As part of our #Vote100 Project, we spoke to Mhairi Hunter about women in politics and her inspiration – her Mum Allison Hunter. 

 

Attention TV/radio announcers:

Please broadcast the following as soon as possible and repeat it at regular intervals:

     Here is an item of interest to swimmers.

     The Leisure and Cultural Services Department announced today (April 14) that Sha Tin Jockey Club Swimming Pool in Sha Tin District has been temporarily closed for cleaning and superchlorination following the discovery of a small amount of faeces in the pool.

     It will be reopened at 6.30am tomorrow.

     The department appeals to swimmers to be considerate and to keep the swimming pools clean. They are advised not to swim after a full meal and should use the toilet facilities if necessary before swimming.

     The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Berlin (HKETO Berlin), together with the Hong Kong Federation of Invention and Innovation (HKFII), hosted a reception at the 46th International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva to support the exhibitors from Hong Kong yesterday (April 13, Geneva time).
      
     This exhibition is recognised as the most important specialist event of its kind in the world. It attracts hundreds of exhibitors from around the globe every year to put their inventions and innovations on display. Participants and visitors include business enterprises, research institutions, universities and investors.
      
     Representing a city with strong focus on innovation, HKFII brought a delegation of more than 100 people from Hong Kong, and showcased a total of 98 projects in the exhibition. They ranged from microbial technology that turns food waste to biodegradable plastic bags to lip password for access control. Out of 800 entries from around the world, Hong Kong Polytechnic University’s invention of spectacle lens for retarding the progression of shortsightedness in children was awarded the grand prize – the top honour of the event. Other exhibition projects from Hong Kong were also awarded with a total of 25 gold medals (with the congratulations of the jury), 47 gold medals and 26 silver medals.
      
     “Hong Kong has strong research and development (R&D) capabilities and talent, excellent technological infrastructure, world-class universities and academics, a sound legal system and a robust intellectual property protection regime,” highlighted by the Director of the HKETO Berlin, Ms Betty Ho, at the reception. Given Hong Kong’s favourable location in the heart of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area (Bay Area), Ms Ho added that the city would continue to step up collaboration in innovation and technology with the talent pools from other economies and capture the unprecedented opportunities together.
      
     The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government (HKSARG) is putting great effort in turning Hong Kong into a knowledge-based economy and a technology and innovation hub, developing technology and its application in the Asian region. The city’s aim is to use innovations to develop a high value-added and diversified economy, as well as to capitalise on the opportunities presented by the Belt and Road Initiative and the Bay Area development for generating new impetus for the growth of various industries in Hong Kong. To this end, the HKSARG is introducing a series of measures to create a favourable ecosystem in Hong Kong, which includes a substantial increase in R&D) resources, a super tax deduction for R&D expenditures and continued expansion of R&D infrastructure.

About HKETO Berlin

     HKETO Berlin is the official HKSARG representative in commercial relations and other economic and trade matters in Switzerland as well as Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Poland, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia.

Riding the coattails of an erratic US President is no substitute for a mandate from the House of Commons.

     The Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, met the Minister of Education, Mr Chen Baosheng, at Government House today (April 14).

     Mrs Lam said she was pleased to meet Mr Chen again following their meeting in Beijing last August. On behalf of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government, she welcomed Mr Chen’s first visit to Hong Kong in his capacity of the Minister of Education. He visited education facilities, witnessed the establishment of the alliance among higher education institutions of Beijing and Hong Kong, and had exchanges with the trade this morning and yesterday (April 13).

     Mrs Lam said that the HKSAR Government attaches great importance to the development of young people and that their nurture should start from education. She thanked Mr Chen and the Ministry of Education for the staunch support for the work on education of the HKSAR Government, including the implementation of the Scheme for Admission of Hong Kong Students to Mainland Higher Education Institutions which makes available more study pathways for Hong Kong students and the participating institutions have increased to over 100. In addition, Hong Kong graduates from Mainland universities are issued Employment Registration Certificates to enable them to work in the Mainland, and Hong Kong children studying in Shenzhen are granted equal treatment as Mainland children, enabling them to enroll in public schools to enjoy free education, minimising the need for them to travel long distance to go to school across the border.

     Mrs Lam said that the education industry in Hong Kong enjoys clear advantages with several universities positioned in the first 100 in international ranking, and that the forthcoming promulgation of the development plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area will bring about unlimited opportunities. She said if renowned institutions in Hong Kong are able to establish presence in the Bay Area, exchanges of teachers and students between the two places are set to be enhanced and the goal to develop an international education base in the Bay Area will also be met. She expressed the hope that the Ministry for Education will support relevant work by the HKSAR Government and the institutions concerned in Hong Kong.