Media

HKU weekly notice (from April 25 to May 2, 2015)

24 Apr 2015

 

HKU Centre for Comparative and Public Law to hold Domestic Workers’ Roundtable

Issues affecting Domestic Migrant Workers have recently come to the fore with various cases that highlight just how serious and complex the circumstances impacting the rights of migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong are. As populations age and incomes rise, the demand for domestic workers is increasing. Yet the problems domestic workers face, including predatory and illegal lending practices, abuse by employers, falling prey to human trafficking, and vulnerability to violent crime, as well as cruel and inhumane treatment, persist without satisfactory protection of their interests and rights.

To explore these issues, and particularly what sending and receiving governments can do to address the situation more comprehensively to ensure enhanced protection of domestic workers against exploitative practices and vulnerability to ending up in such situations, the Centre for Comparative and Public Law (CCPL) at the Faculty of Law of the University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Public Interest Law and Advocacy Society (PILAS) will hold a one-day structured dialogue on April 25 (Saturday).

The morning sessions are closed-door, media representatives are welcome to join the discussion sessions in the afternoon and to conduct interviews with attendees. A press conference will be held at 5:30pm to conclude the day's discussions.

The keynote speaker is Mr Melville Boase, former Hong Kong Crown Attorney and long term advocate on behalf of domestic worker rights. There will be presentations by representatives from the Indonesian Consulate and the Philippines Consulate. Other speakers and moderators include Ms Emily Lau, Legislative Council member; Mr Allan Bell, Director of Hong Kong Public Interest Law & Advocacy Society (PILAS); Ms Puja Kapai, Director of Centre for Comparative and Public Law (CCPL), University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law; and Mr David Bishop, University of Hong Kong Faculty of Business and Economics.

Details are as follows:

Date: April 25, 2015 (Saturday)

Time:

2 to 5:15pm (discussions)

5:30pm (press conference)

Venue: Academic Conference Room, 11/F Cheng Yu Tung Tower, Centennial Campus, HKU.

The following is a brief overview of the afternoon's session; for further details, please visit the CCPL website at: http://www.law.hku.hk/ccpl

For media enquiries and requests for interview with the participants, please contact Dr. Sherif Elgebeily email: ccplaro@hku.hk; tel: 3917 1938.

HKU Centre on Behavioral Health to release survey findings on

Hong Kong people’s changing attitude towards death

Co-burial of family members to generate more spaces from existing facilities

The Centre on Behavioral Health at the University of Hong Kong was funded by the Board of Management of the Chinese Permanent Cemeteries (BMCPC) to undergo a one-year research and educational initiative entitled “The Centennial Evolution of Funeral and Burial Practices in Hong Kong”.

A survey was conducted by the Centre to understand the general public’s attitude towards death. The findings revealed that Hong Kong people have been more open and positive towards death. They have also shown greater acceptance towards organ donations, the ideas of eco-burial and co-burial with relatives.

Building on the idea of co-burial, the Chinese Permanent Cemeteries suggests to making better use of its existing cemeteries and columbaria for people to put their cremains in the burial plot or niche of their earlier family members. The measure can open up new burial spaces of up to tens of thousands, so as the ease the acute shortage problem.

A press conference will be held on April 27 (Monday) on the survey findings. BMCPC representatives will brief the media on the suggestions to generate more burial spaces from existing facilities. A seven-minute documentary will also be shown with people telling their stories of making death preparation and experience of bereavement. Some will share their cases at the conference. Details are as follows:

Date: April 27, 2015 (Monday)

Time: 3:00 pm

Venue: HKU Centre on Behavioral Health, 2/F, The Hong Kong Jockey Club Building for Interdisciplinary Research, 5 Sassoon Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong 

Presenters:

Professor Cecilia Chan Lai Wan, Head and Professor, Department of Social Work and Social Administration, HKU

Ms. Brenda Lo, Executive Director, BMCPC

For more details, please contact Ms. Amy Choi (Centre on Behavioral Health, HKU; Tel: 2831 5163; email: amychoi@hku.hk). For media enquiries, please contact Ms. Melanie Wan, Communications and Public Affairs Office, HKU; Tel: 2859 2600; email: melwkwan@hku.hk).

HKUL Book Talk: A Chance Kill
Speaker: Mr Paul Letters
Moderator: Mr Peter Sidorko (University Librarian)
Date/Time : 30 April 2015 (Thursday) / 6:30 to 8:00pm
Venue : Special Collections, 1/F, Main Library, The University of Hong Kong
Language : English

About the Speaker
Paul Letters studied history, education, international affairs and literary journalism at the Universities of Cardiff, Oxford and Hong Kong, where he stayed on as a Senior Researcher. He teaches part-time at an international school and writes as a freelance journalist for the South China Morning Post and magazines ranging from I B Review to luxury lifestyle magazine Baccarat. Paul is currently working on a second novel, centered upon of the true story of a mass escape from Hong Kong during World War II.

About the Book
An old-fashioned love story weaves through an authentic wartime thriller.

In researching A Chance Kill, Paul met with professional historians throughout Europe, where he learned more about Warsaw before it was flattened, Prague’s nest of wartime conspirators, the ‘James Bond’ gadget workshop within London’s Natural History Museum, and Britain’s little-known first offensive of World War Two. 

