TOP STORIES
More than 60,000 sign up for Sinovac jabs
- 2021-02-23
- Health & Environment
- The Young Reporter
- By: POON Hiu LamEdited by: LAMA Sumnima Rani
- 2021-02-23
Online registration for Hong Kong’s first round of Covid vaccination began at midnight last night. But the waiting time exceeded 50 minutes soon after the start. By morning, the waiting time was still about 30 minutes. Some of those who tried to sign up complained that they encountered up to 521 errors on the website. Secretary for Innovation and Technology, Alfred Sit Wing-hang said in an interview on RTHK that the demand exceeded the capacity of the government’s registration system, but the glitch was fixed within an hour. By noon, at least 60,000 people had signed up. To register, the system will first ask for an identity card number. The first inoculation is available from 26 February, followed by a second jab 28 days later. Registrants can choose between five Community Vaccination Centres and 18 general out-patient clinics under the Hospital Authority. But by noon, most of the slots had been taken. The earliest available slots are not till the end of next week. Five priority groups can make appointments online to get the vaccine. They include healthcare staff, persons aged 60 years or above, staff of residential care homes, essential public service workers, and personnel involved in cross border transportation. Reservations can be made at www.covidvaccine.gov.hk.Elderly people may bring up to two carers to receive the vaccine at the same time. Only the Sinovac vaccine will be available for the first round. Private clinics participating in the inoculation programme are expected to start providing the jabs by mid-March. On Feb 22 Monday, Hong Kong‘s leader Carrie Lam was the first person to receive China’s Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine in a bid to improve public confidence in the mainland-developed vaccine. The Executive Council on Tuesday passed that starting from Wednesday, social gathering restrictions will be relaxed to allow up to four …
Peaceful protests and strike sweep Myanmar despite deadly police violence
- 2021-02-23
- Politics
- The Young Reporter
- By: Sara ChengEdited by: Jasmine Tse
- 2021-02-23
Protesters across Myanmar staged one of its largest anti-coup protests on Monday since the military overthrew democratically-elected Aung San Suu Kyi's government and arrested members of the National League for Democracy three weeks ago. In Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city where two protesters were shot dead on Saturday, hundreds of thousands rallied peacefully, among them medical workers, lawyers, engineers, monks and grocery shop keepers, said Aung San Thein, 22, a Mandalay protester in a phone interview. Mr Thein went into exile with his family as a child due to political prosecution. He returned home after the National League for Democracy won a landslide victory in the 2015 election. "We’re not taking any violent action,” Mr Thein said. Demonstrators gathered in front of the central railroad station, passed boiled eggs and snacks to one another and listened to speeches, he said, adding all the shops he saw were closed. "Protesters at the front shouted: ‘What do we want,’ and the crowd behind chanted: ‘We want democracy," he said. "Everything is in order. There is no chaos in the country that [the military] has to declare a national emergency. The only chaos that we are having right now is because of the military," Mr Thein said. "That's what we want to show." A one-year state of emergency has been imposed on Feb. 1 after the coup, during which the military chief Min Aung Hlaing will remain in power. The strike defied the junta’s warning on Sunday that protesters, who they blamed for “inciting emotional teenagers and youths,” could "suffer a loss of life." Three protesters have been killed by live bullets during clashes with police, including a 16-year-old boy and Mya Thwate Thwate Khaing, a 20-year-old who was shot in the head on Feb. 9 in the capital Nay Pyi Taw and …
A third of pupils back in classes after schools agree to COVID rules
- 2021-02-22
- Society
- The Young Reporter
- By: LAM Tsz YauEdited by: Editor
- 2021-02-22
Students from about 2000 schools can now resume half-day classes while schools can have a full half-day resumption if all members of staff have the COVID-19 test every 2 weeks. But The Professional Teachers Union doubts if the frequent testing is needed for teachers.
