Health & Environment

Ng Po-ki, the 34-year-old star with boy band Error, was not performing at Tai Po Sports Ground on a recent Tuesday evening. Dressed in a blue T-shirt bearing "Tai Po Running Club", Ng was seen warming up with a crowd of more than 60 runners in the club that he founded. Hands clapping, runners changed their stretching poses from left to right. After the warm-up session, the pacers divided people by skill level, tightening their shoelaces before the run. From urban pavement to sports tracks, the area soon resonates with the sound of determined footsteps as runners begin their run. “I am here to support these people on their running journeys, whether it’s for health or personal best," said Ng who founded the club in 2023 with former TV journalist, Lau Chun-kong, following a local TV sports reality show that documented celebrities training for a marathon. Amid Hong Kong’s growing fitness enthusiasm, the running club is more than a place to sweat, it is a hub for social bonds. It has helped transform Tai Po, a district framed by valleys and rivers, into a vibrant destination for both seasoned athletes and casual joggers. Tai Po, a suburban district in northeastern Hong Kong overlooking the Tolo Harbour with a growing population of 300,000, has been highly favoured by runners and cyclists along its tree-lined coastal walkways. Ng recalled the club’s beginning with only a dozen participants.  “When more people join the running, some members come up with different plans and set the levels of intensity based on each individual’s ability. Some groups stay in the sports grounds, some have street running," Ng said. The club now holds free running sessions every Tuesday evening and Sunday morning. Welcoming all fitness levels, it has drawn over 21,000 members to its Facebook group. “I …

Stigmas over mental health stop people from seeking out help, said scholars at a global conference on mental health in Hong Kong yesterday. Breaking stigmas is important for getting better social support and professional engagement, said Paul Wong Wai-Ching, a professor of social work and social administration at the University of Hong Kong and one of thirteen scholars speaking at the National Counselling and Psychotherapy Conference Hong Kong 2025. “The main issue is that people don’t come to counselling or therapy,” said Kenneth Law, a social worker from the Zubin Foundation, a local charity that works with ethnic minorities. “Either they are afraid or don’t know how to.” Hong Kong fell at 88 out of 147 in Oxford University’s World Happiness Report this year, its lowest-ever position. Around a quarter of Hong Kong children suffer from mental disorders and a quarter of people aged 15 to 24 show suicidal behavior, according to surveys by the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the University of Hong Kong in 2023. “I got inspired on what to do in my field,” said Cathy Wu Jiaxu, a student at Hong Kong Baptist University who attended the conference. “This conference provided me an opportunity to be updated and prepared,” said Caroline Shaw, a wedding planner for more than two decades who changed careers and is studying to be couples counselor. Other talks included female menstrual mentality from Vanessa Wong; athletic performance from Karen Lo Eugene-chuang; narcissistic relationships from Armani Durvasula and teenage digital usage from Nicolson Siu Yat-fan, Evgeny Evseev and Kimberly Carder; suicide bereavement by Paul Wong Wai-Ching.  The conference will move to Malaysia and then the Philippines in October and November.