Short Reads

Depending on the fashions of the period, some of the brows that ancient and medieval Chinese women drew on their own faces would be considered bizarre and even comical today. Photo: Getty Images

Reflections | Laminated brow trend has got nothing on eyebrow styles of ancient China

Eyebrow cosmetics were widely used in ancient China, where women drew eyebrows shaped like feathers, tadpoles, daggers, even fat silkworm cocoons according to the fashions of their time.

17 Mar 2024 - 8:15AM
T-shirts with unusual messages can often be seen in Hong Kong. Photo: Instagram/hongkongtshirtpatrol

Then & Now | Avoid the Pooh: when funny T-shirts and slogans are no longer amusing

Hong Kong residents have been chuckling away at amusing T-shirt slogans since the 1980s, but only the foolish or careless are laughing now.

16 Mar 2024 - 3:16PM
An image shot by Hong Kong photographer Leung Yat-ting, who goes by the name Leungmo. Her work has graced the pages of fashion magazines Vogue HK,  Grazia and Elle Men.. Photo courtesy of Leungmo

Shooting star: the rapid rise of Hong Kong photographer Leungmo

As one of Hong Kong’s most in-demand photographers, Leung Yat-ting, aka Leungmo, has worked with Adidas, Vogue and more. She talks about her inspirations and offers advice to young photographers.

15 Mar 2024 - 12:45PM
Taylor Swift performs onstage during her Eras tour in 2023 in California. Graphic T-shirts like the one she is wearing here can often pack a political or social punch even when they are not intended to by their designers. Photo: Getty Images

Language Matters | Are we reading too much into Taylor Swift’s graphic tees? Maybe, maybe not

Graphic T-shirts – shirts with slogans or phrases – can often pack a political or social punch even when they do not mean to. The tees Taylor Swift wears on stage on tour are just the latest example of that.

14 Mar 2024 - 7:07PM
Rising rockers Whitt’s End are part of the line-up at Hong Kong’s first Jungle Island Music Festival, set to rock Lantau from March 15 to 17, 2024. Photo courtesy: Jungle Island Music Festival

Hong Kong’s first Jungle Island Music Festival to be held on Lantau Island

Hong Kong’s first Jungle Island Music Festival, set to rock Lantau between March 15 and 17, has music and community at its heart, with 50 DJs and 10 local bands providing the soundtrack.

12 Mar 2024 - 5:24PM
Liaquat Ali of Shaffi’s Curry at Borneo Lines in Shek Kong, a food stall that served generations of British Army soldiers and Hong Kong residents.  4 Jan 96. Photo: SCMP

Then & Now | How ‘army camp food’ became a staple of Hong Kong cafe menus

Humble roadside food stalls introduced hungry Hongkongers to spicy but affordable South Asian delicacies that originated in the British Army garrisons stationed across the New Territories.

11 Mar 2024 - 7:45AM
The Hong Kong skyline at night. London, New York and Shanghai, while impressive, can’t compete with Hong Kong’s stunning array of buildings and lights, and it’s something the city must cherish and use to draw tourists. Photo: Getty Images

Home from Home | Hong Kong’s skyline is best in the world; London, Shanghai just don’t compare

Visits to see London’s skyline, while impressive, don’t compare to Hong Kong’s stunning array of buildings and lights. It’s one of things I miss most about the city, and one of its biggest assets.

10 Mar 2024 - 7:17PM
The Trump Princess crossing Victoria Harbour in 1990, when future US president Donald Trump tried to sell the yacht in Hong Kong for US$115 million. He had paid the Sultan of Brunei US$30 million for the vessel three years earlier. Photo: Robert Ng

When Donald Trump tried to sell a US$30 million yacht for US$115 million

Ship brokers warned potential buyers off sinking their money into the Trump Princess when the future US president tried to offload in Hong Kong the yacht he’d bought from the Sultan of Brunei in 1987.

9 Mar 2024 - 7:53PM
A Chinese court room scene from the early 20th century. There were four types of royal  pardon in ancient China, with the practice of granting amnesty beginning early on in the country’s history. Photo: Getty Images

Reflections | Why ancient China’s 4 types of royal pardon had nothing to do with mercy

Royal pardons have hit the news recently after those granted to Malaysia’s ex-prime minister Najib Razak and former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra. In ancient China, they were all about ‘good optics’.

6 Mar 2024 - 7:45AM
Billie Gill in the 1950s. During the 1930s she was a fixture of Shanghai’s literary scene. Our writer Jason Wordie sat down with her for enchanting conversations about the past, before her death in 2006. Photo: Courtesy of Gill family

Then & Now | A brief but beautiful encounter with a key literary figure from 1930s China

Conversations with the late Billie Gill, a fixture of the literary scene in Shanghai, China, in the 1930s, make up fond memories for one writer, who recalls two enjoyable days spent in her company.

9 Mar 2024 - 7:33PM
Taylor Swift performs at Singapore’s National Stadium on March 2, 2024. The singer will hold six concerts in the Lion City from March 2-9 as part of The Eras Tour. Photo: Getty Images

Reflections | Only 1 ancient Chinese singer could match Taylor Swift’s effect in Singapore

Only one singer in ancient China could generate a buzz like that felt in Singapore ahead of Taylor Swift’s March concerts – Yongxin, who enchanted an emperor and a city before losing everything.

6 Mar 2024 - 5:18PM
Veteran Cantonese opera performer and make-up artist Leong Yee-lin will host Cantonese opera make-up workshops as part of a diverse programme of events at Hong Kong’s inaugural WestK FunFest. Photo: courtesy of West Kowloon Cultural District Authority

Cantonese opera to get spotlight at Hong Kong’s WestK FunFest this spring

The inaugural WestK FunFest, at Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District this spring, will feature a range of Cantonese Opera events among its diverse 150-programme schedule, to promote the art form.

1 Mar 2024 - 5:15PM
A triple-decker Cheung Chau ferry and a Macau hydrofoil collided in Hong Kong waters at night in 1977, sinking the ferry and injuring at least 21, in a accident blamed on human negligence from both parties. Photo: SCMP

When a Macau hydrofoil and Hong Kong ferry collided, injuring at least 21

A triple-decker Cheung Chau ferry and a Macau hydrofoil collided in Hong Kong waters at night in 1977, sinking the ferry and injuring at least 21, in a accident blamed on human negligence.

1 Mar 2024 - 10:50AM
Adrian Paterson, a British teacher at Hong Kong University in the 1930s, inspired those he taught with his enthusiasm and eccentricity. But his life was later cut short by a freak accident in Cairo. Photo: Hong Kong University

Then & Now | The Hong Kong University teacher that was ‘everyone’s idol’ in the 30s

An eccentric Hong Kong University English teacher in the late 1930s, Adrian Paterson absorbed Chinese culture with an enthusiasm that left its mark on his students long after his earthly tenure ended.

9 Mar 2024 - 7:30PM
The bridge that linked Tsing Yi with Pillar Island and the New Territories was opened in 1974 by Hong Kong Governor Murray MacLehose, who promised more such infrastructure in the future. Photo: SCMP

‘To live, Hong Kong must continue to grow’: when the Tsing Yi Bridge opened

The bridge, which linked Tsing Yi with Pillar Island and the New Territories, was opened in 1974 by Hong Kong Governor Murray MacLehose, who promised more such infrastructure in the future.

23 Feb 2024 - 12:47PM
Is it a dragon or a lóng? One language-related controversy that has reared it’s scaly head this Lunar New Year is how the animal’s Chinese name is translated into English. Photo: EPA-EFE

Reflections | Why this is the Year of the Lóng, not dragon, for many Chinese

Two language-related controversies mark this year’s Lunar New Year, one of which is using the word ‘dragon’ to translate lóng or loong in Chinese, as if the animal is a Chinese copy of a Western original.

23 Feb 2024 - 12:33PM
Un.tomorrow is a new sound collective comprising local bands and musicians, debuting with a concert on March 9 and 10. Photo: Sun Yeung

Hong Kong indie bands team up for 2-day event Un.tomorrow: First Assembly

Hong Kong collective Un.tomorrow, started by four local musicians, is putting on its first event, showcasing 10 indie bands from the city on March 9 and 10

23 Feb 2024 - 9:23AM
In Hong Kong, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has launched a dating app that allows users to swipe profiles of rescue animals – just as people looking for mates do on Tinder. Photo: SPCA

Would you swipe right for this dog? In Hong Kong, you can

In Hong Kong, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has launched a dating app that allows users to swipe profiles of rescue animals – just as people looking for mates do on Tinder.

19 Feb 2024 - 5:15PM
Squatter huts alongside Mount Parker Road in Quarry Bay in 1977. A legacy of such squatter areas in Hong Kong that were cleared but not concreted over for public housing is the trees and plants settlers left behind when they were moved out. Photo: SCMP

Then & Now | Trees, plants are telltale signs of former Hong Kong squatter settlements

The 1.5 million refugees from China’s civil war who flooded post-war Hong Kong were practical folks. The fruit trees and bushes they planted are a legacy of the squatter settlements they once inhabited.

19 Feb 2024 - 7:45AM
A man holds a sign professing his love for Cantonese at a Hong Kong rally against Mandarin being promoted to the detriment of the dialect widely spoken in the city. Unesco’s International Mother Language Day, celebrated on February 21 each year, recognises the value of linguistic diversity.  Photo: AFP

Language Matters | Unesco mother tongue day is a nod to language’s link to sustainability

Curiously, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals do not explicitly include language. Unesco’s International Mother Language Day recognises the links between language and sustainability.

17 Feb 2024 - 2:15PM