CETT Engages Advisors to Transform Hong Kong into International Hub for High-Calibre Talent

Appointments to Panel of Advisors to Committee on Education, Technology and Talents announced and first engagement session held

The Committee on Education, Technology and Talents (CETT), led by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Chan Kwok-ki, held the first engagement session with the newly established Panel of Advisors to the CETT today (August 27). The theme of the session was "Building Hong Kong into an international hub for high-calibre talent".

Since its establishment, the CETT has been closely engaging with different stakeholders across the community. It earlier met with the presidents of universities, representatives from the innovation and technology sector, etc. and attended the Ante Chamber Exchange Session of the Legislative Council to pool wisdom and ideas and enhance collaboration, with a view to further advancing the integrated development of education, technology and talent as well as the work of the CETT, and providing solid support for the reform and innovation of Hong Kong's development. The Panel of Advisors serves as a high-level exchange platform with members from various sectors of society, including community leaders and professionals from different fields. There will be a specific discussion theme for each engagement session to facilitate focused and in-depth exchanges.

At the engagement session today, the Panel of Advisors to the CETT engaged in in-depth discussions on the objective of building Hong Kong into an international hub for high-calibre talent. The Panel of Advisors affirmed the effectiveness of talent attraction measures of the current-term Government. Given external challenges, Hong Kong should more precisely target the positioning of the eight centres and timely refine the measures to further enhance the diversity of the talent pool and effectiveness of the talent attraction measures. The Government should also enhance training and use of local talent to strengthen the talent support for the future development of Hong Kong. The Panel of Advisors also agreed to intensify efforts to attract teaching and research talent to establish an international education hub, and to leverage the Hong Kong Park of the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Co-operation Zone to provide more development opportunities for promising technology start-ups and talent.

The session also reviewed the latest situation regarding Hong Kong's overall population and labour force, the progress in talent attraction, and an overview of talent retention. In the face of an ageing population and pressure on labour supply, the Panel of Advisors supported the Government’s introduction of timely and appropriate measures in response to the challenges.

Mr Chan expressed gratitude for the members' acceptance of the appointments, and looked forward to working closely with the members to pool wisdom and ideas for comprehensively promoting the integrated development of education, technology and talent. The Panel of Advisors has a two-year term, from August 25, 2025 to August 24, 2027. The membership list is as follows:

Dr Sunny Chai Ngai-chiu

Dr Bunny Chan Chung-bun

Mr Simon Chan Sai-ming

Mr Chow Chung-kong

Professor Chow Man-kong

Professor Chelsea Jiang Chang

Professor Gabriel Matthew Leung

Professor Daniel Long Zhuoyu

Mr Tim Lui Tim-leung

Mr Joseph Luc Ngai

Mr Hendrick Sin

Mr Peter Wong Tung-shun

Appointments to Panel of Advisors to Committee on Education, Technology and Talents announced and first engagement session held Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Appointments to Panel of Advisors to Committee on Education, Technology and Talents announced and first engagement session held Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

HKSAR Government welcomes court's decision to dismiss Chow Hang Tung's application for judicial review on clothing policy for persons in custody

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government welcomes the judgment handed down by the Court of First Instance of the High Court today (January 13) to dismiss Chow Hang Tung's application for judicial review on the clothing policy for persons in custody (PICs).

The court judgment pointed out that the current clothing policy for PICs, including the requirement for female PICs to wear trousers in summer daytime, was formulated by the Correctional Services Department (CSD) as authorised by the Prison Rules. The Court was satisfied that the CSD had the expertise and experience in the relevant context, and that it had carefully considered various factors, taken into account of professional opinion when making the decision, as well as reviewed the policy continuously. The Court ruled that Chow Hang Tung had failed to demonstrate that the current policy constituted less favourable treatment of a particular gender. The Court pointed out that there was currently no factual evidence to support any assertion that there was widespread concern about the health effects of wearing trousers in summer. In addition, the rule was not absolute, but instead allowed individual PICs to apply for exceptional arrangements in special circumstances. At the same time, the Court also rejected Chow Hang Tung's assertion that she had requested to the CSD in July and August 2024 to wear shorts and had been refused.

A spokesman for the Security Bureau said, "The ruling of the Court of First Instance confirmed that the CSD's approach is reasonable, justified and lawful. According to Rule 26 of the Prison Rules, the CSD must provide every PIC with a uniform that meets a scale imposed by the Commissioner of Correctional Services. Over the years, the CSD had appointed task groups from time to time to review the clothing arrangements of PICs. These reviews gave ample consideration to numerous factors, including the type of correctional institutions, PICs' varying daily routines and activities involved, the need for thermal, physical and psychological comfort for PICs of different genders, privacy and decency of PICs and the security, good order and discipline of the prison, so as to continuously refine clothing arrangements according to the prevailing circumstances."

The spokesman stated, "Chow Hang Tung's assertion that she requested to wear shorts in summer and was rejected by the CSD is entirely inconsistent with the facts and was rejected by the Court. Besides, the current clothing policy for PICs already provides a degree of flexibility. For example, a PIC may make an application to wear other clothing on medical or non-medical grounds to the CSD, and the CSD would make appropriate arrangements having considered the actual circumstances and relevant factors."

The CSD will continue to impartially implement the relevant rules of the Prison Rules in accordance with the law and commit to providing a secure, safe, humane, decent and healthy custodial environment.

Source: AI-found images