Last Week In Reality
Last week's news in bite-sized chunks.
Sat 7
Soap Fail A 27-year-old woman who likes to make her own soap accidentally burns herself in North Point. While combining ingredients together at home, she accidentally adds too much alcohol and the soap mixture catches fire. She suffers burns to her legs and dozens of nearby residents are evacuated. She says that she will continue to make DIY soap, as it’s better for your skin, but she will take better care when handling volatile ingredients in the future.
Sun 8
It’s the Pits A woman steals makeup by hiding products in her armpit. According to surveillance camera footage, the woman enters a Mong Kok shop at around 5pm, and when the staff member is not looking, she quickly tucks two blushes into her right armpit. She then chats casually with the staff member and leaves after several minutes. The shop uploads the footage online. The next day, the woman shows up and asks for forgiveness, but without returning the blushes or offering to pay for them. She is arrested.
Mon 9
Looking for Stephen At 10am a 33-year-old man from Xian, looking to pitch a new kung fu comedy to filmmaker Stephen Chow, begins the day’s search for the star in Kowloon Tong. He holds a banner that says “Looking for Stephen Chow 250”—which is also his proposed movie title. He decides to rest on a footbridge, but a passerby wrongly believes that he is attempting suicide and calls the police. He tells officers that he is a huge Stephen Chow fan and spent three years writing a script after being told to do so in a dream.
Tue 10
Chair Tragedy At 1am in Mong Kok, a man is struck and killed by an office chair falling from a building. The man is walking along Sai Yeung Choi Street South with two friends when a man throws the 20-pound chair out the window, striking the man on the head. He dies soon after. A man with a history of mental illness is arrested.
Wed 11
Big House Betting The Hong Kong Correctional Services shares a case of illegal but creative gambling behind bars: inmates secretly mix soap with bread to make dice and chess pieces to play games. Cigarettes are used as gaming chips. The increased checks on inmates are being conducted to prevent gambling during the World Cup. Two of the matches will be screened for inmates on Sunday, their day off.
Thu 12
Pole Grinder An Apple Daily reader tips off the newspaper about a sexual predator on the MTR. The reader saw a man in his 50s boarding the train at Shek Kip Mei station. The man began hugging, kissing and grinding on the pole while staring at a nearby woman. He then put his hand inside his pants. He left the train one stop later at Kowloon Tong.
Fri 13
World Cup Fever Local companies are getting ready to deal with the aftermath of the World Cup. As most matches this year will take place from 3am to 6am Hong Kong time, the Hong Kong Broadband network will give staff the option to push back their working hours to 1pm to 10pm. The MTR sends out an “exhaustion management” memo, reminding staff that not sleeping for 17 hours impairs you to the same degree as being drunk.
