By: Shameel IbrahimEdited by: LI Chak Ho Samuel

Hong Kong’s unemployment rate in December 2020 stood at 7%, according to government figures. It was the highest in 17 years. The Hong Kong Council of Social Service, a group co-ordinating NGOs in the city, estimated that more than 359,900 families, or 17.1% of economically active households, were affected by unemployment or underemployment in the last quarter of 2020. More than 1.1 million people had at least an unemployed or underemployed member in the family, HKCSS added. As a result, 24,200 children in 92,500 unemployed poor families were living below the poverty line, HKCSS estimated. Mr. Khan watched “I’m Livin It,” a Hong Kong movie which featured the struggles of the city’s homeless people and “McRefugees” that is homeless people who spend the night at 24-hour McDonald’s restaurants. “I was thinking everybody put their grocery [in] the fridge. When you go home, [if you] want something to eat, you would open the fridge. People just want to open the fridge and take whatever they want,” Mr. Khan said. Mr Khan said he painted the fridge blue because “everyone wants to see a blue sky.” When he started the project, Mr Khan said, he had to shop at the supermarket to fill the fridge. But after his daughter posted about the project on Facebook and made it go viral, local media rushed to his place to find out more. “Between 9 am and 6 pm, within half an hour, all the food was gone,” said Mr. Khan. “There [were] actually incidents [where], a homeless guy [was] standing in front of the fridge and he looked at it for another ten seconds and suddenly, he said, ‘I haven’t opened any fridge for years’,” Mr. Khan added. Aziz Khan (not related to Ahmed Khan), 30, knew Ahmed Khan as a family friend and …

Every Sunday, in areas such as Mong Kok and Central, footbridges and parks are packed with clusters of foreign domestic helpers. Under covid regulations, large groups  are broken up. A domestic helper, Bege, said this was her first time to gather with friends at the Mong Kok footbridge. They used to spend their  day-offs in her neighbourhoods. Another domestic helper, Vina, said, apart from resting at the footbridge, she would go shopping with her friends. But under the pandemic, she had nothing to do after spending time with her friends, so she would get home earlier. Unlike Bege and Vina, another domestic helper, Magttelena enjoyed “me-time” on the footbridge by doing live streaming on Facebook. For domestic helpers in Hong Kong, finding a place to spend their days off is tough during COVID. The parks in which they used to gather are now off limits. "Under the gathering ban, domestic helpers are facing more discrimination from locals when spending time together," said Peggy Shek, committee member from the Hong Kong Federation of Asian Domestic Workers Unions, which has over 750 foreign domestic helper members. According to the FADWU’s figures in June 2020, among the 427 domestic helpers who were interviewed, over 80% of them felt they faced more discrimination amid the pandemic. "Before the pandemic, the domestic helpers would sometimes be driven out by security guards  or dissuaded from taking photos when resting in parks," said Ms Shek But since last year, the domestic helpers interviewed felt that they had become the focus. Ms Shek added that reporters come to them more often and more people give them the dirty look. "Once when the domestic helpers were resting in the park, there were announcements reminding them to follow the social distancing rules every hour, which they found disturbing," said Ms …

Personal information from more than 533 million Facebook users from 106 countries have been leaked and posted in a low-level hacking forum on Saturday, cybersecurity researcher, Alon Gai said on Twitter on Saturday. Around 2.94 million Hong Kong users may be affected. The exposed data includes users’ full names, phone numbers, locations, email addresses and biographical information. Security researchers say hackers could use the data to commit fraud.  A Facebook spokesperson said that the data had been scrapped due to a vulnerability that the company patched in 2019.  According to Alon Gal, the chief technology officer of a cybercrime intelligence firm Hudson Rock, who discovered the leakage of data on Saturday, said while the data is a couple of years old, it could be used by cybercriminals  to impersonate users or scam them into handing over login credentials.  Ms Chung Lai-ling Ada, the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data inHong Kong, said that her office is paying close attention to the Facebook leak and has carried out compliance investigations.  She suggested that members of the public should think twice before using social media. "The use of social media carries inherent yet non-negligible risks to users' privacy in relation to personal data," said Ms Chung.  The PCPD also issued a “Guidance on Protecting Personal Data Privacy in the Use of Social Media and Instant Messaging Apps” on April 5, which provides the public with some practical advice to mitigate the privacy risks involved in the use of social media. The Guidance points out that the use of social media and instant messaging apps is not really "free" because users’ personal data is usually monetized upon registration or in the course of user activities.  Users of social media often unwittingly reveal more information than they think. Information shared online can also be misused …

Covid-19 and long hours of online learning may be adding to the stress of university students. But a short break in a "wellness hub" maybe just the way to decompress.

Candidates sitting this year's Diploma of Secondary Education examinations will receive their results through SMS messages in addition to official print transcripts, the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority announced on Thursday.  The text will show the partial name and ID number of the student, subjects and grades. It allows candidates - who might not be able to go to school in-person due to Covid-related reasons - to change their university choices promptly, said Ricardo Mak, Director of Public Examinations at the HKEAA.  The HKEAA will send students a test SMS in June, one month before the DSE results are released.  The exams will take place from April 23 to May 20.  Students waiting for compulsory Covid tests or in lockdown are not allowed to take the exams, and they should inform the Public Examinations Information Centre, the HKEAA said. But there will be no make-up if the students miss their exams, added the HKEAA. The application for absence from exams requires affirmation from the school principal. The HKEAA will then give a grade based on the student's academic performance; the maximum score is 5, the third-highest level after 5** and 5*. "Regarding unusual cases like this, we will assess and tackle fairly and impartially," said Mr Mak. Head of School Examinations and Assessment Margaret Hui said, students who are late for exams because of delayed Covid test results should try to head to the centres and report to the supervisors. But no extra hours will be granted. "Even though they might have less time for paper 1, they might make it to do paper 2. We will use the performance of paper 2 to assess how we can compensate for the loss in paper 1," Ms Hui said. Candidates must fill in the health-declaration form and have their temperature …

Hong Kong will ban fossil-fuel powered cars from 2035 with a target of zero carbon emissions by 2050, the government announced yesterday. Up to 5,000 public charging stations and 150,000 charging facilities in private buildings will be built by 2025, Secretary for the Environment Wong Kam-sing said in a press conference. "There are many challenges, I have to admit. But the intention is clear, we want the city to become carbon neutral, to provide clean air and to make Hong Kong a smart city."Mr Wong said. Electric vehicles in Hong Kong have increased from 180 in 2010 to more than 18,500 at the end of 2020 with around 1,200 public charging stations, including 106 fast chargers, according to the Hong Kong Electric report on installation of electric chargers. Chan Kwok-chung, 45, who has been driving a petrol car for more than 20, said the government's plan to popularise electric vehicles won’t work. “We have insufficient parking spaces right now. Where can we still get room for additional charging parking spaces for electric vehicles?” Mr Chan said. “Especially when an electric vehicle takes a very long time to charge, it will worsen the insufficient parking situation.” Popularising electric vehicles depends on the Hong Kong economy, car dealerships and the number of chargers, Fung Ho-yin, Deputy Director of the Environmental Protection department, said in a RTHK interview. “Most public charging services are medium-speed, and the waiting time is at least four to eight hours, which is not the main charging spot that car owners can rely on,” Mr Fung said to RTHK. In October last year, the government launched a $2 billion subsidy scheme to upgrade electric charging stations in private residential buildings. “We received more than 200 application forms from housing estates, with more than 60,000 parking spaces,” he said. In …