The Young Reporter
Parents and students criticise Carrie Lam's neglect of student suicides
- 2017-10-11
- Health & Environment
- The Young Reporter
- By: Angie Chan、Ezra Cheung、Japson Melanie Jane、Michelle NgEdited by: Winnie Ngai、Jianne Soriano
- 2017-10-11
The Hong Kong Chief Executive paid little attention to current youth problems in her maiden 195-page policy address released in the Legislative Council this morning. Various stakeholders, including parent and student representatives and social workers, expressed their disappointment with the report, accusing the leader of neglecting the lives of Hong Kong students. Covering youth policies in just five pages, she put the spotlight on their participation in politics: creating opportunities for young people to join the Central Policy Unit to be re-organised soon and different commissions under the 13 policy bureaux. Lam also focused on the provision of internship and exchange opportunities outside the city. "We will strive to do our best in youth development work by addressing their concerns about education, career pursuit and home ownership," she said during the Legco meeting, "and encouraging their participation in politics as well as public policy discussion and debate." Yet, the city's leader has failed to mention a single word about the severity of the student suicide epidemic which has claimed 432 lives since 2013. The Committee on Prevention of Student Suicides was formed March last year to tackle this issue. But no further action was done after its final report was published, according to Althea Suen Hiu-nam, the former president of the Hong Kong University Students' Union and a member of this government-appointed student suicide prevention committee. She expressed her dismay on Lam's failure to include the issue in her first policy address. "It's absurd to ignore the issue," Suen said, "a disrespect to the lives of the youth." Annie Cheung Yim-sheun, spokesperson of the Hong Kong Parents United, felt Lam had neglected a major issue given the increasing number of student suicides in Hong Kong. Cheung attributed Lam's avoidance to the sensitiveness of the sudden death of Peter Poon Hong-yang, …
Carrie Lam pledges better political inclusion of ethnic minorities
- 2017-10-11
- Society
- The Young Reporter
- By: Tracy Zhang、Jade Li、Raphael BletEdited by: Choy York Borg Paulus、Tracy Zhang、Ellen He
- 2017-10-11
Requirements on Chinese proficiency will be relaxed to include more ethnic minorities in the government, announced Chief Executive Carrie Lam in her first policy address. "We need to increase the job opportunities for ethnic minorities to work in the government," said Lam. Civil Service Bureau has started a review on the entry requirements relating to Chinese proficiency to get more ethnic minorities working in the government. Currently, ethnic minorities willing to join the civil service are required to undergo a written Chinese proficiency test. The government launched Project Gemstone in 2013 to teach ethnic minority young people Chinese, making it easier for them to join the police. Apart from the support on language, representatives of ethnic minority have also been included in a preparatory committee chaired by Lam for children's issues. Shalini Mahtani, the founder of Zubin Foundation said it's a good start because at least Carrie Lam is looking into this issue. "We'll continue to ask Carrie Lam to get more ethnic minority members into government advisory committees to express their voices," she said. However, Pro-democracy lawmaker Claudia Mo said the policy address showed "complete ignorance" on long-lasting ethnic minority problems. "I feel pessimistic. We should keep on fighting and can see miracles on politics including ethnic minority's political participation in Hong Kong," said Mo. Abeer, spokesperson of HK Ethnic Minority Women, said the lack of political participation for ethnic minorities cannot be solved in a short time through those limited measurements. "Hong Kong is lagging behind in almost all aspects of life services for ethnic minorities," she said. "No doctors, no police officers, so even no need to mention politicians." Kathleen Magramo, a Filipino student from the University of Hong Kong said the framework is on the right track but concrete actors need to be mobilised to see …
Government plans to further revitalise historical buildings
- 2017-10-11
- The Young Reporter
- By: Zoya Zhao、Maggie LiuEdited by: Sean Hsu、Daniel Ma
- 2017-10-11
Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced her plans on heritage conservation by focusing on the Revitalisation Historic Building Through Partnership Scheme in the Policy Address released today. The 19-project scheme was established in 2007. Five batches of projects under the Revitalisation Scheme had already been taken place. According to Antiquities Advisory Board, as at 7 September 2017, there are 1,444 historical buildings in Hong Kong, among which 955 buildings were graded as Grade I to III historic buildings . Lui Seng Chun, a long-vacated Grade I Historic Building in Mong Kok used to be a shophouse. After undergoing basic repair and revitalisation, it now operates as a Chinese medicine and healthcare centre. "The project is a successful one as its new function matches with residents' need," Lee Ho-yin, head of Division of Architectural Conservation Programmes at University of Hong Kong said, "Mong Kok area has an aged community, resulting in a large demand for such healthcare centre." "The value of a building can always increase over time by effective utilisation," Lee said. "If we don't redevelop those buildings, we won't have losses. If we remove them, we may just earn a little more but the long-term loss on other aspect will be greater." Siu Ping-lam, a 67-year-old man who has lived around Lui Seng Chun for 60 years, said the revitalization is necessary. "The building becomes very educational as its original architecture has been kept and people are allowed to visit." "The cost for revitalisation should not be larger," said Lee, "the most important thing is to fit the building its surroundings." "The connection between the community and the building will be closer. It will be easy to get money if the building serves the right function as it now does," Lee said, "otherwise, the preservation will not be successful and continuable." …
Labour Unions: Government Fails to Reach out to Elderly Home Workers
- 2017-10-11
- The Young Reporter
- By: Wing Li、Dorothy Ma、Kobie Li、Alexandra LinEdited by: Richelia Yeung、Tiffany Lui、Celia Lai、Isabella Lo、Daisy Lee、James Ho
- 2017-10-11
The government will consider importing labour to elderly care units and provide additional resources to increase wages for care workers, said Carrie Lam as she introduce her first Policy Address this afternoon. Hong Kong's aging problem is escalating as reflected by the projected growth of elderly population from 16.6% in 2016 to 31.1% in 2036, according to the Census and Statistics Department. Due to the acute shortage of workforce lies in the local elderly-care sector, the city has been employing non-local care workers to cater the needs in self-financing elderly care homes. Now that the government calls for labour importation to its subsidised care homes, some labour unions criticised the government of lacking long-term consideration, attributing the issue to low salary and long working hour of care workers. Poon Wai-yin, chairman of Hospitals, Clinics and Nursing Workers Union, said that increase in wage alone is not enough to tackle the issue. "The government cannot force the employers to increase the wage of care workers. There is no legal binding except for the minimum wage," Poon emphasised The Union demands an eight-to-nine-hour long standard working time. Care workers now could work up to 11 hours per day with a basic salary of $9,800 and a ceiling of $13,000, according to Poon. Tsang Kei-nam, Organizing Secretary of the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions, is concerned about the qualification of foreign care workers, which is hard for the labour department to verify if their overseas training can provide sufficient techniques for caring work in Hong Kong. Yet, Chan Chun-wing, a senior nurse from Yan Chai Hospital Lee Wai Siu Kee Elderly Home stated that "it will not be a problem to have foreign or mainland care assistants as long as they have qualifications," Labor Union argues that the shortage of manpower in …
CE to rebuild housing ladder with "Starter Homes" scheme
- 2017-10-11
- The Young Reporter
- By: Erin Chan、Caroline Kwok、Michael Shum、Candice WongEdited by: Lam Ka Sing、Nicole Kwok
- 2017-10-11
CE to rebuild housing ladder with "Starter Homes" scheme Reported by Caroline Kwok, Erin Chan, Candice Wong, Michael Shum Edited by Alfred Lam, Nicole Kwok, Sean Hsu, James Ho Hong Kong's Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor revealed details of the "Starter Homes" scheme in her maiden policy address today. The scheme is to provide more affordable private housing for young, middle class first-time home buyers who are struggling with the city's endless price growth in private housing. The scheme's applicants must have an income level not exceeding $34,000 a month for singletons and $68,000 for households with two or more members, about 30 per cent higher than the income limits for Home Ownership Scheme applicants, she said. Land supply for the units will come from sites owned by private developers or bought by the Government. Lam said the government will dictate the scheme at the end and developers will only help building the homes. Poon Wing-cheung, senior lecturer of Building Science and Technology at City University of Hong Kong, agreed that the government should work with private developers to speed up the scheme. "Developers are well-equipped with land resources and are experienced in maximising land use," Poon said. Thomas Lam, senior director of property consultancy, Knight Frank, also thought that "Public-Private Partnership" can provide certain incentives for both parties. "For example, developers will supply farmland for "Starter Homes" in exchange for discounted land premium arrangements," Lam said. However, he also pointed out some limitations of the scheme. "The targeted income-group of the "Starter Homes" scheme only makes up around one-tenths of the labour force. Large number of "Starter Homes" units may also affect the private market of small-sized units," he said. Sammy Po, chief executive of Midland Realty's residential division, said the application requirements and resale restrictions of "Starter Homes" should be tight …
