Society

On Sept. 22, many people were inside the Apple Store in Shatin New Town Plaza to pick up their new iPhone 15. Some scalpers waited outside the Apple Store to buy iPhones from the customers at a premium price. The price of the iPhone 15 Pro Max, with a storage of 1TB, costs HK$13,599. On the first day of sale, the premium price for a new phone in the Natural Titanium color was listed by one resale outlet as an extra HK$2,401, according to the iPhonePriceHK. In the resale market, more profits were made compared to the past few years, some said. Kris Tsang, 30, bought two iPhone 15 Pro Max with 1TB storage in the Apple Store, one for personal use and the other for selling to the resale market.  "I saw that the maximum profit for reselling is HK$2,000," said Tsang. “iPhone 15 series are better selling than the iPhone 14 series,” said Nadjib, 35, an Indian reseller outside Sincere Podium.  He bought six iPhones and planned to sell them in India at a higher price. Derek Chung, 34, a reseller, bought two iPhones and earned HK$6,000 from reselling. "Prices are speculated to reach a new high due to the factors of titanium," said Chung. The latest iPhone series included a titanium shell, making the handsets the lightest the company has ever made and the case more durable.  "I heard that titanium production capacity is relatively low. Prices are speculated to be high due to the low supply," said Chung. Those who want to buy the new iPhone 15 from Apple can only do so after pre-ordering online.

Christian music festival Hypersonic Fest kicked off at Kowloon Bay International Trade & Exhibition Centre on Sunday, a day after record heavy rain flooded the city. Thirty-five bands performed on four stages, attracting more than 1,000 festival goers on the first day, according to organisers. The only Christian music festival in Hong Kong included a 50-minute musical worship. Lee Man Hei, 33, an electronic DJ known as Simon Girl who performed at the festival, said she wishes to promote electronic music to the public. “My goal is to make music for the future,” said Lee, adding that she is inspired by other local indie bands, such as The Hertz. "The Hertz also knows how to bring up the scene's atmosphere, interact with the audience,” she said. “This is what performers should do. Pursue something instead of repeating what others do and stay in your comfort zone”.  “Hypersonic Fest is a good music festival because it contains different forms and styles of Christian music. Also, the audience on this platform can interact with the artists and worship together,” said Esther Choy, 20, who attended the event. The festival also included an art fair with ten artists from Hong Kong and Taiwan, said Harold Chan from festival organiser Hypersonic Lab. “Through art, including music and paintings, we can express our inner values ​​and concepts and communicate with each other,” Chan said.

  Today, the 2023-2024 Horse Racing season kicked off at the Sha Tin Racecourse. This is the first racing session without COVID-19 restrictions after three years.  However, the recent weather conditions have not favoured the new season due to typhoon Saola striking Hong Kong last week, forcing the Hong Kong Observatory to issue hurricane signal No. 10, resulting in limited training.  During the past two days, Hong Kong released a black warning rain signal due to the low pressure from the remnants of typhoon Haikui. Over 400mm of rain have been recorded in Sha Tin, and the racecourse premises experienced minor flooding.  This morning, the Observatory issued the Amber Rainstorm Signal and claimed that a trough of low pressure will continue to bring heavy showers and thunderstorms. However, this did not dampen the supporters’ spirits.  Vereni Bicks, 25, a fan of horse racing, said she watches the training videos of the horses to get a better understanding of their performance. “I have no strategies this time, but luck is part of the game sometimes,” she said, adding that the lack of training clips made it hard for her to bet on the race. The winner of this year’s horse racing season is 33-year-old Karis Teentan, who also participated in last year’s season and made 586 appearances. Teentan and Danny Shum-trained Victor won the Class One HKSAR Chief Executive’s Cup (1200m). Teentan has finished in the top three 162 times so far. Chief Executive John Lee did not attend today’s award ceremony. “I think my horse has shown me that he has improved a lot since last season, and after I saw the rain today, I think it’s gonna make it hard for him, with that weight, and with the way the track is, but I think we took our chance …