https://www.scmp.com/rss/327832/feed Zoe Low joined the Post in 2018 and is a reporter. Previously, she was an intern at The News Lens International in Taipei, covering Taiwan-China relations and foreign policy and social issues around Asia and Southeast Asia. She graduated from the London School of Economics and the National Chengchi University in Taiwan. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com A biotechnology company has suggested using fly maggots to take a bite out of Hong Kong’s massive food waste problem, with plans already going ahead for a facility to use larvae to chew through chicken waste. Organic Tech, a subsidiary of Baguio Green Group, one of the city’s main waste management companies, will set up a plant in Tuen Mun’s EcoPark in June, to convert 10 tonnes of chicken faeces – one-third of the city’s output – into about five tonnes of fertiliser and fish feed by September... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3161957/hong-kong-biotech-firm-wins-government-contract?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3161957/hong-kong-biotech-firm-wins-government-contract?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 03 Jan 2022 09:35:48 +0000 Senior executives of Hong Kong’s Citizen News on Monday said they were forced to shut it down because they could no longer guarantee staff safety under the city’s “vague” approach to law enforcement. In an emotional press conference ahead of the five-year-old online portal’s planned Tuesday closure, chief writer Chris Yeung Kin-hing said it was impossible to know where the red lines were drawn following a police crackdown on Stand News, another outlet popular among opposition activists and... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3161944/citizen-news-bosses-say-hong-kongs-vague-law-enforcement?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3161944/citizen-news-bosses-say-hong-kongs-vague-law-enforcement?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 03 Jan 2022 08:40:29 +0000 Health authorities trying to contain an expanding outbreak of the highly contagious Omicron variant of the coronavirus in a Hong Kong restaurant urged exposed diners still at large to come forward or face consequences, as they identified more infections on Monday. Officials said they had confirmed one more infection and identified another preliminary-positive case originating from the Moon Palace restaurant at the Festival Walk shopping centre in Kowloon Tong. The new suspected case, if... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3161915/omicron-hong-kongs-moon-palace-restaurant-cluster?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3161915/omicron-hong-kongs-moon-palace-restaurant-cluster?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 03 Jan 2022 05:07:28 +0000 Fears over an Omicron outbreak in Hong Kong grew on Sunday after the wife of a man linked to a restaurant cluster was suspected to be infected with Covid-19, as the city’s health minister warned the situation was at a “tipping point”. Authorities have sent hundreds of close contacts of the infected diners into quarantine, but health experts are holding off from recommending tighter social-distancing rules as it remained unclear exactly how the virus spread around the Moon Palace restaurant at... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3161840/omicron-hong-kong-tipping-point-third-suspected?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3161840/omicron-hong-kong-tipping-point-third-suspected?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 02 Jan 2022 04:53:57 +0000 Hong Kong confirmed 14 new imported coronavirus cases on Wednesday, with flights from Toronto and Los Angeles operated by the city’s flagship carrier suspended for two weeks after carrying infected passengers. Tests also confirmed an additional 12 Omicron infections among earlier patients, bringing the city’s tally of the variant to 70. Wednesday’s new cases were imported from the United States, the Philippines, France, Britain, Singapore, Germany, Australia, Canada and Spain. Eleven involved... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3161402/coronavirus-hong-kongs-new-quarantine-rules-cargo?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3161402/coronavirus-hong-kongs-new-quarantine-rules-cargo?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 Dec 2021 07:34:13 +0000 Reducing the over-consumption of meat could help lower the concentration of a major air pollutant and avoid 75,000 premature deaths in China, a team led by Hong Kong researchers has found. Professor Amos Tai Pui-kuen of Chinese University, who helmed the study, said ammonia gas emissions from the agricultural sector had increased more than 60 per cent since the 1980s, when Chinese people started to eat larger amounts of meat. “China’s population has increased sharply in the past 30 years, and... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3161318/eating-less-meat-can-help-reduce-75000-premature?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3161318/eating-less-meat-can-help-reduce-75000-premature?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 Dec 2021 12:48:28 +0000 A troubled Hong Kong fitness chain has closed its four remaining branches, citing “unrealistic rents” and social-distancing regulations that crippled the industry during the coronavirus pandemic. Goji Studios said it would facilitate the transition of memberships to another chain, Physical Fitness and Beauty, which has 20 branches in the city. “As the government tightened social-distancing measures last year, many businesses were restricted from operating, and fitness centres were forced to... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3161215/coronavirus-hong-kong-fitness-chain-blames?