Chinese language centre opens for non-native students
Chinese language centre opens for non-native students
More than 200 students attended trial classes and learned about the international Chinese language curriculum. Photo: RTHK
A new Chinese language learning assessment centre has opened in Hong Kong to support secondary students who do not speak the language.
Established through a collaboration between a professional examinations body under the Ministry of Education's Centre for Language Education and Cooperation and the Hong Kong Financial Services Institute, the centre recently held its first teaching and exchange session at a secondary school.
More than 200 students have attended trial classes and learnt about the international Chinese language curriculum.
The centre said it would create specialised teaching materials covering both Cantonese and Putonghua tailored specifically for Hong Kong's non-Chinese speaking students.
A key feature of the programme involves reinforcing lessons: material studied in Cantonese during the week would be revisited on weekends using Putonghua and simplified characters.
Through these weekend classes over three years, the centre is aiming for students to achieve proficiency levels equivalent to HSK 3 or 4 – standardised tests for non-native speakers.
Students who succeed in passing the HSK 4 standard would be able to apply for admission to mainland universities.
Participating students expressed enthusiasm, finding the learning experience enjoyable and valuable for communicating with more people.
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HKFP
6 days ago
- HKFP
From waste to ‘superfood': Hong Kong dietitians turn kitchen scrap into healthy protein source for low-income families
At a communal living space tucked away on the top floor of the Tsuen Wan Market building, a group of women gathered in a spacious, well-equipped kitchen. They tried out a few recipes under the guidance of two registered dietitians and a handful of trained volunteers. From omelettes and kimbap – Korean seaweed rice rolls – to oatmeal cookies and banana pancakes, these homely, unostentatious dishes all featured a crumbly yet moist ingredient, which the women poured from palm-sized, unlabelled silvery sachets. The creamy beige ingredient – the soy pulp – was the centrepiece of the hands-on workshop. Also known as tofu dregs, or okara in Japanese, it is the solid leftover from filtering soybean puree during the production of soya milk and tofu. The workshop, designed and led by dietitians Joyce Chan and Hannah Wong, is part of a pilot programme called the Okara Project in English. Its Chinese name translates as the Tofu Dreg Project – a wordplay on a term coined by China's Premier Zhu Rongji to describe shoddy construction work and later popularised by Chinese netizens after jerry-built structures collapsed during the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. However, there is nothing inferior about the real tofu dregs. 'What we want to do today is show you how to turn something we usually think of as kitchen waste into a 'superfood,'' said Pui, a recent university graduate in food and nutrition. Pui, who only disclosed her given name due to privacy concerns, helped lead the briefing session that day after Chan and Wong trained her as a community ambassador. With each slide displayed on the screen, Pui explained in everyday language the many little-known nutritional benefits of this common soy by-product, from its protein- and fibre-rich profile to its low glycaemic index and minimal saturated fat. The participating women were all subdivided flat residents, mostly mainland Chinese who recently immigrated to Hong Kong to care for their husbands and children. They find joy in the extended living space administered by the charity Caritas, where they can cook, share meals, do laundry, make friends, and enjoy a momentary reprieve from their caregiving responsibilities. Food insecurity remains a pressing issue in some of Hong Kong's poorest districts, where cost and substandard living conditions prevent many low-income residents from accessing adequate, nutritious meals. In 2024, for instance, a survey conducted by the Hong Kong charity Food Grace found that around 44 per cent of low-income residents in Kwai Tsing and Sham Shui Po, two of the city's poorest and most densely populated areas, had gone hungry in the previous six months, with one-third regularly skipping meals to cut costs. Over 46 per cent said they didn't get enough nutrients daily, mainly because healthy food was too expensive. Two University of Hong Kong scholars wrote in 2023 that fresh pork in Hong Kong was around four times more expensive than in Shenzhen. Hong Kong was also ranked as the second most expensive market for chicken fillet across the Asia-Pacific region, with the average price per kilogramme more than 40 per cent above the regional average. Apart from soaring food prices, many surveyed by Food Grace also cited the lack of proper cooking facilities in inadequate housing units as a major barrier to preparing balanced meals. With these challenges in mind, Chan and Wong designed a pilot programme to cater specifically to underserved communities, drawing on their experience providing dietary consultation services to at-risk groups managing chronic conditions such as prediabetes and hypertension. 'In our work with subdivided flat residents and the elderly, I often hear people say how expensive meat is, or how difficult it is for older adults to chew and swallow it,' Chan said in Cantonese. These encounters prompted her to think about alternative ingredients that could help make up for the protein deficiencies without adding to their financial burden. Nutrient-rich, low-cost alternative The idea began to take shape during Chan's temple stay at Japan's famed Mount Koya in early 2024. She was served a vegetarian side dish made from spinach mixed with okara, a common meat substitute used in many Japanese recipes. Around the same time, public debate in Hong Kong intensified over the government's now-delayed municipal solid waste charging scheme. 