Public acceptance of and support for rehabilitated offenders could help them break the vicious cycle of reoffending, thereby building a safer and more inclusive society. To this end, public education is indispensable.

In recent years, the Correctional Services Department (CSD) has been proactively extending its reach beyond the prison walls to the community. Through the 12 programmes under the Rehabilitation Pioneer Project (RPP), namely Education Talks, Personal Encounter with Prisoners Scheme, Green Haven Scheme, Visits to Hong Kong Correctional Services Museum, Student Forum, Extended Training Camp, Drama and Music Performance of “Creation and Rehabilitation”, The Reflective Path, Summer Tour, Mission in Prison, Rehabilitation Pioneer Leaders (RPL) and Rehabilitation Express (RehEx), the Department proactively disseminates to young people the messages of “safeguarding our country and home, leading a law-abiding and drug-free life as well as supporting offender rehabilitation”. The Department also organises various types of activities promoting offender rehabilitation to appeal for public support and participation, with a view to reducing crime at its roots.

Launched in 2022, the RehEx is a brand-new community education activity of the CSD tailor-made for primary school students. The CSD arranges for a promotion vehicle to visit primary schools in various districts across the territory to enhance the promotion of national security, national education, crime prevention, anti-drug and support for rehabilitation messages to primary school students through electronic games and dodgebee, a newly emerged sport. The promotion vehicle is arranged to visit at least 10 primary schools in various districts every month to enhance students’ awareness of national security and their sense of responsibility, and instil into them correct values, so as to teach them to become law-abiding citizens through the interactive electronic games installed on board.

The Secretary for Security, Mr Tang Ping-keung (left), and the Commissioner of Correctional Services, Mr Wong Kwok-hing (right), officiate at the Kick-off Ceremony of the RehEx.

The Secretary for Security, Mr Tang Ping-keung, and the Commissioner of Correctional Services, Mr Wong Kwok-hing, participate in an interactive game with students.

The target participants of the RPP are students and young people. As such, the Department has established the RPL, a youth uniformed group, to nurture young leaders, so that they can assist the Department in promoting the messages of law-abidingness and inclusiveness as well as supporting offender rehabilitation in the community. Apart from vigorously promoting the RPL during different activities held in schools under the RPP, the Department also organises the “RPL Experience Day” in different schools, during which students could experience the training and understand the values of the RPL through various activities, so as to enhance their awareness of crime prevention. Through diversified training, the RPL helps broaden the horizons of its participants, develop their potential, foster self-discipline, enhance their sense of belonging to our country and home and sense of social responsibility as well as to encourage them to actively contribute to society in the future by promoting law-abiding and inclusive values for a better Hong Kong. As at end-2022, the total number of RPL trainees was over 230.

“The 3rd Inauguration Ceremony of the RPL Consultant and Management Committee cum RPL Promotion Ceremony” was successfully held on 31 July 2022, with Mr Lee Kwong-yee, Jason Joseph being appointed the Director of the RPL Consultant and Management Committee and nine more community leaders serving as Regional Executive Commanders.

“The 3rd Inauguration Ceremony of the RPL Consultant and Management Committee cum RPL Promotion Ceremony” was successfully held on 31 July 2022.

The pledging ceremony of the Youth National Education Series: Chinese Cultural Journey (Phase 1) was held on 4 September 2022, followed by a series of local cultural experiential learning activities in September and October 2022. These activities enabled RPL trainees to obtain a better understanding of the history of our country and Hong Kong, thus enhancing their sense of belonging towards our country and their sense of national identity.

The pledging ceremony of the Youth National Education Series: Chinese Cultural Journey (Phase 1) was held on 4 September 2022.

RPL trainees visit Sha Tau Kok Pier.

RPL trainees visit the Hong Kong Palace Museum.

RPL trainees make salted egg yolks, a local specialty during their trip to Tai O.

On 24 September 2022, 40 RPLs participated in the “Together We Prosper” Grand Parade, which was held by the Security Bureau at the Fire and Ambulance Services Academy in celebration of the 73rd Anniversary of the Founding of the People’s Republic of China and the 25th Anniversary of the Establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Among them, 20 RPLs performed a dragon and lion dance which added elements of Chinese culture to the event.

RPLs perform a dragon dance in the “Together We Prosper” Grand Parade in celebration of the 73rd Anniversary of the Founding of the People’s Republic of China and the 25th Anniversary of the Establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

To enhance RPL trainees’ understanding of national education and their sense of national identity, Chinese-style foot drill practice and flag-raising training are specifically incorporated into their training, which not only foster discipline and team spirit, but also help nurture them into a new generation with a sense of national identity, an understanding of our motherland, and an affection for Hong Kong.

In addition, RPL trainees attended a number of media interviews in 2022, during which they shared their training experiences, and promoted the messages of law-abidingness, inclusiveness and supporting offender rehabilitation to the general public and young people.

The Department has been working closely with various community stakeholders to create rehabilitation opportunities and promote law-abidingness, crime prevention, and inclusive values through community education. In order to further enhance the effectiveness of community education, a student musical drama entitled “Direct Your Life” was organised under the RPP on 16 December 2022 at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium. The event, which was officiated by the Secretary for Security, Mr Tang Ping-keung, was participated by more than 2 000 students, teachers, principals, members of Parent-Teacher Associations from 40 schools, members of District Fight Crime Committees and various community partners.

