Priscilla Leung Mei-fun, chairman of the Legislative Council Panel on Education, is on Straight Talk this week.

She shares with us her passion and energy for supporting Hong Kong to be a global education hub. She explains how Hong Kong's unique role as a global connector in education, with the advantages of “one country, two systems”, can lead Hong Kong to become a global education hub.

Check out the full transcript of TVB’s Straight Talk host Dr Eugene Chan’s interview with Prof Leung:

Chan: Good evening, and welcome to Straight Talk with Eugene Chan. I'm sure we’re all familiar with our guest this evening: Prof Priscilla Leung Mei-fun who has been a member of our Legislative Council since the year 2008. She serves in the Election Committee Constituency representing the Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong. She is a barrister by profession, and specializes in Chinese law, Hong Kong Basic Law and conflicts of law among the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan. She is also a professor of practice in these areas of law at the City University of Hong Kong and currently chair of the Panel on Education at our Legislative Council. Welcome back to Straight Talk, Priscilla!

Leung: Hi, Eugene!

Chan: So, last time you were on the show was in January 2022 and we talked about the newly-elected Legislative Council at the time. This time, we want to talk to you about education, an area I think you have been very active in, having taught at CityU for 30 years and currently chair of the panel on education in the LegCo. I believe that you have recently organized a two-day Global University Presidents and Leaders Summit that you were responsible for. And I heard it has been very successful, and congratulations! So, for the viewers’ interest, what inspired the idea for this summit? And what was the rationale behind it?

Leung: You know, Hong Kong is the super-connector for China, and this is a very important role for Hong Kong being an international city. Education, especially higher education, is the brand name of Hong Kong. So, while when we are talking about attracting talents, science and other people to come to Hong Kong, settle here, open their business, the very first thing we have to do is to talk to the leaders of top talents. And everyone agrees, universities are the top talents bet for many, many countries, and these presidents are their leaders. So, the direction of a university in a country actually leads the country's future.

Chan: Priscilla, in his latest Policy Address, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu outlined the plans to build our city into an international hub of post-secondary education. So, how does this summit align with his mission, and what were some of the outcomes after the summit that supports this goal?

Leung: Yes, we're just very happy to see paragraph 10A. It is exactly talking about what we have been doing in the past nine months, that we think that to attract and bring all these top talents leaders to Hong Kong is the very first step. Of course, we have very famous universities in Hong Kong. We have five universities ranking in the first 100. In fact, even other universities, they have their discipline ranking the first or in the top five. So, we have to let people know. And you know, under the global tension, some people, they have misunderstanding about Hong Kong. The best thing is to let their top leaders, of their top talents, to come, feel Hong Kong and talk with the university leaders from different parts of the world. So, the goal of this summit is to bring university presidents and their leaders from the north and south of the globe, east and west and the Middle East, and Belt and Road. Let them talk here, and if we can do so, we are the super connectors of top talents.

Chan: Priscilla, it seems like you are holding the summit at a very opportune time, because it is a time that Hong Kong's credibility and also the appeal on the global stage has not been as attractive as before, because a lot of the Western rhetoric is saying that Hong Kong is no longer safe, we don't have academic freedom, there's no freedom of speech. Do you think the summit has brought a more correct message back to those countries?

Leung: It's just so fortunate! The summit turned out to be a big success, and everyone comes here. They bring with their students, because this summit, we offer both to the university presidents and let them bring one top student from their university. That means even university students, they will meet top students from different parts of the world, and I have a long discussion with both, and I can see both the university heads as well as the students, they are so happy with this summit because it gives them a chance to understand Hong Kong and China as well as other parts of the world, so that they know we have to do something together rather than following the trend of this unnecessary global tension, because university leaders, our shining aspect is to bring cooperation, communication, trust with each other and lead their country. And I see that. After this summit, we agree with a global consensus that we have to do things together. We have to go beyond their government. We have to do things good for the world. And this is a mankind issue. I think the summit has successfully brought the heart of everyone together, and that is the whole objective.

Chan: Right, Priscilla. You know, Hong Kong has always been a very international city. We have a lot of academics or even business leaders that come to Hong Kong regularly. But since COVID, things haven't been moving as fast as it has been. So, how challenging were you … I know you I know you have organized it only in the first opening of time.

Leung: Yes, half a year.

Chan: How challenging was it to get all these people from different prestigious organizations from the world? Did you encounter much sort of hardship or difficulties?

Leung: Very difficult and it’s a mission impossible, as commented by some of the UGC universities, but we have a united front this round, all the university who joined this project with the support of UGC, we all feel the mission of university education to play the lead, to be the super connector. So, if we could have one step, then we will have the second step next year, and this time, I am very happy. We bring both along our friendly countries like Belt and Road and Middle East. We also bring along of many of our old friends, even the American universities and European universities, all these universities. They all come sharing one objective: its knowledge has to be connected, shall not have border. The world needs to be connected. Intellectuals shall bring the lead. Only by doing so, we can explore to the space and we can explore more development for the world and mankind.