'Everything is aligned,' said Chan. 'It gave me the idea to repurpose a protein source and make it affordable.' She later teamed up with Wong, and together they secured a HK$100,000 grant from the Hong Kong government's Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Fund to launch the Okara Project, promoting recycled soy pulp as a low-cost, nutritious protein source for low-income households. Thanks to its well-documented nutritional benefits and vegan-friendly versatility in cooking, interest in soy pulp is growing among international food manufacturers. The global okara market was valued at US$2.68 billion (HK$21 billion) in 2024 and is poised to reach US$3.2 billion (HK$25.1 billion) by 2030, according to a recent market analysis. In countries such as Germany and the US, companies are incorporating soy pulp flour into baked goods, while researchers in Singapore have developed a probiotic drink made from okara that boasts a longer shelf life without the need for refrigeration. In contrast, soy pulp is largely treated as food waste in Hong Kong and is rarely featured in local cuisines. And while it has traditionally been used as animal feed or fertiliser – and more recently repurposed into products like cat litter or mushroom-growing mediums – Chan and Wong's initiative may be the city's first to tap into its potential as a nutritious source to help address food insecurity. 'I didn't realise you could make so many delicious dishes out of soy pulp,' said Xiaoyun, a full-time caregiver and mother who participated in the workshop. She, too, declined to give her full name. 'I used to make soy milk at home from time to time, but we usually just threw the soy pulp away without giving it much thought,' she said in Mandarin. After relocating to Hong Kong from Fujian province about a year ago, Xiaoyun met other immigrant women like herself at the Caritas-run shared space and bonded through group activities, like cooking sessions organised by Chan and Wong. 'This gives me a feeling of being at home,' she added, describing the experience as a welcome break from the often 'depressing' reality of staying in their cramped living quarters all day. Low environmental footprint To make their project sustainable, Chan knew early on that she wanted to source the soy pulp locally, meeting the community nearby. Proximity to the source became a key priority for the project's logistical planning. She specifically wanted to pilot the project using Caritas' communal space as the venue, with the wet market situated on the building's ground floor. In Tsuen Wan Market, she managed to meet the owner of a tofu stall, who agreed to give away the otherwise discarded soy pulp for free. Her team then shipped the ingredient to a food factory, where it underwent ultra-high temperature sterilisation before being packaged in sealed sachets, ready to be distributed to community members participating in their cooking workshops. Another mission of their project is to raise awareness of how plant-based diets can be beneficial not only to human health but also to the planet. 'Producing a kilo of plant-based food gives off around 0.3 to 4 kilos of carbon, while a kilo of beef can release as much as 60 kilos' of carbon, Pui told the participants in the briefing session in Cantonese, as she explained food's environmental footprint. Apart from reducing food waste by repurposing soy pulp, they could also help reduce environmental impact one food item at a time by eating more sustainably, said Pui. Experts previously estimated that globally, switching to plant-based diets could shrink the amount of land used for food by 76 per cent and cut food-related greenhouse gas emissions nearly in half. However, for low-income communities in Hong Kong, cost remains the primary factor in choosing food, according to the same survey by Food Grace. Fewer than one in three respondents considered sustainability or environmental impact in their food choices. For Chan, food sustainability has always been integral to her vision for the project. She chose soy pulp precisely because it's 'affordable,' 'sustainable,' and simple to use in home cooking. Empowering community Chan and Wong's vision also extends beyond cooking workshops and community education. As part of their pilot programme, they've trained around 30 community nutrition ambassadors – 10 of whom are now active team members. 'Most of them are retired women who are passionate about cooking and eager to give back to their communities,' said Chan. After completing the training, the ambassadors went on to brainstorm recipes, help co-lead workshops, and gradually take on bigger roles in spreading the project's message, while also receiving a paid wage for their efforts. For some, the experience has been transformative. 'I usually get anxious when speaking in front of people,' said Jay, a retired teacher who trained to become an ambassador last year. Jay, who did not want to give her surname, was co-leading a session with Pui that day. Speaking to people from diverse backgrounds and varying levels of understanding was vastly different from teaching children, Jay explained. 'But they always encourage me and praise my efforts, which helps me keep going.' The project has also drawn interest from young, aspiring professionals like Pui, who hope to promote healthy and environmentally conscious diets. 'I was originally more focused on sports nutrition,' Pui said. 'But after engaging with these communities, I realised I could do more by helping prevent chronic diseases through modifying their diet, especially since many people don't have access to reliable nutrition advice.' 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RTHK