Highlights on Carrie Lam's First Policy Address
- 2017-10-11
- Politics
- The Young Reporter
- By: Sharon PunEdited by: Cecilia Wong、Isabella Lo、Daisy Lee、James Ho
- 2017-10-11
Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor kicked off her first Policy Address of 2017-2018 by emphasising "one country two systems" this morning in the Legislative Council. She quoted President Xi Jin-ping's remarks during his visit to the city in July, that the framework of "one country two systems" is the best path for Hong Kong. Pinpointing on her maiden policy, she introduced the two-tier taxation system in which the profit tax rate is lowered from 16.5% to 8.25% for the first $2 million. Rate beyond $2 million remains unchanged. The government will set limits to big corporations, so that only one of the subsidiaries can be benefited. For housing, Lam put emphasis on the "Green Form Subsidised Home Ownership Pilot Scheme" which is expected to offer more than 4000 public housing flats by the end of 2018. Lam detailed the "Starter Homes" plan in cooperation with private developers to help young families with the income capped by about 30% higher than the home ownership ownership limits get onto the housing ladder. To alleviate the existing pressure on housing, Lam suggested several measures to increase transitional housing supply, such as utilising idle governmental premises to provide rental housings, and converting industrial building into transitional housing with land premium wavering. Lam suggests providing a maximum of $300 monthly travelling allowance to each Octopus user who spends over $400 on commuting by MTR, franchised buses, green minibuses and ferries. The policy using the dividends from MTR Corporation is expected to benefit 2 million citizens territory-wide. In order to encourage the youth's voices in policy discussion, she said the government will increase the ratio of teenagers within her government to 15%. In addition, the government will recruit more than 20 young people to take part in …
Ethnic minority groups urge government to address unequal opportunities
- 2017-10-08
- The Young Reporter
- By: Erin ChanEdited by: Jianne Soriano
- 2017-10-08
About 50 individuals from various ethnic minority rights group gathered outside the Hong Kong Government headquarters in Admiralty to call for equal opportunities for ethnic minorities. Organizations and individuals include Hong Kong Unison, Diversity of Voices, ethnic minority parents, local university students and graduates and Chinese-home tutors. They ask Chief Executive Carrie Lam to implement policies related to ethnic minorities which she made in her election manifesto. Carrie stated in early 2017 that she would ensure the successful implementation of Chinese education among ethnic minority students if she was elected as the next chief executive. Jeffrey Andrews, the first ethnic minority registered social workers in Hong Kong of Indian descent and organizer of the march, sees Chinese education as the key to eliminate discrimination against ethnic minorities. "The lack of proper Chinese education [for ethnic minority students] is still not tackled. At schools, we did not get to learn Chinese properly. Therefore, for many generations, ethnic minority people cannot get into universities, cannot integrate into the society or cannot get a proper job," said Andrews. He also lamented the negative perception of ethnic minorities. "Various media sites are blaming us for making Hong Kong chaotic. There is this government slogan: Hong Kong is my home. But I don't think we [ethnic minority community] are included in this message," he added. He added that the unequal opportunities in education have existed since kindergarten. "There are even some kindergartens that deny [ethnic minorities'] entry. Those schools say, ‘Our place is not for your children since everything is taught in Cantonese.' This problem can persist from kindergarten until university. We never really seem to integrate into the society. It is ridiculous that we have to pay to learn Cantonese outside instead of at schools," said Andrews. Salma Deiya, a representative for ethnic minority university …
Hong Kong sees growing popularity in Himalayan art
- 2017-10-06
- The Young Reporter
- By: Windy LIEdited by: Nicole Kwok
- 2017-10-06
