https://www.scmp.com/rss/500299/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Before Hong Kong founded its Fire Services Department, in 1868, even before the British arrived, in 1841, each household would equip itself with a bucket filled with water, marked “do not touch”. When a fire alarm was raised, nearby householders would rush out with their buckets and either join in the effort to extinguish it or lend their bucket to others, knowing they could claim it back once the fire was out. But with the building frenzy that followed the British arrival in Hong Kong, it... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3180318/history-hong-kongs-fire-services-department-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3180318/history-hong-kongs-fire-services-department-and?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 05 Jun 2022 05:15:17 +0000 You only want me here for my money!” screamed Wong Po. “If I stay, you’ll just go on robbing me and gambling it all away like you have your pension.” “You’re the thief!” retorted Kwong Cheung. “You took my watch and the jewellery.” “Me, the thief?” Wong was incensed. “Who took that money out of my trunk? Who had the keys for it all the time? I didn’t.” “Well, get out of here, then,” puffed Kwong, former Supreme Court messenger and owner of this comfortable home in Wan Chai. “You’re no use to... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3126979/invisible-women-how-hong-kongs-colonial-criminal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3126979/invisible-women-how-hong-kongs-colonial-criminal?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 28 Mar 2021 06:15:05 +0000 At 10pm on August 19, 1912, night had fallen across Cheung Chau, bringing an inky darkness to an island community that was as yet without electric lights. Oil lanterns glowed dimly from a few houses and moored sampans, but most of the hard-working fisherfolk were asleep. In his room above the Wo Sang Pawn Shop, near the police station, 14-year-old Wong Pak-hoi was finishing his homework. Constable Jhanda Singh stood guard at his post on the police jetty, but could hear little beyond the lapping... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3037491/pirates-cheung-chau-what-really-happened-1912?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3037491/pirates-cheung-chau-what-really-happened-1912?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 18 Nov 2019 08:30:08 +0000 Tomorrow, the annual St Patrick’s Day parade will wend its colourful, exuberant, musical way round Tamar Park and The Irish Village. It will be the first for new Irish Consul-General David Costello. “Since my arrival here last August, I’ve been struck by the sheer volume of Irish place-names in Hong Kong,” says Costello, who points out that the SAR’s emblem, the bauhinia (Bauhinia blakeana), is named after governor Sir Henry Blake (in office 1884-87), who was born in Limerick. “When you look... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3001817/hong-kongs-st-patricks-day-celebrations-how?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3001817/hong-kongs-st-patricks-day-celebrations-how?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 16 Mar 2019 10:30:12 +0000