https://www.scmp.com/rss/11985/feed Born in Hong Kong, Jason is a globe-trotter who spent his entire adult life in Europe, the United States and Canada before settling back in his birthplace to rediscover his roots. He is a full-time lawyer and a freelance writer who raves and rants about Hong Kong and its people. Jason is the bestselling author of HONG KONG State of Mind and No City for Slow Men. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Planning a wedding is stressful for any couple. But with few traditions and protocols to lean on, same-sex couples have the added challenge of having to reinvent the proverbial wheel and make it up as they go along. The key to a successful wedding celebration is having the right mindset. Gay or straight, the focus should be on having a good time and nothing else. So don’t sweat the small stuff and follow the golden rule that less is more Jason Y. Ng Sometimes even seemingly straightforward... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/news-trends/article/3024668/same-sex-weddings-insiders-guide-how-plan-one?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/news-trends/article/3024668/same-sex-weddings-insiders-guide-how-plan-one?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 28 Aug 2019 06:00:17 +0000 Bali’s world-class food scene sets it apart from other Southeast Asian beach destinations. The main thoroughfares in Seminyak and Ubud teem with vibrant and sophisticated restaurants that offer Balinese, pan-Asian and European fusion cuisines, delivered in tasteful spaces that marry modern sensibility with South Pacific charm. Bali’s world-class food scene sets it apart from other Southeast Asian beach destinations Also, the Indonesian rupiah has weakened against the Hong Kong dollar by nearly... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/travel-food/article/3019550/5-balis-hottest-restaurants-offer-world-class-food?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/travel-food/article/3019550/5-balis-hottest-restaurants-offer-world-class-food?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 25 Jul 2019 05:00:11 +0000 Shots of tear gas ring out on a major thoroughfare. Protesters roar as they disperse from a phalanx of riot police. Waves of yellow ripple from the front lines. A city is under siege.  For the fourth weekend, angry protesters have overrun Paris and other parts of France, demanding a proposed fuel tax be scrapped and other complaints – high taxes, stagnant wages and a yawning wealth gap – be heard. Demonstrators wear a yellow reflective vest, safety gear that all motorists in France are required... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/hong-kong/article/2177366/what-frances-yellow-vests-can-teach-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/hong-kong/article/2177366/what-frances-yellow-vests-can-teach-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 11 Dec 2018 07:00:30 +0000 “We are here to visit a friend,” I said to the guard at the entrance. Tiffany, Joshua Wong Chi-fung’s long-time girlfriend, trailed behind me. It was our first time visiting Joshua at Pik Uk Correctional Institution and neither of us quite knew what to expect. After a brief registration process, Tiff and I headed straight to the main building, almost sprinting to evade a pair of paparazzi. Once inside, we deposited our belongings in a locker and walked through an X-ray gantry. Tiff held on to a... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2108624/behind-bars-hong-kong-political-activist-joshua-wong-remains?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2108624/behind-bars-hong-kong-political-activist-joshua-wong-remains?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 28 Aug 2017 08:30:28 +0000 Seven years after Donald Tsang Yam-kuen’s administration rammed a funding bill through the legislature to bankroll the cross-border rail link, the Hong Kong government this week unveiled a long-awaited proposal to resolve the border control conundrum. At issue is whether carving out certain areas at the West Kowloon terminal station where mainland officers are given broad criminal and civil jurisdiction will run afoul of the Basic Law, Hong Kong’s mini-constitution. It is an 84-billion-dollar... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2104469/why-hong-kongs-justice-minister-rimsky-yuen-so-sanguine?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2104469/why-hong-kongs-justice-minister-rimsky-yuen-so-sanguine?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 28 Jul 2017 07:20:43 +0000 “Demosisto’s anniversary celebration is officially activated!” announced the master of ceremony. It was a tongue-in-cheek parody of Benny Tai Yiu-ting, the law professor who had used a similar battle cry when he launched Occupy Central nearly three years ago. At the microphone was Derek Lam Shun-hin, a core member of one of Hong Kong’s youngest political parties. Lam has recently been arrested for unlawful assembly and faces months in prison if convicted. But the 23-year-old is unfazed. Ever... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2092252/hong-kongs-youngest-political-party-demosisto-undeterred?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2092252/hong-kongs-youngest-political-party-demosisto-undeterred?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 02 May 2017 04:58:29 +0000 Oathgate, the political firestorm that started two months ago and has dominated the headlines ever since, is showing no signs of dying down. Like a molten lava flow, the slow-motion disaster continues to threaten everything in its destructive path: the city’s rule of law, the recent Legislative Council election results, the fledgling anti-establishment coalition, and the already dwindling trust between Hong Kong and mainland China. It all started with a bad idea gone wrong. At the swearing-in... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2051900/oath-taking-pair-overplayed-their-hand-and-damage-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2051900/oath-taking-pair-overplayed-their-hand-and-damage-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 05 Dec 2016 10:46:02 +0000 Earlier this month, Page One unceremoniously announced the closure of its megastores at Harbour City and Festival Walk, ending the Singapore bookseller’s nearly two-decade stint in Hong Kong. The news came less than two years after Australian outfit Dymocks shut down its IFC Mall flagship and exited the city. Reaction on social media to the loss of yet another bookstore chain was both immediate and damning. While some attributed Page One’s demise to competition from e-books and online retailers,... https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/2050045/whats-killing-hong-kong-bookstores?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/2050045/whats-killing-hong-kong-bookstores?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 29 Nov 2016 06:16:32 +0000 Last week, a Shenzhen district court sentenced Wang Jianmin, the 62-year-old publisher of Hong Kong-based political tabloids Multiple Face and New Way Monthly, to five years and three months in prison. His editor-in-chief, 41-year-old Guo Zhongxiao, received two years and three months. Their crime? Selling magazines in the mainland without state approval. The sentencing of the two Hong Kong journalists drew immediate comparison to the abduction of the five booksellers earlier this year. Events... https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1998695/jailed-editors-and-kidnapped-booksellers-cautionary-tale-all-critics?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1998695/jailed-editors-and-kidnapped-booksellers-cautionary-tale-all-critics?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 04 Aug 2016 03:56:34 +0000 Twenty years ago, a Canadian entrepreneur walked down Lan Kwai Fong and had a Eureka moment. Eric Levine spotted an opportunity in gym-deficient Hong Kong and opened the first California Fitness on Wellington Street, a few steps away from the city’s nightlife hub. Business took off and by 2008 the brand had flourished into two dozen health clubs across Asia. There was even talk about taking the company public on the stock exchange. Hong Kong chief executive looks to improve consumer protection... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1990053/california-fitness-was-pumped-growth-not-fit-purpose?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1990053/california-fitness-was-pumped-growth-not-fit-purpose?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 15 Jul 2016 02:08:55 +0000 Asia was the first to be hit by the Brexit global shock wave that put the world under a dark cloud of fright and disbelief. The BBC declared victory for the Leave vote at roughly 11.45am Hong Kong time – hours before London opened – and sent regional stock markets into a tailspin. Shares of HSBC and Standard Chartered, both listed on the Hong Kong exchange, fell 6.5 per cent and 9.5 per cent respectively. People in this part of the world might not know much about the geopolitics involved (most... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1982530/after-brexit-hong-kong-voters-should-take-careful-look-what?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1982530/after-brexit-hong-kong-voters-should-take-careful-look-what?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 Jun 2016 05:33:59 +0000 “Drop dead, traitors!” wrote one Facebook user. “Stop swindling money from gullible supporters,” said another. Further down the comment thread, the Photoshopped picture of a young man with a noose tied around his neck received dozens of likes. “Your corpse will rot on the street and we shall celebrate!” the caption read. The lynching victim depicted in the picture was Joshua Wong Chi-fung, the once-idolised student leader who, at the tender age of 14, led tens of thousands of citizens to thwart... https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1940011/baptism-fire-joshua-wong-and-his-nascent-political-party?