https://www.scmp.com/rss/517375/feed Elisha M. (Shan) Sonthra is a master of public policy student at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Elisha M. Sonthra,David Yu Chak-wai Elisha M. Sonthra,David Yu Chak-wai The arrest of six Filipino domestic helpers for running an unlicensed dental clinic in Sham Shui Po has exposed a troubling reality about healthcare inequality in Hong Kong. While the raid was hailed as a victory against “illegal labour activities”, this overlooked the desperation that drives people to seek dental care from untrained practitioners who taught themselves using YouTube videos. The facts suggest not a criminal enterprise but a form of community self-help. Treatments reportedly cost... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3322855/hong-kongs-black-market-dental-care-wont-be-fixed-arresting-helpers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3322855/hong-kongs-black-market-dental-care-wont-be-fixed-arresting-helpers?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 23 Aug 2025 04:00:18 +0000 Teenagers in Hong Kong have found a new way to escape the gravity of their everyday lives. Their drug of choice? A synthetic narcotic they’ve nicknamed “space oil”. With slow, deliberate breaths from their vapes, they chase a fleeting high: a peculiar blend of exhilaration and suffocation, like binge-drinking in a room with no air. For a brief moment, they feel weightless, untethered, like astronauts adrift. “Space oil” is cooked up using etomidate, a medical anaesthetic that was previously... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3303370/why-banning-space-oil-isnt-enough-save-hong-kongs-youth?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3303370/why-banning-space-oil-isnt-enough-save-hong-kongs-youth?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 23 Mar 2025 02:00:11 +0000 Global tourism has staged a dramatic comeback from the depths of the Covid-19 pandemic, with 1.1 billion international tourists recorded in the first nine months of 2024 – tantalisingly close to pre-pandemic levels. Asia, in particular, has witnessed a remarkable recovery with countries like Japan surpassing their 2019 tourism numbers. But Hong Kong’s rebound has been noticeably slower. This year’s tourist arrivals are projected to fall short of the Tourism Board’s modest target of 46 million –... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3290721/forget-night-vibes-hong-kong-needs-tourism-lessons-singapore-tokyo-and-seoul?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3290721/forget-night-vibes-hong-kong-needs-tourism-lessons-singapore-tokyo-and-seoul?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Dec 2024 01:00:15 +0000 Elisha M. Sonthra,Alex He Jingwei Elisha M. Sonthra,Alex He Jingwei In the face of a persistently low total fertility rate of 0.8 births per woman – currently the lowest in the world – Hong Kong has reached a demographic crossroads. The experience of Japan and South Korea has taught us enough about how inevitable and irreversible the decline is. The absence of a magic bullet, however, should not become the reason for policy inertia because a passive stance would simply exacerbate an already grave situation. The Hong Kong government has implemented a suite of... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3245459/why-hong-kongs-demographic-dilemma-need-not-mean-doom?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3245459/why-hong-kongs-demographic-dilemma-need-not-mean-doom?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 Dec 2023 01:30:16 +0000