Month: June 2025

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

The Government announced today (June 20) the appointment of Miss Hotchandani Mamta Chandiram and Miss Waverly Yeung Yuk-mui to the Women’s Commission (WoC) through the Member Self-recommendation Scheme for Youth (MSSY) for a term from July 15, 2025, to January 14, 2027.

Since its establishment in 2001, the WoC has spared no effort in promoting the well-being and interests of women in Hong Kong and advising the Government on policies and initiatives on women’s affairs.

The Government regularly recruits young persons aged between 18 and 35 who are eager to serve the community to join the Government’s advisory committees through the MSSY with a view to providing more opportunities for young people to participate in policy discussions.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

The Betting Duty (Amendment) Bill 2025, which provides for a regulatory framework in relation to basketball betting, was published in the Government Gazette today.

The amendments to the existing ordinance include granting power to the Secretary for Home & Youth Affairs to issue a licence for basketball betting and to impose licensing conditions; provisions for the calculation and collection of betting duties; and an expansion of the functions of the Betting & Lotteries Commission to cover matters relating to the regulation of basketball betting.

The Home & Youth Affairs Bureau emphasised that the Government does not encourage gambling as a matter of policy. On the regulation of gambling activities through legislation, it said the policy objective of providing authorised gambling outlets is to address public demand for certain gambling activities whilst preventing people from turning to illegal operators.

If the bill is enacted, the Government – with reference to the current regime for betting on horse racing and football – will issue a licence to the Hong Kong Jockey Club to operate basketball betting, and impose licensing conditions so as to minimise the negative impact of gambling on the public, especially on young people.

As with football betting, the duty for basketball betting will be charged at 50% of the net stake receipts.

In addition, the Government will continue to collaborate closely with the Ping Wo Fund Advisory Committee to strengthen publicity and counselling for young people.

In addition to four existing funded counselling centres, the Government will allocate additional resources to establish a new centre dedicated to providing counselling and support services for youth.

Public education efforts will also be strengthened to emphasise to young people that participating in illegal gambling or placing bets with an illegal bookmaker is a criminal offence.

The bill will be introduced for first reading in the Legislative Council on July 2. 

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

The Basic Housing Units (BHUs) Bill, which introduces a regulatory regime for the letting of subdivided units (SDUs) in residential buildings, was published in the Government Gazette today.

The bill is aimed at tackling the issue of substandard SDUs and ensuring reasonable and safe living conditions in SDUs.

It requires SDUs in residential buildings to comply with a set of minimum standards. These relate to minimum internal floor area and headroom, fire safety, structural safety, lighting and ventilation, toilet provision, water supply points, and water and electricity meters.

In addition, obtaining BHU recognition is a prerequisite for letting SDUs out for habitation. Anyone who lets out an unrecognised SDU will be held criminally liable. Tenants will not be held liable. 

As a transitional arrangement to implement the BHU regulatory regime progressively, the Government will set up a 12-month registration system for residential flats with pre-existing SDUs. Under this system, a 36-month grace period will be provided to allow for necessary alteration works and applications for BHU recognition.

Unregistered SDUs, registered SDUs following the expiry of the grace period, and new SDUs entering the market must all obtain recognition as up-to-standard BHUs before they can be lawfully let out for habitation.

The bill will be introduced into the Legislative Council for first and second readings on July 9.

The Government said it will make every effort to facilitate LegCo’s scrutiny and strive to have the bill passed as soon as possible, with a view to rolling out the BHU regulatory regime in March 2026. 

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

Source: Government of Singapore

Singapore, 20 June 2025 – The National Environment Agency (NEA) celebrated the graduation of the second cohort of the YOUth for Environmental Sustainability (YES) Leaders Programme today. Minister for Sustainability and the Environment, Ms Grace Fu, commended the 34 graduates and urged perseverance and resilience towards Singapore’s green and sustainability agenda.

Empowering Youths for Sustainability

2          Introduced in 2023, the YES Leaders Programme is part of NEA’s YOUth for Environmental Sustainability (YES) Movement, a nationwide initiative designed to engage youths, nurture their interest in environmental issues, and deepen their knowledge of sustainability within Singapore’s context. Through the YES Movement, NEA collaborates with partners and stakeholders to create meaningful opportunities for youths to contribute to a Clean & Green Singapore. The programme also supports the Singapore Green Plan 2030’s Sustainable Living pillar by fostering active green citizenry among youths [1].

3          The YES Leaders Programme empowers passionate youths with the skills and knowledge to lead impactful environmental projects in their communities. Over the past year, the 34 YES Leaders successfully championed 16 projects, addressing diverse sustainability challenges. Their graduation marks not an end but a beginning, as NEA pledges continued support for their future environmental initiatives.

