News
“World’s Biggest Welcome Gift” aims to lure back tourists
- 2023-02-04
- Society
- By: Junzhe JIANG、Juncong SHUAIEdited by: Ming Min AW YONG、Dhuha AL-ZAIDI
- 2023-02-04
Chief executive John Lee Ka-chiu launched the “Hello Hong Kong” campaign today in an effort to boost the city’s economy after the pandemic. The HK$2 billion scheme offers at least 700,000 free airline tickets to overseas visitors as well as local people. Speaking in a press conference, Airport Authority CEO, Fred Lam Tin-fuk said the “World of Winners” airline tickets giveaway will begin in March. It will first target Southeast Asia, followed by Mainland China in April and then other parts of the world afterwards. Most of the tickets will be given away in phases by the three Hong Kong based airlines, Cathay Pacific Airways, Hong Kong Express and Hong Kong Airlines through promotions such as “Buy one, get one” and lucky draws. Lam said he expects each visitor to bring two to three companions, attracting up to 1.5 million visitors to the city between March and September. Visitors staying in Hong Kong for less than 90 days will be offered a “Hong Kong Goodies” bag which will include complimentary drinks coupons worth, cash vouchers and exclusive gifts at local attractions and museums. The “Hello Hong Kong” campaign will also include cultural and sports activities. “It takes time to recover. It’s impossible to say that Hong Kong will resume the capacity of holding those events to the level of 2018 and 2019 in one day,” said Kevin Yeung, Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism. Zhao Yihan, 20, a university student in mainland China wishes to visit Hong Kong through “Hello Hong Kong”. “The flight ticket is a big cost for me, but the campaign may give me the chance to visit Hong Kong for free,” Zhao said. Sarah Emiliana, 22, a Singaporean university student, said a free plane ticket would "really help to reduce the cost of travelling". Even …
Glamorisation of Western beauty neglects Asian women, impacts self-esteem
- 2023-02-03
- Society
- By: Dhuha AL-ZAIDIEdited by: Ming Min AW YONG
- 2023-02-03
Nearly six years ago in Hong Kong, Wan Yee Man, then 17, put on a black dress with rose embroidery detail paired with trending fishnet tights that flaunted her curvy figure. Feeling confident and comfortable, she uploaded a picture on Instagram to promote body positivity, reminding her followers that despite not being “skinny”, she will wear what she wants and that they should too. Instead of receiving the expected affirming comments, she was met with hate, with a particular classmate commenting, “If she cares, why not just take some time to lose weight? It’s more practical anyway.” Ping! Her phone notified her of another comment. “I wanted to report as soon as I saw it,” it read. “Agree,” said another, followed by laughing emojis from one more. East Asian beauty standards have admired fair skin and a petite build for centuries. However, in Hong Kong, which prides itself on an “East-meets-West” philosophy, some women, like Wan, are finding the preference for typically Eurocentric features detrimental to their self-esteem. Western media, historically with blond, thin and tall women, has shaped local beauty standards. “When a Hong Kong girl is of mixed race, especially if she's Asian and white, Hong Kongers will consider her features very pretty,” Wan said. This desire to conform to the traditional “ideal” woman has impacted Wan’s self-esteem, causing her to constantly question her appearance and even stop posting online for a while. However, her advocacy for self-acceptance is far from over. “Now, I say fuck it. I don't have to care what people think, I love myself,” she said. She hopes that Hong Kong will become more accepting toward different body types. “I really want girls to love themselves. Stop saying, ‘I want to lose weight’. If you want to, do it for yourself, not for the …
Cross-border students back to school after mainland borders reopen
- 2023-02-02
- Society
- By: Runqing LI、Yi Yin CHOWEdited by: Dhuha AL-ZAIDI、Ming Min AW YONG
- 2023-02-02
Students at Fung Kai No.1 Primary School in Sheung Shui joined a ceremony this morning to welcome the return of cross-border classmates. It’s the first time in three years that students from Shenzhen are back in school. COVID-19 travel restrictions between Hong Kong and mainland China meant the children have been learning online. Today’s event began with the raising of the national flag, followed by Chinese Culture Day festivities as part of the Lunar New Year celebrations. Principal Chu Wai-Lam said in his speech that he was excited to greet the students again after three years. “Although it was impossible, I really wanted to give them a hug when I saw them back,” he said. Cross-border students must provide a negative PCR test every 48 hours and book a quota to depart every day. Wang Tiancheng, 11, lives in Shenzhen. “I feel very excited and a little bit nervous to see my classmates,” he said. Rigid quarantine policies meant he was not able to visit his friends during the pandemic. Bu Jingna, who sent her two children to Fung Kai No.1 Primary School, said they are happy to return to Hong Kong. “My children studied online for three years in Shenzhen, so once we had the opportunity to return to Hong Kong, we came back immediately,” she said. Principal Chu hopes that the optimism shared amongst parents and school children today will encourage more students to return in the near future. “We hope our support could give them a normal school life as soon as possible,” he said.
