https://www.scmp.com/rss/314950/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com When Qingqing Chui arrived in the United States five years ago as a master’s student, she noticed there were few other Chinese students at Florida Atlantic University. It’s not in the Ivy League of colleges preferred by most foreign students. However, the 28-year-old native of Henan province says more Chinese undergraduates have been arriving during the past two years. She attributes this to the more structured university education found in the US, the growing middle class in China, and an... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/families/article/2085754/how-chinese-student-boom-has-kept-us-public-universities-afloat?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/families/article/2085754/how-chinese-student-boom-has-kept-us-public-universities-afloat?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 09 Apr 2017 22:30:45 +0000 The strain Hong Kong’s high-pressure education system places on families has been highlighted by new research showing a spike in child abuse cases coinciding with the school exam season. Patrick Ip Pak-keung, a paediatrician at Queen Mary Hospital, says the researchers have identified a decade-long uptick in hospital visits resulting from child abuse around the time children are sitting for exams. In the cases examined, doctors have found reports of bruises on hands, feet and places that are... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/families/article/1999591/spike-child-abuse-cases-hong-kong-coincides-exam-time-research?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/families/article/1999591/spike-child-abuse-cases-hong-kong-coincides-exam-time-research?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 08 Aug 2016 04:00:15 +0000 A Dutch photographer who was captivated by the Mong Kok goldfish market on a brief stay in Hong Kong returned last year and spent 10 days documenting it for a photo series. Janus van den Eijnden, 33, says he captured a few snapshots on his phone during his stopover three years ago, but they left a lasting impression on him. “You are a bit intrigued because you see all those fish who are captured or almost caged in little plastic bags; they’re with hundreds of each other on the shelf or the wall,... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/1980641/story-behind-photographers-new-york-show-hong-kong-goldfish?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/1980641/story-behind-photographers-new-york-show-hong-kong-goldfish?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 24 Jun 2016 05:16:00 +0000 There’s a standing order that Bosco Li Chun-yu makes whenever his brother makes one of his many trips to Japan: instant noodles. “I always tell him, ‘You don’t need to get me any souvenirs, just go to a 7-Eleven or supermarket and get me a lot of different kinds of noodles’,” he says. Hong Kong instant noodles make world's top 10 cup noodle list Instant noodles are something of a comfort food in Hong Kong, the classic combination being a topping of fried egg and luncheon meat. But some... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/1960513/health-conscious-hongkongers-eating-instant-noodles-less-often?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/1960513/health-conscious-hongkongers-eating-instant-noodles-less-often?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 31 May 2016 22:16:38 +0000 The World According to Star Wars by Cass Sunstein Dey Street Books 4 stars The Star Wars series is hugely popular, but bestselling author and Harvard law professor Cass Sunstein argues in his new book that it’s so much more than just a popular film franchise. The heart of his book is revealed in the preface: “In his wild fever-dream Auguries of Innocence, William Blake wrote of seeing ‘a World in a Grain of Sand.’ Star Wars is a grain of sand; it contains a whole world.” Filming of Star Wars:... https://www.scmp.com/culture/books/article/1959311/book-review-world-according-star-wars?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/books/article/1959311/book-review-world-according-star-wars?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 31 May 2016 09:01:39 +0000 A middle-aged man thought he had a medical problem because he couldn’t hold himself back any longer after half an hour of lovemaking. A tiny picture of a woman’s private parts in a textbook for final-year high school pupils elicits shock from parents and students alike. Teachers used to order pupils to tape shut the chapter in school textbooks about reproduction. No wonder, then, that men and women in Hong Kong are turning to sex workers for tips about lovemaking – and that workshops one sex... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-beauty/article/1946761/hong-kongs-sex-education-crisis-why-people-turn-sex-workers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-beauty/article/1946761/hong-kongs-sex-education-crisis-why-people-turn-sex-workers?