Latest news with #Hui
RTHK
a day ago
- Business
- RTHK
HKUST to research AI impact on business
HKUST to research AI impact on business The University of Science and Technology has launched a research centre to study how technological innovations reshape the business world. Photo: RTHK The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has established a research centre to study how technological innovations like robots and artificial intelligence are creating disruptive changes to the business world and ecosystem. Speaking to RTHK after the centre's launch ceremony on Friday, its director, Professor Hui Kai-lung, said it hopes the research can provide guidance for future developments in the business sector. The centre, he said, has been finalising partnership agreements with a couple of SAR and mainland firms to take part in a study. 'Most likely, the centre is going to start its work by looking at digital platforms and the robotic industry and hardware,' he said. 'If you look at digital platforms, for example, everybody used to think that they are only changing the way how retails were done. "But in fact, if you look at even education, charity, philanthropy or entertainment these days, they are significantly affected by these platforms." On a separate note, Hui, who's also the acting dean of the business and management school, said the school is actively helping the university in its promotional efforts with regards to student admissions and that extends to prospective students of Harvard University. 'We aren't necessarily looking at just Harvard," he said. "If there were talents who are facing difficulties in pursuing their studies, I think it is our duty to provide them with the necessary environment to pursue what they wanted to develop and also to study.' HKUST was the first Hong Kong tertiary institution to openly invite international students from Harvard to continue their studies with it after the Trump administration revoked the Ivy League school's certification to enrol foreign students A US district judge has issued a temporary order to block the move.
Sydney Morning Herald
2 days ago
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
A Missouri town was solidly behind Trump. Then Carol was detained
The first sign of trouble came early this month when Carol didn't show up for her shift at John's Waffle and Pancake House. She was as reliable as the sun rising over rice and melon fields in her adopted hometown, of Kennett, Missouri, a conservative farming hub of 10,000 people in the state's south-eastern boot heel, where 'Missouri' becomes 'Missour-uh'. In the 20 years since she arrived from Hong Kong, she had built a life and family in Kennett, working two waitressing jobs and cleaning houses on the side. She began every morning at the bustling diner, serving pecan waffles, hugging customers and reading leftover newspapers to improve her English. 'Everyone knows Carol,' said Lisa Dry, a Kennett city councilperson. That all ended on April 30, when federal immigration officials summoned Carol, 45, whose legal name is Ming Li Hui, to their office in St Louis, a three-hour drive from Kennett. Her partner, a Guatemalan immigrant, had voiced suspicion about the sudden call. But 'I didn't want to run', Hui said in a jailhouse phone interview. 'I just wanted to do the right thing.' She was arrested and jailed to await deportation. Loading Hui's detention has forced a rural Missouri county to face the fallout of US President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, which was supported in theory by many residents in this Trump-loving corner of an increasingly red America. Many are now asking how you can support Carol and also Trump. 'I voted for Donald Trump, and so did practically everyone here,' said Vanessa Cowart, a friend of Hui from church. 'But no one voted to deport moms. We were all under the impression we were just getting rid of the gangs, the people who came here in droves.' She paused. 'This is Carol.' Adam Squires, a one-time candidate for mayor of Kennett, saw it differently. He did not bear any ill will for Hui, he said, but he voted for Trump, as did 80 per cent of voters in Dunklin County, and he was glad to see the deportation campaign reach home. 'They vote for Trump, and then they get mad because the stuff starts happening,' he said of his neighbours. 'We've got to get rid of all the illegals. This is just a start.' Hui said the call she received from immigration authorities ordered her to appear in St Louis without explanation. At the office, she said, an immigration officer called her into a secure area and initially told her the authorities would help her get a passport. Then she was told that she was being detained for overstaying a tourist visa that had expired long ago and that she would be deported. Now, as Hui bounces from county jail to county jail, her name has popped up on prayer lists at churches in Kennett. Her absence was felt, residents said, when she was not in the baseball stands to watch her younger son pitch, nor at the eighth-grade graduation to see her older son receive an agricultural science award. Cowart was her religious sponsor when Hui converted to Catholicism earlier this year, learning the Gospels from her Chinese Bible. She became a regular at Sunday morning Mass, as was her partner and their three American-born children: a daughter, 7, and sons aged 12 and 14. Hui was keenly interested in early Christian martyrs, Cowart said: 'She'd smile and say, God will take care of us.' According to the government, Hui does not have a blameless past. In court records, the government said she arrived in the United States from Hong Kong in February 2004, paying an American citizen $US2000 to enter into a sham marriage with her sometime around 2005. She had hoped the marriage would allow her to get permanent resident status and permit her to travel to Hong Kong to see her dying grandmother and return to the US afterwards, according to court records. Her lawyer, Raymond Bolourtchi, said Hui was young and desperate in those days, and she acknowledged that her actions were wrong. 