Based upon the author’s grandmother’s experience, seventeen-year-old Polish catholic Dyta Zając finds herself forced away from wartime Warsaw due to her family’s shadowy connections. Dyta’s time on the run sets her on a path towards confronting the ultimate Nazi.

Half a continent away, an RAF bomber crew embarks upon Britain’s first raid of the war. Courtship edges Dyta’s destiny closer to that of members of the RAF crew – and toward the Allies’ most brazen covert operation to strike at the Nazi elite.

Media Contact:  Mr. Gary Chin, Tel: 2859 2211 / Ms. Marina Yeung, Tel: 2859 8903

Lifestyle Migration in Asia – An Interpretive Photography Exhibition

Lifestyle Migration involves relatively affluent people moving either part-time or full-time, permanently or temporarily, to places that they believe will offer them a better quality of life. There is usually an economic incentive to their mobility, but the search for the good life is paramount in their motivations. Lifestyle migration is an increasingly widespread phenomenon, with effects for migrants, locals, cultural life, and economic life. So how and why do lifestyle migrants move from one place to another? Does their old home still play a role in their new lives? What are their needs and aspirations, and the continuities and discontinuities of their mobile lives? What aspects of the social infrastructure made particular destinations attractive for them?

This photography exhibition offers us a glimpse of the diverse motivations and everyday experiences of Western and Hong Kong lifestyle migrants in Thailand, Malaysia and China. Through the eyes of participants in our two-year research project ‘Lifestyle Migration in East Asia: A Comparative Study of British and Asian Lifestyle Migrants’ (RES-000-22-4357) funded by the ESRC/Hong Kong Research Grants Council, these photographs reveal fascinating aspects of life ‘on the move’ for men and women, young families, and those in retirement. The accompanying excerpts offer us a glimpse of the interior worlds of migrants in which experiences, loyalties and memories from two places co-exist and combine.

Exhibition Period:
April 24 - May 8, 2015
MC³@702 Creative Space, The Jockey Club Tower, Centennial Campus, HKU

Opening Hours
Mon - Fri 10:30am - 6:00pm
Sat 11:00am - 5:00pm
Closed on Sundays and Public Holidays

For further information on MC³@702 Creative Space, please visit:
Email電郵: socimccc@hku.hk
Facebook Page專頁：http://www.facebook.com/HkuMccc
Website網頁: http://www.sociodep.hku.hk/mccc.html

Should you have any enquiries, please feel free to contact Executive Assistant Connie Ko by email at connieko@hku.hk or by phone at 3917 2309.

Two exhibitions held at HKU UMAG: “Vernacular: Liu Qinghe in Hong Kong” and “Being-there: Works by Chen Shuxia”

The University Museum and Art Gallery (UMAG) collaborates with The Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) to present two exhibitions by renowned Chinese artists Liu Qing-he and Chen Shu-xia: “Vernacular: Liu Qinghe in Hong Kong” and “Being-there: Works by Chen Shuxia” from April 17 to May 24, 2015.

“Vernacular—Liu Qinghe in Hong Kong” is an exhibition that features more than sixty contemporary ink works by Liu Qing-he (b.1961), an artist and professor at the academy who is best known for his unique style of contemporary ink paintings. His works often portray social realities and their impact on Chinese families, individuals and the artist himself.

Furthermore, “Being-there: Works by Chen Shuxia”, displays a selection of paintings by Chen Shu-xia. An exhibiting artist for the past 30 years, Chen’s artwork builds on the traditional genre of oil painting and its long-practised and western-influenced techniques through the presentation of portraits and still-lifes, subjects and styles informed by her daily observations.

Details of the Exhibitions

Period: April 17, 2015 (Friday) to May 24, 2015 (Sunday)
Opening Hours:
09:30 – 18:00 (Mon to Sat)
13:00 – 18:00 (Sun)
Closed on University and Public Holidays

Venue:
Vernacular: Liu Qing-he in Hong Kong - 1/F T.T. Tsui Building, UMAG, the University of Hong Kong, 90 Bonham Road, Pokfulam
Being There: Works by Chen Shu-xia - 1/F Fung Ping Shan Building, UMAG, the University of Hong Kong, 90 Bonham Road, Pokfulam

General Enquiry: Tel: (852) 2241 5500 / Email:  museum@hku.hk
Fees: Free Admission
Website: www.umag.hku.hk/en/

Media enquiries:
UMAG Communication Officer Miss Elena Cheung, Tel: (852) 2241 5512, Email: elenac@hku.hk

HKU Department of Japanese Studies exhibition on Early Japan Airlines Advertising
The University’s Department of Japanese Studies is holding a unique exhibition on the way Japan Airlines promoted its first international services to San Francisco and Hong Kong. The exhibition, entitled “Hong Kong – Japan Connections: In the Air and On Campus”, will run until April 30, 2015, in the Ground Floor Gallery of Run Run Shaw Tower, HKU.

The exhibition was put together by Dr. Yoshiko Nakano of the Department of Japanese Studies, School of Modern Languages and Cultures. It features Japan Airlines ads from the 1950s to the 1970s which Dr Nakano has collected as part of her research into how Japan represented itself overseas after World War II.

Period: March 24 to April 30, 2015

Venue: Ground Floor Gallery, Run Run Shaw Tower, HKU Centennial Campus

For media enquiries, please contact Mr Cyrus Chan, Events Coordinator, Faculty of Arts (tel: 3917 4984 email:cyrusc@hku.hk).