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 May 2016 22:00:15 +0000 A notable gap in sex education in Hong Kong is the failure of some schools to acknowledge that not everyone is heterosexual. Hong Kong’s sex education crisis: why people turn to sex workers for knowledge A 2014 government-commissioned study of sexual minorities in Hong Kong found that 69 of more than 200 people interviewed experienced discrimination at school. Name-calling – “abnormal” and “monster”, for example – is common; a transgender student reports being kicked, stalked and stabbed with... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/1946770/hong-kong-sex-education-classes-dont-teach-pupils-about-sexual-minorities?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/1946770/hong-kong-sex-education-classes-dont-teach-pupils-about-sexual-minorities?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 May 2016 22:00:04 +0000 Besides the fact that most people do not perform like porn stars, Hongkongers hold many other fallacies about sex. Karen Lau and Grace Lee, education manager at the Family Planning Association, say major misconceptions include: • Female orgasm: Many think that climax is possible with just vaginal penetration but that is not the case for most women, who need clitoral stimulation. . “Among my female clients, most of them have not touched their clitoris,” Lau says. “Knowledge of the clitoris... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-beauty/article/1946765/things-many-hongkongers-dont-seem-understand-about-sex?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-beauty/article/1946765/things-many-hongkongers-dont-seem-understand-about-sex?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 May 2016 22:00:00 +0000 Two years ago, scientists in Yunnan province in southwest China found a peculiar-looking, beautifully preserved, 242-million-year-old marine reptile the size of a crocodile with a mouth like a zipper. Science writer Brian Switek wrote in National Geographic magazine that its cranium looked like “a bony version of a Scotch tape dispenser” and that it was so strange it made him “jolt upright in my seat and think ‘Wait, what the hell is that?’” Nicholas Fraser, keeper of natural sciences at... https://www.scmp.com/culture/article/1941719/chinese-fossil-hammerhead-marine-reptile-so-weird-its-finders-were-blown?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/article/1941719/chinese-fossil-hammerhead-marine-reptile-so-weird-its-finders-were-blown?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 May 2016 18:01:53 +0000 It's a chilly winter afternoon, and the sky above Strangford Lough is pure blue, dotted with a few fluffy clouds. The still water crisply reflects an island with one tree sticking up in the middle and a village at the far end. Those assembled stop admiring the view and squint instead at an iPad being held aloft by our guide. Game of Thrones’ season six premiere kicks off in Los Angeles We're not here for the scenery; this is a Game of Thrones tour, so we stop only at places where specific... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel-leisure/article/1937507/meet-starks-games-thrones-location-tour?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel-leisure/article/1937507/meet-starks-games-thrones-location-tour?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 23 Apr 2016 09:00:30 +0000 While they were studying computer science at Chinese University of Hong Kong in 1999, Marti Wong Kwok-hung and Starsky Wong created a side-scrolling game called Little Fighter 2. It was so popular the university servers crashed, overwhelmed by the sheer number of downloads. “On the bus, I remember hearing kids talk about the characters and strategies, which made me very happy,” Marti Wong says. Films based on video games, and vice versa, are set to take over pop culture For three years, he adds,... https://www.scmp.com/culture/arts-entertainment/article/1937266/hong-kong-video-game-developers-finally-making-it-big?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/arts-entertainment/article/1937266/hong-kong-video-game-developers-finally-making-it-big?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 Apr 2016 03:45:45 +0000 When John Chee was a young boy, he would go with his father to Checkerboard Hill in Kowloon City near their home. The hill is named after the giant red and white checkerboard which guided pilots to the old Kai Tai airport, and also features a stone pavilion with a chessboard table. After his father died in 2014, Chee, now an investment banker and photographer living in New York, felt an urge to return, and wandered around taking photos of Hau Wong Temple New Village, the cluster of stone houses... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-entertainment/article/1934108/hong-kong-walled-village-memories-kowloon-city-exile?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-entertainment/article/1934108/hong-kong-walled-village-memories-kowloon-city-exile?