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Floral Joy Around Town: 2024 Hong Kong Flower Show

  • The Young Reporter
  • By: LI Sin Tung、MAO Anqi、James Ezekiel Kalaw MODESTOEdited by: James Ezekiel Kalaw MODESTO
  • 2024-03-18

Hong Kong welcomes the arrival of spring with the annual Hong Kong Flower Show as it returns to Victoria Park for a second straight year after a three-year halt due to Covid-19. This year’s theme is “Floral Joy Around Town,” with the Angelonia as the event’s chosen flower. Angelonia, also known as the “angel flower” and summer snapdragon, comes in various colours and is noted for its long flowering period, flourishing from Spring to Autumn. The Leisure and Cultural Services Department uses the Angelonia to symbolise Hong Kong’s ability to overcome adversity, adding that Hong Kong can always overcome difficulties and bloom with vigour like the theme flower. Around 229 organisations are participating in this year’s event, including several government departments and exhibitors from other countries. The event will be held from Mar. 15 to 24.

Society

Latest technology in movie production at the Hong Kong International Film and TV Market

  • By: NG Natasha Goa Sheng、YANG ShuyiEdited by: KONG Tsz Yuen
  • 2024-03-15

The 28th Hong Kong International Film and TV Market, Filmart, concluded at the Hong Kong International Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai on Thursday, where industry leaders discussed the future of musical score production, leveraging AI, and the breakthroughs in movie production using Virtual Production (VP) and Extended Reality (XR) techniques. In a program titled Dimensional Innovation: The Application and Impact of New Technologies in Film and TV Production, film production companies shared how technology is bringing revolutionary changes to entertainment content production, including co-production, post-production, location shooting, visual effects, and music, as well as the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. Among the speakers was Edmond Tsang, BMus Creative Industries Programme Director at Hong Kong Baptist University.  "AI can produce music that meets goals in a very short period of time. It will be a tool for future composers, helping them to get inspired and compose more efficiently," he said.  "The use of VP and XR technology applications will result in a production experience with longer preparation time but a faster production process," said Roger Proeis, President of Votion Studios. This is the first time the Hong Kong company Votion Studios has shown their virtual production studio at Filmart. This virtual production studio uses Extended Reality (XR) and camera robotics to combine real and virtual footage through computers to create a virtual environment that can interact with humans.  The shift from traditional video technology to virtual production has changed filming technology from green screen filming to the current use of LED screens and the creation of instant filming effects after real people do instant filming. Votion Studios has been collaborating with different directors on commercials, music videos, and real estate advertising using their virtual production technology. “This is the first time we demonstrate to the public that filming …

Society

VegCoffee Mix & Match Competition attracts non-vegetarian visitors to Vegetarian Food Asia

The 10th Vegetarian Food Asia held from Friday to Sunday featured the second VegCoffee Mix & Match Competition, with a combination of cafe culture and vegan culture which attracted many non-vegetarians. This year's competition highlighted a vegan and coffee theme, requiring competitors to make desserts and coffee within an hour. The organizer of this event, the Hong Kong Roasters and Coffee Commissioners Association, said this is the only live competition in Hong Kong where coffee and roasting are held at the same time. Lei Bui-dak, 45, chairman of the Vegan Coffee Creation Competition organizing committee, said they wanted to further promote vegan culture through the growing popularity of the cafe culture in Asia. "We wanted to explore how well vegan and cafe cultures could be integrated so that the vegan culture will become widely known as a lifestyle. We were happy to see that the competition did succeed in attracting many non-vegetarians who came because they were interested,” he said. “I came to this exhibition after seeing the Coffee Association's promotion on Facebook​​,” said Cheung Ming-wing, a coffee lover, who specifically came to watch this competition. “I’m not a vegetarian, but I think I might try going vegan after this exhibition,” he said. Lim Sze-han and Chan Sung-ming participated in the VegCoffee Mix & Match competition, presenting a work called "The Hong Kong Tea Set". "The theme of our work is a very classic Hong Kong afternoon tea with pineapple buns and coffee, and all the ingredients of the pineapple bun are vegan," Lim said. “We are not vegetarians. We came to this contest because we were curious about vegan culture and our desire to help spread it for the better,” said Lim and Chan. Lim said that they had made a lot of efforts before the competition, such as …