4          Mr Loo Deliang, Head of the Sustainability Strategy Unit for the National University of Singapore’s University Campus Infrastructure and a YES Advisor, said, “Seeing passionate youths bring their ideas to life, from the drawing board to real-world practice, is deeply satisfying. As educational institutions, we should provide our campuses as real-world canvases for young people to realise their passion and ideas.”

5          Mr Shane Tan Tsiat Siong, an Institute of Higher Learning (IHL) mentor from the Singapore University of Social Sciences, said, “The YES Leaders Programme offers a purposeful learning ground for young environmental stalwarts to pursue their passions and curiosity as change-makers of today and tomorrow.”

6          Ms Samantha Thian, Founder of Seastainable and a YES Advisor, added, “As a strong advocate for youth development, it has been deeply meaningful to support the YES Leaders Programme over the past two years. This programme equips young leaders with the tools, networks, mentorship, and courage to think outside the box and take bold action to rethink sustainability in Singapore.”

Championing Diverse Environmental Causes

7          The second cohort of YES Leaders, with diverse academic backgrounds and interests, embarked on projects that engaged the community on topics such as public hygiene, energy efficiency, waste reduction, and environmental sustainability.

• Beyond the Flush! – Led by Chia Howie, Su Ying Da, and Ma Shu Hang William from Singapore Polytechnic, this project focuses on improving public toilet hygiene. Their innovative prototypes, SHIELD (a barrier for urinals) and Bidet+ (an affordable built-in bidet for male and female toilets), aim to reduce spillage and improve cleanliness.

• Bite the change: The future of food – Led by Nadhira Fateen Safeel from Singapore University of Social Sciences, this project promotes food sustainability within the community through interactive educational events. It features hands-on cooking session that teach participants simple steps on food scrap repurposing and at-home composting via workshop. Supported by a targeted social media campaign, the initiative engaged over 200 students and staff, equipping participants with skills and awareness to foster long-term sustainable food habits aligned with Singapore’s broader food sustainability goals.
• Green Grow Gang – Launched by Natalee Chan, Cheyenne Lee, Pang Yu Fei, and Zoe Wong from ITE College West, this project transforms discarded fruit scraps, such as watermelon rinds, into biodegradable flower pots. To date, 56 batches of pots have been produced, tested, and refined for durability and plant compatibility.
• Developing Net Zero Energy Resource Pack for Primary Schools – Led by Goh Tian Ning and Lim Xin Quan from the National University of Singapore’s Students’ Association for Visions of the Earth (NUS SAVE), this project developed a resource pack featuring classroom slides and a self-guided tour of NUS’ School of Design & Environment 4 (SDE4), a net-positive energy building. The pilot programme also empowered over 25 primary school students, inspiring them to adopt energy-saving habits and understand the differences between net-zero and conventional buildings.

8          Graduates have continued their sustainability journey beyond YES Leaders Programme. For example:

• Lim Xin Quan from NUS and Nadhira Fateen Safeel from SUSS from Cohort 2 have joined hands to kick start Planet Pages, a social-environmental project that seeks to facilitate book donations in Singapore and channel it to nooks in needy communities at remote areas overseas.
• Sophia Ding from Cohort 1 has continued to develop Green Doctor Programme. Her team collected a total mass of 109.2kg of medical blisters from 6 health care institutions over a 6-month period. Her team is continuously looking for ways to improve outcomes and is now conducting a Life Cycle Analysis of their approach and developing plans to scale up their operations.

Welcoming the Next Cohort

9          The graduation ceremony also marked the start of the third YES Leaders Programme cohort’s journey. NEA welcomed 37 YES leaders-in-training, nominated by their institutions of higher learning and selected through a rigorous process. Starting 25 June 2025, the new cohort will participate in learning opportunities with policy makers and campaign developers from government agencies, and experts from corporate and non-governmental partners, including CapitaLand, MeTech, EnviroGreen, Chye Thiam Maintenance, Razer, Pan Pacific Hotel Group, Sustainable Living Lab, and Our Tampines Hub. The third cohort will be embarking on their own projects to engage the community to develop innovative ideas on sustainable living.

Launch of YES Festival

10        NEA, with the support of CapitaLand, also launched the inaugural YES Festival (YES Fest) at Funan from 20–22 June 2025. This mini-carnival, organised with the involvement of YES Leaders and student volunteers, offers everyone an opportunity to learn about sustainability through project showcases and hands-on workshops conducted by YES Leaders. The event begins at 12 noon on Friday, 20 June 2025. More information and registration for complimentary workshops are available at go.gov.sg/yesfestsg2025.

