Society

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 …

Dong Si-choi, 67, turns on the radio when he arrives at work. Then, he takes out trays of dough from the freezer, and makes small cuts on each piece. Next, sausages are placed on the dough and sauces are squeezed on top. Within a minute, trays of typical Hong Kong style sausage buns are ready for the oven. Every move is precise, speedy and smooth. Having worked in small cafes and big companies, Dong has been a baker for more than 40 years. In the old days, he used to start work at midnight to prepare the dough. But with advancements in technology and bread-making, the dough nowadays is prepared by machines and stored in freezers, so that Dong can go to work at 5:30 am instead. Even though he is past the retirement age, Dong's baking career has not yet come to an end. “It’s all for a living,” he said. “When I see my children grow up day by day, I’m happy.” Hong Kong’s ageing population has doubled in three decades, according to the Census and Statistics Department. The proportion of elderly people aged 65 and above exceeded 20% in 2021, meaning one in five people in the city is elderly. In the first quarter of 2023, 13.8% of elderly people were in the labour force. Maggie Chan Chiu-mui, a project officer at the Hong Kong Jockey Club Community Project Grant: Elder-Friendly Employment Practice organised by the Hong Kong Society for Aged, said the most significant drive for elderly people to work is their basic financial needs. “Most elderly people you see working on the streets are doing it only to survive, be it cleaners, security guards, or even cardboard scavengers,” she said. More than half of the working elderly are employed in low-end physical jobs with an …