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1940011/baptism-fire-joshua-wong-and-his-nascent-political-party?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 29 Apr 2016 07:09:27 +0000 Two weeks ago, I travelled to Beijing to speak at an international literary festival. It was one of the largest events of its kind in mainland China and certainly the most daring judging by some of the sensitive topics it covered: territorial disputes, gay rights and religious freedom. My talks on the political future of Hong Kong centred around the rise of radical opposition forces and the growing polarization of society in the post-Occupy era. A single question kept popping up during the Q&A... https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1929420/third-road-political-dead-end-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1929420/third-road-political-dead-end-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 23 Mar 2016 07:14:10 +0000 After weeks of intense political campaigns and a vicious war of words on social media, the dust has finally settled on who will fill the Legislative Council seat vacated by former Civic Party senior Ronny Tong Ka-wah. In the end, Alvin Yeung Ngok-kiu beat six other candidates in the New Territories East by-election last Sunday, winning by a thin margin, and became the latest poster boy for the pan-democrats. The 35-year-old barrister could heave a sigh of relief for not letting down his party... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/1920071/who-were-winners-and-losers-new-territories-east-election?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/1920071/who-were-winners-and-losers-new-territories-east-election?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 03 Mar 2016 04:50:00 +0000 If you speak Cantonese, by now you have must have watched it at least once or possibly more times. You must have shared the link with your family and friends and urged them to watch it too. If asked, you can probably quote a few zingers from it verbatim. I am referring to the anti-government tirade by Kwan Wing-yi, a self-described “concerned citizen”, at a special Legislative Council meeting to discuss retirement protection earlier this week. The video went viral on social media, receiving... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1916730/hong-kong-activists-anti-government-tirade-goes-viral-social-media?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1916730/hong-kong-activists-anti-government-tirade-goes-viral-social-media?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 25 Feb 2016 10:45:15 +0000 Star Wars is a space opera, a global phenomenon, and a religion among diehard fans. For Gen X’ers like myself, it is an indelible part of our childhood and collective memory. I still remember making X-wing fighters out of my mother’s wooden clothes pegs and re-enacting lightsabre duels with my brother using random objects at home – as did every kid in the 1970s and 80s who had watched the films in the theatre or on VHS. And so when the wait for a sequel trilogy is finally over, the question is... https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1893680/star-wars-force-awakens-how-impress-your-colleagues-when-they-ask-what?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1893680/star-wars-force-awakens-how-impress-your-colleagues-when-they-ask-what?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 21 Dec 2015 05:30:15 +0000 Cynics in the local media like to say: there’s no such thing as the most absurd, only the more absurd. The Cantonese saying may not translate well, but the message is clear – just when we think we have seen everything, something more bizarre will come along to knock us off our feet. That about sums up this past week in Hong Kong, where a spate of mind-boggling events in local politics left citizens jaw-dropped and thinking only one thought: are these people for real? Several days ago, a woman... https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1843326/hong-kongs-latest-epidemic-ridiculitis?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1843326/hong-kongs-latest-epidemic-ridiculitis?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 24 Jul 2015 05:30:34 +0000 In politics, sometimes a mistake is just a mistake. Then there are blunders so shocking that they draw gasps and deer-in-headlights stares from even the opponents. The latter happened at Legco yesterday. After nearly two years of bitter political wrangling, 79 days of street occupation, months of government-funded media blitzes, and a last-minute appeal to the opposition by senior Beijing officials, the biggest constitutional showdown in the post-handover era finally came to an end – a dramatic... https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1823821/comedy-errors-reform-vote-leaves-pro-beijing-camp-red-faced-joke-also?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1823821/comedy-errors-reform-vote-leaves-pro-beijing-camp-red-faced-joke-also?