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 07 Apr 2016 04:15:30 +0000 It’s no secret that nurses in Hong Kong’s often overcrowded public hospitals are prone to stress - from having to care for ever more patients and working long hours, including frequent night shifts. Surveys have repeatedly drawn attention to the problem. Inside Hong Kong’s public hospital crisis: temporary beds, angry patients, nurses and doctors stretched to breaking point A 2015 study of 850 nurses showed they are three times as likely as the general population to suffer stress, anxiety or... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-beauty/article/1933690/how-hong-kong-hospital-overcrowding-takes-its-toll-nurses?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-beauty/article/1933690/how-hong-kong-hospital-overcrowding-takes-its-toll-nurses?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 Apr 2016 03:30:15 +0000 Chan Cheuk-man tried many jobs after leaving school, from property management to clerical work, none of which gave him the sense of achievement he sought. The 24-year-old has now found satisfaction working as a caregiver for the elderly, but friends and family were aghast when he decided to take the job last October. “Very few people had anything positive to say about the job. People see it as undesirable work, jobs for people who didn’t do well in school or for foreign labour,” Chan says. “On... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health/article/1914112/hong-kongs-young-workers-hold-key-future-geriatric-care?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health/article/1914112/hong-kongs-young-workers-hold-key-future-geriatric-care?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Feb 2016 16:00:30 +0000 If you have to sit through boring lectures or company meetings, and you want to stay energised in front of your teacher or boss, Erik Peper has a solution for you: skip in place for 30 seconds. A few years ago, the professor of health education used this strategy on his students every 20 minutes through his three-hour lectures at San Francisco State University. “It sounds crazy,” says Peper. “But when you do that, and you ask the person, ‘what happened?’ They generally report, ‘Ah, I have more... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-beauty/article/1913493/how-tap-power-posture-and-movement?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-beauty/article/1913493/how-tap-power-posture-and-movement?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 16 Feb 2016 09:15:00 +0000 Award-winning designer and art director Eric Lau Kwan-tai admits he wasn’t the best student. As a secondary school student at Wah Yan College, Kowloon, he once told his physics teacher: “Studying all this is useless. I want to do design work and none of this is relevant.” However, Lau, now 29, became close to that teacher while he worked on his early designs on school computers, and he still visits that teacher whenever he returns to Hong Kong from New York, where he now lives. One of those... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-entertainment/article/1898032/if-i-ask-what-their-dreams-are-they-cant-answer-eric?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-entertainment/article/1898032/if-i-ask-what-their-dreams-are-they-cant-answer-eric?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 Jan 2016 04:00:30 +0000 Hong Kong teenager Kelvin Yuen Sze-lok spent the first hours of 2016 in the city’s Sai Kung district, waiting to photograph the sunrise. It ended up an eight-hour trip, but the 19-year-old only had around 30 minutes to compose the shot, and it didn’t turn out as well as he had hoped. Still, the second-year student at Hong Kong Baptist University is getting a lot of recognition for shots that did turn out well; last month he won first prize and an honourable mention in the youth division of the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-entertainment/article/1897406/8-pictures-national-geographic-prize-winning-teen-hong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-entertainment/article/1897406/8-pictures-national-geographic-prize-winning-teen-hong?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 02 Jan 2016 04:45:45 +0000 In autumn and winter, Vivian Siu Yun-ki usually works out only two or three times a month and not at all in December. The 26-year-old postgraduate student used to jog outdoors in Canada, where she grew up, and says she would like to exercise more, but, having returned to Hong Kong a year ago, finds it isn’t so simple. “You don’t just walk out the door and there’s a park right there … you have to either go to a running track, or a field, which is usually not nearby. So you have to bus there, you... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-beauty/article/1894391/why-two-insurance-companies-want-pay-hongkongers-work-out?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-beauty/article/1894391/why-two-insurance-companies-want-pay-hongkongers-work-out?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 23 Dec 2015 21:30:30 +0000 Ophei Kwok Fung-wa has been busking for several years and whenever the police ask her to leave or keep the volume down, she always complies. But a few months ago, she and her friends had to call the cops on some fellow buskers in Tsim Sha Tsui – they were just too loud. “Sometimes you’ll see people with huge amplifiers…and we just have two small amplifiers,” says Kwok, a part-time airport worker. “We tried negotiating, but they refused to turn down their volume and we couldn’t hear ourselves... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-entertainment/article/1883537/why-hong-kongs-buskers-are-becoming-vocal-critics?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-entertainment/article/1883537/why-hong-kongs-buskers-are-becoming-vocal-critics?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 29 Nov 2015 10:00:30 +0000 A few months ago, I got married. The ceremony happened in a conference room, in front of about 30 people, and took exactly an hour. I wore jeans, a shirt and black trainers. My wife, Clara, and I are both 25, and had been dating for seven years. Neither of us had wanted to organise a huge banquet, rent expensive clothes or go through the complex rituals that are often involved in a Hong Kong wedding. A few months before our big day, Clara, who is studying in Britain and flew back for the... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1883507/why-hong-kong-couples-are-opting-no-frills-weddings?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1883507/why-hong-kong-couples-are-opting-no-frills-weddings?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 27 Nov 2015 04:00:30 +0000 Jason Yim may be on to a game-changer in the future of play among the tech-native generation. His digital marketing company, Trigger Global, has helped create interactive campaigns for movies from the Spider-Man series to The Hunger Games. In recent years, his team has been using augmented reality to enrich the experience of entertainment, including books and, more recently, tabletop games. One of his current projects shows the power of this technology. Imagine playing a game of chess with... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/1874966/augmented-reality-next-big-thing-entertainment?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/1874966/augmented-reality-next-big-thing-entertainment?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Nov 2015 00:00:15 +0000 Walk through Hong Kong's malls, MTR stations and even the airport, and you will invariably come across stores selling tubs of whey protein and other workout supplements. Increasing numbers of people in Hong Kong and around the world are taking supplements to get that ripped physique. Many men turn to amino acids such as L-carnitine and creatine to improve their exercise performance and build muscle mass, but some have become so reliant on the dietary supplements that health experts are beginning... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-beauty/article/1865148/are-some-hong-kong-men-becoming-addicted-workout-supplements?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-beauty/article/1865148/are-some-hong-kong-men-becoming-addicted-workout-supplements?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Oct 2015 04:30:16 +0000 For years, Christina Jang has been conscientiously sorting the plastic bottles, aluminium cans and recyclable paper from her rubbish and placing them in the appropriate bins for recycling. But last summer, a cleaning lady in her building opened her eyes to what really happened to the materials that were supposed to be recycled. "While she was collecting from the bin, I happened to take the recycling down and I asked her how I should sort my trash. She said you don't need to do any sorting... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/1859106/why-hong-kong-recycling-less-its-rubbish-time-goes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/1859106/why-hong-kong-recycling-less-its-rubbish-time-goes?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 17 Sep 2015 18:30:30 +0000 In 2010, local singer-songwriter Vicky Fung Wing-ki travelled to Shanghai to catch a show featuring Icelandic multi-instrumentalist Olafur Arnalds, who went on to win a Bafta last year for his work on the soundtrack of TV crime series Broadchurch. The concert drew a crowd of 1,000. She returned to Hong Kong the next day and found Arnalds performing for an audience of 200 at Backstage Live, the restaurant and live music venue she co-founded with friends in the music scene, including... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-entertainment/article/1854980/hong-kongs-indie-music-scene-fights-survive-two-venues?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-entertainment/article/1854980/hong-kongs-indie-music-scene-fights-survive-two-venues?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 03 Sep 2015 18:00:15 +0000 The children are busy playing around with batteries, LEDs and electricity-conducting tape while Brian Smith explains how circuits work. No one is looking at Smith, however, but that's the point. The youngsters, mostly around age 11, are taking part in a MakerCamp workshop, part of a movement to show children how to learn by creating. Organisers say they started the series of summer workshops for youngsters because they wanted children to learn differently. For example, instead of structured... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/families/article/1852146/hong-kong-hackerspace-movement-lets-children-learn-creating?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/families/article/1852146/hong-kong-hackerspace-movement-lets-children-learn-creating?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 24 Aug 2015 16:15:15 +0000 RTHK's new boss started his job yesterday with a vow to face political pressure squarely if it arises, while staff urged him to act according to his conscience. Director of Broadcasting Leung Ka-wing was bombarded with questions at the Kowloon Tong headquarters of Hong Kong's public radio and television station. Asked repeatedly whether the public broadcaster would be able to remain independent and whether it might have to take "political directives", the veteran news chief noted that editorial... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1847325/hong-kongs-new-broadcasting-chief-has-work-cut?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1847325/hong-kongs-new-broadcasting-chief-has-work-cut?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 07 Aug 2015 03:45:00 +0000 Hong Kong’s annual computer and gadget festival from August 21 to 24 will feature smart televisions, 3D printers, and plenty of discounts, but one of the main events will be a giant stage for competitive video gamers. The annual Computer and Communications Festival at the Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai is a major event for the industry. Organisers said last year’s festival drew 700,000 visitors; companies did around HK$30 billion in business. Last year’s festival featured a... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1847272/game-hong-kong-computer-festival-puts-e-sports-spotlight?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1847272/game-hong-kong-computer-festival-puts-e-sports-spotlight?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 06 Aug 2015 23:00:00 +0000 Hong Kong’s former security secretary Ambrose Lee Siu-kwong and legislators past and present were among 103 University of Hong Kong alumni who described as “uncivilised” the storming of an HKU meeting last week by students upset with the delayed appointment of a liberal scholar. The 103 alumni, who also included former legislator Miriam Lau Kin-yee and current lawmaker Elizabeth Quat, said in a letter published in newspapers on Wednesday that they supported academic freedom at the university and... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1847016/big-names-including-ex-security-chief-ambrose-lee?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1847016/big-names-including-ex-security-chief-ambrose-lee?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 06 Aug 2015 05:30:30 +0000 Hong Kong's private business sector contracted for the fifth month in a row last month on downward demand, leading to fewer jobs, according to a key economic index. The Nikkei/Markit Hong Kong purchasing managers' index (PMI), which gauges business conditions in the private sector, including manufacturing, services, retail and construction, dropped to 48.2 last month, down from 49.2 in June. A PMI of more than 50 means the economy is expanding and below means contraction. Markit said the latest... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1846691/hong-kong-business-conditions-continue-worsen-key-economic?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1846691/hong-kong-business-conditions-continue-worsen-key-economic?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 05 Aug 2015 04:30:15 +0000 A University of Hong Kong alumnus who started an online petition condemning students who stormed an HKU council meeting last week said today she would stand by an allegation a councillor was attacked – even though it remained unclear why he fell to the ground. The petition by 2000 graduate Maureen Chung Mo-lan, lashes out at liberal scholar Professor Johannes Chan Man-mun for breaking the rules on political donations and at protesting students for “attacking” Professor Lo Chung-mau during the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education/article/1846689/hku-petitioner-stands-claim-students-attacked-professor?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education/article/1846689/hku-petitioner-stands-claim-students-attacked-professor?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 05 Aug 2015 04:00:45 +0000 A mother’s pram got stuck in an escalator at a shopping centre in Hong Kong this morning, following three recent high-profile problems with escalators, including a deadly accident in mainland China last week. This morning’s incident at Tai Wo Plaza in Tai Po was revealed when a witness put a picture on Facebook showing only two plastic wheels stuck at the bottom of an escalator. In an accompanying caption, the poster said a woman was descending on the escalator with a pram when the wheels got... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1846494/mothers-pram-stuck-tai-po-escalator-wake-high?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1846494/mothers-pram-stuck-tai-po-escalator-wake-high?