https://www.scmp.com/rss/523318/feed The latest news and top stories on Paul Yip Siu-fai, the Chair Professor at the University of Hong Kong and Associate Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences. As founding Director of the HKJC Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention, he has led community projects on suicide prevention and poverty alleviation. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Alice Wu Alice Wu Hong Kong hit a record low in births last year despite a range of government incentives, including a HK$20,000 (US$2,560) baby cash bonus for new parents launched in 2023. Just 31,714 babies were born last year. This might have come as a surprise for the authorities, which had projected a rise to 39,000 births. So was the baby bonus worth the try? Yes, if we can draw insight from the experience. To be fair, it wasn’t the only thing the government had done to encourage babies. It rolled out tax... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3344937/hong-kong-cant-raise-its-birth-rate-without-easing-education-stress?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3344937/hong-kong-cant-raise-its-birth-rate-without-easing-education-stress?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Mar 2026 01:30:09 +0000 Paul Yip Paul Yip Mainland China’s and Hong Kong’s birth rates fell to record lows last year, despite extensive government incentives to encourage larger families. In Hong Kong, registered births fell 14 per cent to a historic low of 31,714 in 2025. Notably, the increase in births in 2024 may have been due to the auspicious Year of the Dragon. It is believed that babies born in the dragon year will grow up to be smart and successful. This is likely to have affected the timing of births as seen in Hong Kong during... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3341016/hong-kong-must-tackle-challenges-super-aged-society-head?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3341016/hong-kong-must-tackle-challenges-super-aged-society-head?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 25 Jan 2026 01:30:08 +0000 SCMP Editorial SCMP Editorial Incentives aimed at reversing a falling birth rate seem like a sensible investment for an ageing society. Hong Kong is no exception, with initiatives ranging from a cash handout to family-friendly policies. But an upward trend in the city’s birth registrations in 2023 and 2024 has proved short-lived and attributable to one-off factors. The year 2023 was the first after the social distancing and uncertainties of the pandemic. Then 2024 was the Year of the Dragon, deemed auspicious for having... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/comment/article/3340991/hong-kongs-daunting-task-become-baby-friendly-city?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/comment/article/3340991/hong-kongs-daunting-task-become-baby-friendly-city?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 24 Jan 2026 23:15:12 +0000 William Yiu William Yiu The number of registered births in Hong Kong plunged to a record low of 31,714 in 2025, despite a range of government incentives to encourage families to have more children, ending two years of growth, the Post has learned. The figure was also well below the government’s target of increasing births by 20 per cent from the previous historic low recorded in 2022. Experts and parents said the government needed to tackle the underlying causes of the city’s low birth rates. “Those incentives were... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education/article/3339784/registered-births-hong-kong-hit-record-low-2025-ending-2-year-uptick?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education/article/3339784/registered-births-hong-kong-hit-record-low-2025-ending-2-year-uptick?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 Jan 2026 00:30:09 +0000 SCMP Editorial SCMP Editorial Artificial intelligence (AI) has been a great boost to productivity in many professional fields, including academia. But it can also be a double-edged sword. Easy access, low costs and convenience have meant that more students are handing in AI-generated assignments without doing their own reading and writing. But misuse has also affected some scholars. Such cases must be addressed, and awareness of responsibility involving AI needs to be raised to uphold academic standards and integrity. One... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/comment/article/3337455/academia-must-ensure-ai-used-responsibly?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/comment/article/3337455/academia-must-ensure-ai-used-responsibly?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 26 Dec 2025 23:15:11 +0000 Oscar Liu Oscar Liu A prominent population expert from the University of Hong Kong has stepped down as an associate faculty dean and agreed with the retraction of a paper after the institution ruled it contained references to non-existent publications generated by AI. Professor Paul Yip Siu-fai of the department of social work and social administration had stepped down from his associate deanship at the faculty of social sciences and withdrawn his membership from research committees of the faculty and the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education/article/3336822/university-hong-kong-professor-loses-key-role-over-retracted-paper?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education/article/3336822/university-hong-kong-professor-loses-key-role-over-retracted-paper?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 17 Dec 2025 14:29:18 +0000 SCMP Editorial SCMP Editorial The growing use of artificial intelligence in recent years has revolutionised the operation of some sectors. Take academic research as an example. From summarising dense documents to assisting complex data analyses, the tool has become so widely used there is no way the AI genie is going back in the bottle. But while the new technology can make research and study more efficient and thorough, academic integrity can easily be compromised when it is not properly used. Professor Paul Yip Siu-fai of... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/comment/article/3332441/timely-review-ai-guidelines-hong-kong-universities-essential?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/comment/article/3332441/timely-review-ai-guidelines-hong-kong-universities-essential?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 12 Nov 2025 23:15:12 +0000 William Yiu William Yiu The number of babies born in Hong Kong is likely to drop in 2025 after increasing for the previous two years, with the figure potentially returning to near the record low of 2022, a Post analysis has found. A population expert said the impact of a three-year HK$20,000 (US$2,570) cash handout scheme for every newborn was minimal, and he did not expect a tax concession announced in the latest policy address to help stimulate the birth rate. The number of registered births in the first seven months... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3326056/why-number-hong-kong-newborns-could-drop-near-record-low-despite-measures?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3326056/why-number-hong-kong-newborns-could-drop-near-record-low-despite-measures?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 19 Sep 2025 00:30:12 +0000 Elizabeth Cheung,Emily Hung,Olga Wong Elizabeth Cheung,Emily Hung,Olga Wong Hong Kong authorities will seek to further limit young children’s use of mobile digital devices, including social media access, by updating the city’s guidelines as part of health initiatives set to be unveiled in Wednesday’s policy address, the Post has learned. The planned review of the guidelines comes amid tightening controls in some countries on minors’ device usage and the ongoing trend of Hong Kong children having the highest myopia incidence rates globally, alongside a notable increase... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education/article/3325627/hong-kong-seeks-limit-childrens-digital-device-use-amid-rising-myopia-rates?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education/article/3325627/hong-kong-seeks-limit-childrens-digital-device-use-amid-rising-myopia-rates?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 16 Sep 2025 00:30:08 +0000 Angel Woo Angel Woo Hong Kong’s estimated suicide rate increased last year, with men aged between 25 and 39 emerging as the most vulnerable group, according to the latest data from a local university, with experts attributing the rise in male victims to the city’s sluggish economy. Figures published by the Jockey Club Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) on Wednesday showed that the estimated suicide rate in 2024 stood at 14.1 deaths per 100,000 people, compared with 13.5... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3325056/hong-kongs-estimated-suicide-rate-rose-last-year-who-was-most-risk-and-why?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3325056/hong-kongs-estimated-suicide-rate-rose-last-year-who-was-most-risk-and-why?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 10 Sep 2025 10:03:11 +0000 Lam Ka-sing Lam Ka-sing Hongkongers’ already impressive life expectancies rose further in 2024 after falling during the pandemic, with women living on average for a record 88.4 years and men for 82.8 years, census figures show. But a Census and Statistics Department report also underscored the increasing strain on the city’s public healthcare system, with the number of inpatient and day inpatient discharges and deaths in hospitals increasing by 5.8 per cent in a year. Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea have the longest... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/3323830/life-expectancy-hong-kong-women-hits-record-while-men-also-get-lift?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/3323830/life-expectancy-hong-kong-women-hits-record-while-men-also-get-lift?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 31 Aug 2025 14:34:13 +0000 Fiona Sun Fiona Sun Questions have been raised about the effectiveness of potentially extending a baby bonus scheme to talent admitted to Hong Kong to boost the birth rate, despite some professionals complaining about being left out. Experts and lawmakers said that other incentives and measures were needed to encourage childbearing and boost the birth rate. Last month, Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han said the Newborn Baby Bonus Scheme was under review, with authorities to consider suggestions,... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3320558/should-hong-kongs-baby-bonus-scheme-include-talent-boost-birth-rate?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3320558/should-hong-kongs-baby-bonus-scheme-include-talent-boost-birth-rate?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 03 Aug 2025 01:00:14 +0000 Elizabeth Cheung Elizabeth Cheung Two years ago, a mother in Hong Kong was accused of suffocating her three children in their home in Sham Shui Po. Police said they found blood stains on a pillow and in the mouth and nose of one of the girls. The mother was arrested after she and her brother alerted the force. Last year, a debt-ridden father threw his seven-year-old son off the rooftop of a shopping centre before he jumped to his death, while the boy was critically injured. Hong Kong has been repeatedly shocked by cases centred... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3318058/call-hong-kong-set-registry-filicide-cases-reduce-killings?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3318058/call-hong-kong-set-registry-filicide-cases-reduce-killings?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 14 Jul 2025 03:00:09 +0000