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 19 Jun 2015 09:30:45 +0000 Those of us who are old enough to remember the first Mad Max film, the 1979 box office hit that made Mel Gibson an overnight sensation, have been wondering for months if the fourth instalment would live up to all the media hype. Well, the movie opened this past Thursday and the verdict is a resounding: “Yes.” Fury Road picks up where Thunderdome (the last of the trilogy) left off. We are now in a post-apocalyptic Australian wasteland, where water, petrol and greenery are scarce commodities. What... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/film-tv/article/1805281/film-review-mad-max-sequel-fury-road-roars-onscreen-post?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/film-tv/article/1805281/film-review-mad-max-sequel-fury-road-roars-onscreen-post?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 21 May 2015 08:15:45 +0000 Hongkongers are used to duopolies. Every day, citizens choose blissfully between Wellcome and ParknShop, Café de Coral and Fairwood, Fortress and Broadway, oblivious and powerless to the glaring absence of choice. This false sense of consumer freedom is legitimised by the government’s corporate propaganda telling us that too many options can lead to confusion, cutthroat competition and an economic apocalypse. Nowhere is this phenomenon more pronounced than in the realm of free-to-air television... https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1760170/death-duopoly-who-wins-and-who-loses-after-atvs-spectacular-fall-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1760170/death-duopoly-who-wins-and-who-loses-after-atvs-spectacular-fall-and?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 Apr 2015 06:00:15 +0000 In the past month, nativist groups like Civic Passion and Hong Kong Indigenous have been staging weekly rallies against parallel traders in Sheung Shui, Yuen Long and Tuen Mun, three of the areas most affected by the growing influx of Chinese shoppers. Because parallel traders don’t bear a mark on their foreheads, protesters wind up targeting anybody seen with bulky baggage on the street. The lucky ones get heckled and mobbed, while the not-so-fortunate have their possessions searched or thrown... https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1739932/parallel-traders-are-gone-all-wrong-reasons?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1739932/parallel-traders-are-gone-all-wrong-reasons?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Mar 2015 02:45:45 +0000 Back when I was living in New York, the Oscars were a big annual event that brought together friends and co-workers. Year after year, I was the designated organiser for the office Oscar pool, and I would spend that one Sunday night at home watching the ceremony while scoring the ballot sheets. I would announce the results in the pantry the following morning, and the lucky winner would use part of his or her winnings to buy coffee for everybody. Luck plays a big role in Oscar pools because few... https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1724773/unexpected-virtue-oscars?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1724773/unexpected-virtue-oscars?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 27 Feb 2015 01:18:16 +0000 Alzheimer’s is a terrifying disease. It takes from its elderly victims what they cherish most: memories. It also has no known cure: drugs can slow the progressive decline in cognitive function but not reverse it. That means from the day a patient is diagnosed with AD, it is all downhill from there. There are no exceptions or miracles. Still Alice lays bare the cruelty of Alzheimer’s disease, not through big dramatic scenes (you won’t see the AD-struck protagonist tumble down a stairway or pass... https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1710125/movie-review-still-alice-and-julianne-moores-near-certain-oscar-win?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1710125/movie-review-still-alice-and-julianne-moores-near-certain-oscar-win?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Feb 2015 08:25:32 +0000 British director Matthew Vaughn is the man behind two of 20th Century Fox’s most successful franchises: Kick-ass and X-Men. His latest offering, Kingsman: The Secret Service, is closer to the former than the latter. Like Kick-ass, Kingsman is based on a Mark Millar comic and a self-referencing parody of its genre – in this case, British spy films. The movie also takes itself far less seriously than the two X-Men prequels. In fact, just when one scene is about to get too heavy or convoluted, the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1704326/movie-review-kingsman-secret-service?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1704326/movie-review-kingsman-secret-service?