South China Morning Post
Surviving Sars (2002-2007): Hong Kong’s first major health and political hurdles in 25 photos
Hong Kong at 25
  • The severe acute respiratory syndrome gave the city its first major health scare since the handover, while in the years that followed, Hong Kong would find itself seeking the right balance between local autonomy and central authority
Hong Kong at 25
SCMP Editorial
SCMP Editorial
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Hong Kong’s first major health and political crises since the handover came in 2003, when the city was hit by the deadly severe acute respiratory syndrome and fervent protests over a proposed national security law pressed by Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa after he was re-elected unopposed. An estimated 500,000 residents took to the streets on July 1 to express their fears over the loss of freedoms. In the face of overwhelming opposition, the government was forced to shelve the bill.

A trade pact signed with mainland China after the epidemic paved the way for greater access to markets over the border, helping to boost the economy. Mainland tourists began arriving in greater numbers, snapping up products from luxury handbags to toiletries. But the closer integration also fuelled anxieties over the economy growing too dependent on the mainland, fears that came as the city was trying to find the right balance between local autonomy and central authority under the principle of “one country, two systems”.

Amid mounting criticism over his performance, Tung resigned in 2005, citing failing health, and was succeeded by veteran civil servant Donald Tsang Yam-kuen. Tsang’s first years of governing were marked by the opposition camp’s deep scepticism of his proposed constitutional reforms, which they felt did not go far enough.

[Withering heights] Nearly lost in the clouds above Victoria Harbour, a construction worker toils away on Two IFC on October 2, 2002, a year before the building is due to be completed. Designed to evoke a feeling of ascension by renowned architect Cesar Pelli, the same visionary behind the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Two IFC was the tallest building in the city, rising 415 metres off the ground, until the International Commerce Centre in West Kowloon was finished seven years later. Photo: Robert Ng
[Urban poet] Turning the city’s walls, pillars and electricity junction boxes into his canvases, “King of Kowloon” Tsang Tsou-choi crafts a graffiti message on a Tsz Wan Shan street on October 14, 2002. An immigrant from Guangdong province, Tsang began creating his idiosyncratic essays about his family and sometimes the wider world in the mid-1950s, but only decades later did art critics take notice. Tsang died in 2007 at age 85, having never proved his lifelong claim that his ancestors were the true land owners of Kowloon, but as a small vindication, his works sit in the M+ museum that towers over his old neighbourhood. Photo: Oliver Tsang
[A scourge spreads] As the severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) begins to engulf Hong Kong, policemen and health workers gather outside Block E of Amoy Gardens in Kowloon Bay on March 31, 2003, after hundreds of infections emerged. Residents were barred from leaving the block, marking the first time in the city an isolation order was issued for public health reasons. Hours after an investigation found that the sewage system could have contributed to the spread of the disease, authorities ordered all residents to be evacuated from the building. By the time the crisis was over, the disease had killed 299 of the 1,755 people it infected, with eight medical staff among the fatalities. Photo: Robert Ng
[‘Madonna of the East’] Canto-pop diva and actress Anita Mui Yim-fong, known as the “daughter of Hong Kong”, at a press conference on April 30, 2003, to promote a film retrospective of the late Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing. Sadly, she would die in December of the same year at the age of 40 from cervical cancer. Her passing just months after Cheung’s marked a double whammy for Hong Kong showbiz with two of its biggest stars gone too soon. Mui began performing while still a child and by the time she was in her teens was singing in night clubs across the city. Following her breakthrough in the early 1980s, Mui attracted fans across the region and overseas, with a reputation for flamboyant, theatrical concerts marked by constant, inventive costume changes, earning her the nickname the “Madonna of the East”. Photo: K. Y. Cheng
[Frontline sacrifice] The first public hospital doctor to die of severe acute respiratory syndrome in Hong Kong, Joanna Tse Yuen-man is laid to rest on May 22, 2003 in Gallant Garden, reserved for public servants who die in the line of duty. Tse volunteered to work in a Sars ward in Tuen Mun Hospital and became infected while trying to resuscitate an infected patient, and died on May 13 at the age of 35. She was posthumously awarded the Medal for Bravery, and her sacrifice, captured on film and in song, continues to inspire a city. Photo: Martin Chan