HSI retreats from 11-month-high as mainland stock market resumes
- 2023-01-31
- Business
- By: Lok Yi CHU、Ho Yi CHEUNGEdited by: Nga Ying LAU、Bella Ding
- 2023-01-31
Hong Kong stocks pulled back on the third trading day of the Year of the Rabbit, also the settlement date of HSI futures, after a week-long Lunar New Year break in mainland China. The Hang Seng Index opened 109 points lower this morning and dipped 2.7 percent, or 619 points, to 22,069.73 at the close of Monday trading, with a turnover of 203.25 billion. “The Hang Seng Index will experience profit-taking after hitting an 11-month-high, also the futures index is settled on today, which caused market fluctuations,” wrote Sam Chi-Yung, a Certified Financial Consultant of Patrons Securities, on Facebook. CRIC Securities Company Limited announced yesterday that the transaction volume of mainland real estate during the Lunar New Year fell by 14 percent year-on-year, leading to weakness in mainland real estate stocks. Country Garden (2007) slumped 8.3 percent to HK$2.97 while Longfor Group (0960) declined 5.7 percent to HK$26.60. The Hang Seng Mainland China Property Index overall downed 4.7 percent. Property management stocks fell correspondingly. Country Garden Services (6098) slid 5.92% to close at HK$21.45. The Hang Seng Technology Index dropped 4.8 percent amid profit-taking after two consecutive days of rising. Alibaba Health Information Technology Ltd. (0241) sank 8.0 percent to HK$7.05, while Alibaba (9988) and Tencent Holdings Ltd. (0700) dropped 7.1 percent to HK$109.00 and 6.7 percent to HK$387.20 respectively. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index decreased by 3.6 percent. Mainland enterprise stocks Haidilao (6862) and Sands China Limited (1928) decreased by 6.85 percent at HK$21.75 and 5.56 percent at HK$28.85 respectively. The blue chips backed the stock market. A CICC research report, based on the data provided by Informa Financial Intelligence Company EPFR, revealed that overall net inflows of the overseas active funds into Hong Kong Stock market have been recorded for three consecutive weeks as …
Chinese cross-border investors suffer losses as Futubull and Tiger Brokers face corrective measures
- 2023-01-28
- Business
- By: Jiaxing Li、Lok Yi CHUEdited by: Bella Ding、Yuhe WANG、Le Ha NGUYEN
- 2023-01-28
Investors in China have been in a weak market sentiment since China’s securities regulator ordered the two major online brokerages Futubull and UP Fintech, also known as Tiger Brokers in Asia, to rectify their business last month. Futu Holding Limited and UP Fintech Holding Limited have conducted cross-border securities businesses involving domestic investors without regulatory consent and will be banned from opening new accounts and soliciting new clients, said China Securities Regulatory Commission in a statement on Dec 30, 2022. Existing Chinese investors can still trade via the brokerages but additional fund transfers through unlawful channels to their accounts will be banned. “The sudden regulation brought uncertainty to my wealth, and I therefore chose to move my funds and not to use these two platforms anymore,” said Allen Liu, a two-year user of Futubull and Tiger Brokers, adding that the government action affected his investment portfolio and caused some losses. Ge Chenming, a cross-border securities investor on Futubull and UP Fintech, said that he suffered a sudden loss of CN¥160,000 (about HK$185,000) because of the fall in the US and platform stocks after the regulation. “After the shut-down of these platforms, I have had difficulties buying US stocks because my English is poor and foreign platforms are hard for me to understand, ” Ge added. Shares of Futu and UP Fintech, both listed on Nasdaq, slumped around 30% to a one-month low at US$37.84 (HK$296) and US$3.20 (HK$25), respectively, one day after the announcement of CSRS. As of 26 Jan, the prices of Futu and UP Fintech have increased by more than 44% and 31% year-to-date, though both prices are still below the levels before the regulation. CSRC said it was illegal for Futubull and Tiger Brokers to provide investors with overseas stock speculation services, including stock trading on Hong …
