Today in HK (12/9/2024)
The number of secondary students in Hong Kong secondary schools rose and dropped sharply last academic year: reviews of 14 schools, published in the past two months, have found that students are leaving and the lowest rate is even lower than that before the emigration wave. However, according to the chairwoman of the Subsidised Secondary Schools Council, Lee Yi-ying, the early exit rate has been slowing down since 2022, and the number of students leaving has already been decreasing. Most of these students have chosen to study in other countries.
Emirates, a Dubai-based airline, is stepping up recruitment all over the world, including Hong Kong, to approve its internationality, and Hong Kong candidates are offered lucrative conditions that include tax-free salaries ranging from US$6,800 to US$12,250 every month. The company has welcomed a lot of pilots since the last recruitment, impressed by the qualification of the applications, claimed Brian Tyrrell, the senior vice-president of the fleet. The industry is in a recovery state, so it expects to hire thousands of new workers for expansion.
To strengthen the housing regulation, the government is considering rewarding individuals for reporting unqualified facilities, according to Secretary for Housing, Winnie Ho Wing-yin. In the scheme, citizens who provide information about rental flats that are over-subdivided will receive HK$3,000 (US$386) as a reward and an honorable certificate of appreciation, after providing their personal details. However, the authority still hopes the landowners obey relevant laws with their conscientiousness, including assuring the apartments are at least 86 square feet, with a ceiling of 2.3 meters (7.5 feet) high, and windows and at least one toilet each, or they cannot be called "basic housing units". In addition, renting illegal accommodations could cause three years in jail and a fine of as much as HK$300,000.
About 30 mainland provinces have added solving problems with 'low-altitude economy' to their to-do list, and Hong Kong is also figuring it out. To raise the economic level, Hong Kong has had close cooperation with Shenzhen on a cross-border drone program. Both Hong Kong and Shenzhen are gateway cities to the world, and this collaboration may start a new era in productivity and promote the development of the whole industrial profit chain. Besides these practical benefits, the two cities are also deeply connected through prosperous flows of people and commodities.
As new measures to improve citizens' oral health are unveiled, and the authority urges to focus resources on the needy, residents may have to take eligibility tests before being served by consultations at public dental clinics.
The new transport chief Mable Chan is going to initiate innovations in the industry, and she claims that the Hong Kong taxi licensing system is obstructing the way. In Hong Kong, drivers of private vehicles that do not have hire-car permits are not allowed to ask passengers for payment, yet hailing-ride platforms are not in regulations. However, several days after the previous secretary for transport and logistics Lam Tai-hung was replaced by Chan, the law of ride-hailing services was considered to be changed. According to Chan, residents' needs should be primarily prioritized, and she will be very careful to take initiatives and listen to opinions from the public. The government has also planned to study regulating ride-hailing services and establish a framework in 2025, and relative proposals will be shared with the Legislative Council by then.