[Sea of anger] An estimated 500,000 protesters bring Causeway Bay to a halt for more than six hours on July 1, 2003, overshadowing official celebrations for the sixth anniversary of the handover from British sovereignty. “Down with Tung!” was just one of the chants the marchers shouted as they condemned a bill by Tung Chee-hwa’s cabinet to enact Article 23 of the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution. The Article requires Hong Kong to enact its own laws to prohibit national security breaches such as treason, sedition and secession and subversion against the country. The political shock wave unleashed by the demonstration prompted the government to shelve the proposed legislation. Some 19 years later, Chief Executive-elect John Lee Ka-chiu vowed to make enacting the legislation, a local complement to the national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020, a priority of his administration. Photo: Edward Wong
[Grim record] A collision between a truck and a KMB bus on Tuen Mun Road claims the lives of 21 people in the city’s deadliest road accident on July 10, 2003. The bus rammed through safety barriers after colliding with the truck and plunged 30 metres off a busy, elevated road near Ting Kau Bridge, narrowly missing a village house below. The front of the bus was ripped open, as the impact of the crash left many of the 20 injured unconscious and bloodstained when being dragged from the wreckage, local TV reported. A court later convicted and sentenced the truck driver to 18 months in jail. His sentence was later cut to five months. Photo: Robert Ng
[Silver linings] Olympic silver medallists Ko Lai-chak (right) and Li Ching receive a hero’s welcome, first by hundreds of fans at the airport and later by proud residents and officials attending a party held at the Hong Kong Sports Institute in Sha Tin on September 1, 2004. Their silver in the men’s doubles table tennis at the Athens Games was the first Olympic medal for the city since windsurfer Lee Lai-shan won gold at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. Photo: Robert Ng
[Out the door] Hong Kong’s first chief executive, Tung Chee-hwa, leaves the stage after announcing his resignation in the middle of his second term on March 10, 2005. Tung came into power with strong support from a public still coming to terms with the city’s new status as part of a rising China, but a string of challenges to his administration, including the Asian financial crisis, Sars or the severe acute respiratory syndrome, a failed attempt to push through national security legislation and a series of controversial pricey projects such as Cyberport, steadily eroded the backing of residents. While Tung cited his ailing health and a heavy workload for his decision to step down, it was widely believed that a dissatisfied Beijing had pushed him towards the exit. The year before, Chinese President Hu Jintao delivered an unprecedented critical assessment of Tung’s performance during a ceremony marking Macau’s handover, calling on the administration to examine its inadequacies. Tung did go on to become state leader, as a vice-chair of the country’s political advisory body. Photo: Robert Ng
[Holding court] More than 500 people, including lawyers and students, stage a silent protest on April 19, 2005, to draw attention to their concerns over an imminent interpretation of the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution, by the country’s top legislative body over whether Donald Tsang Yam-kuen should complete the two years remaining in Tung Chee-hwa’s term after he resigned as new chief executive or serve five years. The silent march was the second time since the handover that the legal fraternity had protested against an interpretation of the Basic Law, following a demonstration over right of abode. The Bar Association and the Law Society both took a strong stand against the official position that the next chief executive should serve two years, but the National People’s Congress Standing Committee sided with the government. Photo: Robert Ng
[Hit parade] In a Taoist tradition aimed at warding off evil spirits, a boy dressed as Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen is hoisted aloft during the Cheung Chau Bun Festival on May 15, 2005. Dragon dancers and revellers dressed as deities wind through the island’s narrow streets to the sound of gongs and drums followed by children hoisted high on stilts and floats, traditionally mimicking political figures or reflecting popular local culture. Residents also build towers of buns and race to snatch the snacks as a metaphor for grabbing one’s fortune. Photo: Dustin Shum
[No horseplay] Racing legend Silent Witness, ridden by South African jockey Felix Coetzee, crosses the finishing line at Nakayama Racecourse at the Sprinters Stakes on October 2, 2005. Two years later, the Australian-bred horse galloped one final time for fans at Sha Tin Racecourse and then retired with a record-breaking 17-race winning streak. Silent Witness was bought as a yearling for more than HK$200,000 in 2001 and won a local record of HK$62,496,396 over his career. Hung Fuk-nin, who took care of the horse for five years, told the Post: “Even when he is brought out for morning walks, the work rider has to wait until all horses finish their rounds before taking Silent Witness for his. Otherwise, he will keep running and running to pass them.” Photo: Martin Chan
