 21, a member of the Foundation for Youth Development—a youth-led non-governmental organisation—who graduated this year, said “Language can be …
France reports more than 5,000 deaths after June heatwave
- 2026-07-25
- By: XIE Xinni CindyEdited by: FENG Zhenpeng
- 2026-07-25
The French national health agency said on Wednesday it recorded 5,764 excess deaths between June 17 and July 2, 36.2% higher than normal, during the June heatwave. The World Meteorological Organization's weather forecast shows that Paris will experience temperatures exceeding 30 degrees Celsius again next week. According to the French meteorological service, 2026 was France’s hottest June on record. Paris hit 40.9 degrees Celsius on June 24, which broke the capital’s June temperature record. Jennifer Yu, 22, a US tourist in Paris, said it’s her first time in France and she can hardly breathe due to the hot weather. Rémy Jarry, 48, a Paris resident, said some Parisians without air conditioning cool down in public parks or swim in urban canals. “It's really too hot in Paris this year...It feels like France has not seen such extreme heat since I was a child,” Jarry said. The World Weather Attribution reported this summer had the most severe and widespread heat wave in Europe ever, but only 25% of households are equipped with air conditioning. Sylvain, 43, a French teacher who lives in Paris and declined to provide his last name, said he drove to rural towns after work to escape the urban heat island effect. He said he does not use household air conditioning because it harms the environment. But due to the increasing numbers of hot days, he said he might change his mind. The World Weather Attribution also said that fossil fuel emissions have rapidly exacerbated heatwaves in Europe in just a few decades. “We only started facing such extreme heat regularly in recent years, which shows environmental issues are growing increasingly severe,” Sylvain said.
AI detection tools spark false plagiarism fears among university students
- 2026-05-31
- Society
- The Young Reporter
- By: MA Tsz Chiu OscarEdited by: CHENG Tsz Sen Sean
- 2026-05-31
In 2025, Chris, a university nursing student in Hong Kong who asked not to be fully identified, failed a course after a plagiarism detector flagged his project as AI-generated. Chris insisted the work was entirely his own and appealed the failing grade but lost. It forced him to retake the same course, and left him with a reputation for academic dishonesty. Since the launch of generative AI in 2022, many universities have adopted AI detection tools to assess whether student work involves AI-generated content. However, both students and teachers say these tools are often unreliable, raising serious concerns about fairness and due process. Chris and his groupmates were among those students affected. Their assignment, written in both Chinese and English, was flagged as 40% AI-generated by Turnitin, the tool used by their school. Turnitin, used by over 20,000 institutions worldwide, assigns an AI percentage score to submitted assignments, indicating the likelihood that the content is AI-generated. Scores between 1% and 19% are typically hidden. However, Turnitin’s AI detection does not support Chinese. When the group separated the languages, the score dropped below 20%. Despite presenting this evidence, Chris said his department rejected the appeal without explanation. According to the university’s handbook, suspected cases of academic dishonesty should be investigated and discussed in a formal meeting. The Young Reporter inquired of 12 higher education institutions in Hong Kong regarding their AI policies. The Chinese University of Hong Kong responded that it acknowledged the possibility of false positives and said students have the right to appeal through fact-checking interviews. Hong Kong Baptist University responded that teachers may request relevant documents from students, such as records of AI usage and early drafts, to review suspected misuse of AI. Other institutions did not respond. Caleb Lai, 21, a psychology student studying in the UK, …
More than just a parade: Cheung Chau Bun Festival 2026
- 2026-05-29
- Society
- The Young Reporter
- By: Ng Wing Sum JodieEdited by: YAM Long Hei Jamie
- 2026-05-29
Reported by Jodie Ng Wing-sum, Ella Huang Wing-tung Edited by Jamie Yam Long-hei Video Description: The Piu Sik parade, a century-old tradition of the annual Cheung Chau Bun Festival, returned to the city on May 24. This year, 17 parade teams wove through Cheung Chau’s alleys to worship and pray for blessings.
Red minibus drivers struggle as ridership plunges and fuel costs rise
- 2026-05-13
- Society
- The Young Reporter
- By: CHEUNG Ka Yi Ann、ZHENG Yuan ElaineEdited by: CHAU Wing Yau
- 2026-05-13
At Kwun Tong Yue Man Square Public Transport Interchange, one of the city’s busiest transport hubs, 55-year-old red minibus driver Saniel Ng would clock off from a 13-hour shift at 9pm on most days with a take-home pay of just about HK$1,000. As Ng looked around the transport interchange, he noted that even though there were some queues of passengers waiting for red minibuses, ridership was not what it used to be. “Bus companies have taken away the business,” said Ng, who has been a red minibus driver for more than 20 years. “Without enough passengers, it’s hard to survive.” For decades, Hong Kong’s red minibus has been better known for its high speed and unruly round-the-clock service. But the trade is at risk of becoming a remnant of old Hong Kong as the city’s mass transport network continues to modernise. There are two types of public light buses, differentiated by their roof colours and service flexibility. Red minibuses operate on flexible routes with fares that drivers can adjust based on demand and the time of day, whereas green minibuses run on fixed routes and schedules set by the government. Red minibuses are disappearing, with passenger numbers falling by more than half, or 50.5%, from 295,000 in 2017 to 146,000 in 2024, according to Transport and Logistics Bureau data compiled in a Legislative Council research report published in March last year. Commercial vehicles in Hong Kong must obtain operational licences from the Transport Department. The price of a minibus operating licence, for both red and green minibuses, also dropped 47% between 2022 and 2024, from HK$1.7 million to HK$900,000, far below its 2014 peak of HK$5.5 million. Despite green minibuses having recorded a recovery in passenger volume since 2022, red minibuses have continued to see a decline in their passenger …