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 Feb 2015 03:51:36 +0000 The story of US Navy SEAL Chris Kyle is made for Hollywood. Dubbed the deadliest sniper in American history, Kyle used his exceptional marksmanship to rack up 160 confirmed kills and another 100 probable ones. The highly decorated soldier had cheated death multiple times over his four harrowing tours in Iraq, which makes it all the more ironic that he met his end not on the battlefield but in his hometown in Odessa, Texas, where he was fatally shot by a mentally ill veteran he had tried to... https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1689053/movie-review-american-sniper?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1689053/movie-review-american-sniper?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 22 Jan 2015 06:28:31 +0000 The year 2014 wasn’t a good one for journalists and political satirists. Two American reporters were among a handful of Western hostages beheaded by the militant group Isis in August and September. After that came a series of cyber attacks on Sony Pictures for ridiculing North Korea’s paramount leader Kim Jong-un in the comedy The Interview. Here in Hong Kong, we learned in horror the brutal knife attack on Kevin Lau, former chief editor of the Ming Pao Daily, outside his apartment building on... https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1678595/we-are-charlie-reflections-charlie-hebdo-shooting-and-free-speech?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1678595/we-are-charlie-reflections-charlie-hebdo-shooting-and-free-speech?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 12 Jan 2015 04:30:45 +0000 I finished dinner in Causeway Bay and hailed a taxi outside the Excelsior Hotel. The driver was a middle-aged man with grizzled hair and a penchant for small talk. Small talk is not my thing, much less with a stranger at the end of a long day. As I was disentangling my earphones to signal my desire for a quiet ride, the driver said something that piqued my interest.   “Look at this mess,” he complained, pointing at the snarled traffic on Gloucester Road. “We had 79 days of heaven and now we... https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1665537/15-minutes-mr-lau-one-taxi-drivers-take-his-occupy-woes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1665537/15-minutes-mr-lau-one-taxi-drivers-take-his-occupy-woes?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 19 Dec 2014 10:05:15 +0000 There is no question that Hong Kong people love to shop; that’s why they call the city a shoppers’ paradise. This past week, citizens took our national sport to a whole new level. Gou wu – which means shopping in Mandarin – has become the battle cry for pro-democracy protesters to call on one another to visit Mongkok in large numbers. The goal is to overrun the area and wear down the police in response to their heavy-handed clearance of the Mongkok protest site a week ago. These shopaholics were... https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1654542/soldier-be-water?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1654542/soldier-be-water?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 03 Dec 2014 00:45:45 +0000 A week ago, a small army of masked men gathered outside the Legco Building at Admiralty in the dead of night. They were upset, so they claimed, over a copyright amendment bill that would limit the freedom of expression on the Internet. The angry men smashed a pair of glass doors at the north entrance and urged student protesters nearby to occupy the legislature. But the students didn’t heed their call. Instead, Occupy Central marshals were dispatched to block the break-in. Minutes later, police... https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1648271/million-dollar-question-whats-next-umbrella-movement?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1648271/million-dollar-question-whats-next-umbrella-movement?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 25 Nov 2014 04:45:00 +0000 Edward arrived at the vehicle-free Connaught Road expressway and surveyed the Admiralty protest site, which, until then, he had only seen on CNN. It was October 18th, Day 20 of the largest political event in Hong Kong’s post-Handover history. The 40-year-old law firm partner had just returned from a business trip in London that had kept him out of town for the past two weeks. He climbed over the median barrier and studied the wall of pro-democracy signage written in a few dozen languages. From... https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1627368/searching-umbrella-man?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1627368/searching-umbrella-man?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 Oct 2014 03:28:19 +0000 Tear gas and pepper spray are so last week. On Friday, thugs fanned out at protest sites across the city, starting with Mongkok and quickly spreading to Tsim Sha Tsui and Causeway Bay. By nightfall, angry mobs disguised as “pro-Hong Kong citizens” had moved into Admiralty, the heart of the students-led pro-democracy movement. I had arrived in Admiralty earlier the evening to offer protesters free help with their homework on the street. I was explaining the stories of Rosa Parks and Martin Luther... https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1610038/dark-dawn?