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- RTHK
NGO collects tonnes of discarded clothes
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HKFP
08-06-2025
- HKFP
Partners in Pride: A new generation of LGBTQ couples juggling parenthood, life and law in Hong Kong
This feature is the second in HKFP's Partners in Pride series, which looks at how same-sex couples navigate life, death and everything in between ahead of the government's October deadline to enact a framework to recognise same-sex partnerships. Read the first story, about same-sex couples' journey to parenthood through IVF, surrogacy and adoption, here. Whether it's a quick trip to a supermarket or a doctor's visit, lesbian couple Sakura and Ed – and their two-year-old daughter, Anya – are constantly turning heads. 'Once, we were at a department store and the cashier heard [my daughter] call my wife 'mom,'' Sakura told HKFP in Cantonese. 'The cashier then asked who I was, and I said I was her mom too.' 'Her mouth hung open, and she was shocked. She didn't know what to say,' Sakura said. Such interactions are common for Sakura and Ed, both in their late 30s. They are part of a new generation of same-sex couples living their parenthood dreams in Hong Kong. Sakura and Ed, as well as other same-sex couples interviewed for this story, asked to use pseudonyms for themselves and their children due to privacy concerns. Activists say that only in recent years have more same-sex couples in the city been having children. For the older members of the LGBTQ community, settling down and having children with a same-sex partner seemed a remote possibility because many struggled to accept their sexual orientations and come out to their families, they said. Barry Lee, chairperson of Grey and Pride, an NGO supporting middle-aged and elderly gay men, said that in the group's 10-year history, it has not met anybody married to a same-sex partner or who has had children with one. Many are closeted, he said. Some are still in heterosexual marriages, and among the divorced, few enter long-term same-sex relationships. 'They are scared to come out because they fear it would affect their family,' Lee told HKFP in Cantonese. In comparison, people now are more open to expressing themselves because they feel society is more accepting, he said. 'We see same-sex couples holding hands in public, and at LGBTQ events, people show their faces and are not hiding behind a mask,' Lee added. Before having children, members of the LGBTQ community usually have to meet certain milestones, which are hard to achieve when one senses stigma in society, said Francis Tang, founder of the NGO Gay Harmony. 'First, you have to be at peace with yourself and others around you,' Tang said in Cantonese. 'Only then can you really be in a relationship and think about starting a family.' Minority within minority LGBTQ parents are a minority within a minority in Hong Kong, where same-sex marriage is not recognised and strict reproductive laws make it hard for same-sex couples to have children. Assisted reproduction treatments, like in vitro fertilisation (IVF), are restricted to people who are heterosexual and married. Commercial surrogacy – often the only option for male gay couples – and reproductive treatments involving buying a gamete or embryo are illegal, even if done abroad. The laws are a rare case of Hong Kong legislation governing acts abroad. The laws have not stopped some same-sex couples from seeking reproductive treatment overseas. Sakura and Ed underwent IVF in North America in 2021, with Sakura carrying the baby. At the time, they did not know any other same-sex parents in the city, so they joined a Facebook group called 'Rainbow Families in Hong Kong.' They are also in a WhatsApp group for same-sex parents, with most of their children in their toddler years. 'There are over 100 parents in the group,' Sakura said. 'It's quite a mixed culture. There are locals and expatriates from different countries.' Guardianship Family lawyers told HKFP that while enquiries from same-sex parents – and prospective parents – were virtually non-existent four or five years ago, they now receive between three and eight a year. The clients ask how they can safeguard their parental rights, as under Hong Kong law, only one parent might be regarded as the legal parent. Family lawyer Jocelyn Tsao helps same-sex parents arrange guardianship deeds and wills so the non-legal parent can become the child's legal guardian if the legal parent passes away. Another document, a deed of temporary guardianship, allows the non-legal parent to act for the child when the legal parent is absent. This could be useful if the non-legal parent encounters problems at schools or hospitals due to questions raised about their relationship with their child. 'Theoretically speaking, the [non-legal parent] has no custody or parental rights over the child,' Tsao said. Most same-sex parents HKFP spoke to said they have never encountered anyone who doubts their relationship with their child. But Peter, a gay father, said he was stopped in March from making an appointment for his son, Lucas, at a public hospital. Peter and his husband, Mark, adopted four-year-old Lucas in Hong Kong in February, giving a younger brother to Emma, their five-year-old daughter, who was born through an altruistic surrogacy arrangement in the UK. Since Hong Kong does not recognise same-sex marriage, only one member of a same-sex couple can apply as a solo applicant for adoption, and that person will be the adoptive parent. Because Mark was the only one who applied for adoption, he is considered to be Lucas' sole legal parent. (In contrast, Emma has a UK birth certificate with both her fathers' names.) Peter said that he explained their family situation to the hospital. 