https://www.scmp.com/rss/310043/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com I was brought up in Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan, in the west of India. I was lucky to be born into a family of musicians – music runs in the blood. From the beginning, I heard the sound of music coming from all parts of our large home. My mother, father, brothers and sisters used to play or sing. So, since childhood, the nuances of Indian classical music went into my ears. I began with vocal music – singing – and started playing the sitar, the famous Indian instrument, when I was 10 years... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/arts-music/article/2135289/grammy-winning-indian-musician-inventing-guitar?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/arts-music/article/2135289/grammy-winning-indian-musician-inventing-guitar?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 02 Mar 2018 03:00:15 +0000 David Wong Chun-kit carefully pushes his knife into an oyster, between the two sides of its shell. He wiggles the blade back and forth to sever the muscle that holds it closed, and then gently prises the shell open. Inside, nestled within the oyster’s slimy folds, is a pearl – lustrous, perfectly spherical and gleaming creamy white in the morning sun. Wong estimates the pearl to be 7.5mm in diameter. “It’s commercial grade,” he says. “Good for necklaces, earrings, bracelets and rings.” Wong, 38,... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2132680/pearl-farming-hong-kong-enthusiasts-restock?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2132680/pearl-farming-hong-kong-enthusiasts-restock?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 Feb 2018 23:50:20 +0000 A curious-looking bird that lives in the rainforests of Southeast Asia could soon go the way of the Dodo – all because of China’s appetite for “red ivory.” The helmeted hornbill is native to Indonesia, Malaysia, southern Thailand and the southern tip of Myanmar. It is hunted for its “helmet,” a solid lump known as the casque, which is fused along the top of its dark yellow bill and up on to the skull. The casque material is known as “red ivory,” and products made from it sell for three to five... https://www.scmp.com/red-ivory-helmeted-hornbill-photo-essay/article/2129938?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/red-ivory-helmeted-hornbill-photo-essay/article/2129938?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Jan 2018 02:15:00 +0000 The international trade in illegal wildlife parts has another victim. Over the past five years, there has been an explosion in demand for the “red ivory” of an Asian bird – the helmeted hornbill. Helmeted hornbill products sell for three to five times the price of elephant ivory. Their value has triggered a boom in poaching, sending the bird plunging towards extinction. Although it has been listed in Appendix 1 of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species in Wild Flora and... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2127802/why-chinese-demand-red-ivory-dooms-helmeted?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2127802/why-chinese-demand-red-ivory-dooms-helmeted?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 13 Jan 2018 09:17:15 +0000 Lisa Kristine’s photographs are mesmerising. She has an extraordinary ability to make people look compellingly beautiful – even those who are living as slaves in horrific situations. We meet at the Asia Society, the venue for August’s Thomson Reuters 2017 Anti-Slavery Summit. The first question I ask is, what’s her secret – how does she do it? “I feel like I arrive to people with an open heart, and that creates a sense of comfort that allows people to show their true, authentic selves to me,”... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2110986/modern-slavery-and-american-photographer-who?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2110986/modern-slavery-and-american-photographer-who?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 14 Sep 2017 12:00:30 +0000 Hong Kong banknotes are teeming with antibiotic-resistant bacteria whose DNA can “jump around”, spreading resistance, a team of scientists at the University of Hong Kong has found. Associate professor Gianni Panagiotou, who led the study, said there was a “relatively high risk” of an outbreak of infectious disease in the city. Researchers collected wads of HK$20 notes from shops at 12 hospitals and three MTR stations across Hong Kong and then scraped bacteria from the money and analysed the... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2099960/hong-kong-banknotes-breeding-ground-antibiotic?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2099960/hong-kong-banknotes-breeding-ground-antibiotic?