'Not a day goes by that she doesn't feel remorse,' he said. Hui was never criminally charged for the fake marriage, which ended in divorce in 2009. Court papers indicate that she has no criminal record. Loading Nonetheless, she was working, which people who enter as tourists are generally not allowed to do, and her tourist visa had lapsed. Her status in the country became a matter of dispute. Many people in Kennett expressed outrage that a hardworking mother had spent the past month jailed by immigration authorities. Supporters described her as an ideal addition to a rural town where the population is declining and the only hospital has closed. 'She's exactly the sort of person you'd want to come to the country,' said Chuck Earnest, a farmer. 'I don't know how this fits into the deportation problem with Trump.' Celena Horton, a waitress at a steakhouse, said she and Hui would give each other huge tips when they ate at one another's restaurants. Horton said she loved almost everything that Trump was doing in his second term. Hui is the reason for the 'almost'. 'I can't believe they're doing this to her,' Horton said. The sentiment reflects a stirring unease nationally over Trump's handling of immigration, his most potent political issue. Although most Americans in a recent New York Times /Siena College survey said they still supported deporting immigrants who are in the country illegally, most respondents disapproved of how Trump was carrying out his immigration policies. In Kennett, some residents said they had implored state and national Republican lawmakers representing the area to intervene to stop Hui's deportation, but had gotten mostly cursory responses. Kennett's own leaders have not officially weighed in. Hui's church organised a prayer vigil for her and meal deliveries for her family. Her bosses at the waffle house held a 'Carol Day' fundraiser that brought in nearly $US20,000 ($31,100). Petitions to bring Hui home, which have been signed by hundreds of residents, now sit on every table, next to the jelly packets and ketchup. 'This lady has the biggest heart in the whole world,' said Liridona Ramadani, whose family runs John's Waffle and Pancake House. 'Democrat, Republican, everybody was there for Carol' on 'Carol Day', she said. Well, not everybody. When an article about her detention was posted by The Delta Dunklin Democrat, a local newspaper, it was deluged with 400 reader comments. Most of them expressing sympathy, but not all. 'If you're here illegally, expect to be removed,' said one. 'This is the consequence of being in a nation with laws,' said another. One commenter simply wrote 'Bye'. The online debate got so nasty that the owners of the waffle house implored people to keep their political comments to themselves. From jail, Hui expressed surprise that her arrest had galvanised so many people in Kennett. Only a few people in town speak Cantonese, she said, so when she settled there, she started to go by the English name she had chosen for herself as a girl in Hong Kong, when it was still under British rule. She started a family with her partner, who also works at restaurants around town. (He declined to comment for this article, and his immigration status is not clear.) Hui bought a house in Kennett, and her front yard is decorated with 'Student of the Month' signs. She made an application for asylum in 2009, saying that her mother in Hong Kong had beaten her and threatened her because Hui was a girl, and that she was afraid to return, according to court records. Her claim was denied in 2012, and an immigration judge ordered her deported. Despite multiple legal setbacks, though, she managed to stay in the US by getting temporary government permissions known as orders of supervision, according to her lawyer, Bolourtchi. Loading Hui's most recent order of supervision was valid through August 2025, records show. But on the day that Hui was arrested, she was told that the order was being terminated, Bolourtchi said. ICE officials did not respond to a request for comment about Hui's case. Hui said she had been blindsided by her arrest, which was one of many the Trump administration has been carrying out at mandatory immigration check-ins. She said she spends her days shuffling between her bunk and meals, and waiting for chances to video chat with her children. She frets over how she would see them again if she is deported to Hong Kong. Her lawyer recently filed a legal motion to reopen Hui's immigration case. Hui said that being separated from her family was the hardest part. Her 14-year-old son was upset that she missed his middle-school graduation. Her daughter told her that one of her school friends offered to adopt Hui so she could stay in the country. During one call, her children tried to cheer up Hui by telling her about 'Carol Day'. She said she was stunned to learn about the outpouring of support. 'I didn't know they loved me,' she said.
