https://www.scmp.com/rss/8551/feed Mathias Woo is co artistic director and executive director of Zuni Icosahedron. www.zuni.org.hk en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Mathias Woo Mathias Woo Hong Kong’s Northern Metropolis is more than a mere zoning plan; it is a crucial part of China’s development strategy and a pivotal step towards elevating the Greater Bay Area’s (GBA) global profile. With development now under way, the conversation must shift to a new realm: soft power. The Northern Metropolis should not be just another new town designed to address Hong Kong’s housing and industrial needs. Rather, it must emerge as a zone of cultural emancipation that takes the GBA’s development... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3329196/more-tech-hub-northern-metropolis-can-be-cradle-culture?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3329196/more-tech-hub-northern-metropolis-can-be-cradle-culture?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Oct 2025 21:30:09 +0000 Mathias Woo Mathias Woo Hong Kong has long celebrated its status as a “culinary paradise” – a city where East meets West across steaming bamboo baskets and sizzling skillets. Yet behind the Michelin stars and street food fame, the city’s food and drink industry is quietly unravelling. Soaring rents, a deepening labour shortage, fractured supply chains and a vanishing pool of culinary talent have left businesses scrambling. In response, policymakers and industry leaders have embraced one particular remedy: the... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3322680/5-step-recipe-revival-hong-kongs-food-sector?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3322680/5-step-recipe-revival-hong-kongs-food-sector?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 24 Aug 2025 22:30:11 +0000 The Hong Kong tram is woven into the fabric of citizens’ everyday life and represents one of the city’s most distinctive assets. The city must consolidate its existing tourism and ecological and cultural resources to give them a significant boost. Trams serve as more than just a mode of transport. They are a vehicle that carries Hong Kong’s history, embodying a cherished part of the city’s identity as they traverse Hong Kong Island for the past 120 years. We must recognise and harness the... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3293258/hong-kong-sleeping-cultural-and-tourism-resource-trams?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3293258/hong-kong-sleeping-cultural-and-tourism-resource-trams?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 Jan 2025 01:30:09 +0000 Hong Kong is right to postpone its scheme to charge for waste disposal. Pay-as-you-throw fees are simply not as effective in reducing waste as recycling. Effective recycling, however, is an institutional challenge and for it to work, the city’s waste management system must be reformed. Waste management in Hong Kong involves several government departments, including obviously the Environmental Protection Department, but also the Drainage Services Department, Marine Department, Agriculture,... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3266368/hong-kong-should-stop-agonising-over-waste-charging-and-focus-recycling?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3266368/hong-kong-should-stop-agonising-over-waste-charging-and-focus-recycling?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 21 Jun 2024 01:30:09 +0000 Chief Secretary Eric Chan Kwok-ki has suggested that new District Council members prioritise work in five areas of community interest, including “fostering clean markets and mobilising the community to participate in anti-rodent work”. A sound action plan for handling food waste and recycling is crucial to eradicating rodent infestations. How can we establish a comprehensive food waste management system? The waste charging scheme, which begins in April, and management of food waste are closely... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3243911/hong-kongs-crackdown-rats-must-also-deal-food-waste?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3243911/hong-kongs-crackdown-rats-must-also-deal-food-waste?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 Dec 2023 01:30:10 +0000 The Hong Kong government must push forward the concept of a Shenzhen-Hong Kong “super twin” metropolis on its development agenda. Building on the constitutional principle of “one country, two systems”, Hong Kong can take advantage of the “two systems” for the division of work within “one country”. Hong Kong and Shenzhen can complement each other through collaboration and exchange of talent. To achieve this, I propose nine approaches. First, relocate the Hong Kong government’s headquarters from... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/hong-kong/article/3196551/how-hong-kong-and-shenzhen-can-be-linked-super-twin-metropolis?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/hong-kong/article/3196551/how-hong-kong-and-shenzhen-can-be-linked-super-twin-metropolis?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 22 Oct 2022 01:15:09 +0000 In 2012, protests against moral and national education brought many young people – including secondary school students – onto the streets to participate in politics for the first time. Last year accelerated this phenomenon when even more students joined pro-democracy movements. Why are young people so actively involved in politics? Of course, young people around the world have long railed against rigid establishments and democratic regression. It is slightly different in Hong Kong, though, as... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3104703/how-pop-culture-revival-can-save-hong-kongs-frustrated-youth?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3104703/how-pop-culture-revival-can-save-hong-kongs-frustrated-youth?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 10 Oct 2020 02:30:12 +0000 ZUNI ICOSAHEDRON'S Mathias Woo Yan-wai is getting repetitive in the green room of the Hong Kong Art Centre's Shouson Theatre. 'Hong Kong is so strange, and it's getting more like a prison cell,' the writer-director says - again. Woo presents such bizarre, property market-related phenomena in the theatre group's latest comedy, Strange Strange Hong Kong Series 1: The Agent. It's about a real-estate agent couple (Carson Chung Ka-shing and Tanya Chan) looking for a place in Hong Kong - and in... https://www.scmp.com/article/519685/hell-plot?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/519685/hell-plot?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 08 Oct 2005 16:00:00 +0000 'IT'S THE FIRST time I've stood for election and I'm not a public figure. To have a better chance of victory I need their help,' said Mathias Woo Yan-wai one afternoon, referring to a poster of him flanked by veteran Democrats such as Martin Lee Chu-ming, Yeung Sum and Lau Chin-shek. 'More importantly, a photo with better-known figures is more useful than a lot of words.' Having made his point, he returned to canvassing votes for the Urban Council's North Point West seat. That was in March... https://www.scmp.com/article/468468/taking-mic?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/468468/taking-mic?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 30 Aug 2004 16:00:00 +0000 Q. Do you think the audience base for experimental theatre has expanded in the past 10 years? A. Not really. But, then again, we don't expect to appeal to everyone. Our audience base still consists mainly of young people and professionals in the design and advertising industries. They come to our productions to get ideas and stimulation. Q. What was it that attracted you to architecture and then theatre? A. I took up architecture because it is a discipline that is unlike most fields.... https://www.scmp.com/article/352236/mathias-woo?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/352236/mathias-woo?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 12 Jul 2001 16:00:00 +0000 Q. Favourite bar/club? There aren't any in Hong Kong that I like. My favourite bars are all in Tokyo. The bars there serve whisky with genuine rocks of ice, instead of small pieces that look like snow. Q. What's your poison? Whisky on the rocks. I drink a glass every night before going to bed. Q. What do you do only for pleasure? Many different things: listening to music, reading books, watching DVDs and movies, and strolling the streets. Q. What are you listening to? I'm listening to the... https://www.scmp.com/article/352305/qa?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/352305/qa?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 12 Jul 2001 16:00:00 +0000