Chan: Right, Priscilla, you have mentioned earlier about the university grants committee or even the Chief Executive supporting this. So, it looks like Hong Kong is really putting our policy or words into action, because in the past, there are a lot of opinions of what can be done, what should be done, and now you're actually doing it. So, how are you going to capitalize on this momentum? Because you mentioned earlier, we have like five universities out of the top 100. Actually, the chief executive has said that, we have three in the top 10 in Asia. So, how are you going to capitalize on the momentum?

Leung: That momentum is very important. I am a proposer as well as an actionist. And also, we have to implement our dreams. So, this is the first step of the dream. We need to tell good stories of Hong Kong. And the best way to do it is you convince and bring the heart of all these foreign friends and top talents. They go back and tell the true story of Hong Kong. And that already is the good story of Hong Kong and our mother country. Also, we get them very interested in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, because both we are very happy to have the support of the government and they also introduce very attractive points of the Greater Bay Area, which will be the future Silicon Valley of the East, we believe. And if you know, if you are top talents, you would not want to be left behind. If you are lawyers, you want to participate in helping how to draft the law in relation to AI and the top talents. So, all these attractions has brought to these participants from all over the world, and they are all happy to come back again, and I believe we can bring more next year.

Chan: Right, Priscilla, since you're going to capitalize on the momentum, but actually, if you look at a more micro level, do you see more sort of what we call a joint-degree programs, or even cross border projects in research happening through this summit? I mean, because are people from different institutions, are they going to have more joint collaboration, do you think?

Leung: Oh, you are asking the right question. I'm so happy that in this summit, we have the discussion in theater one and in theater two, many things happen. Two universities from Hong Kong have together, signed four MOUs with the other overseas universities, and I know many universities from the mainland and Europe and also with the Middle East universities, they are talking about cooperation, and that's what exactly we want them to do, want to happen joint degree programs. I have served as the associate dean of the law school before, I helped to sign many MOUs and joint-degree programs with the universities from the East and the West. And that is exactly what young people want.

Chan: One more thing I want to ask you is, at the closing ceremony, you have an unveiling of a Chinese painting symbolizing eternal friendship. What message do you hope this painting will bring to the international community, and especially for Hong Kong role in this global education process?

Leung: You know, art and music is common language of everyone, so sometimes we do not need to use this very artificial characters to represent the common goal, and the painting, when all the participants from different parts of the world sign their name, they already express their aspiration to have peace, cooperation, mutual trust, and that is a very good success.

Chan: Right Priscilla. Let's take a short break now. But viewers, stay with us; we will be right back.

Chan: Welcome back to Straight Talk. We have been talking with LegCo member Priscilla Leung on how Hong Kong can become a world-class education hub. So, Priscilla, in the first half, I'm sure the viewers have repeatedly heard what you're saying, that knowledge is without boundaries and we must work together. And Hong Kong provides a very good platform. So, we in Hong Kong, we always know that we have our strengths and weaknesses. And here we have been facing challenges, and being a bridge between the East and the West, it looks like Hong Kong can still play that role. What will be your … from your point of view, after the summit, will be our strength, so that we can be still sort of a world-class education hub, which we never thought we could become?

Leung: We can. I have confidence. In this summit, another outcome apart from the cooperation of universities are the students. Those 50 students, we have a lot of dialogue and Q&A sessions. Many students from very top universities, they are inspired by us. They are really attracted by this part of the world, especially what's happening in the mainland and in Hong Kong. I think Hong Kong plays a very, very unique role being an international connector. And “one country, two systems”, we need to tell the story more. We have to be more proactive, because those leaders at those times in 1984, when we signed the declaration, are no more there. And the young people, they are not familiar with what's happening in Hong Kong, apart from their own media. And some of the students told me why Hong Kong is completely different from what they watch in their own media. And I said you also should go to the mainland that actually we are very welcoming and we welcome international communications and Hong Kong system is really a world-class. We have a low-tax system, we are practicing common law and speak English. They were very surprised that everyone speaks English very well.

And I said, we can connect you to the biggest market – that is China. And they are so inspired. I think this will be the young future leaders of their own country. You see, 50 countries, you can get the heart of these young people. They speak good stories, just like myself. I stayed in Beijing for two and a half years, when I was very … I don't know anything about China, as a Hong Kong young student, after I understand China, I have that heart, I came back. I always tell the true story of the development of China and tell the good story of China. So, this is a very subtle thing.

You do not need to hard sell. Young people and university leaders, they will speak up the truth if they see the truth. So, the first thing we have to do, tell them the true story of “one country, two systems”, our legal system, our media section, and also business sector, they listen. And that's why in the summit we organized many secretaries, not only Education Bureau, but also science and technology and industry secretary, as well as business, etc.  We actually try to input Hong Kong’s different perspective of attraction.

Chan: Priscilla, you know Hong Kong has always been in this special position, as you say, “one country, two systems”, that we can be the bridge between us and the mainland and the rest of the world, in particular now during the global tensions.

