The Newspaper Society of Hong Kong (The Society) held its 69th Annual General Meeting on October 21, 2025. The Council elected Ms. Tammy Tam as Chairperson, Mr. Alex Ko, Mr. Raymond Huang and Mr. Vincent Teng as Vice-Chairpersons. Other office-bearers elected were Honorary Secretary Mr. Luo Xinghui and Honorary Treasurer Mr. Eric Lai. The Council also appointed Mr. Alan Lo as Executive Director and Mr. Lo Wing-hung as Spokesperson.
A total of fifteen Council Members were elected. They are Mr. Alan Lo (AM730), Mr. Jack Pun (Ta Kung Pao), Mr. Raymond Huang (Wen Wei Po), Mr. George Ng (China Daily – Hong Kong Edition), Mr. Alex Ko (Ming Pao Daily News), Mr. Vincent Teng (Hong Kong Economic Journal), Ms. Ang Jin (South China Morning Post), Ms. Tammy Tam (South China Morning Post), Ms. Betty Kwok (Sing Tao Daily), Mr. Ivan Tong (Sing Tao Daily), Mr. Lin Ying (Lion Rock Daily), Mr. Luo Xinghui (Hong Kong Commercial Daily), Mr. Eric Lai (Hong Kong Economic Times), Mr. Lo Wing-hung (Bastille Post) and Mr. Zheng Xurong (The New Evening Post). In addition, Mr. Lee Cho-jat has stepped down from his role as President of the Society and will continue to provide guidance and support to the Society's development as Honorary President. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Mr. Lee for his unwavering commitment and support over the years.
The Society will, as always, continue to safeguard the interests of the industry, enhance professional standards, and facilitate candid exchanges and dialogues on the industry's future development and related issues between the industry and the Government. At the same time, it will actively unite and rally industry stakeholders in supporting the development of the automated advertising sales platform "NewsocHub" initiated by the Society. The platform aims to assist the industry in expanding its digital advertising business to meet current and future challenges.
The 2024 Hong Kong News Awards Presentation Ceremony was held on May 9, celebrating the outstanding achievements of journalists across the newspaper industry.
The event was officiated by the Chief Executive of the HKSAR, Mr. John Lee Ka-chiu. This year's competition drew an overwhelming response, with over 630 entries received. No matter how challenging the outlook for the newspaper industry may be, or how the media landscape continues to evolve, newspapers—as a major source of news—must remain steadfast in their commitment to truth, shoulder their social responsibilities in promoting positive values within society.
EDB announces Study Subsidy Scheme for Designated Professions/Sectors for 2027/28 cohort - undergraduate programmes
The Education Bureau (EDB) announced today (September 21) that the Study Subsidy Scheme for Designated Professions/Sectors (SSSDP) will subsidise a total of 4 711 places in 59 undergraduate programmes, covering 3 390 places in 59 first-year-first-degree (FYFD) programmes and 1 321 places in 47 top-up degree (TUD) programmes of eight post-secondary institutions for the cohort to be admitted in the 2027/28 academic year.
The programmes of the SSSDP fall under 10 disciplines that have been identified as having keen manpower demand, namely architecture and engineering, computer science, creative industries, financial technology, healthcare, insurance, logistics, sports and recreation, testing and certification, and tourism and hospitality. The programmes include 20 applied degree programmes, which will receive additional subsidies, with a view to further strengthening the vocational and professional education and training progression pathway at the post-secondary level.
The programmes and numbers of subsidised places under the SSSDP are determined by the EDB in consultation with relevant policy bureaux and departments. Details of the participating institutions, the programmes and the numbers of subsidised places are listed in the Annex.
In the 2027/28 academic year, the annual subsidy amounts for laboratory-based programmes and non-laboratory-based programmes will be at $81,450 and $46,780 respectively. For applied degree programmes, including the additional annual subsidies, the total annual subsidy amounts will be at $89,620 for laboratory-based programmes and $51,880 for non-laboratory-based programmes.
The subsidy amounts are applicable to both new and continuing eligible students. The subsidy is tenable for the normal duration of the programmes concerned. Subsidised students will pay a tuition fee with the subsidy applied. Students in need may still apply for student financial assistance from the Student Finance Office of the Working Family and Student Financial Assistance Agency in respect of the actual amount of tuition fee payable.
The subsidised FYFD intake places are mainly allocated through the Joint University Programmes Admissions System to ensure that eligible students are selected on a merit basis, whereas the subsidised places of the TUD programmes are allocated in accordance with the existing admission arrangements of the self-financing TUD programmes, i.e. through direct admission by institutions. Students can apply for admission to the programmes directly through the institutions concerned.
The SSSDP was launched in the 2015/16 academic year to subsidise students to pursue designated full-time locally accredited self-financing undergraduate programmes in selected disciplines. The objectives are as follows:
(1) to increase the supply of subsidised undergraduate places by leveraging the supply of the self-financing post-secondary education sector;
(2) to nurture talent in support of specific industries with keen demand for human resources;
(3) to encourage the self-financing post-secondary education sector to offer programmes in selected disciplines that meet Hong Kong's social and economic needs by providing targeted financial support; and
(4) to support the healthy and sustainable development of the self-financing post-secondary education sector to complement the University Grants Committee-funded sector in broadening and diversifying study opportunities.
The SSSDP has been expanded to include TUD programmes with effect from the 2023/24 academic year. As for the designated sub-degree programmes, the relevant details for the 2027/28 cohort, including the participating institutions, the sub-degree programmes, the numbers of subsidised places and the subsidy amounts, will be announced in due course.
Details of the SSSDP are available on the EDB website (www.cspe.edu.hk/sssdp).
Source: AI-found images