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 26 Jun 2017 23:01:45 +0000 Abigail Reynolds and I peer at each other through a two-way mirror – the kind police use to observe suspects in interrogation rooms. We’re in the BMW Lounge at Art Basel Hong Kong, at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, in Wan Chai. The space is brightly lit, so the glass works as a mirror and a window at the same time. Both of our faces are looking directly at me. I know, however, that we are standing opposite each other. As my brain scrambles to solve the visual puzzle, my face,... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2093954/british-artist-visits-16-lost-libraries-along?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2093954/british-artist-visits-16-lost-libraries-along?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 12 May 2017 04:00:30 +0000 I was born in a village in the New Territories, in the area that’s now called Po Lam. My father was a seaman. When I was 10 years old, and my mother was pregnant with my little sister, he went to America and didn’t come back. My mother stayed in the village even though this wasn’t allowed – usually only the men could be the head of the household. My mother was helped by her own mother, but it was very hard for her. She had full responsibility for the family, and had to take care of me, my... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2079454/hardship-hong-kong-village-owning-new-york-spa?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2079454/hardship-hong-kong-village-owning-new-york-spa?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Mar 2017 05:54:40 +0000 RURAL IDYLL I was born in the south of France, in a little village by a forest, and had a very secure and lovely child­hood. I was a solitary child and didn’t have many friends, but I was happy. I loved playing the piano, painting, singing and dancing. The first dance lessons I attended were for southern French folk dancing. I later took up modern jazz and ballet. GO EAST I’m a seeker – I’ve always had questions about what is life, what is destiny, what is choice. I was drawn to Asia from an... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2071222/how-gilles-chuyen-danced-his-way-rural-france?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2071222/how-gilles-chuyen-danced-his-way-rural-france?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Feb 2017 06:00:45 +0000 Next weekend, “the grand clam of indoor showjumping” trots into town, as AsiaWorld-Expo hosts the Longines Masters equestrian extravaganza. The series kicked off in Los Angeles last September, moved to Paris for the second leg in December, and culminates here, in Hong Kong, with the third and final stage. In October, at the Sports Industry Awards Asia 2016, held in Bangkok, the Longines Masters of Hong Kong won gold, for “best live experience at a professional sporting event”. As the horses... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2067451/meet-people-behind-grand-slam-indoor-showjumping?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2067451/meet-people-behind-grand-slam-indoor-showjumping?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 02 Feb 2017 23:00:30 +0000 Bacteria resistant to all the antibiotic drugs commonly used in Hong Kong have been found on the city’s MTR commuter rail network, scientists say. The biggest concentrations of these bacteria were found on the line between urban Kowloon and the Chinese border - the East Rail line - and the Ma On Shan line that branches off it and serves a big new town in the city’s New Territories. The bacteria were found on the hands of students who took trains on the various MTR lines. The findings come amid... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/2048971/antibiotic-resistant-superbugs-hong-kong-mtr?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/2048971/antibiotic-resistant-superbugs-hong-kong-mtr?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 24 Nov 2016 23:31:34 +0000 Next time you go for a swim in the seas around Hong Kong, or eat seafood caught there, you risk picking up antibiotic-resistant superbugs discharged in sewage, tests by University of Hong Kong engineers show. A study by Professor Tong Zhang, of the university’s Department of Civil Engineering, found the city’s sewage treatment plants are hot spots of antibiotic resistant bacteria. “Antibiotics enter the public sewers via urine and faeces, and are transported to wastewater treatment plants,” he... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2048979/drug-resistant-superbug-risk-hong-kong-swimmers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2048979/drug-resistant-superbug-risk-hong-kong-swimmers?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 24 Nov 2016 23:15:15 +0000 In November 2013, Natalie Beatty, a 37-year-old Australian living in Hong Kong, noticed some small red lumps on her right foot and leg. “At first I thought they were mosquito bites but when they started to swell, I headed to hospital.” A doctor prescribed antibiotics, and sent her home. The next day, the lumps had swollen into egg-shaped boils. “The largest one, on top of my foot, was the size of a mango cut in half.” Beatty returned to hospital. The doctor lanced the biggest boil (“Loads of... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2048942/why-china-heart-fight-head-antibiotic-apocalypse?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2048942/why-china-heart-fight-head-antibiotic-apocalypse?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 24 Nov 2016 23:00:15 +0000 Boy scout I grew up in a tiny town on the outskirts of a small city in an insignificant Canadian province. I had a normal boyhood and, like a lot of Canadian kids, I loved the outdoors. I was terrible at hockey but won a “paperboy of the year” award. I was a piano-playing choirboy, but I wasn’t great at schoolwork and I barely managed to stay out of trouble. I was an enthusiastic member of the Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts and Air Cadets (winning a “best all-round cadet” award) and I took the mottos... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2044808/terminally-ill-hong-kong-stories-founder-david?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2044808/terminally-ill-hong-kong-stories-founder-david?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 13 Nov 2016 02:00:45 +0000 In January 2015, Hongkonger David Gething ran seven mara­thons on seven continents in seven days, beating 11 other competitors to win the World Marathon Challenge. He set one world record (fastest cumulative time for the competition), broke another (fastest marathon in Antarctica) and fractured an ankle (the right one). That happened 30km into the fifth marathon, with more than 2¼ marathons left to run. As someone who loathes jogging, and would rather take a taxi than run for a bus, I’m... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/2040641/hongkongers-ultimate-midlife-crisis-seven-marathons-seven?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/2040641/hongkongers-ultimate-midlife-crisis-seven-marathons-seven?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 28 Oct 2016 00:15:45 +0000 Shop work A few years before I was born, my parents left their home in Guangdong and moved to the UK, to seek a better life. They settled in the northern city of York and opened a Chinese takeaway on the high street. I grew up above the shop and worked there throughout my child­hood, serving customers and helping with basic cooking. We sold Chinese food adapted for the English palate: sweet and sour pork, egg fried rice and spring rolls were popular. Local favourites like curry, chips and mixed... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/2017147/alan-mak-uks-first-chinese-lawmaker-talks-brexit-thatcher?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/2017147/alan-mak-uks-first-chinese-lawmaker-talks-brexit-thatcher?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Sep 2016 05:15:00 +0000 Songs and pompoms Both my parents were China scholars. My mother, who is Chinese American, is a linguist, and my father, who was white American, was a historian. When I was six, they both got tenure at the Australian National University, so we moved to Canberra, where I spent most of my childhood. My mother spoke Mandarin at home, so when I went on to study Chinese at university, I had a huge advantage. Book review: Leftover Women, by Leta Hong Fincher We made many trips to China, starting in... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/books/article/2005530/profile-author-leta-hong-fincher-explains-how-term?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/books/article/2005530/profile-author-leta-hong-fincher-explains-how-term?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 19 Aug 2016 04:00:45 +0000 PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN I come from an affluent, military family. When I was seven I was sent away to boarding school. Boarding schools were extremely strict back then – if you were caught talking after lights out, you were caned. I was dyslexic, so I found it difficult to read and write. I had a horrible English teacher who made me stand in front of the class and spell out words. Every time I made a mistake, she beat me on the back of my legs. Fortunately the art teacher – Mrs... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/2001935/british-portrait-artist-his-brush-royalty-and-taliban?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/2001935/british-portrait-artist-his-brush-royalty-and-taliban?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 11 Aug 2016 04:56:49 +0000 RHYTHM OF LIFE I was raised on my grandparents’ farm in Taiwan and it was idyllic. I spent my early years waking with the roosters before dawn, accompanying my grand­parents to sell vegetables at the morning markets and running around barefoot in the rice paddies until bedtime. I loved catching frogs using a stick, string and a worm. Our days followed nature’s rhythm. It wasn’t always easy – sometimes a typhoon or pest wiped out the crops. And it wasn’t a luxurious life, but it was so peaceful... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1989380/fortune-500-forestry-why-conservation-internationals-jude-wu?