According Sotheby, one of the world's largest auction house, there were 3 auctions with more than 60 pieces of Himalayan art held in 2016, making a total sale of $4.8 million (about HK$38 million), compared to only only 1 similar auction in 2012, with total sale of only $1.8 million (about HK$14.5million). Much of Himalayan art are paintings and sculptures composed of unique symbols and patterns from Buddhism, Hinduism and various tribal cultures. "There's growing interest in Himalayan art in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and mainland China. But the largest growth is here in Hong Kong," said Fabio Rossi, the owner of Rossi & Rossi gallery. Founded in London, Rossi and Rossi has handled a lot of antiques and art from the Himalayan region, specifically from Tibet, Nepal, and Kashmir over the past decades. Rossi brought over 30 pieces of Himalayan classical art and early textiles to Fine Art Asia this year. Those include a bronze statue of Avalokitèshvara, a bodhisattva from Nepal in 13th-14th century, valued at about $3 million U.S. dollars (about HK$23.4 million). Fine Art Asia, a leading international annual art fair in Asia, features Himalayan art from more than seven top international galleries this year. Gan Ting, 30, graduated from art school and is now works for an art investment company. Gan loves Tibetan culture and art work, especially thangka, a form of Tibetan Buddhist painting on cotton, silk appliqué, or human skin. "I like to look into different parts and details of thangka so I can get different meanings from them," said Gan. The price of thangka increased significantly these years, from a few thousands to a hundred thousands US dollars, Gan told us. "For example, I saw a big piece of thangka selling for around $1.8 million U.S. dollars(about HK$14 million) and even a small …
Activists call for support of jailed mainland dissidents
- 2017-10-05
- Politics
- The Young Reporter
- By: Raphael Blet、Tracy Zhang、Jade LiEdited by: Lam Ka Sing、Tracy Zhang
- 2017-10-05
An activist group organised a temporary exhibition in Hong Kong's Tsim Sha Tsui Wednesday evening, calling for support of jailed activists in mainland China. The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China hopes the Democracy Lantern Action can make the public pay more attention to the "patriots" in custody and the human rights issue in the mainland, said Richard Tsoi Yiu-cheong, vice president of the organisation, referring to dissidents such as the 709 lawyers, a group of lawyers under government surveillance. The number 709 refers to the fact that the lawyers were arrested on July 9 in 2015. "The annual event we hold next to the Tsim Sha Tsui harbour every year at Mid-Autumn Festival is to advocate for those in custody who cannot get united with their family members," he said. "We also hope to increase awareness on the suppression on the defendants of human rights in mainland on the night of a traditional Chinese festival when people unite with their family members," he added. Chow Hang-tung, barrister and vice president of the Hong Kong Alliance, also regarded the Mid-Autumn Festival as a symbolic time to call for the activists' reunion with their families as it is when Chinese families traditionally gather to celebrate. "The most vocal lawyers have been either placed in jail or put on probation since the 709 crackdown, severely reducing the number of human rights lawyers who can still work effectively" said Chow, who believes that the situation for mainland human rights lawyers has worsened since the jailings in 2015. The alliance has delivered moon cakes to the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government on Chinese National day on Monday, asking for the release of jailed mainland dissidents to reunite with their families. …
Hong Kong bike-sharing initiatives' secretive rise
- 2017-10-04
- Business
- The Young Reporter
- By: Japson Melanie Jane、Angie Chan、Scout XuEdited by: Daniel Ma、Sean Hsu、Choy York Borg Paulus
- 2017-10-04
The Lands Department confiscated around 30 bikes in Tin Shui Wai and Yuen Long, most of which are from GoBee, the first bike-sharing service in Hong Kong. Unlike existing bike-rentals, bike-sharing services allows users to rent green bikes by scanning QR codes with their mobile phones, posing no restrictions on where to pick-up or drop off the bicycles. Sha Tin District Councillor Sunny Chiu Chu-bong finds the bike-sharing service is a good concept and can be very convenient, though problems have arisen since before its implementation. However Chiu said there are no regulations towards these services, but taxpayers are paying for these bikes. "They are using government land to make profit, without approval from the public." The district councillors were not informed of the bike-sharing service until they started receiving complaints; Some complained of alarms going off and are unable to be turn them off; Bikes were inappropriately parked, blocking the road. These are only some of the common problems found since the launch of the service. "Hong Kong is not ready for bike-sharing services," he added. " The city lacks government regulation and infrastructure. More similar companies are going to surface and that will worsen illegal parking." Sha Tin resident Chan said this service is quite convenient, but it's not very well-known and the payment method is quite complicated. Though she is concerned of the parking problem, she would choose to pick up these green bikes for a free 30-minute session. Another resident Michelle Cheung feels uneasy about the registration and payment method of the services. She fears about privacy problems which could hinder with the usage of the service. "The government should make them register and plan out the areas for them to park the bikes." She answered when asked about possible government action, regarding the disruption caused …