By: Elly Wu、Elisa Luk、Erica Chin、Holly ChikEdited by: Angela Cheung、Daniel Ma
Government plans to provide subsidies for university hostels construction
- 2017-10-11
- Society
- The Young Reporter
- By: Elly Wu、Elisa Luk、Erica Chin、Holly ChikEdited by: Angela Cheung、Daniel Ma
- 2017-10-11
Carrie Lam, the city's Chief Executive, announced in the latest Policy Address the setting up of a $12 billion Hostel Development Fund, offering subsidies for universities to construct student hostels. Lam said the lack of on-campus accommodations could hinder international students from studying in Hong Kong, thus making the local tertiary campuses and learning environment less international. Lam believed that establishing the development fund could speed up the executive procedures. The University of Hong Kong, which has the highest percentage of international students of 39% among all University Grants Committee(UGC) funded universities, accepted less than half of international students who applied for dormitories in the year 2014-2015. Meanwhile, all international students applied for hostels in Lingnan University were accepted. However, only 15% of applicants are international students, which is the lowest among local universities. Hence, the "internationalisation" of a university campus has no direct relationship to the provision of residential halls. The "internationalisation" of a university campus has no direct relationship to the provision of residential halls. "The policy would help to attract more international student only if they are prioritised to apply for on-campus accommodation," said Annie Chan, associate professor of Lingnan University. Kevin Yue, Resident Master of one of Hong Kong Baptist University's halls, pointed out that universities' policies on arranging residential hall units to local and international students affect the effectiveness bringing diversity to the campuses, especially when there is not enough dormitories even for local students. Less than half of the 63 international students studying in Hong Kong Baptist University reached by The Young Reporter said they would study in Hong Kong without a dormitory place Out of 63 international students reached, 48 percent of them claimed that they would come to Hong Kong to study even without a dormitory. "I would still come to Hong …
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." …
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 …