The story of a bright 16-year-old girl in China who was forced to quit school and go to work by her abusive mother has put the issue of gender disparity on the mainland back in the spotlight. Photo: SCMP composite/Shutterstock/Douyin
Trending in China

Sacrifices of China daughters in spotlight after bright girl made to quit school

7 Mar 2024 - 6:05PM

A bright girl who was only half way through year two of her secondary school studies was told by her angry mother that learning is a waste of money, and was sent out to work instead.

The story of a bright 16-year-old girl in China who was forced to quit school and go to work by her abusive mother has put the issue of gender disparity on the mainland back in the spotlight. Photo: SCMP composite/Shutterstock/Douyin

Sacrifices of China daughters in spotlight after bright girl made to quit school

A bright girl who was only half way through year two of her secondary school studies was told by her angry mother that learning is a waste of money, and was sent out to work instead.

7 Mar 2024 - 6:05PM

video | Why so many young Chinese adults are choosing to be ‘full-time children’

A growing number of young adults in China have decided to become “full-time children” who are paid by their parents to handle household tasks.

17 Feb 2024 - 10:00AM

‘Bonded by love, not blood’: young couple, baby cared for by kind old landlord

A landlord in China has taken a couple and their baby girl under his wing, caring for them in his Shanghai home as though they are his own family.

2 Feb 2024 - 6:00PM
A growing number of young people in China are choosing to work for their parents in the form of doing household tasks. Photo: SCMP Composite

video | Why so many young Chinese adults are choosing to be ‘full-time children’

A growing number of young adults in China have decided to become “full-time children” who are paid by their parents to handle household tasks.

17 Feb 2024 - 10:00AM
Trending in China

‘Bonded by love, not blood’: young couple, baby cared for by kind old landlord

A landlord in China has taken a couple and their baby girl under his wing, caring for them in his Shanghai home as though they are his own family.

A landlord in China has taken a couple and their baby girl under his wing, caring for them in his Shanghai home as though they are his own family.

2 Feb 2024 - 6:00PM
Trending in China

Highly-educated China software engineer’s 16 years of hell on streets of New York

An academic high achiever from China who built a successful life in the United States, only to see it fall apart leaving him living on the streets of New York for the past 16 years, is finally getting help to ease his plight.

An academic high achiever from China who built a successful life in the United States, only to see it fall apart leaving him living on the streets of New York for the past 16 years, is finally getting help to ease his plight.

18 Jan 2024 - 9:26PM

‘I am under a lot of stress’: anguished Chinese boy reports cram tutors to police

A boy in China, who became upset because he felt immense pressure to achieve academically, went to his local police station to tell them about the unregulated classes his parents made him attend at weekends.

13 Jan 2024 - 2:00PM
‘I am under a lot of stress’: anguished Chinese boy reports cram tutors to police

Hopeless China husband condemned for leaving pregnant, in-danger wife home alone

An irresponsible husband in China has been lambasted on mainland social media after he left his five-month pregnant wife at home alone to go out drinking with his friends.

11 Jan 2024 - 6:01PM
Hopeless China husband condemned for leaving pregnant, in-danger wife home alone

Highly-educated China software engineer’s 16 years of hell on streets of New York

An academic high achiever from China who built a successful life in the United States, only to see it fall apart leaving him living on the streets of New York for the past 16 years, is finally getting help to ease his plight.

18 Jan 2024 - 9:26PM

‘I am under a lot of stress’: anguished Chinese boy reports cram tutors to police

A boy in China, who became upset because he felt immense pressure to achieve academically, went to his local police station to tell them about the unregulated classes his parents made him attend at weekends.

13 Jan 2024 - 2:00PM

Hopeless China husband condemned for leaving pregnant, in-danger wife home alone

An irresponsible husband in China has been lambasted on mainland social media after he left his five-month pregnant wife at home alone to go out drinking with his friends.

11 Jan 2024 - 6:01PM
19 Feb 2023 - 7:15AM

China announced at the end of May families could now have up to three children, and last week said they would no longer face fines or other consequences for having additional children.

27 Jul 2021 - 12:02AM

In Chinese geomancy – feng shui – water equates to wealth, so you have to be careful not to flush it away in the toilet. Another belief holds that using a toilet too often means you are lazy or a shirker.

4 May 2021 - 4:25PM

Young children have been forced to adapt to some harsh realities in 2020: lockdowns, missing their friends, home learning. They have mostly taken these in their stride. Don’t rob them of Christmas – Santa Claus is coming to town.

4 May 2021 - 4:25PM
9 Dec 2020 - 2:16PM

My generation’s upbringing was marked by folklore and the threat of lifelong jinxing, but it made us resilient.

4 May 2021 - 4:25PM

Hong Kong is no place for raising happy pets – soft-touch justice and lack of open spaces can make it a hostile environment.

4 May 2021 - 4:27PM
Social Welfare | OPINION
People walk past a banner protesting against the government plan to build “light public housing” near a middle-class neighbourhood in Kai Tak’s new development area, in Kowloon, Hong Kong on February 8. Photo: May Tse

Opinion | Why focus on temporary housing that takes years and millions to build?

Kai Tak protest highlights the challenges of the ‘light public housing’ project, which is now neither cheap nor quick. Far better to repurpose decommissioned quarantine units, which are also modular, and focus on the real mission – permanent public housing.

19 Feb 2023 - 7:15AM

Opinion | Long overdue, but what’s next after China cans fines for having too many kids?

China announced at the end of May families could now have up to three children, and last week said they would no longer face fines or other consequences for having additional children.

China announced at the end of May families could now have up to three children, and last week said they would no longer face fines or other consequences for having additional children.

27 Jul 2021 - 12:02AM
Long overdue, but what’s next after China cans fines for having too many kids?

My Hong Kong | Flushed with success: how China views the humble toilet

In Chinese geomancy – feng shui – water equates to wealth, so you have to be careful not to flush it away in the toilet. Another belief holds that using a toilet too often means you are lazy or a shirker.

In Chinese geomancy – feng shui – water equates to wealth, so you have to be careful not to flush it away in the toilet. Another belief holds that using a toilet too often means you are lazy or a shirker.

4 May 2021 - 4:25PM
Flushed with success: how China views the humble toilet

Social Welfare | Explore more