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3161215/coronavirus-hong-kong-fitness-chain-blames?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 Dec 2021 00:35:09 +0000 The destructive power of typhoons in Asia could nearly double by the end of the century, according to a study by the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Their average wind speed at landfall could strengthen by 6 per cent, or 7.2 kilometres per hour, said a paper authored by researchers from the university and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area Weather Research Centre for Monitoring Warning and Forecasting in Shenzhen. “The projection also suggests that an average typhoon by then will... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3161184/climate-change-typhoons-coastal-asia-and-china-could-be-twice-powerful?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3161184/climate-change-typhoons-coastal-asia-and-china-could-be-twice-powerful?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 27 Dec 2021 10:33:11 +0000 Hong Kong confirmed nine new imported coronavirus cases on Sunday including a Cathay Pacific aircrew member whose infection triggered mandatory testing of all residents in his Tung Chung building, while the Omicron variant unleashed worldwide travel chaos over the Christmas weekend with thousands of flights cancelled. A day after the city recorded 25 imported infections, health minister Sophia Chan Siu-chee said the government was ready to tighten any necessary measures – including testing,... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3161087/cathay-pacific-crew-member-among-9-new-imported?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3161087/cathay-pacific-crew-member-among-9-new-imported?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 26 Dec 2021 08:49:41 +0000 Discarded surgical masks which fall into the sea could be releasing microplastics as they degrade, polluting an amount of water equal to 54,800 Olympic-sized swimming pools. Dr He Yuhe at City University’s State Key Laboratory of Marine Pollution made the discovery after spotting discarded masks at local beaches, which have seen an influx of local visitors looking for weekend haunts amid the coronavirus pandemic. “The Covid-19 pandemic is still ongoing, and naturally if people are wearing... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3161020/coronavirus-hong-kong-researchers-discover-masks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3161020/coronavirus-hong-kong-researchers-discover-masks?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 25 Dec 2021 00:00:36 +0000 Hong Kong authorities must keep a tighter leash on local dog owners, the city’s Ombudsman has recommended, after finding more than 167,000 canines were unlicensed and unvaccinated over the past decade amid dwindling inspections. Ombudsman Winnie Chiu Wai-yin on Thursday made 11 suggestions to the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department in regard to its oversight of pet owners, saying it had failed to properly update and renew licences, vaccinate and microchip Hong Kong’s dogs. “The... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3160813/all-bark-and-no-bite-hong-kongs-ombudsman-wants-dog?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3160813/all-bark-and-no-bite-hong-kongs-ombudsman-wants-dog?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 23 Dec 2021 07:55:16 +0000 Hong Kong’s current climate plan falls short of meeting its commitments under the 2015 Paris Agreement, according to a new NGO report, which also called on the city to ensure a fair transition to a low-carbon economy for the underprivileged. The “Paris Watch: Hong Kong Climate Action Report”, released by the NGO CarbonCare InnoLab on Thursday, gave the city’s performance on environmental issues over the past year a grade of “C minus”. Despite the government publishing several plans this year... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3159985/hong-kong-not-living-its-climate-commitments?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3159985/hong-kong-not-living-its-climate-commitments?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Dec 2021 12:56:11 +0000 Hong Kong’s privacy watchdog has made its first arrest under a new law criminalising doxxing, detaining a 31-year-old man in West Kowloon. The Chinese national was arrested on Monday after the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data received a report by the alleged victim accusing the suspect of posting their personal details to an online platform, said Lo Dik-fan, of the watchdog’s criminal investigation division. “This is the first action we have taken since doxxing was... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3159555/hong-kongs-privacy-watchdog-makes-first-arrest-under?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3159555/hong-kongs-privacy-watchdog-makes-first-arrest-under?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 13 Dec 2021 12:16:23 +0000 Education authorities have stressed that teachers must use their professional judgment when deciding whether to use government-supplied learning materials after primary school pupils in Hong Kong reported feeling distraught over graphic footage of the Nanking massacre shown in the classroom. The children, some as young as seven according to sources, watched video endorsed by the Education Bureau that included scenes of rampaging Japanese soldiers burying Chinese civilians alive and shooting them... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education/article/3159426/use-professional-judgment-vet-lesson-materials-education?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education/article/3159426/use-professional-judgment-vet-lesson-materials-education?