Hong Kong Celebrates Success of Biliteracy and Trilingualism Campaign 2025 at Award Ceremony

EDB and SCOLAR organise Closing cum Award Presentation Ceremony of Biliteracy and Trilingualism Campaign 2025

The Education Bureau (EDB) and the Standing Committee on Language Education and Research (SCOLAR) held the Closing cum Award Presentation Ceremony of the Biliteracy and Trilingualism Campaign 2025 today (June 27) to celebrate the success of activities in promoting biliteracy and trilingualism across various sectors of society over the past six months.

Officiating at the ceremony, the Secretary for Education, Dr Choi Yuk-lin, said in her speech that Hong Kong, as an international metropolis where East meets West, requires a large pool of biliterate and trilingual talent to demonstrate its important role as a "super connector". This is also crucial to consolidating its status as an international education hub in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. She emphasised that mastering biliteracy and trilingualism is essential for realising Hong Kong's development of the "eight centres" as outlined in the National 14th Five-Year Plan, and for seizing opportunities arising from the Belt and Road Initiative and the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Under "one country, two systems", biliteracy and trilingualism stands as one of the advantages of education in Hong Kong.

She said that over the years, the EDB and SCOLAR have been working together to promote biliteracy and trilingualism. Measures introduced in recent years include encouraging teachers to improve their Putonghua proficiency by utilising the Language Fund to sponsor them to take the Putonghua Proficiency Test. In addition, a one-off grant has been provided to schools for implementing the promotion of self-directed language learning (English and Putonghua) initiative, helping students to enhance their self-directed learning capabilities and biliterate and trilingual skills. It is hoped that, through collective efforts, the Campaign will strengthen Hong Kong's language and talent capital, enabling the city to leverage its advantages of enjoying the strong support of the motherland while being closely connected to the world.

At the ceremony, the Chairperson of SCOLAR, Dr Anissa Chan, expressed gratitude to the Biliteracy and Trilingualism Campaign 2025 Ambassador, Hins Cheung, and organisations and individuals from various sectors for their support, which contributed to the success of the Campaign. She particularly thanked Hins Cheung and individuals from diverse professional fields for sharing language-learning insights and personal experiences through short videos, illustrating how their biliterate and trilingual abilities have played a crucial role in their personal and career development. She also thanked community partners for organising engaging and meaningful competitions and activities, schools for enthusiastically participating in the One-minute Video Production Competition, and partners from the education sector and various industries for their assistance in producing the videos to promote biliteracy and trilingualism.

Dr Chan pointed out that the Student Language Ambassadors will play a key role in enhancing language proficiency in the community. SCOLAR, in partnership with the EDB, programme partners and key industries, will continue to promote language learning with a view to enhancing the language abilities of Hong Kong citizens.

Awards of the One-minute Video Production Competition were presented at the ceremony. The award-winning works, produced by students, integrated vibrant creative elements, showcasing their proficiency in biliteracy and trilingualism. They effectively promote Hong Kong's position as an East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchange and as an international educational hub.

Community partners, including the Methodist Epworth Village Community Centre Social Welfare, the Smart Education Charitable Foundation and the Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers, invited winners of their respective activities and competitions to perform or share insights at the ceremony. Their performances were engaging and rich in content. Students demonstrated outstanding language skills and mastery of biliteracy and trilingualism. The vibrant atmosphere infused the ceremony with joy and dynamism, marking a successful conclusion to the Campaign.

The ceremony was held at the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups Building, with around 400 attendees, including guests from the business sector, arts and cultural sector, and community organisations, as well as teachers, parents and students. For further information about the ceremony and the Biliteracy and Trilingualism Campaign 2025, please visit the SCOLAR website (scolarhk.edb.hkedcity.net/en/Biliteracy_and_Trilingualism_Campaign) or SCOLAR's social media page.

EDB and SCOLAR organise Closing cum Award Presentation Ceremony of Biliteracy and Trilingualism Campaign 2025 Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

EDB and SCOLAR organise Closing cum Award Presentation Ceremony of Biliteracy and Trilingualism Campaign 2025 Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

EDB and SCOLAR organise Closing cum Award Presentation Ceremony of Biliteracy and Trilingualism Campaign 2025 Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

EDB and SCOLAR organise Closing cum Award Presentation Ceremony of Biliteracy and Trilingualism Campaign 2025 Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

EDB and SCOLAR organise Closing cum Award Presentation Ceremony of Biliteracy and Trilingualism Campaign 2025 Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Hong Kong Customs detects drug trafficking case involving incoming passenger at airport

Hong Kong Customs detected a drug trafficking case involving two incoming air passengers at Hong Kong International Airport yesterday (May 1) and seized about 12 kilograms of suspected cannabis buds with an estimated market value of about $2.3 million, and nine suspected duty-not-paid cigarettes.

A 37-year-old male passenger arrived in Hong Kong from Bangkok, Thailand yesterday. During customs clearance, Customs officers found a total of about 6kg of suspected cannabis buds in his carry-on baggage. The man was subsequently arrested. After a follow-up investigation, Customs officers further arrested a 34-year-old male passenger, who also arrived from Bangkok, Thailand, and was suspected to be connected with the case, at the airport on the same day. During baggage examination, Customs officers found a total of about 6kg of suspected cannabis buds and nine duty-not-paid cigarettes in his carry-on baggage.

After an investigation, the two arrested persons involved in the case have been jointly charged with one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug. Moreover, the 34-year-old arrestee has also been charged with one count of possession of dutiable goods and one count of failing to declare to a member of the Customs and Excise Service the possession of dutiable goods. The case will be brought up at the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts on May 4.

Customs will continue to step up enforcement against drug trafficking activities through intelligence analysis. The department also reminds members of the public to stay alert and not to participate in drug trafficking activities for monetary return. They must not accept hiring or delegation from another party to carry controlled items into and out of Hong Kong. They are also reminded not to carry unknown items for other people.

Customs will continue to apply a risk assessment approach and focus on selecting passengers from high-risk regions for clearance to combat transnational drug trafficking activities.

Under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, trafficking in a dangerous drug is a serious offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $5 million and life imprisonment.

Under the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance, any person who imports, possesses, sells or buys dutiable commodities without a valid licence commits an offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $1 million and imprisonment for two years.

Members of the public may report any suspected drug trafficking activities to Customs' 24-hour hotline 182 8080 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk) or online form (eform.cefs.gov.hk/form/ced002).

Hong Kong Customs detects drug trafficking case involving incoming passenger at airport Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases