Short Reads
In 1965, a run on Ming Tak Bank, owned by Poon Kai-kwong, led to rumours of trouble at other Chinese banks. Following restrictions on withdrawals, confidence was eventually restored
Throughout Chinese history, arbitrary punishments have been meted out for nothing more than familial ties.
So close, so similar, and yet so beguilingly different. Hong Kong’s neighbour looked like the British colony but had its own social issues, including slavery in the form of the ‘coolie trade’.
‘Ecology In The Making – A History of Amateur Naturalists in Hong Kong’ shines a light on 12 individuals who helped discover, collect, identify and conserve the city’secology from 1816 to 1984.
The animal’s scientific name includes the Latin word cinerus, or ‘ash-coloured’, which has new poignancy given how many have died in Australia’s bush fires.
Grimy, badly maintained with lousy facilities and service, Hong Kong’s ferries are a poor reflection of the city’s show-stopping waters.
Right-wing politics and outright racism towards other ‘Asians’ are often ignored by modern post-colonial academics.
The Taoist philosophy is best understood as taking minimum action and leaving things to run their natural course. But in testing times the passive approach might not be advisable.
The orchestra’s estimated annual running cost of HK$4.5 million was deemed ‘well worth spending if we are to prove wrong those people who call Hongkong a cultural desert’.
The idiom ‘20/20 vision’ was never meant to imply excellent, or even above average, eyesight.
Muslim seamen from around Asia, many of them stereotypical drunken sailors, are remembered in Hong Kong road names.
Fuel mind and body with a superfood-packed afternoon tea at W Hotel’s Woobar.
Other peoples and cultures have made a significant impression on the country’s aural output, but copying has become more common in recent years. Where is the originality?
The regeneration of Wedding Card Street in Wan Chai, transformed into pedestrianised and picture-perfect Lee Tung Street, raised rents and pushed out the locals that gave the area its charm.
Little-heard lesser languages can be as ‘at risk’ as endangered species and should be conserved as such
The power of rulers’ in imperial China was absolute, but they were still at risk of being overthrown by adversaries.
With much of the population repulsed by milk, dairy products have long been considered luxury items.
More than 2,000 years ago, Chinese physicians were treating patients’ teeth, sometimes successfully.
Hongkonger David Griffiths, general manager of a sports centre, made the 4,000km dash in aid of disabled Chinese athletes.