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 12 Dec 2021 14:00:13 +0000 The German-made BioNTech vaccine is far less effective at neutralising the Omicron variant of the coronavirus but a booster shot greatly improves protection, a Hong Kong research team has found. Receiving jabs remained the most effective protection against Covid-19, said the researchers from the University of Hong Kong and Chinese University who carried out the study and released their findings on Sunday. They urged the elderly and those with compromised immune systems or chronic conditions to... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3159390/coronavirus-biontech-vaccine-could-be-32-times?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3159390/coronavirus-biontech-vaccine-could-be-32-times?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 12 Dec 2021 06:54:53 +0000 Hong Kong residents will be barred from quarantine-free travel to mainland China if a coronavirus infection is identified in their neighbourhood under the city’s new health code system, and it could take up to three weeks to be cleared for entry again, the Post has learned. The health code will open for registration on Friday, and authorities are still working on the parameters of its “green”, “yellow” and “red” QR system. It will be linked to the existing “Leave Home Safe” risk-exposure app,... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3159008/thin-yellow-line-hong-kong-residents-areas-covid?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3159008/thin-yellow-line-hong-kong-residents-areas-covid?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 Dec 2021 03:55:25 +0000 Hongkongers will have to switch to reusable containers to cut 70 per cent of the waste generated by single-use plastic takeaway receptacles, an environmental organisation has found. The “Eat Without Waste” report by ADM Capital Foundation, released on Tuesday, said Hongkongers used on average 2.4 single-use takeaway containers per meal in 2019, and that a total of 3.9 billion such receptacles were sent to landfills that year. The figure was expected to balloon to 4.2 billion by 2030 due to... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3158803/reuse-containers-cut-70-cent-waste-throwaway?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3158803/reuse-containers-cut-70-cent-waste-throwaway?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 Dec 2021 11:52:51 +0000 A Hong Kong university has set up six research centres to drive innovation across a wide range of fields, from carrying out surgery via robots to giving the speech impaired a new way to communicate and even streamlining logistics with new automated processes. Led by scientists from Chinese University and formed under the government’s InnoHK research programme at the Science Park at Pak Shek Kok, the labs have received hundreds of millions of Hong Kong dollars each in public funding. University... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3158663/hong-kongs-chinese-university-sets-6-labs-under-umbrella?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3158663/hong-kongs-chinese-university-sets-6-labs-under-umbrella?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 06 Dec 2021 11:10:23 +0000 Asia’s fastest-ever sprinter Su Bingtian has revealed he was inspired to chase his dreams by two legendary Hongkongers, Paralympian William So Wa-wai and novelist Louis Cha “Jin Yong”. Hailed as “God Su” by fans, the first Asian-born athlete to break the 10-second barrier in the 100m told a Polytechnic University audience on Sunday that he considered Hong Kong sprinter So to be the “true god” of the track. He also said literary giant Louis Cha Leung-yung – the world’s most popular Chinese... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3158519/asias-fastest-sprinter-su-bingtian-reveals-how-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3158519/asias-fastest-sprinter-su-bingtian-reveals-how-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 05 Dec 2021 06:32:09 +0000 Hong Kong this year experienced its third-warmest autumn on record, bolstered by a particularly sunny November and the hottest September since 1884. Last month saw more than 230 hours of sunshine in total, 35 per cent more than the norm over the preceding 30 years, the Observatory said in its monthly weather summary on Thursday. The mean daily maximum temperature, meanwhile, was 25.4 degrees Celsius, 0.9 degrees higher than usual. “Mainly attributed to the exceptionally hot weather in September... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3158175/hong-kong-had-its-third-warmest-autumn-record?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3158175/hong-kong-had-its-third-warmest-autumn-record?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 02 Dec 2021 09:26:54 +0000 Hong Kong woke up to cooler temperatures on Wednesday, with the mercury falling to 15 degrees Celsius, a sudden drop on the previous day. The Observatory earlier warned of temperatures tumbling overnight as the city came under the influence of a northeast monsoon. The citywide average recorded early in the day was down six degrees from the previous morning’s reading. The lowest temperatures after daybreak on Wednesday were seen in the New Territories, falling to between 12 and 13 degrees in... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3157923/hong-kong-weather-cold-wednesday-morning-expected?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3157923/hong-kong-weather-cold-wednesday-morning-expected?