Leung: Yeah.

Chan: It looks academia is a very good area to be, to start off with, and it's very encouraging for you to tell us that the students want to come to Hong Kong because of our rankings, and you talk about also the attractiveness of Hong Kong. But one thing some people may not have talked a lot about is the educators, the professors which you are part of the team. I know that in the past, Hong Kong had a high proportion of international educators, and we have reduced some recently. What can the Hong Kong government do to encourage them to come back again, so that they help Hong Kong to remain really at the top end?

Leung: Yes, next round, I think we will arrange a summit for the professors, for the top professors, because we already sent out the message. We welcome top class professors or a unique discipline that we need to come to Hong Kong and realize their dream. And if the Hong Kong government has a package, you know nowadays we talk about your IP, intellectual property, and then how to enhance the IP for industrialization. That means we need to make them as products in part of the enterprise and they may become entrepreneurs.

That is a policy that we have to do. Encourage top talents to bring with their intellectual property. We can enhance, like if in the mainland, we have land and then in Hong Kong we even can have the Hong Kong investment company to invest some money, to encourage these young talents. They bring different kind of ideas to Hong Kong. We need to go out and tell them how much Hong Kong is determined to do as policy, as part of investment, as well as the policy to attract top professors to come and universities also can accommodate that. Then we bring these people also how to work together with some mainland companies, maybe very big companies, they can realize their dream together. And our money investor will earn more.

Chan: Right, Priscilla, I think so far, I think you have explained to all of us that the summit provided a platform to really help express Hong Kong's unique role of “one country, two systems”. That's what Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said in the opening address, that we must use this. And also, the director, Zheng Yanxiong, also highlighted that Hong Kong was the city with the most internationalized university globally for six consecutive years. And he has urged our university to expand the tie with other global tertiary institutions. Have you seen our universities doing that at all in the Summit?

Leung: Very much. Actually, the universities in Hong Kong are very internationalized; that I can say. I worked for universities for 30 years. But now we need to have joint forces. We can't just do it with one university, but with another universities. If we can spend a little bit of time and then we can do something together and we can make big things happen. And then all universities can benefit. They look for their counterparts to cooperate. Like in this summit, you see, it's very expensive in terms of time and money to attend so many summits, right? Everywhere on earth. So, if we invite them all together two days, you look for your partnership.

Chan: Right.

Leung: And then we give them time to introduce the universities in Hong Kong, in fact. And then they can also attract their talents. So, if next round, we also invite the top professors of different discipline, university heads from Hong Kong also can come and then they can present how unique and attractive their university is in terms of policy, development plan to attract this talent. I want to see talents from all over the world – North and South, East and West –  and our … like the Middle East, they will come. They all bring with unique talents, you know, and Hong Kong will truly become a very internationalized city for China and for the world.

Chan: Right, Priscilla. I think we had the City University President Professor Boey here a couple of weeks ago, and they're actually doing that as well, I mean building connection with global universities. You know our Chief Secretary KK Chan signed a MOU last Friday with the national and local labor authority in Macao and Guangdong to boost talent exchange in the Greater Bay Area. What opportunity do you see in this for the tertiary education sector?

Leung: The Hong Kong government is very determined to recruit talent. So, they have a committee, education, technology and talents committee that is led by our chief secretary. Usually, when the government really set up a special team, I have full confidence that they will expand, they will have broader spectrum and talent from all over the world will get information, more focus. Now we got it from ordinary advertisement and you know some talents are still very reserved. They don't know whether their families can come here settling well, especially education for their children.

So, we might really need to meet their need. We build up more good international schools and also have the program to teach them Chinese and Chinese culture. So, these young people and our university graduates in future can be very marketable because they both know the East and the West and they know the mentality of the biggest market on earth – that is China – and the culture and civilization. That is very valuable. I would love to be a student going back to that time.

Chan: Priscilla, we only have a minute left. I'm going to ask you a very important question. Being the chairman of the Panel on Education and LegCo, you'll help us to plan for the future. What would be your vision for Hong Kong's tertiary education system in the coming decade, especially in terms of advancing the knowledge, in terms of globalization and, more importantly, attracting international talent? What is your view?

Leung: I have full confidence that with the determination of everyone, we can make Hong Kong really the shining brand name for education. From higher education, we bring in top talent, and also then we have the impact for the secondary education, that our secondary students can also have a chance to meet top talents on earth, and that it will attract students from other parts of the world to study here. Because studying in Hong Kong, you can meet top talents of the world, and they can have a lot of inspiration for their future career to choose where about they would want to settle in future.

Chan: All right, Priscilla, I'm afraid that's all the time we have. And thank you for sharing your passion and energy for supporting Hong Kong to be a global education hub.

Today's discussion has highlighted Hong Kong's unique role as a global connector in education. With the advantages of “one country, two systems”, together with our vision and determination, we are well-positioned to become a world-class education hub. Thank you for joining us and have a good evening!