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1610038/dark-dawn?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 05 Oct 2014 08:57:04 +0000 It was Day 3 of Occupy Central, now known across the globe as the Umbrella Revolution. Umbrellas and raincoats, perhaps the humblest of all household objects, have been thrust onto the world stage, as have the tens of thousands of teenage students who had used them to fend off a police crackdown on Sunday. Tonight, their trusty rain gear would be needed once again – the Hong Kong Observatory had just issued the “amber” rain alert for the coming thunderstorm. I changed out of my work clothes in... https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1607845/worst-times-best-times?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1607845/worst-times-best-times?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 02 Oct 2014 08:36:08 +0000 I gathered a few essentials – cell phone, notebook, pen, face towel and eye goggles – and left my apartment. I met up with my brother Kelvin at Lippo Centre and we walked to the section of the Connaught Road expressway that had been taken over by protesters and regular citizens who supported them. We were about 50 metres from the government offices, the epicentre of a massive student protest and the frontline of a police standoff. It was 3:45pm. By then, there were throngs of people all around... https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1603783/six-hours-admiralty?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1603783/six-hours-admiralty?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 29 Sep 2014 01:15:45 +0000 By now you are justifiably sick of watching videos of friends and celebrities dumping icy water on themselves. Search the word #icebucketchallenge on Instagram and you will get over a million hits. The latest social media phenomenon, intended to raise awareness for ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease), began in June and had raged to an all-out Internet frenzy by mid-August. Gangnam Style is so two years ago. The figures are staggering: in the U.S., the challenge has raised nearly US$80... https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1581391/splash-backlash-defence-ice-bucket-challenge?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1581391/splash-backlash-defence-ice-bucket-challenge?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 28 Aug 2014 03:04:53 +0000 They used to live in the same residential complex, attend the same school and ride the same bus every morning. They both grew up in devout Christian families and were taught to take an interest in society. But 17-year-old Joshua Wong Chi-fung and 20-year-old Ma Wan-ki – better known as Ma Jai – can’t be more different from each other. Joshua is a household name and his spectacled face has appeared on every magazine cover. He is self-assured, media savvy and can slice you up with his words. Ma... https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1577654/political-activism-good-things-come-small-packages?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1577654/political-activism-good-things-come-small-packages?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 Aug 2014 06:00:53 +0000 In the universe of celebrity chefs, where planet-sized egos and intergalactic rivalries are the norm, Jamie Oliver is an exception. His Mockney accent, just-rolled-out-of-bed hair and a knack for dumbing down gourmet cooking for the masses have made him very likeable. They have also made this Essex native one of the wealthiest people in the UK. His empire includes television shows, cookbooks, kitchenware and a popular restaurant chain called Jamie’s Italian. After years of speculation and... https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1569240/restaurant-review-jamies-italian?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1569240/restaurant-review-jamies-italian?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 08 Aug 2014 08:34:41 +0000 Bibo As the urban legend goes, a French street artist by the alias Bibo was kicking around in Hong Kong in the 1930s. He took over an abandoned office owned by the tram company and made it a secret hideout for himself and other struggling artists in the city. Some 80 years later, another Frenchman who shares the same penchant for concealed identities opened a restaurant on the west end of Hollywood Road. Named after the enigmatic artist, Bibo is probably the most sought-after and fascinating... https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1559194/restaurant-reviews-bibo-and-ho-lee-fook?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1559194/restaurant-reviews-bibo-and-ho-lee-fook?