Club Lunch: Life in Hong Kong Prisons

Monday, May 11, 2015
12:30pm for 12:45pm – lunch
1:15pm – address
1st Floor

Speaker: Tobias Brandner
Prison Chaplain
Associate Professor, Department of Cultural and Religious Studies
Chinese University of Hong Kong

Prisons were public institutions that are, for various reasons, not accessible to the general public. One important exemption were religious visitors who were given access to the world of confinement in order to care for the spiritual needs of the inmates. Tobias Brandner had for the past 18 years served as a chaplain to those in prison and had gained insight into the hidden world of imprisonment. His talk would focus on the life realities of those in prison, about who they were and what are their perspectives. He shared his views on the correctional policies in Hong Kong.

Tobias Brandner was an ordained pastor of the Reformed Church. Originally born and raised in Switzerland, Brandner moved to Hong Kong in 1996 and has been living here since then. From 1998, he had been a prison chaplain in various prisons in Hong Kong on both full time and part time capacities. He had a PhD in theology from the University of Zurich and is an Associate Professor at the Department of Cultural and Religious Studies of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. His publications included various articles on Christian faith and religious life in prison, including the book Beyond the Walls of Separation: Christian Faith and Ministry in Prison.