The musical drama was set in the black-clad violence period in 2019, during which many young people committed unlawful acts under the influence of false information. The musical drama recruited 16 RPLs who have aspired to perform in stage shows as student actors. They disseminated to the audience the messages of “safeguarding our country and home, leading a law-abiding and drug-free life as well as supporting offender rehabilitation” through the musical.

The Department organises the student musical drama entitled “Direct Your Life” to promote the messages of leading a law-abiding life and supporting offender rehabilitation.

In order to further strengthen community education and promote racial harmony, the RPP and the Hong Kong Justice of the Peace Association have co-organised the “Project J Ethnic Minority Students Award Scheme”, under which ethnic minority young participants are recruited through nomination by schools and non-governmental organisations. Participants will be arranged to participate in various activities under the RPP, with a view to helping them develop positive values and a sense of social responsibility, so that they could become law-abiding citizens and help with the dissemination of the messages of law-abidingness and community inclusiveness to their schools and communities. Besides, the project also deepens ethnic minority young people’s understanding of the professional work of the CSD. The “Project J Life Planning Workshop cum Award Presentation Ceremony” was held on 13 August 2022. In addition to participating in the award presentation ceremony, Project J participants were given a sharing of work experience and points to note for applying CSD’s vacancies by correctional staff of different ethnicities during a life planning workshop. This helped them gain a deeper understanding of correctional work and increased their interest in joining the CSD in the future.

Correctional staff share work experience with participants of the “Project J Ethnic Minority Students Award Scheme” during a life planning workshop.

Participants of the “Project J Ethnic Minority Students Award Scheme” attend the “Project J Life Planning Workshop cum Award Presentation Ceremony”.

The Department proactively utilises various social media platforms for broadcasting multimedia videos produced in an interesting and innovative way, so as to educate a new generation of young people through the dissemination of the key messages of “safeguarding our country and home, leading a law-abiding and drug-free life as well as supporting offender rehabilitation”.

To enhance the sense of national identity of young people, the Department has produced a video about Chinese-style foot drill and a short video containing activities highlights of the “Chinese Cultural Journey” of RPLs, with a view to cultivating their sense of national identity and sense of belonging to our country.

To promote law-abidingness, the Department has produced a series of videos, “Be a law-abiding citizen, and you’ll have more choices in life.”, to enable the public, especially the younger generation, to understand the dire consequences of breaking the law, thus enhancing their law-abiding awareness.

In view of the increasing number of young drug addicts, the Department has launched a series of videos, such as the “Anti-drug Buzzword”, “Drug Abuse Ruins Your Life” and “After Drug”, to raise anti-drug awareness among young people. These videos introduce common drugs and their harmful effects in a humourous approach with the use of buzzwords. Young people are also advised to resist temptation, and say no to drug abuse and any other drug-related illegal activities.

On promoting the support for offender rehabilitation, the Department has produced a variety of videos on rehabilitation programmes, such as “Table-tennis for Rehabilitation Awareness” and “Life Transformation Behind Art”, to promote the message of supporting offender rehabilitation, so as to strengthen the motivation of persons in custody for starting afresh.

The Hong Kong Correctional Services Museum - Community Education Experience Centre was officially opened on 10 December 2022. Under the theme of “Home, Country and Correction”, the centre features interactive games and multimedia items to provide the public, especially young people, with information about national security and national education, and promote the messages of leading a law-abiding and drug-free life as well as supporting offender rehabilitation.

The Secretary for Security, Mr Tang Ping-keung (sixth right), and the Commissioner of Correctional Services, Mr Wong Kwok-hing (fifth left), officiate at the opening ceremony of the Community Education Experience Centre.

Interactive games and multimedia items provided at the Community Education Experience Centre

The year 2022 marked the 40th anniversary of the renaming of the Prisons Department as the Correctional Services Department and the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to the motherland. The Department organised a series of large-scale celebration events and exhibitions to promote the evolution of the Department after the renaming, and to showcase its achievements and contributions to Hong Kong over the years. These included a mega lantern display jointly organised with Tung Sin Tan, the Central and Western District Office, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and the Central and Western District Celebrations Association. The mega lantern was made by people from different sectors, including persons in custody, volunteers, and teachers and students from Mainland schools, who were responsible for making different parts of the lantern which were then merged into the final product. Being the world’s largest hanging-type lantern, the mega lantern successfully set a Guinness World Record. In December 2022, the Department organised the Grand Performance cum Open Day under the theme of “Home, Country and Correction” at the Hong Kong Correctional Services Academy. It featured various exhibitions, professional demonstrations and game booths to enable the public to better understand the evolution of the CSD’s work with dual emphasis on safe custody and rehabilitation over the years and its future development, to demonstrate the Department’s determination to safeguard national and Hong Kong’s security, as well as to appeal to the public to support offender rehabilitation.

A Chinese-style foot drill demonstration in the Grand Performance cum Open Day under the theme of “Home, Country and Correction”

A member of the public plays at a game booth in the Grand Performance cum Open Day under the theme of “Home, Country and Correction”.

The Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, officiates at the lighting ceremony of the mega lantern display in celebration of the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to the motherland and the 40th anniversary of the renaming of the Prisons Department as the Correctional Services Department.