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 25 Jul 2014 11:41:22 +0000 14 months after it first arrived in Hong Kong, Topshop opened a second location at Queensway Plaza, which includes the city’s first and only Topman store. To understand how the new stores ended up in Admiralty, a bit of background is in order. Pacific Place, the crown jewel in Swire’s property portfolio, went through a major facelift three years ago. Dickson Poon replaced Seibu with the glitzier Harvey Nichols and Burberry put up a massive two-storey Hong Kong flagship. Amidst the retail... https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1556968/retail-review-topshoptopman-queensway-plaza?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1556968/retail-review-topshoptopman-queensway-plaza?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 21 Jul 2014 06:53:12 +0000 Back in the 80s and 90s, the J. Crew mail order catalogue was as ubiquitous as the Sony Discman and beanie babies on college campuses across America. My freshman year roommate used to order button-down shirts and khaki pants over the phone twice a semester. The brand experienced a steady decline in the late 1990s, until CEO Millard Drexler (former chief of Gap Inc.) began to turn the company around in 2003, reinvigorating both the catalogue and brick-and-mortar stores with a colourful selection... https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1553933/retail-review-j-crew?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1553933/retail-review-j-crew?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 14 Jul 2014 04:31:34 +0000 I have taken part in every July 1 march since I moved back to Hong Kong in 2005. That makes yesterday’s march my ninth. I have the routine down pat: I will put on a black T-shirt, eat a hearty lunch and agree on a time to meet my friends in Causeway Bay. I will bring both sunscreen and a small umbrella because the Hong Kong summer, like its politics, is never predictable. Take this year for instance. Who would have thought that Beijing would release the bluntly-worded White Paper – an assertion... https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1544806/hong-kong-has-spoken?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1544806/hong-kong-has-spoken?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 02 Jul 2014 03:31:10 +0000 Nur It is almost impossible to say anything negative about Nur. Located on the third floor of Lynhurst Tower in Central, the new restaurant grows its own herbs and sources much of its produce locally. Fewer food miles means fresher ingredients and a cleaner planet. The restaurant itself is an intimate space where the open kitchen blends seamlessly with the minimalist dining area of white walls, hardwood floors and an abundance of lush indoor plants. Half way through the meal, the master chef... https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1534073/restaurant-reviews-nur-and-aberdeen-street-social?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1534073/restaurant-reviews-nur-and-aberdeen-street-social?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Jun 2014 08:52:03 +0000 Following the Legco election in 2004, The Economist, in an article titled “Suffrage on Sufferance,” had this to say about one of our lawmaker-elects: “The unexpected election of Leung Kwok-hung, better known as ‘Long Hair’ – whose other main claims to fame are his Che Guevara T-shirts and rants against the chief executive... – suggests that many voters treated both the election and the toothless Legco as a joke.” The British newspaper opined that Mr. Leung, with his fiery rhetoric and raggedy... https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1530848/why-we-should-all-thank-long-hair?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1530848/why-we-should-all-thank-long-hair?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 12 Jun 2014 07:56:52 +0000 X-Men: Days of Future Past Suppose you are a Hollywood executive tasked to manage a lucrative but ageing superhero franchise. You have a problem: after putting out a half-dozen sequels and prequels, the cast is getting too old and the formula has gone stale. One solution is what Sony Pictures did with Spider-man: fire everyone on the set and start all over again. They call it the “nuclear option.” A less ugly solution is to exercise a bit of creativity. Why not write a time travel story that... https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1521072/movie-reviews-x-men-and-edge-tomorrow?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1521072/movie-reviews-x-men-and-edge-tomorrow?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 May 2014 05:28:59 +0000 Godzilla In Ishiro Honda’s 1954 original, Gojira – from the Japanese words for gorilla and whale – is a sea monster awaken by nuclear radiation and a not-so-subtle metaphor for the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Gojira became an instant pop culture icon in Japan, not least because much of the country was still reeling from the first and only deployment of nuclear weapons in human history. 60 years later, Hollywood decided to reboot the import franchise while trying to forget... https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1513363/movie-reviews-godzilla-and-amazing-spider-man-2?