Hong Kong Cantopop: K-song's popularity reduces diversity of local music
- 2022-12-30
- Culture & Leisure
- The Young Reporter
- By: Ka Ki FUNG、Kin Hou POONEdited by: Lokman Yuen
- 2022-12-30
Cantopop has played an important role in Hong Kong music culture since 1960, yet faced criticism for being dominated by mainstream love songs, or so-called “K-songs”. The term “K-song” appeared 20 to 30 years ago and comes from the word “karaoke”, a popular choice of activity teenagers like to do in the 80s-90s, according to Michael Kam Wing-hin, associate programme director of the associate degree in social sciences at College of Institute. Some say that the emergence of “K-song” reflects the musical preferences of mainstream audiences while critics say K song is a commercial act adopted by music production companies to gain profit. Jacky Chueng, one of the four “Heavenly Kings” in Cantopop, had high sales of his K songs in the 80s and 90s, but his jazz style in the later years led to mediocre sales, Kam said. “This situation may reflect that ‘K songs’ have a good response and audience acceptance, but it does not necessarily mean that the quality of ‘K songs’ is high. While those with a high level of musical quality does not mean that they are easy to become hits,” said Kam. As K songs guaranteed commercial success, companies have shifted their attention more to producing these types of songs, which reduced the diversity of songs in the music industry, and led to mass production of songs with similar characteristics. Kam agreed K songs are a product of the music market. Songwriters tend to produce K songs because audience acceptance and market response is the key to decide whether a song is hot or not, and K songs are mostly about love, with catchy melodies that are easy for people to sing along with, gaining a lot of concern and support, Kam said. “K song” is also seen as a way for artists to …
Art Department: The story behind the visuals
- 2022-12-29
- Culture & Leisure
- The Young Reporter
- By: Nga Ying LAU、Yuhe WANGEdited by: Leona Liu
- 2022-12-29
Irving Cheung Yee-man, a 40-year-old film production designer and art director, once worked on film production in the Shaw Studio for 69 hours straight without sleeping. She would keep working but not be conscious about what she was doing. “Why am I still working?” was the realisation when her consciousness was delayed. For Cheung, working in the film art department is exciting, despite the high-pressure schedule and irregular working time. “Few other industries have such a job that people working for it can tell others, ‘hey, I just witnessed an explosion today, or a bank robbery, even flesh-cutting from a corpse’,” Cheung said. In Hong Kong, the rising popularity of recent domestic films has brought more attention to the film art department, which is often hidden behind the media spotlight and the cheers of moviegoers. As the directorial debut of award-winning visual effects specialist Ng Yuen-fai, the action sci-fi film Warriors of Future has become the highest-grossing Chinese-language film in Hong Kong of all time, taking over HK$80 million at the Hong Kong box office, according to data released by the official social accounts of this film. With expensive and time-consuming production, Warriors of Future has impressed audiences with its rich visual effects and sparked a media discussion on Hong Kong’s special effects filmmaking. To achieve the artistic presentation of a film, the art department is responsible for creating the overall visual look of a film in collaboration with the director. An art department is supervised by a production designer whose job can be divided into three stages: pre-production, scene creation and post-production. Production designers will discuss and co-create the backgrounds of the film characters at the pre-production stage when the script has yet to be developed. Then, the production designer will lead the art director and costume designer in …
Hong Kong film industry questions for its revival era
- 2022-12-28
- Culture & Leisure
- The Young Reporter
- By: Ho Yi CHEUNG、Ka Tung NGEdited by: Tiffany Ma
- 2022-12-28