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1989380/fortune-500-forestry-why-conservation-internationals-jude-wu?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 14 Jul 2016 00:00:45 +0000 THE WORD OF GOD My first career was in medicine. I worked as an operating department practitioner and then specialised in anaesthetics - so I can put people to sleep with sermons or drugs. Later I ran the cardiac arrest team at St Thomas' Hospital in London. One day, while praying in the hospital garden, overlooking the River Thames, I thanked God for the opportunity to work at the hospital and for everything I had achieved. And then I asked God, "What shall I do next?" I thought he would say I... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1962423/when-vicar-baghdad-andrew-white-sat-saddams-throne?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1962423/when-vicar-baghdad-andrew-white-sat-saddams-throne?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 02 Jun 2016 09:02:09 +0000 WATER BABY I grew up in Melbourne, in a house 100 metres from the sea, and spent much of my childhood either at the beach or in my neighbour's swimming pool. I didn't take formal swimming lessons but my older brother did, so I just copied what he was doing. I was into all the sports - I won a football (Australian Rules) scholarship to high school and played baseball at the national level, but when I was 13, I decided to concentrate on swimming. I was getting frustrated with having to rely on... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/health-beauty/article/1947275/how-olympic-swimmer-tried-too-hard-then-found?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/health-beauty/article/1947275/how-olympic-swimmer-tried-too-hard-then-found?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 19 May 2016 21:30:30 +0000 In the United States, scientists are fighting fire ants like the ones invading Hong Kong by deploying biological weapons. Dr Rob Plowes, research coordinator at the Fire Ant Lab at the University of Texas at Austin, says that when the first wave of fire ants swept through Texas in the 1980s, researchers began investigating their natural enemies. "Prior to that, all attempts at eradication had involved blanket spraying of pesticides. After 20 years of spraying, the ants were still expanding their... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1935917/zombie-ants-viruses-and-parasite-how-us-fights-insect?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1935917/zombie-ants-viruses-and-parasite-how-us-fights-insect?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 16 Apr 2016 00:00:45 +0000 Mai Po - the WWF-managed Hong Kong wetland where huge flocks of birds spend winter or stop to feed and rest en route from the Arctic to Australia - has been invaded. Mosquitofish and tilapia dominate its ponds and apple snails chomp through its beautiful water lilies but, according to Michael Lau, WWF Hong Kong's assistant director of conservation, the biggest problem is with marauding flora. "Plants are vitally important because they're at the base of the food web and shape the whole... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1935918/mile-minute-weed-marauds-through-marshes-mai-po-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1935918/mile-minute-weed-marauds-through-marshes-mai-po-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 16 Apr 2016 00:00:30 +0000 Tony Lee was looking at a tree when the attack occurred. "I felt a red hot burning sensation on my lower leg," says the 64-year-old. A keen amateur botanist, Lee had been studying plants growing near his home in Tseung Kwan O when he accidentally trod on a nest of red fire ants. The ants swarmed over his shoes, scaled his socks, ran up his trouser legs - and stung. Zombie ants, viruses and a parasite - how US fights insect invaders Red fire ants are notorious for their aggression. They bite... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1935914/plague-fire-ants-latest-hong-kong-alien-invasion-and-boy-do?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1935914/plague-fire-ants-latest-hong-kong-alien-invasion-and-boy-do?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 16 Apr 2016 00:00:00 +0000 WILD CHILD I was born in London but I was such a handful that my parents, seeking more space, decided to move to Berkshire. We lived in a house next to a farm, down a muddy track, surrounded by fields, so the scene was set for me to become an incorrigible tomboy - something I've never really grown out of. My childhood was spent outdoors and it was heavenly. I'm grateful that I was born before the days of 24-hour television, mobile phones and social media. Instead I made camps, climbed trees,... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/film-tv/article/1919702/interview-bbc-presenter-kate-humble-growing-wild?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/film-tv/article/1919702/interview-bbc-presenter-kate-humble-growing-wild?