Two incoming passengers convicted and jailed for importing of duty-not-paid cigarettes
Two incoming male passengers were each sentenced to six months' imprisonment with a fine of $2,000 by the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts today (September 7) for importing duty-not-paid cigarettes and failing to declare them to Customs officers, in contravention of the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance (DCO).
Customs officers intercepted two incoming Mainland male passengers, aged 32 and 42, at Hong Kong International Airport on September 5 and 6 respectively, seized a total of 61,816 duty-not-paid cigarettes, with an estimated market value of about $280,000 and a duty potential of about $205,000 from their personal baggage. The two passengers were subsequently arrested.
Customs welcomes the sentences. The custodial sentences have imposed a considerable deterrent effect and reflect the seriousness of the offences.
Customs reminds members of the public that under the DCO, cigarettes are dutiable goods to which the DCO applies. Any person who imports, deals with, possesses, sells or buys illicit cigarettes commits an offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $2 million and imprisonment for seven years.
Members of the public may report any suspected illicit cigarette 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).
Two incoming male passengers were each sentenced to six months' imprisonment with a fine of $2,000 by the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts today (September 7) for importing duty-not-paid cigarettes and failing to declare them to Customs officers, in contravention of the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance. Photo shows the duty-not-paid cigarettes seized from the personal baggage of the 42-year-old incoming Mainland male passenger. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
Two incoming male passengers were each sentenced to six months' imprisonment with a fine of $2,000 by the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts today (September 7) for importing duty-not-paid cigarettes and failing to declare them to Customs officers, in contravention of the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance. Photo shows the duty-not-paid cigarettes seized from the personal baggage of the 32-year-old incoming Mainland male passenger. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
New round of applications under Quality Enhancement Support Scheme of self-financing post-secondary education opens
The Education Bureau today (October 26) invited applications for the 2026/27 Quality Enhancement Support Scheme (QESS) of the Self-financing Post-secondary Education Fund for projects proposed to be launched in the 2027/28 academic year. The application deadline is February 28, 2027.
The QESS is a major support measure to promote the robust and sustainable development of the self-financing post-secondary education sector, with the aim of enhancing the quality of teaching and learning in the sector. It accepts applications under three project categories, namely theme-based projects, open-ended projects and industrial attachment projects.
The applicants for the category of theme-based projects may set their own themes, provided that the projects are conducted in a collaborative manner, i.e. planned and undertaken by more than one eligible institution, to foster closer collaboration and synergy among institutions and benefit the sector as widely as possible.
The applicants for the category of open-ended projects need to submit applications in relation to the relevant areas of the QESS funding. The main areas include:
(1) improving the overall learning experience and language proficiency of students;
(2) developing and improving teaching methodologies and practices, including the development of assessment strategies;
(3) strengthening and improving quality assurance and related measures; and
(4) enhancing student support and career guidance services, including support for non-Chinese speaking students and students with special educational needs.
As regards the category of industrial attachment projects, applicants may submit proposals within the following areas:
(1) incorporating quality assured work-based learning and assessments into programme curricula through close partnerships with industries;
(2) sourcing more industrial attachment opportunities within and/or outside Hong Kong, and/or enhancement of relevant institutional support for students in attachments; and
(3) organising visits or short-term training/courses conducted within and/or outside Hong Kong for students, which are directly relevant to industrial attachments.
All non-profit-making education institutions offering full-time locally accredited self-financing sub-degree or bachelor's degree (including top-up degree) programmes are eligible to apply. Other related bodies such as the federations of these education institutions and quality assurance agencies may also apply. All applications will be considered by the Sub-committee on Support Measures established under the Committee on Self-financing Post-secondary Education.
Since its launch in 2012, the QESS has approved over 130 projects with a total grant of about $478 million. In the 2025/26 round of applications, seven out of 30 applications were approved with a total earmarked grant of about $23 million. Project themes included developing an AI-supported Cantonese oral-listening learning assistant; constructing an AI-powered platform to enhance the quality of authentic assessment in institutions; establishing a knowledge transfer and entrepreneurship centre for humanities, arts and social sciences; promoting value and ethics education through activities promoting the integration and cultivation of Chinese culture; developing an AI-assisted virtual reality (VR) interactive nasogastric tube training system; developing a VR learning platform for training in laboratory emergencies; and establishing a cross-cultural education and industry collaboration and innovation office.
Further details of the QESS, including the scopes of various project categories and the application procedures, are available at the Concourse for Self-financing Post-secondary Education (www.cspe.edu.hk/en/qess-project.html).
Source: AI-found images