The Age
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Age
A Missouri town was solidly behind Trump. Then Carol was detained
The first sign of trouble came early this month when Carol didn't show up for her shift at John's Waffle and Pancake House. She was as reliable as the sun rising over rice and melon fields in her adopted hometown, of Kennett, Missouri, a conservative farming hub of 10,000 people in the state's south-eastern boot heel, where 'Missouri' becomes 'Missour-uh'. In the 20 years since she arrived from Hong Kong, she had built a life and family in Kennett, working two waitressing jobs and cleaning houses on the side. She began every morning at the bustling diner, serving pecan waffles, hugging customers and reading leftover newspapers to improve her English. 'Everyone knows Carol,' said Lisa Dry, a Kennett city councilperson. That all ended on April 30, when federal immigration officials summoned Carol, 45, whose legal name is Ming Li Hui, to their office in St Louis, a three-hour drive from Kennett. Her partner, a Guatemalan immigrant, had voiced suspicion about the sudden call. But 'I didn't want to run', Hui said in a jailhouse phone interview. 'I just wanted to do the right thing.' She was arrested and jailed to await deportation. Loading Hui's detention has forced a rural Missouri county to face the fallout of US President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, which was supported in theory by many residents in this Trump-loving corner of an increasingly red America. Many are now asking how you can support Carol and also Trump. 'I voted for Donald Trump, and so did practically everyone here,' said Vanessa Cowart, a friend of Hui from church. 'But no one voted to deport moms. We were all under the impression we were just getting rid of the gangs, the people who came here in droves.' She paused. 'This is Carol.' Adam Squires, a one-time candidate for mayor of Kennett, saw it differently. He did not bear any ill will for Hui, he said, but he voted for Trump, as did 80 per cent of voters in Dunklin County, and he was glad to see the deportation campaign reach home. 'They vote for Trump, and then they get mad because the stuff starts happening,' he said of his neighbours. 'We've got to get rid of all the illegals. This is just a start.' Hui said the call she received from immigration authorities ordered her to appear in St Louis without explanation. At the office, she said, an immigration officer called her into a secure area and initially told her the authorities would help her get a passport. Then she was told that she was being detained for overstaying a tourist visa that had expired long ago and that she would be deported. Now, as Hui bounces from county jail to county jail, her name has popped up on prayer lists at churches in Kennett. Her absence was felt, residents said, when she was not in the baseball stands to watch her younger son pitch, nor at the eighth-grade graduation to see her older son receive an agricultural science award. Cowart was her religious sponsor when Hui converted to Catholicism earlier this year, learning the Gospels from her Chinese Bible. She became a regular at Sunday morning Mass, as was her partner and their three American-born children: a daughter, 7, and sons aged 12 and 14. Hui was keenly interested in early Christian martyrs, Cowart said: 'She'd smile and say, God will take care of us.' According to the government, Hui does not have a blameless past. In court records, the government said she arrived in the United States from Hong Kong in February 2004, paying an American citizen $US2000 to enter into a sham marriage with her sometime around 2005. She had hoped the marriage would allow her to get permanent resident status and permit her to travel to Hong Kong to see her dying grandmother and return to the US afterwards, according to court records. Her lawyer, Raymond Bolourtchi, said Hui was young and desperate in those days, and she acknowledged that her actions were wrong. 'Not a day goes by that she doesn't feel remorse,' he said. Hui was never criminally charged for the fake marriage, which ended in divorce in 2009. Court papers indicate that she has no criminal record. Loading Nonetheless, she was working, which people who enter as tourists are generally not allowed to do, and her tourist visa had lapsed. Her status in the country became a matter of dispute. Many people in Kennett expressed outrage that a hardworking mother had spent the past month jailed by immigration authorities. Supporters described her as an ideal addition to a rural town where the population is declining and the only hospital has closed. 'She's exactly the sort of person you'd want to come to the country,' said Chuck Earnest, a farmer. 'I don't know how this fits into the deportation problem with Trump.' Celena Horton, a waitress at a steakhouse, said she and Hui would give each other huge tips when they ate at one another's restaurants. Horton said she loved almost everything that Trump was doing in his second term. Hui is the reason for the 'almost'. 