Last Week in Viral News
We take a look back at the local news that spread like wildfire.
Jan 16, Sat: Police arrest a 32-year-old woman in Yuen Long for allegedly fooling a mother into letting her “tutor” her son. The woman had convinced the parent over the phone that she was her son’s teacher before being allowed into the flat, where she allegedly stole $3,600 worth of goods. The arrest came after a few parents in the same district had also been pressured into forking out hefty tuition fees for “concerned teachers” offering to give their young underachievers’ grades a boost.
Jan 17, Sun: An annual Falun Gong meeting is interrupted after police receive an anonymous tip about multiple bombs hidden in a hotel where the meeting is to take place. Some 1,200 Falun Gong delegates and around 400 other guests are evacuated from the Tsim Sha Tsui hotel. A bomb squad finds two timers taped around gas cylinders, but no explosives. Police have classified the case as a hoax.
Jan 18, Mon: Police arrest two men and seize around $10,000 worth of chocolate, candy, phones and jewelry in Sham Shui Po. One of the pair had allegedly duped nine schoolchildren and senior citizens into believing that they were police and “confiscated” their belongings after conducting searches, using the victims’ resistance as an excuse. The two are believed to be responsible for other cases of candy and chocolate theft from supermarkets in the area.
Jan 19, Tue: A 54-year-old resident of an apartment building in Happy Valley goes to retrieve his Mercedes-Benz E-Class from the building’s car park when he finds that the whole car has been wrapped in cling film. The driver appeared to have parked his car in the wrong place, and police suggest that the spot’s real owner might have been seeking revenge to get his spot back.
Jan 20, Wed: At around 10pm, a 60-year-old man is walking towards a multi-story car park on Temple Street in Yau Ma Tei when he feels something like a bee sting on his neck. He turns to see a man holding a stun gun. Having failed to stun the man, the thief tries to grab his bag anyway. The man fights the thief, who turns and flees. Police arrive with a search dog, but they are unable to locate the thief.
Jan 21, Thu: A Sai Wan restaurant worker opening up shop in the morning notices that the cash register has been forced open and the safe shows signs of tampering. Police check the restaurant’s CCTV feed and discover that a thief has broken into the store through the ceiling. They believe that the thief entered from an exhaust vent outside the store, three meters above the ground, and crawled into the shop. A total of $18,000 has been taken.
Jan 22, Fri: At around 2am a woman is spotted standing completely naked outside a bar in Sham Shui Po. Her photo is posted on social media, where its uploader explains that he had just had dessert in Sham Shui Po when he saw the woman, wearing nothing but a pair of pink slippers on her feet. She stood for a while outside the bar before heading upstairs. According to Hong Kong Observatory, the temperature in Sham Shui Po fell as low as 9°C that night. Netizens suggest that she might have lost a bet.