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 05 Mar 2016 14:22:28 +0000 PEACEFUL BEGINNINGS I was born in Brzesko, in Poland, in 1928. Eighty per cent of the town's people were Orthodox Jews. I was the oldest of four brothers. When war broke out, in 1939, I was 11 years old, Nissan was 10, Yosef was eight and Naftali, the youngest, was four. We attended a local school. The Jewish and Polish communities lived together peacefully, the children played together and there were no problems between us. In the afternoons, I went to a Jewish school, because my father wanted... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1916624/holocaust-survivor-dov-landau-gives-first-hand-account?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1916624/holocaust-survivor-dov-landau-gives-first-hand-account?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 27 Feb 2016 14:45:45 +0000 MOTHER OF INVENTION My parents lived in Bombay (Mumbai), but were of Goan ancestry. They moved to London when I was six years old (in 1966). I think they wanted a better life for their children and felt they would get that abroad; a trend many Indians follow even today. I attended a small, all-white, girls private Catholic school. I was happy there and never felt as if I didn't fit in. Unlike many Indian mothers, mine did not like to cook. In Bombay, she had had help, and she thought cooking... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/food-drink/article/1913890/interview-food-writer-karen-anand-finding-her?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/food-drink/article/1913890/interview-food-writer-karen-anand-finding-her?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 20 Feb 2016 15:26:09 +0000 SETS APPEAL My big break came while I was working in a bicycle shop. I'd won a place on the BBC's sound engineering training scheme, and had a temporary job while I waited for the scheme to start. One day a sound recordist came in to buy a bike and we got chatting. He invited me to spend a day on the set of a TV programme he was working on. I made a complete nuisance of myself, asking every question I could think of, and tried to be helpful clearing up cables and boxes at the end of the day. The... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1892365/hong-kong-filmmaker-mark-roberts-orangutan-came-too-close?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1892365/hong-kong-filmmaker-mark-roberts-orangutan-came-too-close?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 19 Dec 2015 12:57:28 +0000 What do a hammer, a pick, a chisel, some brushes, a compass clinometer and four litres of water have in common? You can find them all in Dr Michael Pittman's backpack. On December 3, at 7pm, Hong Kong's resident dinosaur hunter will be in Wan Chai to talk about his fossil-hunting expeditions in the Gobi Desert. The audience will hear about his research, watch a video of him at work and have the chance to handle some of the equipment he uses. SEE ALSO: Dinosaur hunting in Inner Mongolia: Gobi... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1883496/day-life-hong-kong-dinosaur-hunter-michael-pittman?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1883496/day-life-hong-kong-dinosaur-hunter-michael-pittman?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Nov 2015 00:03:55 +0000 It's November and Hong Kong's bauhinia trees are in full flower. Their branches blaze with gorgeous magenta blooms, adding splashes of tropical colour to the city's streets and parks. This month also sees the launch of an ambitious project to sequence the genome of the Hong Kong bauhinia tree. Bauhinia Genome is a community-based, crowdfunded venture - the first of its kind in Hong Kong. It's the brainchild of Rob Davidson and Scott Edmunds, two scientists working for BGI, one of the leading... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1875917/unique-project-sequence-genome-hong-kong-bauhinia-tree?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1875917/unique-project-sequence-genome-hong-kong-bauhinia-tree?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 07 Nov 2015 13:00:45 +0000 WHIZ KID As a child I read voraciously, including adult-level science and history books - anything I could get my hands on. I was really bored in high school because I'd already learned most of the curriculum, so I applied to Bard College at Simon's Rock, in Massachusetts, in the United States, which admitted younger students, and started my degree in mathematics when I was 15. STAR STRUCK I started reading science fiction aged three and became fascinated by artificial intelligence (AI), time... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1865149/hong-kong-artificial-intelligence-pioneer-immortality-age?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1865149/hong-kong-artificial-intelligence-pioneer-immortality-age?