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 04 Aug 2015 11:30:00 +0000 An army of more than 1,000 young people decked out in suits, ties and smart dresses descended on the Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai yesterday for a two-day "summer camp" to learn how to turn their ideas into businesses. The government hopes they'll be among the future drivers of Hong Kong's start-up economy. The Global Youth Entrepreneurs Forum 2015 is set up like a summer camp, with attendees divided into groups to learn entrepreneurship skills. Each group has a leader, called a... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1846173/hong-kong-grooms-its-own-future-start-ups-massive?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1846173/hong-kong-grooms-its-own-future-start-ups-massive?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 03 Aug 2015 16:00:45 +0000 Watch: Eyewitness video inside Cathay Pacific flight 884 as it was forced to make an emergency landing  The terrifying moment that every air traveller dreads has been captured on video by a Cathay Pacific passenger as a plane from Hong Kong to Los Angeles was forced to make an emergency landing at a military airport in Alaska after smoke was detected on board. Events manager Ethan Williams, a British passenger on flight CX884, started filming with his mobile phone when he noticed cabin crew... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1845109/most-terrifying-moment-my-life-cathay-pacific-passengers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1845109/most-terrifying-moment-my-life-cathay-pacific-passengers?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 30 Jul 2015 06:15:30 +0000 A council meeting at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) last night ended with students storming a room, and one person collapsing on the ground and being sent to hospital. What’s going on? If you haven’t been following, get up to speed here. 1. It’s about a job The University of Hong Kong’s governing council decided to continue delaying the decision on whether or not a professor should become one of the university’s pro-vice-chancellors, part of the team that helps the vice-chancellor. The... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1844800/why-scuffle-hong-kong-universitys-appointment?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1844800/why-scuffle-hong-kong-universitys-appointment?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 Jul 2015 06:30:45 +0000 The annual animation fair, Ani-Com and Games Hong Kong, has come to an end with companies offering games and figurines reporting good business, while comic companies said their sales continued to dip. Nicole Lam, an office worker in her 40s, said she had been coming to the fair at the Convention and Exhibition Centre for the past 10 years. She said the booths offering figurines were now bigger with more decorations. Lam ended up spending thousands on figurines, including some of Iron Man, which... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1844599/games-and-figurine-firms-report-good-sales-hong-kongs-ani-com?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1844599/games-and-figurine-firms-report-good-sales-hong-kongs-ani-com?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 Jul 2015 19:15:28 +0000 The government is going to study whether or not it's worth introducing "premium taxi services" in Hong Kong. Larry Kwok Lam-kwong, chairman of the Transport Advisory Committee, made the announcement at a press conference yesterday. The committee does not have a definition for what a "premium taxi service" is, but the move comes as local taxi drivers have been protesting against the ride-sharing platform Uber, which started offering its luxury private car service last June. Earlier this month,... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1844308/hong-kongs-transport-advisory-committee-rejects-fuel?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1844308/hong-kongs-transport-advisory-committee-rejects-fuel?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 Jul 2015 09:45:45 +0000 Hong Kong International Airport is set to introduce new "beacon" technology throughout the airport that allows facilities, stores and restaurants to "communicate" with passengers. The new system, which has already been tested at the airport, identifies passengers when they enter the terminal and automatically passes specific information to their smartphones. The Airport Authority confirmed the system would be put in place soon, but refused to comment further Kevin O'Sullivan, lead engineer at... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1843845/hong-kong-airport-set-install-beacon-system-aid-passengers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1843845/hong-kong-airport-set-install-beacon-system-aid-passengers?