Prof. Lau is a graduate of the English Journalism Programme of the Communication Department of Hong Kong Baptist College, the predecessor of today’s Department of Journalism. He obtained his MA degree from the University of Minnesota. Prof. Lau joined the South China Morning Post in the early 1980s as a reporter and rose to become the Editor-in-Chief in 2007. He had also worked for The Australian in Sydney and for Wah Kiu Yat Po, and was Chief Press Information Officer of the Independent Commission Against Corruption.

In 2010, Prof. Lau joined the Department of Journalism as a Principal Lecturer and was a recipient of the President’s Award for Outstanding Performance in Teaching in 2015. He has been Associate Dean of the Graduate School since 2017. He was appointed Professor of Practice in 2019.

Prof. Lau has been active in professional bodies, having served as a board member and executive director of The Newspaper Society of Hong Kong and an executive member of the Hong Kong News Executives’ Association. He is currently a director of both the Journalism Education Foundation and Hong Kong News-Expo.