Last month, six Hongkongers were charged in Macau with three crimes, including dismembering, after they were suspected of stabbing and chopping up a man there.

In late May, a mentally disturbed man killed a three-year-old boy in a chopping in Sham Shui Po and earlier that month a teenager was charged with murder after he killed his girlfriend in a frenzied bout of chopping in Tuen Mun.

Last year, a man almost killed his former girlfriend in Tseung Kwan O when she told him their relationship was over.

He left her lying in a pool of blood after using a peeler, a fruit knife and a chopper on her. He had tried but failed to throw her out of the apartment window.

Former lawmaker and political commentator Albert Cheng King-hon was severely injured during a chopper attack in 1998 outside the radio station where he hosted a talk show.

And in May 1996, two assailants severed the left forearm of Leung Tin-wai, a veteran Hong Kong journalist in the offices of his new newspaper, Surprise Weekly.

Current and former law enforcement officers say chopping is prevalent here for a variety of factors.

First, a chopper is a very accessible weapon. It's one of the most common cutting implements in Hong Kong kitchens and is the weapon of choice for conflicts as varied as domestic fights and mob battles.

'The average kitchen has got an array of fruit knives and choppers,' a retired Hong Kong police officer said. 'They're the weapon of choice, simply, I suppose, because of the availability.'

Secondly, for gang crimes, chopping is a way to send a message.

'They're not trying to kill each other,' the retired officer said. 'They're trying to teach people a lesson ... They create horrendous wounds without killing the guy.'

Another reason that some offenders may rely on the chopper is that gun crimes carry stiffer penalties, one active officer said. A person can receive up to 14 years in prison for possession of a firearm without a licence, he said.

A Hong Kong 1970s television character called Fishmonger Shing used to shout: 'I'll cut you with a chopper' whenever he was provoked. The phrase was often repeated, even by school children, and has become entrenched in the city's popular culture.

The officer said that such depictions helped perpetuate the popularity of choppers.

He said: 'You start with its being a weapon of choice because it's the most accessible, and then it's the weapon of choice because it's the weapon of choice.'

Still, the officer pointed out that Hong Kong, with its seven million residents, was safe when compared to other cities.

According to Hong Kong Police Force statistics, there were 14,682 violent crimes in Hong Kong in 1998 - 224 crimes per 100,000 people. That number had decreased slightly to 14,429 violent crimes in 2008 or 207 crimes per 100,000 people.

In 2008, there were 36 murders, and nearly 7,882 cases of woundings and serious assaults in the city.

Police do not keep crime figures for a specific weapon, but the officer said: 'My feeling is when you have a serious wounding either a knife or a meat cleaver is probably involved.'