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1513363/movie-reviews-godzilla-and-amazing-spider-man-2?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 16 May 2014 09:00:00 +0000 Mott 32 During the Gold Rush in the 1840s and 1850s, Chinese labourers were shipped to America by the boatload to build the Pacific railroad. In the decades that followed, many more Chinese immigrants arrived on the East Coast and settled in Manhattan’s lower east side around the Canal Street and Mott Street intersection. Today, New York's Chinatown remains the largest one in the country, with an estimated population of 100,000 residents. A month ago, Maximal Concepts – which also owns... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-wine/article/1502623/restaurant-reviews-mott-32-and-motorino?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-wine/article/1502623/restaurant-reviews-mott-32-and-motorino?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 02 May 2014 09:48:40 +0000 Hongkong Land is the biggest landlord in Central, owning more Grade A office space in the financial district than any other property giants in the city. In 2011, the company decided to redevelop the Forum, a low-rise shopping centre wedged between the three Exchange Square towers. In a matter of weeks, the entire structure came down like the Wall of Jericho, along with the six restaurants, two coffee shops and a Wellcome supermarket inside. Three years of constant jack hammering and pile driving... https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1499126/retail-review-forum-exchange-square?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1499126/retail-review-forum-exchange-square?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 28 Apr 2014 08:01:47 +0000 Andaz Shanghai Andaz is Hyatt’s new line of trendy boutique-inspired hotels that combine luxury and modernity. It is Hyatt’s answer to the W and the Kempinski. Opened in 2011, the Andaz Shanghai is the brand’s first foray in Asia, located in the upscale Xintiandi entertainment district and a stone’s throw from Huai Hai Zhong Road, the Fifth Avenue of Shanghai. The 307-room hotel is connected via a footbridge to the more business-oriented but equally curvilinear Langham Xintiandi. Both hotels... https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1498978/shanghai-reviews-andaz-and-subconscious?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1498978/shanghai-reviews-andaz-and-subconscious?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 28 Apr 2014 03:15:31 +0000 Captain America Winter Soldier Before they were brought together in the 2012 ensemble film, the Avengers had been busy with their solo acts. Though not all superheroes are created equal, and some characters have proven to be more bankable than others. Iron Man has set a high bar in both box office sales and critical reviews, which means the rest of the pack must raise their game or risk falling by the wayside (no offense, Hawkeye). For the rather humourless Captain America, it means pairing up... https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1471088/movie-reviews-captain-america-winter-soldier-and-grand-budapest-hotel?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1471088/movie-reviews-captain-america-winter-soldier-and-grand-budapest-hotel?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 09 Apr 2014 04:13:46 +0000 Novelist Veronica Roth was just 22 years old when she published Divergent, the first of a sci-fi trilogy featuring a young heroine named Beatrice Prior. The author’s timing couldn’t have been better. The young adult genre had just become the “It” thing in Hollywood, and studios were falling over each other to replicate the commercial success of Twilight and The Hunger Games. It didn’t take long for Summit Entertainment to scoop up Roth’s novel and turn it into the next big franchise. Directed by... https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1463698/movie-reviews-divergent-and-noah?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1463698/movie-reviews-divergent-and-noah?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 03 Apr 2014 03:49:05 +0000 They call it the Sunflower Revolution. Last Tuesday, scores of university students stormed into the legislature in Taipei and took over the premises. Their grievance? Kuomintang, the country’s ruling party, tried to ratify a controversial trade agreement with mainland China without proper review by lawmakers. A few days later, a smaller group raided the cabinet building but were later removed by riot police. In all, over 10,000 people participated in the largest student-led protest in the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1458367/why-little-understood-trade-agreement-upsets-so-many-taiwan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1458367/why-little-understood-trade-agreement-upsets-so-many-taiwan?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 27 Mar 2014 04:14:36 +0000