About the Youth for Environmental Sustainability (YES) Leaders Programme

Launched in September 2023, the NEA YES Leaders Programme provides a platform for passionate and active youth leaders to learn from local policy makers, regulators, developers of national campaigns and programmes, as well as industry experts. They will develop key knowledge surrounding sustainability issues and approaches in Singapore, and build their skills to develop and run sustainability projects within their Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) and communities. In addition, NEA YES Leaders will also receive guidance from YES Advisors, comprising individuals who are accomplished in driving sustainability initiatives in local contexts.

YES Advisor Loo Deliang is currently the Head of Sustainability Strategy Unit for the National University of Singapore’s University Campus Infrastructure. Responsible for spearheading the implementation of the Campus Sustainability Roadmap 2030 and its sustainability programmes, he oversees campus infrastructure sustainability, sustainability roadmap development and implementation, engineering and technology for decarbonisation, and sustainability reporting and disclosure.

He was awarded the Public Service Medal in 2019 and NEA’s “Ecofriend Award” in 2022 for his community work to promote environmental stewardship

YES Advisor Pek Hai Lin is currently senior manager for sustainability at the Singapore Institute of Technology. Since her time with NGO Zero Waste SG in 2017, she has led several projects and initiatives driving the circular economy in Singapore and Southeast Asia. In 2019, she was awarded the NEA EcoFriend for coordinating the Bring Your Own Singapore movement which had since onboarded more than 135 partner brands and 1,000 retail and F&B outlets. Her work at SIT has since broadened to look at Environment, Social and Governance impact, and through her commitment to further sustainable development, she hopes to continue to engage people and organisations to relook and disrupt business as usual.

YES Advisor Samantha Thian is currently serving as Deputy Head of Operations at the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group II Technical Support Unit, hosted at Singapore Management University. Samantha is also the founder of Seastainable, a social enterprise sustainability consultancy that she founded in 2017.

Recognised by Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia (Social Impact) and the NEA EcoFriend Awards in 2021, Samantha has represented Singapore at the G20 Youth Summit (Y20), as part of Singapore’s COP28 and 29 Youth Delegations, and various regional climate forums.

YES Advisor Veerappan Swaminathan is the founder and director of Sustainable Living Lab (SL2), a consultancy that helps organisations innovate for environmental, economic, and social sustainability. He is also the CEO and director of edm8ker, which trains teachers to impart “maker education” to youths. Additionally, Veera contributes to various initiatives and platforms that promote sustainability, innovation, and social impact. Repair Kopitiam is one such initiative that he had started, to promote the habit of repairing items and combat today’s ‘buy-and-throw’ culture. He received the NUS Outstanding Young Alumni Award in 2019, 2018 Joseph Jaworski Next Generation Foresight Asia Special Award, the EcoFriend Award 2016, the Young Enterprise For Sustainable Development Award 2015, and the President’s Challenge Youth Social Enterprise Award 2015.

 

Annex A : YES Leaders Programme Graduates and Projects

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

The Government published the Betting Duty (Amendment) Bill 2025 in the Gazette today (June 20).

     The Bill seeks to amend the Betting Duty Ordinance (Cap. 108) and relevant subsidiary legislation to provide for a regulatory framework for basketball betting, which includes granting the power to the Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs to issue a licence for conducting basketball betting and to impose licensing conditions; the calculation and collection of betting duty (which is charged at 50 per cent of the net stake receipts, same as that for the football betting duty); and expanding the functions of the Betting and Lotteries Commission to cover matters relating to the regulation of basketball betting.

A spokesman for the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau said, “As a matter of policy, the Government does not encourage gambling. The Government adopts a multipronged strategy to address gambling-related problems, including law enforcement against illegal gambling activities, public education on the harms of gambling addiction, provision of counselling and support services for people in need, as well as regulation of gambling activities through legislation. On the regulation of gambling activities through legislation, the policy objective of providing authorised gambling outlets is to address the public demand for certain gambling activities, preventing people from turning to illegal operators.”

The spokesman added, “If the Bill is enacted, we will, by making reference to the current regime of horse race betting and football betting, issue a licence for basketball betting to the Hong Kong Jockey Club, and to impose licensing conditions so as to minimise the negative impact of gambling on the public, especially on young people.

     “We will continue to closely collaborate with the Ping Wo Fund Advisory Committee to strengthen publicity and counselling for young people. To this end, in addition to the existing four funded counselling centres, we will allocate additional resources to establish a new centre dedicated to providing counselling and support services for youth. Public education efforts will also be strengthened to emphasise to young people that participating in illegal gambling or placing bets with an illegal bookmaker is already a criminal offence.”

The Bill will be introduced into the Legislative Council for first reading on July 2.