[New team formation] City leader Donald Tsang Yam-kuen appoints eight new members drawn from the top ranks of business, healthcare and academia to his de facto cabinet, the Executive Council, on October 14, 2005. The biggest reform to the government system since the handover took the number of non-official Exco members to 15, while keeping the number of ministers at 14. During the term of his predecessor Tung Chee-hwa, non-official members had complained of being ignored and Tsang said he hoped to improve governance by having the secretaries consult more often with the experts and earlier in the policymaking process. Photo: David Wong
[Showing the way] Thai transgender performers meet fans after finishing one of their five daily “Lady Boyz” shows to sold-out audiences on November 25, 2005, at the Hong Kong Opera House in Aberdeen. Benefiting from an influx of mainland Chinese tourists to Hong Kong that year, organiser Golden Dome Cabaret said nearly all the tickets had sold out despite the absence of local advertisements for the performances. “Hong Kong people have good hearts and give the most tips. And the men are very cute,” performer Nok told the Post after one show. Photo: Oliver Tsang
[Strike a pose] Sculptor Cao Chong-en embraces his work, a bronze statue of late martial arts legend Bruce Lee on November 27, 2005. The statue, sponsored by Lee’s fan club, was set up at the Avenue of Stars in Tsim Sha Tsui after calls from the public to honour his legacy. It was unveiled by Lee’s brother and sister, Robert and Phoebe, celebrating what would have been the star’s 65th birthday. Lee’s signature “ready to strike” pose, as seen in the 1972 movie Fist of Fury, was chosen by fans worldwide to be immortalised along the waterfront. The founder of Jeet Kune Do was a revolutionary figure in the world of martial arts during his short but accomplished life. Lee died in 1973 at the age of 32 from cerebral edema suspected to have been caused by a reaction to a painkiller. Photo: Oliver Tsang
[Poor little rich girl] Asia’s richest woman Nina Wang Kung Yu-sum appears at Eastern Court on December 2, 2005, the day prosecutors dropped charges alleging she forged a will that laid claim to the HK$27 billion Chinachem empire of her late husband, Teddy Wang Teh-huei. Wang, chairman of the Chinachem Group founded by his father Wang Din-shin, was kidnapped in 1990 for the second time in his life and held for US$60 million, but when his wife paid only half as a first instalment, he was not returned. After he was declared dead, competing wills emerged, with one splitting the fortune between the patriarch of the family and Nina Wang, and another dated just before his death giving her control of the assets. After a marathon court battle, a High Court judge declared the more recent will a forgery and awarded Wang Din-shin the fortune, only for the Court of Final Appeal to reverse the decision and hand “Little Sweetie” the billions. A similar legal drama would play years later when a contradictory will emerged following her own death. Photo: K. Y. Cheng
[Rejecting reform] The government’s first proposal since the handover to substantially reform the method for selecting the chief executive and the Legislative Council is met with protests, as this one, on December 4, 2005, stretches long into the night. After the nation’s top legislative body ruled out universal suffrage for the approaching leadership and Legco polls, Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen recommended doubling membership of the Election Committee to 1,600, increasing the nomination threshold for hopefuls to enter the top race and adding 10 lawmaker seats, split between the geographical and functional constituencies. But after hardcore members of the opposition camp launched a campaign against the package, residents became more vocal in their demand for one man, one vote. Tsang’s proposal was defeated in Legco later that month. Photo: Oliver Tsang
[Labour pains] After days of escalating violence between thousands of demonstrators and police, protests directed at a World Trade Organization conference boil over into a riot, as labour activists try to storm the Convention and Exhibition Centre, the venue for the talks, on December 17, 2005. South Korean farmers descended on the city, determined to block any progress in the negotiations over trade liberalisation, which they argued threatened the livelihood of rice and corn growers. Initial skirmishes between the protesters and police turned into running street battles, forcing authorities to lock down parts of Wan Chai and Causeway Bay, until officers armed with tear gas, pepper spray and fire hoses regained control. A total of 116 people were taken to hospital following the bloody clashes and more than 1,000 were arrested. Photo: Martin Chan