Society

Sham Shui Po' s first Literary Youth Bazaar immerses visitors in local culture

The Home Affairs Department organised the "Searching for Sham Shui Po" Literati Bazaar at the activity space underneath the Tung Chau Street Flyover on Saturday. It is one of the events under the "District 18 is Colourful Day and Night in 2024" programme, aiming to drive people to understand and immerse themselves in local design products and Sham Shui Po textile culture while promoting itself to become the core area of ​​the innovative economy. The bazaar marked the first time for Sham Shui Po to host an event of this scale, with more than 30 stalls featuring local original works such as fabrics, leathers, and cultural and creative products. The bazaar also promotes city walking activities.After registering for admission, visitors will receive a printed eco-cup as a gift. Shadow Lee, 28, a handmade stall owner, said she was happy that the government has given  young literary youths a platform to promote their work. Cindy Chen, 26, a ceramic craftsman, said that as a resident of Sham Shui Po since childhood, she is honoured to contribute to the development of this area's culture. "Although the economy here is not well developed, the culture of cloth and handicrafts has always been very distinctive, and in recent years, I can feel that the government is emphasising these cultures," said Chen. Effie Zhu, 21, a visitor to the bazaar, said it is her first time participating in such type of bazaar in Sham Shui Po,“ I did not expect that there would be so many visitors, not only some literary youth but also many old people and children joined today’s bazaar.” Karlssen Wong, 7, said his favourite part of the whole fair was the stamping and punching of cards in the fair, where there were all sorts of prizes to be won. “I was …

Society

Budget 2024: Government to expand cross-boundary data flow and services

    Hong Kong will expand cross-boundary data flow to help Hong Kong and mainland residents in the Greater Bay Area access public services without needing to cross the border. This month, the government announced it launched self-service kiosks in Shenzhen and Guangzhou where Hong Kong citizens can apply for more than 50 government services in Hong Kong. The kiosks aim to streamline government services, promote investment in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and boost satisfaction for businesses operating cross-boundary, according to a Press Release from the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Agency. Echo Lee, 21, from Guangzhou and studying in Hong Kong, said this policy is convenient but he is concerned about the leakage of personal information. Ethan Deng, 19, from Shenzhen and studying in Hong Kong, said he hadn't paid much attention to this policy before and thinks it will be more convenient to apply for documents, especially identity documents. Zong Can, 25, a cross-border worker from Shenzhen, said this policy will help bring the two places closer together, especially for residents like her who live close to Hong Kong. Denny Deng, 26, a Hong Kong resident who works in insurance, said this policy should be helpful to the exchange of enterprises between the two places as well as the development of business, which is conducive to the flow of capital between the two places. "In the future, I hope that we can use cross-border processing to solve more livelihood issues, such as driving licenses, tax, healthcare interoperability. Because Hong Kong is a place where privacy is very important, how to get the authorization of the person to communicate between the two places or successful cases will make the whole community have confidence," said Chau Man-kong, Executive Director of the School of Applied Policy Studies and Educational Futures …

Society

Budget 2024 Key Takeaways: Careful balance of revenue and deficit to continue

  • The Young Reporter
  • By: AU YEUNG Jim、AO Wei Ying VinciEdited by: Juncong SHUAI
  • 2024-02-28

Hong Kong’s Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po delivered the 2024-2025 Budget speech on Wednesday, announcing policies to strive for high-quality development while sustaining a solid economy. Top the list is the cancellations of property cooling measures, with Special Stamp Duty, Buyers’ Stamp Duty and New Residential Stamp Duty scrapped with immediate effect. For the coming fiscal year, the total government expenditure will increase by about 6.7% to HK$776.9 billion, while the total government revenue is estimated to be HK$633 billion. Chan expects that there will be a deficit of HK$48.1 billion for the year, and fiscal reserves will decrease to HK$685.1 billion. Here are the key takeaways of this year’s budget plan.  

Society

Budget 2024: Government to increase Care Service Vouchers and Digital Support for Elderly

  • The Young Reporter
  • By: MAO Anqi、LAI Uen LingEdited by: James Ezekiel Kalaw MODESTO
  • 2024-02-28

The government will increase the number of vouchers to help elderly people afford in-home care and elderly care centres as well as provide funding for the elderly to learn digital skills. However, local social workers say this fails to address many problems for the elderly. The number of Community Care Service Vouchers, which help the elderly age in place,  will increase to 11,000 at a cost of about HK$900 million, said Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po in the budget address this morning. From the second quarter of this year, the number of Residential Care Service Vouchers, which help the elderly pay for services in care centres, will increase to 5,000, involving an annual expenditure of about $1.44 billion overall. The government plans to set aside $100 million from the Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Fund to help people aged 60 or above get equipped with digital skills and technical support. At least 50,000 elderly individuals are expected to benefit from the first round of projects, which are expected to begin at the end of 2024. Tony Fung, 30, a social worker at a district health centre in East Kowloon, said the plans mentioned this year are not in line with real problems elderly residents face. “At the centre, we are already teaching our elderly residents how to use smartphones and computers. I hope that the government can help in transforming service centres and update their services,” he said. Fung said the government should assess the waiting time for admissions into elderly care homes and increase expenditure where necessary. The average waiting time for a bedridden person to be admitted to an elderly care home takes around 18 months, Fung said. Cindy Chan, 40, is a social worker at a district health centre in East Kowloon. A 15-year veteran, she hopes …