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 30 Nov 2021 12:48:23 +0000 Food delivery giant Uber Eats revealed on Tuesday it would wind down its Hong Kong operations by year’s end after seeing slower-than-expected growth. “Uber Eats has unfortunately not grown as expected in Hong Kong,” the company said in response to a Post inquiry. “This decision has been made independent of the global pandemic, and is in line with our broader strategy on Uber Eats.” One of the city’s three main food delivery platforms – along with Deliveroo and Foodpanda – Uber Eats launched in... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3157857/uber-eats-loses-appetite-hong-kong-will-exit-market-years?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3157857/uber-eats-loses-appetite-hong-kong-will-exit-market-years?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 30 Nov 2021 06:25:35 +0000 Hong Kong residents returning from countries with reported cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant that is now upending global travel will undergo 21 days of quarantine and be grouped in the highest-risk category, officials announced on Monday as the city confirmed its third such infection. Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee, however, stressed that all three Omicron cases were imported and had been successfully contained, with progress on reopening the border with mainland China... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3157725/coronavirus-new-omicron-variant-threat-hong-kongs?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3157725/coronavirus-new-omicron-variant-threat-hong-kongs?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 29 Nov 2021 05:02:21 +0000 Hong Kong’s quarantine hotels must cut off any possible avenues of coronavirus transmission in light of the spread of the new Omicron variant, a local health expert has said, while another has cautioned against unnecessary travel during the coming holiday season. First detected in Botswana, southern Africa, the Omicron variant has since cropped up in South Africa, Israel, Germany, Italy and Britain, with Hong Kong also recording two cases picked up in a quarantine hotel earlier this... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3157656/coronavirus-hong-kong-omicron-variant-must-be?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3157656/coronavirus-hong-kong-omicron-variant-must-be?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 28 Nov 2021 07:08:07 +0000 Hong Kong’s two power companies will be under tremendous pressure to raise the price of electricity as the city moves to become carbon neutral by 2050 and residents should brace for double-digit increases in the future, analysts warn. But the city could create some breathing room when its own offshore liquefied natural gas terminal is completed next year, which will give the companies the option of casting a wider net for sources rather than relying solely on mainland China, one expert said on... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3155594/get-ready-more-shocking-power-bills-future-hong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3155594/get-ready-more-shocking-power-bills-future-hong?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 11 Nov 2021 00:15:12 +0000 Hong Kong’s two power companies will raise rates by as much as 7 per cent beginning in January, avoiding a double-digit increase by dipping heavily into their backup funds in what one analyst called an unprecedented move. But keeping the increase low now could set up residents to pay more in the coming years as the city makes the expensive transition to alternative fuel sources as part of a wider goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050. The rate rises were widely expected due to rising fuel... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3155411/hong-kong-residents-pay-7-cent-more-power-january?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3155411/hong-kong-residents-pay-7-cent-more-power-january?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 09 Nov 2021 09:05:55 +0000 Hong Kong police have seized modified speedboats and outboard engines worth HK$25 million (US$3.2 million) believed to be used by smugglers and for illegally ferrying passengers across the border. Johnson Chong Shing-yat, an assistant district commander in Tuen Mun, the seaside district where the raid took place, on Sunday called it the largest such bust in the city’s history. Police found 10 speedboats in total – with seven already modified and three in the process – in a warehouse hidden... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3155179/hong-kong-police-seized-souped-speedboats-outboard?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3155179/hong-kong-police-seized-souped-speedboats-outboard?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 07 Nov 2021 09:48:49 +0000 Hongkongers will have the opportunity to use their winter wardrobes this week, with a cold front forecast to cross the Guangdong coast bringing a drop in temperatures. While temperatures soared to 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) on Sunday, the mercury is expected to fall to 17 degrees on Monday morning. The Observatory said the city would experience a larger difference in temperatures between daytime and nighttime for the coming week. “It will become appreciably cooler [on Monday]... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3155171/hong-kong-braces-cold-spell-temperatures-forecast?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3155171/hong-kong-braces-cold-spell-temperatures-forecast?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 07 Nov 2021 07:41:16 +0000 The number of child abuse cases reported in Hong Kong in the first nine months of the year has jumped by two-thirds compared with the same period in 2020, police have said. Authorities attributed the increase to societal changes brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, with a weaker economy creating more stress in local households, and children spending less time at school and in extracurricular activities, leaving them more exposed to danger both in and out of the home. “Often, child abuse cases... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3154929/child-abuse-cases-hong-kong-66-cent-first-9-months-2021?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3154929/child-abuse-cases-hong-kong-66-cent-first-9-months-2021?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 04 Nov 2021 23:17:21 +0000 Google on Thursday marked what would have been the 88th birthday of the father of fibre optics and Hong Kong’s only Nobel laureate, the late professor Charles Kao Kuen, with an illustration on its homepage depicting the prizewinner in physics alongside his most celebrated contribution. Born in Shanghai in 1933, Kao came to Hong Kong as a teenager, and went on to lay the groundwork for the development of modern communications with his seminal work on fibre optics. He is also remembered in the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3154908/google-doodle-honours-charles-k-kao-hong-kongs-only-nobel?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3154908/google-doodle-honours-charles-k-kao-hong-kongs-only-nobel?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 04 Nov 2021 13:45:21 +0000 A Hong Kong power company has pledged subsidies worth HK$220 million (US$28.3 million) in a bid to encourage energy efficiency and boost local spending. CLP Power, which serves Kowloon, the New Territories and Lantau Island, said on Thursday that it would give HK$100 worth of consumption coupons to nearly 800,000 eligible households, including residential customers with low power consumption, the elderly and 10,000 subdivided housing tenants. It also pledged one-off HK$1,000 subsidies to 50,000... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3154849/hong-kong-power-company-clp-bid-boost-local?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3154849/hong-kong-power-company-clp-bid-boost-local?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 04 Nov 2021 09:06:12 +0000 More than half of some 3,600 Hong Kong secondary school pupils questioned by a youth group showed signs of depression, researchers said on Tuesday. The Federation of Youth Groups poll in October found that while more than a third were happy to be back in school for the new term, 51.9 per cent of them scored over 16 points on a 20-question depression scale, indicating they were showing signs of the mental illness. “More common symptoms include a loss of focus, anxiety over issues that were... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3154589/hong-kong-students-showing-signs-depression-new?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3154589/hong-kong-students-showing-signs-depression-new?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 02 Nov 2021 09:44:13 +0000 Three government employees were among five people arrested on Monday for using fake versions of Hong Kong’s coronavirus contact-tracing app on the first day its use became mandatory to enter public buildings, the Post has learned Two of the suspects were Immigration Department staff, one was employed by the Audit Commission, and the other two were contractors working on site. They were held on suspicion of using false documents, an offence that carries a maximum sentence of 14 years’ jail on... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3154417/coronavirus-hong-kong-5-arrested-using-fake?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3154417/coronavirus-hong-kong-5-arrested-using-fake?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 01 Nov 2021 05:49:40 +0000 Two men have been arrested on suspicion of stealing the deed to a Hong Kong flat from an elderly woman and using it as collateral for a HK$6 million (US$771,300) loan. Police detained the pair, a 26-year-old and a 59-year-old, on suspicion of forging an identity document, money laundering and conspiracy to commit fraud. Sung Ka-wai, acting chief inspector at the police’s financial crimes investigation division, said the 81-year-old victim, who lives in Tai Kok Tsui, had become friends with the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3154350/hong-kong-police-arrest-two-suspects-over-hk6-million?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3154350/hong-kong-police-arrest-two-suspects-over-hk6-million?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 31 Oct 2021 09:35:34 +0000 Property agents selling homes overseas should be made responsible for ensuring people have enough information to decide whether the investment is worth the risk even if the government has no control over foreign developers, Hong Kong’s consumer watchdog has said. Speaking in a televised interview on Sunday, Consumer Council chairman Paul Lam Ting-kwok stood by a council report released on Thursday calling on the government to start licensing local property agents, following a sharp rise in... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3154339/hong-kong-property-agents-who-sell-homes-overseas-should-be?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3154339/hong-kong-property-agents-who-sell-homes-overseas-should-be?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 31 Oct 2021 07:29:16 +0000 Hong Kong’s expertise in managing floods and preventing landslides can be helpful to the wider Asia-Pacific region in tackling climate change, the city’s environmentalists have said. Although the city is not directly involved in global climate talks starting in Glasgow, Scotland, on Sunday, it needs to look at ways it can contribute, said Christine Loh Kung-wai, chief development strategist at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology’s division of environment and sustainability. World... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3154290/climate-change-hong-kongs-knowledge-flood?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3154290/climate-change-hong-kongs-knowledge-flood?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 31 Oct 2021 00:30:22 +0000 Squid Game costumes – guards, contestants and a creepy doll from the hit Korean drama series – dominated the Hong Kong nightlife hub of Lan Kwai Fong on Saturday, although prop guns were not part of revellers’ Halloween outfits after a police warning. Thousands thronged the streets on the night before Halloween, many dressed in elaborate costumes and drawing crowds of photo-takers even as a heavy police presence kept the flow of people moving. Police had warned revellers to observe... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3154305/squid-game-costumes-all-rage-hong-kong-halloween-revellers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3154305/squid-game-costumes-all-rage-hong-kong-halloween-revellers?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 30 Oct 2021 15:14:30 +0000 A teenager, Red Cross volunteers and an academic are among the inspiring individuals recognised at this year’s Spirit of Hong Kong Awards for their work in improving the emotional well-being of Hong Kong’s residents. The annual event, co-organised by the South China Morning Post and property developer Sino Group, honours the achievements of remarkable people whose endeavours may otherwise go unnoticed. Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said the heroes honoured by the awards,... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3153931/teen-academic-red-cross-volunteers-among-inspiring-people?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3153931/teen-academic-red-cross-volunteers-among-inspiring-people?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 28 Oct 2021 01:00:23 +0000 Young Hong Kong residents hoping to change society can do so from within the system, city leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has said, pointing to her own 41 years of public service and status as a former “student activist” as proof. The exhortation to the city’s youth came during the second episode of the RTHK series Overview Policy, a programme dedicated to reviewing her administration’s track record since 2017. Filmed before she fractured her elbow in a fall at Government House last week, the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3153929/carrie-lam-urges-hong-kong-youth-work-change-within-rthk?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3153929/carrie-lam-urges-hong-kong-youth-work-change-within-rthk?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 27 Oct 2021 15:39:12 +0000 Hong Kong is set to end Covid-19 quarantine-exemption privileges for most travellers in categories once identified as crucial for the city’s economy and daily operations as it steps up efforts to convince Beijing to reopen the border with mainland China. In a further bid to ease Beijing’s concerns about the pandemic situation in Hong Kong, local authorities will tighten discharge conditions for infected people from Wednesday, allowing them to leave hospital only after they test negative twice –... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3153691/coronavirus-hong-kong-moves-axe-numerous?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3153691/coronavirus-hong-kong-moves-axe-numerous?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 26 Oct 2021 04:37:36 +0000 Two Hong Kong government databases will require users to supply more information beginning next month, prompting a warning from the city’s main journalist association that the move will undermine press freedom. The tighter access to the Land Registry and Companies Registry, announced on Monday, takes effect on November 1 and follows similar steps over the past year to restrict access to information contained in government databases. “The Hong Kong Journalists Association is deeply disappointed... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3153652/2-hong-kong-government-databases-tighten-access-rules?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3153652/2-hong-kong-government-databases-tighten-access-rules?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 25 Oct 2021 16:12:48 +0000 Some 17,000 hairy crabs valued at about HK$1.53 million (US$196,800) and another 1.1 tonnes of frozen food believed to have been smuggled from mainland China were seized by Hong Kong authorities last Friday. The contraband was found by customs officers on Friday hidden among other legally imported items in a cargo vehicle at the Man Kam To Control Point, near the border with Shenzhen. The 47-year-old man driving the truck was arrested. The hairy crabs did not come with health certificates from... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3153510/pinched-hong-kong-authorities-arrest-truck-driver-over?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3153510/pinched-hong-kong-authorities-arrest-truck-driver-over?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 24 Oct 2021 10:19:13 +0000 Hong Kong’s education chief has revealed that tertiary institutions will also have to hold national flag-raising ceremonies in line with new guidelines issued to primary and secondary schools. Universities will have to fly the national flag every day during term time and hold a ceremony at least once a week under new rules announced last Monday. Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung Yun-hung told lawmakers on Monday his bureau had already sent letters to universities informing them of the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education/article/3152785/hong-kong-universities-must-also-hold-weekly-flag-raising?