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Presented a data-rich assessment of the post-2019 wave of emigration in the annual conference of the Society for Hong Kong Studies. My idea started when everyone was talking about emigration and it became so fashionable that people began to attribute every phenomenon around us to emigration.

Yesterday was China's Cultural and Natural Heritage Day. We held the World Cultural Heritage Youth Forum (Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area), where inheritors and contributors shared their conservation experience. Award-winning teams reported their mock proposals of world heritage sites to Alvin Chiu, Political Assistant to Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism. Earlier, our postgraduate mentors toured with groups of secondary students to Yim Tin Tsai and Lung Yeuk Tau to learn about the protection, management and exhibition of local heritage. The timeless charm of Hong Kong culture deserves to be better known in the international community

Path of Democracy resumed its visit to Beijing after years of travel curbs. Students from Hong Kong Academy of Politics and Public Policy joined us to meet central institutions, universities and think tanks related to HK affairs. We were deeply encouraged by Xia Baolong, HKMAO Director of the State Council, about our impact on One Country Two Systems research and political talents training. We were also received by NPC's Constitution and Law Committee and its Standing Committee's Legislative Affairs Commission, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies, and three universities: Peking University, Tsinghua University and Renmin University of China. We hope to demonstrate to the public how to build trust by maintaining engagement and embark on a path of positive interaction.

Proper maintenance can extend building life. Secondary students from Urban Renewal Authority's Youth Speak programme analyzed what policy problems are, learnt how to handle them, and practiced ways to balance stakeholder interests. Look forward to their proposals to encourage building rehabilitation from the aspects of policy review, planning, enforcement and education so that homeowners can preserve their wealth and residents can live safely and comfortably.

Imposing smoking ban is a global issue. We should complement Hong Kong having one of the world's lowest smoke prevalence. Joining a crime investigator from Customs and a psychiatrist, I discussed tobacco control in HK from a public administration perspective. The incumbent government forges ahead with a goal to eliminate damages of tobacco. To do so, it takes into account people's health awareness, the capacity of public healthcare system and social moral standard. However, problems such as economic recovery in the post-pandemic era, public order issues resulted by rising illicit trade, the right to choose in a free-market economy, have extended the impacts of tobacco policies to a widened spectrum. A government portrays a role to formulate rules with the premise of balancing interests within different parties and stakeholders. It should make full use of policy instruments such as regulations, public finance, administration and education to build a harmonious society.

Constitutional professors heard from us the latest development of HK's rule of law. Delegates include RUC's Han Dayuan, PKU's Chen Duanhong & Wang Lei, Wuhan's Qin Qianhong and SYSU's Yang Xiaonan. They are China's top advisors on the Basic Laws of HK and Macau. I hope this exchange helped them better understand viewpoints from HK.

The latest One Country Two Systems Index finds out enlarged discrepancy between growing local confidence and declining international perception. We shared with chief executive John Lee, director of CE office Carol Yip and head of CE Policy Unit Stephen Wong about key issues related to internal governance and overseas concerns. More work can be done to tell good stories of HK's rule of law, commerce and innotech!

Friends said we should bring better public affairs education to HK as we felt that fewer and fewer CSOs were getting involved. So the Young Councillors programme was launched half year ago. High schoolers started by understanding our governance system under the Constitution and the Basic Law, navigated key sites for "One Country, Two Systems" in a city hunt, visited local neighbourhoods about district issues, joined job shadowing in offices of legislative councillors, faced hands-on practice in policymaking and advocacy, and engaged in a bill passage simulation. We congratulate prize winners who received their awards from Under Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs Clarence Leung and lawmakers Eunice Yung, Lam Chun-sing and Dominic Lee. We also thank 10 LegCo members who offered work opportunities, community workers who guided walking tours and principals and teachers who supported us all along. See you again next school term!

Although personal charm is difficult to teach, there is always a speech behind every speaker. The trainees of the legislators practiced political speeches one by one, identified the audience and opponents, set the purpose of the speech, and chose their own core message. By using the Parliamentary Speech Worksheet, everyone can be well prepared to speak out to society.

For 7 years, Path of Democracy has been advocating pragmatism and rational politics in turbulent times. It's our honour to have 🇭🇰 CE John Lee, Chief Secretary KK Chan, Secretary for Justice Paul Lam and Hang Lung's Ronnie Chan joining our anniversary dinner. To go beyond our past success, we'll broaden our research scope to reach the international business community and tell Hong Kong's good stories to English-speaking audience.