'They asked me to bring a letter signed by Mark allowing me to act for Lucas,' he recalled. Mark has since written a letter and made multiple copies. Peter now carries the letter with his son's medical and school documents, just in case. 'Mark works a lot, so sometimes I am worried that if something happens and he is not around, and a decision needs to be made, I'm not 100 per cent sure what would happen,' he said. 'Kind of offensive' Beyond legal issues, a more day-to-day challenge is raising a child in a city where LGBTQ families remain largely invisible. All the couples interviewed by HKFP said they believed they were the only same-sex parents at their school. The schools did not treat them any differently, they said. But their children's classmates could be a different story. Trevor and Frank, who are from Canada, adopted their daughter, Alexandra, at birth in Ontario before coming to Hong Kong over a decade ago. Alexandra, now 12, goes to an international school. Some of her classmates have said it was 'cool' that she has two fathers. But there have been times when she came home feeling bothered. 'When she was younger, kids just asked if it was true she had two dads,' Trevor said. 'But as she got older, they said more uneducated things.' Her schoolmates have asked Alexandra if her fathers 'act gay' or do 'sus' stuff. She said some questions were asked out of curiosity, but some were 'kind of offensive.' 'I don't think it's intentionally homophobic,' Trevor said. 'They're just kids. It's more like a lack of exposure.' The other parents, whose children are still of kindergarten age or younger, told HKFP they were not aware of any insensitive comments at school, but wanted to get ahead of that. Janet, who has a three-year-old daughter with her wife Katie through IVF in the US, said they often talk to her about different family structures. 'We talked to her about Frozen,' she said, referring to the Disney film, 'and showed her that this is Elsa's father, this is her mother, and this is her sister.' Then, 'we talked about her friend who is raised by a single mother and has a domestic helper,' Janet said in Cantonese. 'And we told her our family consists of two mothers and her,' she added. 'I think it's very normal for her. She doesn't think anything is missing, just that our family is a little different.' Other LGBTQ parents also have similar conversations with their children, often using books to explain their unique family situations. Peter and Mark read a picture book about Ellie the Elephant and her two dads to their children. Alexandra still keeps the children's book, A Tale of Two Daddies, part of a rotation of bedtime stories that her fathers used to read to her. Slow progress Hong Kong's small but growing community of LGBTQ families emerges at a time when the city is awaiting a framework recognising same-sex partnerships, as ordered by a landmark top court judgment in 2023. There have also been other court rulings in recent years in favour of the LGBTQ community, including same-sex parents. In 2023, the High Court recognised the non-birth mother of a child born via reciprocal IVF as a parent 'at common law.' In 2021, a separated lesbian couple received a guardianship order from the High Court. Guardianship orders differ from guardianship deeds as they afford rights to the non-legal parent at all times, not only when the legal parent is absent. Lawyers say they hope to see same-sex parents granted the rights that heterosexual parents have under the impending framework. While guardianship arrangements are sufficient for day-to-day needs, they expire once a child comes of age. 'The whole idea of guardianship is what an adult can do over the child,' family lawyer Wong Hiu-chong said. 'After the child's 18th birthday, legally, there is no relationship at all.' There is no definitive way for both parents in a same-sex relationship to establish a lifelong parental relationship with their child that is recognised by law. The city's Parent and Child Ordinance is gender-specific, setting out the terms 'father' and 'mother' in its text, Wong added. And even if the non-legal parent is appointed a guardian, the child may not be entitled to inheritance, as that right only applies if the person is recognised in law as the child of the deceased. Trevor and Frank said they were not too optimistic about the future legal framework, saying it was 'worrying' that the government had not conducted any public consultation. The Legislative Council no longer has opposition lawmakers since an electoral reform in 2021 required those in office to be 'patriots.' Most pro-establishment lawmakers oppose LGBTQ rights, arguing that a husband and wife provide 'more adequate support' to families and can reduce 'behavioural deviations.' Still, Trevor and Frank acknowledged that progress had been made – albeit slowly. When the couple arrived in Hong Kong in 2015 after Frank's move here for work, Trevor could not get a dependent visa. That changed in 2018, when the top court ruled that granting dependent visas. 'Culture takes time to change and evolve,' Frank said. Original reporting on HKFP is backed by our monthly contributors. Almost 1,000 monthly donors make HKFP possible. Each contributes an average of HK$200/month to support our award-winning original reporting, keeping the city's only independent English-language outlet free-to-access for all. Three reasons to join us: 🔎 Transparent & efficient: As a non-profit, we are externally audited each year, publishing our income/outgoings annually, as the city's most transparent news outlet. 🔒 Accurate & accountable: Our reporting is governed by a comprehensive Ethics Code. We are 100% independent, and not answerable to any tycoon, mainland owners or shareholders. 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