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 26 Jul 2015 19:45:45 +0000 Hong Kong's police may have seen their popularity slump, but a strong turnout for a recruitment day yesterday showed the number of would-be officers is rising. Some 2,100 people filled in applications to join Asia's finest yesterday, according to a government press release on the recruitment drive. That was more than the 1,900 at last summer's event, 1,600 in 2013 and about 1,200 in 2012. The police force is looking to recruit 1,510 new officers this financial year - 190 inspectors and 1,320... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1843732/more-apply-join-hong-kong-police-force-despite-popularity-slump?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1843732/more-apply-join-hong-kong-police-force-despite-popularity-slump?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 25 Jul 2015 20:39:21 +0000 Asian-American director Emily Ting I-tien's first full-length feature, shot entirely in Hong Kong, shows the city in such a favourable light that reviewers have been telling her the Tourism Board should have her on the payroll. The 78-minute film, titled It's Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong, is about a Chinese woman from Los Angeles who visits for business, meets an American expat working in finance, and develops a budding romance while exploring various parts of the city, from Lan Kwai Fong and... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/film-tv/article/1843342/new-movie-makes-everyone-fall-love-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/film-tv/article/1843342/new-movie-makes-everyone-fall-love-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 24 Jul 2015 23:45:30 +0000 A court in Taiwan has fined the company at the centre of last year’s “gutter oil” scandal NT$50 million (HK$12.4 million) and sentenced its chairman to 20 years in prison. The Pingtung District Court ruled yesterday that Chang Guann violated food safety and sanitation laws and commited fraud. Its chairman, Yeh Wen-hsiang, was convicted of the same offences and jailed for 20 years, along with deputy general manager Tai Chi-chuan, the official Central News Agency reported. According to reports... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1843619/taiwanese-firm-centre-gutter-oil-scandal-fined?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1843619/taiwanese-firm-centre-gutter-oil-scandal-fined?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 24 Jul 2015 23:14:47 +0000 A sommelier is usually a person who helps choose a fancy wine to go with your dinner, but Hong Kong now has sommeliers for quite a different drink: tea. Kelvin Ng Chi-chuen's full-time job is to guide customers at the InterContinental Hong Kong's Chinese restaurant on which teas to drink with their food. He's also such a connoisseur that even when he goes to Chinese restaurants with his wife and children, he takes his own tea leaves with him. "Of course, they might not be willing, but I'll say,... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/1843095/rise-and-rise-hong-kong-tea-sommelier?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/1843095/rise-and-rise-hong-kong-tea-sommelier?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 23 Jul 2015 16:05:46 +0000 Toy producers in Hong Kong have fashioned a gigantic model of an iconic Star Wars spaceship - whose cockpit alone was enough to bowl over fans of the movie series in the United States when it was exhibited at San Diego two weeks ago. Hot Toys, a company that produces high-end figures and is punching above its weight as a global toy empire, is the brains behind the Millennium Falcon model. It is 5.5 metres long, 3.7 metres wide and 1.22 metres tall and weighs a tonne – at a scale of 1:6 compared... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1843098/hong-kong-toy-makers-display-giant-model-star?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1843098/hong-kong-toy-makers-display-giant-model-star?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 23 Jul 2015 09:00:30 +0000 A mistake at Tuen Mun Hospital involving a machine that analyzes liver enzymes has affected some 4,000 mostly elderly patients. It won’t be the first large-scale medical blunder in Hong Kong though.  What follows is a brief summary of some of the higher-profile medical mistakes and blunders seen in the city since shortly after the handover. In 1998, two people were wrongly injected with undiluted potassium chloride, a drug that’s given in large doses to stop the heart during executions by lethal... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1842772/brief-history-hong-kongs-medical-blunders?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1842772/brief-history-hong-kongs-medical-blunders?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 Jul 2015 07:45:30 +0000 Among the crowds enjoying the book fair last week were slightly over a thousand people for whom just being on Hong Kong Island was a treat in itself. They were pupils from Yuen Long Public Middle School Alumni Association Ying Yip Primary School and some parents from Tin Shui Wai, the remote new town in the northwest New Territories that has become known for its social and economic problems. The visit to the Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai was a rare and welcome opportunity to see... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1841316/hong-kong-book-fair-treat-gives-tin-shui-wai?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1841316/hong-kong-book-fair-treat-gives-tin-shui-wai?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 19 Jul 2015 23:00:00 +0000 When Adrian Ho was a Form One student in secondary school, he fainted and was unconscious in a hospital bed for three weeks. He had a disease called Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), which means that his blood had unusually low levels of platelets – the cells that help clot blood. This meant he was prone to excessive bruising and bleeding. Ho’s illness drove the 22-year-old to write and publish seven English-language detective novels in the past six years, the newest of which was... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1840206/hong-kong-student-makes-transition-illness?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1840206/hong-kong-student-makes-transition-illness?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Jul 2015 09:15:45 +0000 Thousands of Hongkongers rushed to the Convention and Exhibition Centre under the watchful eyes of the police to get to the city's annual book fair, which opened yesterday. But some seasoned visitors said there weren't as many people as expected. Ho Wai-kuen is a 41-year-old Hongkonger who definitely noticed the shorter lines. She entered the book fair at 10am with her 14-year-old daughter and two of her daughter's classmates. Ho lives in Tin Shui Wai and has been visiting the fair every year... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1839335/crowds-flock-hong-kong-book-fair-search-bargains?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1839335/crowds-flock-hong-kong-book-fair-search-bargains?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Jul 2015 05:15:30 +0000 More than a million visitors are expected to join the seven-day Hong Kong Book Fair, the largest of its kind in Asia, starting today, with a few highlights available for the first time. The book fair at the Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai will run until Tuesday, with a record 580 exhibitors from 33 countries and regions. "People in the industry tell me that for more than half of all the new books in the year, companies time the release to coincide with the fair," said Benjamin Chau... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1839170/hong-kong-book-fair-asias-largest-such-event?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1839170/hong-kong-book-fair-asias-largest-such-event?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Jul 2015 19:14:33 +0000 Young people have become far less satisfied with the government's performance in the past year, according to a survey on quality of life in the city. Researchers at Chinese University surveyed 1,008 Cantonese-speaking Hongkongers between the ages of 15 and 24 and combined the results with government statistics to form a picture of the lives of young people. Issues covered ranged from how satisfied young people were with where they were living, what they thought of the government, how happy they... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/1838471/hong-kong-governments-performance-rating-slips-18-cent-among?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/1838471/hong-kong-governments-performance-rating-slips-18-cent-among?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 13 Jul 2015 19:15:15 +0000 Punters from as many as 480,000 households who do not own digital television sets may miss out on live broadcasts of Mark Six and horse racing after TVB took over ATV's exclusive rights and decided to air them only on its digital channel J2. The Hong Kong Jockey Club, which has run the Mark Six since 1975, announced yesterday that broadcasting rights to the lottery draw and racing would return to TVB because ATV's licence expires next April. ATV has broadcast them since July 2001. TVB previously... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/1838315/tvb-wins-back-right-broadcast-mark-six-and-horse?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/1838315/tvb-wins-back-right-broadcast-mark-six-and-horse?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 13 Jul 2015 04:15:45 +0000 One moment, Pakistani Khan Khalid Mohmood may be speaking English; the next, Cantonese or Urdu as he bargains with locals or travellers from the United Arab Emirates or African countries eyeing the old mobile phone models he has for sale. Business is good at the Tsim Sha Tsui shop, thanks to his fluency in all three languages. But the one thing that exasperates the 30-year-old no end is the paperwork. “I can’t read a word of Chinese and I have no idea what any of it says,” said Mohmood, who can... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1834408/pakistani-hong-kong-could-run-his-business-100pc?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1834408/pakistani-hong-kong-could-run-his-business-100pc?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 Jul 2015 02:30:15 +0000