'I can't believe they're doing this to her,' Horton said. The sentiment reflects a stirring unease nationally over Trump's handling of immigration, his most potent political issue. Although most Americans in a recent New York Times /Siena College survey said they still supported deporting immigrants who are in the country illegally, most respondents disapproved of how Trump was carrying out his immigration policies. In Kennett, some residents said they had implored state and national Republican lawmakers representing the area to intervene to stop Hui's deportation, but had gotten mostly cursory responses. Kennett's own leaders have not officially weighed in. Hui's church organised a prayer vigil for her and meal deliveries for her family. Her bosses at the waffle house held a 'Carol Day' fundraiser that brought in nearly $US20,000 ($31,100). Petitions to bring Hui home, which have been signed by hundreds of residents, now sit on every table, next to the jelly packets and ketchup. 'This lady has the biggest heart in the whole world,' said Liridona Ramadani, whose family runs John's Waffle and Pancake House. 'Democrat, Republican, everybody was there for Carol' on 'Carol Day', she said. Well, not everybody. When an article about her detention was posted by The Delta Dunklin Democrat, a local newspaper, it was deluged with 400 reader comments. Most of them expressing sympathy, but not all. 'If you're here illegally, expect to be removed,' said one. 'This is the consequence of being in a nation with laws,' said another. One commenter simply wrote 'Bye'. The online debate got so nasty that the owners of the waffle house implored people to keep their political comments to themselves. From jail, Hui expressed surprise that her arrest had galvanised so many people in Kennett. Only a few people in town speak Cantonese, she said, so when she settled there, she started to go by the English name she had chosen for herself as a girl in Hong Kong, when it was still under British rule. She started a family with her partner, who also works at restaurants around town. (He declined to comment for this article, and his immigration status is not clear.) Hui bought a house in Kennett, and her front yard is decorated with 'Student of the Month' signs. She made an application for asylum in 2009, saying that her mother in Hong Kong had beaten her and threatened her because Hui was a girl, and that she was afraid to return, according to court records. Her claim was denied in 2012, and an immigration judge ordered her deported. Despite multiple legal setbacks, though, she managed to stay in the US by getting temporary government permissions known as orders of supervision, according to her lawyer, Bolourtchi. Loading Hui's most recent order of supervision was valid through August 2025, records show. But on the day that Hui was arrested, she was told that the order was being terminated, Bolourtchi said. ICE officials did not respond to a request for comment about Hui's case. Hui said she had been blindsided by her arrest, which was one of many the Trump administration has been carrying out at mandatory immigration check-ins. She said she spends her days shuffling between her bunk and meals, and waiting for chances to video chat with her children. She frets over how she would see them again if she is deported to Hong Kong. Her lawyer recently filed a legal motion to reopen Hui's immigration case. Hui said that being separated from her family was the hardest part. Her 14-year-old son was upset that she missed his middle-school graduation. Her daughter told her that one of her school friends offered to adopt Hui so she could stay in the country. During one call, her children tried to cheer up Hui by telling her about 'Carol Day'. She said she was stunned to learn about the outpouring of support. 'I didn't know they loved me,' she said.
Online Citizen
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Online Citizen
Yale-NUS student associates allegedly instructed to destroy over 100 DVDs from library collection
SINGAPORE: Student associates at the Yale-NUS College Library were allegedly instructed to destroy over 100 DVDs in April, just weeks before the college officially closed its doors. One student associate, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Straits Times that she felt 'very pained and sad' when she was asked on 24 and 25 April to destroy the DVDs using a penknife. She was instructed to make four deep cuts on each disc to render them unreadable. Many of the DVDs were films, including titles from The Criterion Collection, a prestigious American distributor known for restoring and releasing classic and contemporary films, often with scholarly materials such as director interviews and critical essays—issues highly prized by film enthusiasts. 'A lot of them were still in good condition and could have definitely found a new home,' the student said. 'I wasn't very comfortable with the scratching task either.' Another student associate, who was given a cart of at least 100 DVDs earlier in April, expressed frustration at the task. 'I was a bit fed up about the whole thing, to be honest, and was very reluctant to contribute my time to these efforts,' she said. Associate Professor Natalie Pang, University Librarian at the National University of Singapore (NUS), explained that the disposal of audiovisual materials is governed by stricter regulations than books due to licensing and copyright laws. 'Audiovisual materials are governed by licensing and copyright regulations, which restrict redistribution,' she said. 'We have integrated the DVDs we need into our collection. The DVDs that could not be rehomed were those which could not be redistributed.' However, Professor Pang did not specify how many DVDs were ultimately destroyed. Associate Professor Andrew Hui, a founding faculty member of Yale-NUS College, expressed dismay at the decision, calling it 'gut-wrenching.' Prof. Hui, who had personally requested Criterion Collection films for the library in 2012, warned of the importance of physical media in an age of unstable streaming platforms and shifting licensing rights. 