[‘Devil cop’] A shoot-out among police officers that left two constables dead and another injured in a pedestrian subway in Tsim Sha Tsui shocks the city on the morning of March 17, 2006, and prompts the force to seal off the area at the junction of Canton Road and Austin Road. An inquest found that policemen Tsang Kwok-hang, 33, and Sin Ka-keung, 28, were ambushed while on patrol by Tsui Po-ko, an ambitious officer with the force for 13 years, but who suffered from delusions. Tsui fired at both officers, striking Sin in the head and left leg, and mortally wounding Tsang in the head. Both had returned fire, with Tsang hitting Tsui with 5 shots to the torso and head, killing him. An inquest later found Tsui had killed constable Leung Shing-yan and Hang Seng Bank security guard Zafar Iqbal Khan in Tsuen Wan in 2001, earning the rogue officer the nickname “devil cop”. Photo: Robert Ng
[Beautiful mind] The greatest mind of his generation, Stephen Hawking arrives on June 12, 2006, to deliver a talk on the origin of the universe at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. In a city accustomed to celebrities passing through, Hawking’s visit saw a retinue of politicians, scientists, teachers, students and disabled Hongkongers, the majority of them wheelchair-bound, greeting him at the airport. Photo: Steve Cray
[Housing blues] Long-time Wan Chai resident Yam Kwok-chu, 86, is thrust into the limelight as a resident of a 700 sq ft flat on the ground floor of the Blue House, a historic tenement building earmarked by the government for renovation. Gazing wistfully at the wooden door of his flat that opens into a canal-turned-street, the retired businessman tells the Post on July 29, 2006 that he is reluctant to leave the neighbourhood of Stone Nullah Lane. “When people from the Housing Society came some time ago, they asked me whether I wanted to leave or move to public housing. I don’t understand why I can’t choose to stay at this place where I have been living for the past 40 years.” The Blue House, which sits on the site of a hospital built in the 1870s, is a four-storey balcony-type tenement block named after its exterior colour. The government declared it a Grade 1 historic building. The revitalisation of the Blue House Cluster was among iconic joint projects by the Urban Renewal Authority, a profit-making statutory body responsible for accelerating urban development, and the Housing Society. The project bagged an architectural prize in 2018, two years after the building was renovated. One of the ground-floor shophouses was converted into the Wan Chai Livelihood Place, later renamed the Hong Kong House of Stories, a free-admission heritage museum. Photo: Ricky Chung
[A star is gone] Weeks of sit-ins staged by protesters attempting to stop government contractors from demolishing the famed Star Ferry pier in Central and its iconic clock tower come to an end with police moving to clear them out on December 13, 2006. The pier was eventually demolished and Queen’s Pier was pulled down a year later, but the young activists’ rallying cry to preserve a key element of the collective memory of Hongkongers prompted a wide discussion on the government’s urban redevelopment policy. Photo: David Wong
[Mr Bow Tie triumphs] Incumbent Donald Tsang Yam-kuen trounces his challenger in Hong Kong’s first contested leadership race on March 25, 2007, after he served the remainder of the second term of his predecessor Tung Chee-hwa following his resignation. Tsang, a bow tie-wearing veteran civil servant, won 649 of the votes from the Election Committee against 123 that went to Civic Party lawmaker Alan Leong Kah-kit. While Tsang’s victory was a foregone conclusion, the election was the city’s first leadership race involving nominated candidates from opposite sides of the political spectrum. Photo: Oliver Tsang
[Sense of Zen] Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun leaves the Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception after he celebrates the Holy Chrism Mass ahead of Easter on April 5, 2007. Appointed cardinal in 2006, Zen became a thorn in Beijing’s side by attending prayer sessions preceding the June 4 Tiananmen vigils and July 1 protests. Although he was unsuccessful in the fight for abode seekers’ welfare, universal suffrage and the Catholic diocese’s right to run church schools, he struck a theological tone when asked by the Post to sum up his time as the city’s leading religious figure, saying: ‘God did not require us to be successful. He only asked us to remain faithful. In May 2022, the 90-year-old was arrested for failing to register a now-defunct fund that provided financial assistance to protesters facing legal troubles stemming from the 2019 social unrest. Photo: Edward Wong
[Inspection hour] Chinese President Hu Jintao makes his first trip to Hong Kong as the nation’s top leader to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the city’s handover, with a stop at the People’s Liberation Army naval base on Stonecutters Island on June 30, 2007. Following the swearing-in of Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen and his new team for a five-year term, Hu delivered an address in which he called for the need for faithful implementation of “one country, two systems”, strict adherence to the Basic Law, economic development and social stability. Photo: K. Y. Cheng
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