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 09 Oct 2015 14:15:30 +0000 As the first person in her family to go to university, Cherie Blair knows all about the transformative power of a good education. "I wouldn't be anywhere in my life had it not been for the opportunity to study," says the wife of former British prime minister Tony Blair. Cherie Blair, a leading barrister and Queen's Counsel (QC), was in Hong Kong recently to establish a fundraising foundation and kick-start a global campaign to raise US$100 million for the Asian University for Women (AUW). A... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1863155/empowerment-101-asian-university-women-educating-alumni-game?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1863155/empowerment-101-asian-university-women-educating-alumni-game?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 03 Oct 2015 15:15:45 +0000 Six Senses? Those hotels are a little bit special, aren't they? Indeed. The brand is known for eco-friendly luxury, gorgeous design and delicious food. This is the company's first foray into China and is an ideal mini-break destination for Hongkongers. Located at the base of Sichuan province's sacred Mount Qingcheng, the birthplace of Taoism, the resort consists of 113 spacious studios and villas - all blond wood and creamy stone - set on an 11-hectare site. The design is inspired by traditional... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1863121/new-sichuan-six-senses-perfect-mini-break-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1863121/new-sichuan-six-senses-perfect-mini-break-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 02 Oct 2015 00:02:06 +0000 RESPECTING RITUALS The Man family are one the five big clans in the New Territories. My family aren't religious or superstitious, but they observe lots of Chinese rituals, such as visiting my ancestors' graveyard during the Ching Ming and Chung Yeung festivals, lighting firecrackers and making poon choi - a traditional dish for special occasions, with different types of meat, fish and vegetables layered in a bowl and served with a thickened soy sauce, which has its origins in rural Hong Kong.... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1831648/hong-kong-artist-carol-man-her-dual-chinese-and-jewish?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1831648/hong-kong-artist-carol-man-her-dual-chinese-and-jewish?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 04 Jul 2015 13:15:30 +0000 Hong Kong is best known as a centre for big business, but scattered among its gleaming corporate towers it is possible to find small, independent companies that specialise in traditional trades. These companies are closely linked to Hong Kong's history, and are woven into the city's cultural fabric. They're part of what gives Hong Kong its unique aesthetic and atmosphere. Times are changing, though. Many of these businesses have no succession plans and anticipate closure. As these elements of... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1823416/six-home-grown-hong-kong-trades-risk-dying-out?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1823416/six-home-grown-hong-kong-trades-risk-dying-out?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 20 Jun 2015 14:45:30 +0000 Human trafficking is rife in the fishing industry. The pathway from ocean to dinner plate is rarely linear. Instead, fishing companies, transportation firms, processing plants, exporters and distributors form a complex web that often shrouds an appalling truth - that the seafood we buy was caught by men working as slaves. Many fishing boats in Asian waters are floating sweatshops, crewed by men who were forced or deceived into climbing aboard by modern-day press gangs. Out on the high seas it's... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1819562/slavery-sea-human-trafficking-fishing-industry-exposed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1819562/slavery-sea-human-trafficking-fishing-industry-exposed?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 13 Jun 2015 11:15:45 +0000 In the popular imagination, slavery is a thing of the past; a stain on human history which has been wiped clean. Although slavery has been banned, by law, in almost every country in the world, in truth the number of slaves is higher now than it has ever been. The Global Slavery Index estimates that 35.8 million people around the world are trapped in slavery today. Modern-day slaves drive a growing industry worth a staggering US$150 billion a year. The situation exists in every country, but just... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1816209/scourge-modern-day-slavery-asia-spelt-out?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1816209/scourge-modern-day-slavery-asia-spelt-out?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 06 Jun 2015 15:15:00 +0000 AIMING HIGH I'm half Scottish, half Chinese and I grew up in Hong Kong. Some of my best childhood memories stem from holidays spent with my grandfather in the Highlands of Scotland. He took us walking and fishing and this, along with David Attenborough's amazing documentaries, inspired my love of animals and the great outdoors. I attended ESF schools where we were encouraged to have big dreams. I thought I might become a Formula One driver, a footballer, a musician or … a... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1780210/interview-hong-kongs-dinosaur-expert-michael-pittman?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1780210/interview-hong-kongs-dinosaur-expert-michael-pittman?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 02 May 2015 14:32:45 +0000 What is it? Occupying the island of Gasfinolhu, a 40-minute boat ride from Male international airport, Club Med's latest offering reflects the upscale strategy the resort operator has pursued since 2004. Unlike other Club Meds, which welcome families, this one is for couples only - no kids allowed. How are the love shacks? Choose from 52 "overwater" (top) and "beach" villas (below) that line the sunrise and sunset sides of the island. The decor is contemporary, with splashes of dazzling... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1760109/club-med-finolhu-villasthe-maldives-strictly-couples?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1760109/club-med-finolhu-villasthe-maldives-strictly-couples?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 11 Apr 2015 11:26:19 +0000 Nanomachines are among the smallest machines ever built, and Michel Van Hove is leading efforts to develop this nascent technology in Hong Kong. "They're a billion times smaller than human beings" he says. "To get a sense of that, imagine one billion people standing in a line. The queue would stretch all the way to the moon." Director of the Institute of Computational and Theoretical Studies and acting chair of the physics department at Hong Kong Baptist University, Van Hove has been awarded... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/technology/article/1737873/hong-kong-researcher-working-develop-smallest-machines-make-big?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/technology/article/1737873/hong-kong-researcher-working-develop-smallest-machines-make-big?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Mar 2015 01:00:15 +0000 Last year, my book club read William Dalrymple's Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India and for once (possibly the only time) opinion was unanimous - we all loved it. The book, released in 2009, comprises intimate portraits of nine people who represent India's diverse sacred traditions, encompassing mysticism, monasticism, music and dance. Through these biographies, Dalrymple examines how ancient faiths and rituals maintain their grip as India convulses with the rush to... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1729196/profile-william-dalrymple-india-scholar-and-gentleman?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1729196/profile-william-dalrymple-india-scholar-and-gentleman?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 07 Mar 2015 12:15:15 +0000 Richard Leakey's story is so extraordinary and so packed with drama - so much, in fact, like the plot of a Hollywood movie - it's no surprise to learn that Angelina Jolie is going to make a film about him. Africa, which is due for release late next year, has the starriest cast in the galaxy. Jolie has chosen her husband, Brad Pitt, to play Leakey while she will take the role of his wife and Meryl Streep will play his mother. When I was at university, studying for a master's degree in... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1723771/richard-leakey-conservation-crusade-just-dont-mention-god?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1723771/richard-leakey-conservation-crusade-just-dont-mention-god?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Feb 2015 14:45:15 +0000 What would life be like if you couldn't see? It's an age-old question but these days it extends far beyond the obvious concern of how to cross a busy road, to how to succeed in the world of the sighted by crossing the digital divide. Blind people from more than 20 Asia-Pacific nations recently gathered in Hong Kong to address issues including the dearth of books and websites accessible to the blind, and new technology-based initiatives that can empower the visually impaired. At the regional... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1694012/world-blind-union-campaigns-access-digital-world?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1694012/world-blind-union-campaigns-access-digital-world?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 31 Jan 2015 15:30:15 +0000 "I am like a butterfly." A delicate, winged insect is not the first creature that springs to mind when you meet Eric Cantona (he's more of a bear), but, fortunately, he explains his thinking. "It metamorphoses, it changes. I change every time." Change is indeed the one thing that has remained constant in Cantona's eclectic career. The Frenchman, now 48, achieved demigod status as a striker at Manchester United football club. Affectionately nicknamed King Eric by the fans, he was adored for his... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1672670/how-eric-cantona-turned-artistic-butterfly?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1672670/how-eric-cantona-turned-artistic-butterfly?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 03 Jan 2015 13:45:00 +0000 The periodic table - that staple of the chemistry lesson - has 108 elements. They are the basis of the universe and all it contains. But which of those elements are essential for human life - which ones can't we do without? "There's a surprising amount that we don't yet know." said Peter Sadler, a professor of chemistry at the University of Warwick in the UK and the Mok Hing-Yiu distinguished visiting professor at the University of Hong Kong. His work puts him at the point where inorganic... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/technology/article/1668876/periodic-table-still-poses-puzzles-while-offering-cures?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/technology/article/1668876/periodic-table-still-poses-puzzles-while-offering-cures?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 27 Dec 2014 23:52:38 +0000 John Lasseter is wearing a Hawaiian shirt and looks as colourful as a cartoon. A two-time Oscar winner, and creative head of both Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios, he's the mastermind behind an astonishing roll call of family favourites. He is in Hong Kong to unveil Pixar and Disney's animation slate for the next two years. The first movie to hit our screens will be Disney's Big Hero 6, a comedy-adventure that premiered at the Tokyo International Film Festival in October and is up for an... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1660319/cgi-maestro-john-lasseter-talks-shorts-and-wild-shirts?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1660319/cgi-maestro-john-lasseter-talks-shorts-and-wild-shirts?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 13 Dec 2014 14:00:15 +0000 "We're so lucky to be in Hong Kong - it's a fantastic place for Jews. It always has been." Judy Green, chairwoman of the Jewish Historical Society of Hong Kong, has lived here since she was 11 years old. We meet at the Jewish Cemetery, a green and peaceful spot in a hidden corner of Happy Valley, tucked behind a Buddhist temple and surrounded by a cluster of tower blocks. It's dotted with gravestones bearing with a mix of English and Hebrew script. The earliest recorded burial plot, belonging to... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1661441/role-jews-making-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1661441/role-jews-making-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 13 Dec 2014 14:00:15 +0000 Cooler weather heralds the peak influenza season in Hong Kong, and it's time to book ourselves in for a flu jab. It's no one's favourite annual event, but in the future we might be able to acquire lifelong immunity with just a single shot. Dr Sophie Valkenburg is a post-doctoral research fellow at Hong Kong University's School of Public Health. She's part of a team working in collaboration with researchers at the National Institutes of Health in the United States to develop a new type of... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health/article/1651744/hong-kongs-dr-sophie-valkenburg-part-team-working-lifelong-flu-shot?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health/article/1651744/hong-kongs-dr-sophie-valkenburg-part-team-working-lifelong-flu-shot?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 29 Nov 2014 21:03:50 +0000 Henry Steiner hates the word "fusion". "It's cheap, it's vulgar and it's a cop out," says the man who's become known as the father of Hong Kong design. Steiner is the leading exponent of cross-cultural design. According to the principles he pioneered, when East meets West the two don't fuse; they collide. "Because if you just throw everything in a blender," he says, "you get mush." Instead, Steiner seeks the sparks that fly when images from different visual and cultural traditions are juxtaposed... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1622030/one-man-brand?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1622030/one-man-brand?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 25 Oct 2014 14:30:00 +0000 If you put the world's cleverest people in one room and asked them to solve the problem of global warming, would they be able to do it? From Wednesday to Saturday, Hong Kong will be playing host, street protests permitting, to the 4th Nobel Laureates Symposium on Global Sustainability (www.nobel-cause.de). Co-hosted by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research - the world's leading climate change think tank - and the Asia Society, the event will gather together climate-change scientists,... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1607613/meeting-minds?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1607613/meeting-minds?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 04 Oct 2014 14:15:45 +0000