The Graduation Ceremony for the Silver Strand Ambassador Programme was successfully organized on 18 May 2024. During the event, our trained ambassadors showcased their acquired knowledge by delivering a taster lecture on the Three Instruments of Peace and demonstrated how they use the Community Legal Information Centre (CLIC) and the CLIC Recommender in their community outreach efforts.
The Silver Strand Ambassador Programme
The Silver Strand Ambassador Programme, organized by the Law and Technology Centre (the Centre) and funded by the Yearly KE Funding Scheme for Strategic Impact of the Knowledge Exchange Office, aims to empower the elderly community—including seniors and their caregivers—by enhancing their ability to recognize potential legal issues in daily life. Utilizing various online and offline legal resources, primarily CLIC and the CLIC Recommender, an AI-powered CLIC pages recommendation system designed by the Centre, these individuals can better address legal issues for themselves or their peers, fostering a more informed and resilient community.
Our initiative focuses on three major themes. The first theme, Three Instruments of Peace, covers three critical legal documents vital to old age and end-of-life (EoL) care: Wills, Enduring Powers of Attorney (EPA), and Advance Medical Directives. The second theme addresses common scams targeting the elderly, equipping them with the knowledge to protect themselves. The third theme revolves around EoL arrangements, ensuring that individuals can make informed decisions about their advance care planning and legal-death-related matters.
We have partnered with key community organizations such as the Hong Kong Society for the Aged and Hong Kong Christian Service to recruit ambassadors who play a vital role in our outreach efforts. These ambassadors were trained by professionals, including Sherlynn Chan, Founding Chairman of MIP Care Resources Connect (MIPCRC) and Partner at Deacons, Eric Cheung, Principal Lecturer and Director of Clinical Legal Education of HKU’s Faculty of Law, and Ming Tai, Founder of Lives Are and a funeral director. These experts address issues in our three key themes, ensuring the training is comprehensive and impactful.
Our ambassadors have conducted multiple outreach events, sharing their knowledge about the Three Instruments of Peace with seniors at community centres operated by our partners. In addition to these outreach efforts, we hosted four public legal talks, attended by a total of 663 participants. Key emphasis on the Three Instruments of Peace was delivered by Ryanne Lai, Founder of Forever Gift, and Ms. Chan of MIPCRC, while Ming Tai provided a lecture on EoL matters.
During the curation of the programme, our observations highlighted a significant lack of awareness among medical practitioners regarding the EPA, resulting in reluctance to witness the signing of such documents. To address this gap, we organized a lecture by Dr Jess Leung, founding member of MIPCRC, Clinical Associate Professor (Honorary) in Psychiatry at CUHK and a practicing Psychiatrist. Dr Leung’s lecture focused on ascertaining mental capacity for legal documents, aiming to raise awareness among medical and social work professionals about the Three Instruments of Peace and their vital roles in the making of these legal documents.
In addition to organizing physical events to disseminate legal information to the public, the Centre has developed an innovative technology called the CLIC Recommender to enhance the user experience of CLIC. The AI-powered system analyses users’ input, whether it be a legal scenario or a legal question, to recommend relevant CLIC pages, making it easier for individuals to find the information they need quickly. This technology is a valuable resource to the Silver Strand Ambassador Programme, as it enables our trained ambassadors to better assist seniors and caregivers in addressing legal issues.
Through initiatives like CLIC and the CLIC Recommender, facilitated with community outreach, the Centre strives to make lay-friendly, trustworthy legal knowledge more accessible to local communities. This empowerment enables individuals to be more aware of their rights and to seek assistance from social workers, lawyers, and other professionals when needed.
Announcement: Beta Launch of CLIC Recommender
We are excited to announce the launch of the beta version of the CLIC Recommender. We invite you to try it out at https://clic.org.hk/app/recommender and discover how this AI-powered system can help you quickly and easily find the legal information you need.
About the Community Legal Information Centre (CLIC)
The Community Legal Information Centre (CLIC) is an initiative by the Law and Technology Centre at the University of Hong Kong. Initially funded by the Department of Justice of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, CLIC has also received generous support from the WYNG Foundation and the HKU Knowledge Exchange Fund. This project provides free, bilingual legal information to the public, particularly those who may not be familiar with legal matters.
CLIC covers a wide range of legal topics relevant to the general public. These include divorce and other marriage-related issues, will-making, consent in medical procedures, and consumer rights, among many others.