In October, two local films, "Warriors of Future" and "Table For Six", broke over HK$70 million at the box office while some movie related people wonder whether the Hong Kong film industry can have its second glorious "1980-90" era. "As time passes and more significant events occur, there will inevitably be more compelling movie ideas.," Luk said. "Warriors of Future", starring Louis Koo, Lau Ching Wan, and Carina Lau, is the biggest movie ever made in Hong Kong while "table of six" became the top Hong Kong-produced comedy at the box office in Hong Kong in 2022. Luk said social events can inspire new themes to Hong Kong films and create a craze. For example, a 2002 film "Internal Affairs" created with the background after Hong Kong's handover in 1997. Hong Kong is also attempting to produce a wider genre of films. Over half of the films with the gangster genres in the 1970s to 1990s to kung fu films such as “Ip Man” series from 2008 to 2019, the Hong Kong films mostly are about themes of police and bandits. “By introducing science fiction films to the local market, "Warriors of the Future" has made an important first step for Hong Kong's film industry,” said Luk. Chan Hoi-king, 21, a former film student in Hong Kong Baptist University, now studying at the University of Birmingham thinks the Hong Kong film industry is expected to revive. “The government has begun to face up to the development of the film industry, and the rebirth of Hong Kong film is expected,” said Chan. The Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau has set aside approximately HK$240 million to promote the development of Hong Kong films. Eligible film projects will receive a maximum of HK$9 million in funding under the new measure "Asian Cultural Exchange …
Last surviving hand-painted porcelain factory in Hong Kong
- 2022-12-23
- Culture & Leisure
- The Young Reporter
- By: Tsz In Warren LEUNG、Noah TsangEdited by: Karmen Li
- 2022-12-23
Yuet Tung China Works, first established in 1928, mainly exports hand-painted dinnerware and family crests, such as plates and bowls, to foreign countries. The Canton famille-rose porcelain making technique can now only be found in Hong Kong's last hand-crafted porcelain factory after the decline of handicraft industry.
Local art gains more attraction while censorship fears continue
- 2022-12-23
- Culture & Leisure
- The Young Reporter
- By: Aruzhan ZEINULLA、Dhuha AL-ZAIDIEdited by: Nicholas Shu
- 2022-12-23
A typical day for Ka Yu Ng, a 32-year-old independent artist in Hong Kong, starts by reflecting her anxious thoughts, embracing her sensitive emotions; feelings of vulnerability that she once hated and tried so hard to supress growing up. She spends most days on Peng Chau Island in her small studio, embraced by the melodic instrumentals playing in the background, engulfed by the scent of sandalwood incense, as she channels her feelings into art, words, and music. Away from the hectic city, 5+2 studio, named after her childhood nickname which sounds like “five plus two” in Cantonese, is Ng’s daily personal exhibition venue where she is free to produce visuals. Having been in Hong Kong’s art scene for three years, Ng thinks the local art has developed. “The locals are more aware of building their own style. I believe it’s a very good start,” she said. Local art in Hong Kong has been gaining more attention since the social movement in 2019 and the shortly followed COVID-19 pandemic. However, some artists have faced restrictions on creativity, which has led them to question the extent of their artistic freedom. “The social unrest and the pandemic are reminding people that something in this place needs to be protected, the culture in particular,” Ng said. Hong Kong comprises approximately 29,420 creative establishments, with around 136,470 members, according to the official website of the local government. As a culturally dynamic city, it boasts 11 components of the cultural and creative industries, including arts, antiques and craft, accounting for about 5% of the city’s GDP. This year, the government announced a series of new subsidies for art talents. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu pledged new funding for the new generation of artists, in his first Policy Address in October. Financial Secretary Paul Chan committed several …