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education/article/3152785/hong-kong-universities-must-also-hold-weekly-flag-raising?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 18 Oct 2021 12:57:48 +0000 A book pro-Beijing media and lawmakers have attacked for saying it was right for foreign powers to take military action against China during the early 1900s has been snapped up by readers, according to employees of a retail bookstore chain in Hong Kong. Although local pro-Beijing media reported the Chinese-language book had been taken off the shelves by the Taiwanese-owned Eslite bookstore, employees at the Causeway Bay branch told a Post reporter the book was sold out at six of its seven stores... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3152666/book-slammed-glorifying-foreign-invasion-china-early-1900s?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3152666/book-slammed-glorifying-foreign-invasion-china-early-1900s?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 17 Oct 2021 23:00:28 +0000 Landlords of flats in older buildings on the eastern side of Hong Kong Island will be asked if they want their properties to be redeveloped, or just renovated, in a pilot scheme trying out a new bottom-up approach to urban regeneration. The scheme covers some 250 blocks built more than 30 years ago in 24 hectares (59 acres) of land along Shau Kei Wan Road in Sai Wan Ho, according to the Urban Renewal Authority. In a piece posted on his official blog on Sunday, the authority’s managing director... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3152673/hong-kong-landlords-get-choice-between-redevelopment-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3152673/hong-kong-landlords-get-choice-between-redevelopment-and?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 17 Oct 2021 13:39:43 +0000 Hong Kong’s housing minister has said his department needs to hire more private contractors to accelerate the building of affordable homes, after the city leader ramped up pressure on officials to address shortages. Secretary for Transport and Housing Frank Chan Fan on Thursday promised to move quickly with bolstering the workforce for the design and construction phases of public housing projects, in the hope of freeing up civil servants to focus on tasks such as monitoring and quality... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3152358/hong-kong-housing-chief-says-workforce-boost-needed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3152358/hong-kong-housing-chief-says-workforce-boost-needed?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 14 Oct 2021 10:44:24 +0000 A Hong Kong government proposal to encourage residents to convert their pensions into annuities would be “absurd” if made mandatory, the city’s labour minister said on Thursday. Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi-kwong said that while studying the proposal was necessary, making it mandatory to convert Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) pension plans into annuities was never going to happen in Hong Kong. “If anyone just thought about it, forcing everyone in Hong Kong to switch to an annuity is... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3152328/hong-kong-government-proposal-residents-convert?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3152328/hong-kong-government-proposal-residents-convert?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 14 Oct 2021 07:42:44 +0000 An initial study on a new cross-border railway linking Hong Kong and Shenzhen’s Qianhai economic zone is expected to conclude next year, the local transport minister has revealed. Secretary for Transport and Housing Frank Chan Fan said on Thursday that a dedicated office would discuss matters relating to the railway link with mainland China, which was proposed as part of Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s ambitious Northern Metropolis development plan. Chan said that every decision... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3152303/study-new-hong-kong-rail-link-shenzhen-should-be?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3152303/study-new-hong-kong-rail-link-shenzhen-should-be?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 14 Oct 2021 04:43:24 +0000 Hong Kong should start administering Covid-19 booster shots to high-risk groups without waiting for local data on side effects and efficacy, a top government adviser has said as he suggested pushing ahead with preparations to meet a target on border reopening. Professor Lau Yu-lung, who chairs the Centre for Health Protection’s (CHP) scientific committee on vaccine preventable diseases, backed an accelerated launch of third doses in the city after the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3152246/coronavirus-hong-kong-booster-shots-can-proceed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3152246/coronavirus-hong-kong-booster-shots-can-proceed?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 13 Oct 2021 12:33:34 +0000 This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. Typhoon Kompasu left one person dead in a road accident and at least 20 others injured as it roared past Hong Kong on Wednesday, shutting down schools, businesses and the stock exchange, and triggering the longest No 8 warning signal in more than 40 years. The Observatory downgraded the signal to No 3 at 4.40pm but warned that heavy rains and strong winds... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3152160/typhoon-kompasus-no-8-warning-set-outlast?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3152160/typhoon-kompasus-no-8-warning-set-outlast?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 13 Oct 2021 05:09:26 +0000