Society

Budget 2024: Government to support STEM education with more funding to primary schools

  • The Young Reporter
  • By: NG Natasha Goa Sheng、WONG Hong NiEdited by: KONG Tsz Yuen
  • 2024-02-28

The government is going to put more money into promoting STEM education in public schools and universities in Hong Kong, the Financial Secretary said in his budget address this morning.   An additional HK$134 million for the provision of subsidies of up to HK$300,000 will be available for each publicly-funded primary school in the next two academic years, Paul Chan Mo-po said. The government will also continue to support STEM internships for university students, a program launched in 2020. Cyrus Wu, 19, an engineering student at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, said he is personally interested in internships in IT-related industries and it will be very helpful for his future career. “Introducing STEM education helps prepare students for the future. It also allows them to understand and participate in the ever-changing world and provides critical thinking skills for students,” said Li Suen Huen, 20, a university student majoring in computer science.   Fong Kin Lung, 48, a secondary school teacher of information and communication technology said, STEM education for primary school students will bring advantages. “Many secondary schools require students to have problem-solving and logical abilities. Therefore, I believe increasing the budget for primary schools’ STEM education will have positive impacts,” said Fong. Justin Lai, 22, practice teacher for two secondary schools, hopes the government will give a better guideline to use this money in the future.   “If the government or stakeholders could explain the guidelines for interdisciplinary cooperation more clearly, it would make it easier for us educators to teach STEM to my students,” he said. “The most important thing about STEM knowledge is how students can integrate knowledge from different disciplines, study, think about problems, analyze and disassemble it by themselves,” Lai said.

Society

Budget 2024: Hong Kong to Assess Talent Visas while Nurturing Local Talents

The Hong Kong government will put more effort into nurturing local talents while also reviewing existing talent schemes to ensure their effectiveness. The government will organise a summit and a conference in May, aiming at promoting the flow of talent in the Greater Bay Area. More than 140,000 applications have been received under the various talent admission schemes, of which more than 100,000 have been approved in the past year, said Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po in his budget address today. The Top Talent Scheme, launched in 2022, allows people with incomes higher than HK$2.5 million or degrees from eligible universities to apply for residency without employment. This added an estimated HK$34 billion to the economy, equivalent to 1.2% of Hong Kong's GDP, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said in a public address in February.  Chan said that 60% of immigrant talents were married, and most of them have brought their families to Hong Kong.   Lilian Bao, 42, a former executive of a Beijing-based internet company who emigrated to Hong Kong under the talent scheme, now lives with her daughter in Hung Hom. “I immigrated to Hong Kong for my daughter's future education,” she said. “I want her to enjoy a more international, diverse and independent learning and living experience here.” Some doubt the long-term effectiveness of the talent schemes. Some applicants have not complied with the time frame for coming to Hong Kong and securing employment after receiving approval, said legislator Adrian Ho in a Legco meeting in January. Ho also said that some say the scheme is relatively lenient in the work experience requirement and the vetting and approval criteria, making it possible for some people to exploit the scheme to immigrate to Hong Kong.  “There are rumours that individual applicants have only come to Hong Kong for …

Society

Technology for Change Asia : new initiatives to make Hong Kong a “smarter city”

An artificial intelligence Supercomputing Centre and a Digital Policy Office will be established in Hong Kong in phases starting this year, along with more than 100 digital government initiatives to be launched. These initiatives were highlighted by the Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, Dong Sun, in his opening speech of the 4th annual Technology for Change Asia event held yesterday, which hosted 300 solution-oriented leaders from across the world. According to Sun, AI technology is “ charting the way” in the process of technological revolution and industry transformation in a new era for Hong Kong. “The AI Supercomputing Centre will help build a resilient digital economy and a Hong Kong that is more welcoming to international investors, which will bring huge economic benefits and allow us to have a ‘Smart City’,” Sun said. “The future is all about AI”  “‘Smart City’ means that it can decide which specific problems can be solved by specific technologies,” said Atsuko Okuda, regional director of International Telecommunication Union. “The use of AI technology could contribute to productivity and help improve market efficiency,”said Tom Standage, deputy editor for The Economist. One of the examples is KUDO, the international sponsor for the event, which provides real-time translation. “What we do is enable attendees to watch full text of speeches and panel discussions content in their mother language,” said Nick Blake, head of sales at KUDO Asia-Pacific district. “Thanks to AI, we can translate more than 200 languages for meetings, training and  many other situations in Hong Kong from now on.” However, using AI as an ancillary tool for “Smart City” faces potential risks, according to Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia . “AI can convey biased or deceptive information," said Wales. "If Hong Kong wants to build a ‘Smart City’ with the help of AI, it …