'As streaming platforms are notoriously unstable, licensing rights shift, and digital catalogues are curated by commercial algorithms rather than scholarly values, physical media ensures long-term access to films that shape our collective memory,' he said. Prof. Hui described the destruction of the DVDs as 'a slow-motion act of cultural amnesia' and criticized the decision to involve student workers in the process. 'In a century where the past can vanish with a click, to destroy them—and to order undergraduates to do so (when they should be watching and learning from them)—is, for a humanist like me, a tiny but terrible act against art.' A former Yale-NUS librarian, who spoke on condition of anonymity, estimated that the library once housed between 1,600 and 2,000 DVDs. Book Disposal Controversy The DVD destruction incident follows closely behind a controversy involving NUS's handling of books from the Yale-NUS College library. On 20 May, photos and videos surfaced online showing employees from a recycling company loading hundreds of books onto a truck, sparking widespread criticism. The disposal of hundreds of books was described as wasteful and distressing by alumni, students, and members of the public. Workers' Party MP Associate Professor Jamus Lim described the incident as a failure of top-down decision-making with little consultation. In a Facebook post on 21 May, Asst Prof Lim described the disposal as distressing and emblematic of how Yale-NUS was itself shut down. He noted that many of the books were in excellent condition and could have been redistributed with proper planning and consultation. NUS Issues Apology In response to the backlash, NUS issued an apology on May 21 for what it described as an 'operational lapse' in its handling of the excess books. The university had initially planned to dispose of 9,000 books, but after public outcry, the remaining 8,500 books were spared, while 500 had already been recycled. Associate Professor Pang clarified that surplus books are typically redistributed across the NUS library system or offered to faculty and students. However, students had not been given the chance to access the Yale-NUS books before the disposal. 'We understand later that many students were interested in having these books, and we would have usually acceded to their requests,' she said. 'We did not do so on this occasion, and we apologise.' NUS also revealed plans to improve its procedures for handling surplus books. The university will now reach out 'more extensively' to faculty, academic libraries, and hold book adoption fairs for students, alumni, and the public. A public book giveaway on campus will take place from 28 May to 9 June for the remaining 8,500 books. The incident comes in the final weeks of Yale-NUS College, which officially closed after its last cohort graduated on 14 May. The liberal arts institution, founded in 2011 through a partnership between Yale University and NUS, is being phased out as part of a merger with NUS' University Scholars Programme, announced in 2021.
RTHK
23-05-2025
- Business
- RTHK
New companies law brings right moves for growth
New companies law brings right moves for growth Christopher Hui says companies wishing to relocate to Hong Kong can have their applications approved within two weeks. Photo: RTHK Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Christopher Hui said on Friday that a new law allowing overseas firms to re-domicile to Hong Kong will inject new momentum into growth. His comments came as the SAR started accepting applications from firms incorporated overseas to relocate to the city while maintaining their legal identity and business continuity. The company re-domiciliation regime was passed by the Legislative Council on May 14 and took effect from Friday. Previously, companies that wanted to move to the city were required to wind up existing operations and shift all assets and transactions to the Hong Kong entity. Under the new law, firms can move to the city while maintaining their legal identity and business continuity, which will help save on complex and costly legal procedures. Following the move, French insurance giant AXA's Hong Kong and Macau arm was among the first batch of firms applying for such relocation. Hui said in a post on his official blog he is glad that some firms have already reported they are actively preparing to apply for a relocation to Hong Kong. "The new law has opened up a convenient path for interested companies to relocate to Hong Kong, while ensuring the safety and stability of the relocation process," he said. "The continuous uncertainties in the global political and economic situation and the development of international market regulations have made Hong Kong's advantages more prominent. "Relocating to Hong Kong will help enterprises cope with adverse factors in the external business environment." Such applications, according to Hui, shall be examined and approved within two weeks if all required documents and materials are submitted. He added that authorities will also provide appropriate support to the firms, while communicating with offshore jurisdictions to facilitate relocations. Companies that are given approvals for the relocation will have a 120-day transitional period to complete the deregistration in its original place of incorporation.