Mosques in the city reopen following relaxation of Covid-19 social distancing measures
- 2021-02-20
- Society
- The Young Reporter
- By: Shameel IbrahimEdited by: Simran Vaswani
- 2021-02-20
Hong Kong’s mosques opened on Feb 19 for prayers after being shut for almost three months. Members of the Muslim community flocked to the mosque following the announcement from the Incorporated Trustees of the Islamic Community Fund of Hong Kong - the official body representing the city's Muslims. All five official mosques are open to conduct prayers with social distancing measures in place. The city's mosques have been closed since December intermittently every two weeks which were put in place to combat the fourth coronavirus wave. “It was a sense of relief, a sense of joy,” said Adeel Malik, chairman of the Muslim Council of Hong Kong. He added that many Muslims were longing for the mosques to open, but also noted that the government implemented strict measures for the larger good of the community. The opening of the mosques coincided with the weekly Friday prayers, which is an important day of the week for the Islamic faith. Religious sermons are held during Fridays on issues in both the Muslim and wider communities in Hong Kong. One of the weekly sermon topics were "Lessons from Lockdown", where Mufti Muhammad Arshad, the chief Imam of the Kowloon Mosque and Islamic Centre urged the community to unite against the pandemic regardless of race or religion. Muslims came to the city as sailors in 1829, working for the British-owned Jardine Matheson, a shipping company. By the 1850s, the growing Muslim community led to the formation of the Incorporated Trustees of the Islamic Community Fund, which became the official representative body for Muslims in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong strives to achieve carbon neutrality goal, long-term decarbonisation strategy expected mid-2021
- 2021-02-19
- Business
- The Young Reporter
- By: Yoyo Kwok Chiu TungEdited by: Zhu Zijin Cora 朱子槿
- 2021-02-19
The 2021 Budget Plan will be released next Wednesday in which global climate change is expected to be a topic in concern while the Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po has said that a long-term decarbonisation strategy, including the promotion of using electric vehicles, will be announced in the middle of this year. The Financial Secretary said in his blog on Feb. 7 that the government will promote the use of electric vehicles by creating more EV charging stations and phase out existing high-emission Euro IV diesel commercial vehicles before 2027. The government would strive to achieve carbon neutrality before 2050, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said in the 2020 Policy Address. However, the development of electric vehicles in Hong Kong is still slow, said Wong Chun-sing, 32, who would like to buy an electric vehicle but stopped by government measures. “The electric vehicles charging stations are not enough, I wanted to buy an electric car but I think it is hard to charge electric cars in Hong Kong,” said Mr Wong. When compared with Singapore, Hong Kong is still lagging behind in terms of green infrastructures. Singapore announced on Tuesday in its budget that it will create 60,000 EV charging points before 2030, or more than 30 times of what they have now. "I think the development progress of Hong Kong is way behind Singapore,” Mr Wong said. As of December 2020, Hong Kong had 3,351 electric vehicles charging points, according to data provided by the Environmental Protection Department. Hong Kong also released certain policies to promote green technology for reducing air pollution by vehicles and ferries in last year’s budget. The government has earmarked HK$80 million for launching electric public light buses and HK$2 billion to subsidise the installation of EV charging stations for residential buildings and to …
Ma On Shan historical iron mine landmarks to disappear under rezoning plan
- 2021-02-18
- Society
- The Young Reporter
- By: WANG YichunEdited by: SHI Ruoshui
- 2021-02-18
Wong Mei-fong, 55, still remembers her childhood summers in Pun Shan, a small village in the New Territories in Ma On Shan: catching shrimp in the rivers of the backyard garden, playing with mud with her neighbors who also helped them to renovate their house and playing hide-and-seek behind the old tree of the village temple. These places will only be retained in memories if the amendment to the Ma On Shan Outline Zoning Plan passes. The Wong family represents three generations of villagers born and raised in this former iron ore mining village. Now, Pun Shan is marked for redevelopment in the amendment to Ma On Shan Outline Zoning Plan, originally approved in 2016 to develop 814 hectares of land. The new proposal will add 9.67 hectares from seven green belt lands, the size of approximately 27 football fields, and will cut around 3,560 trees, according to the villagers. The village land will be developed into a private estate and government, institution and community lands. A group of villagers are actively protesting the amendment, working with district councillors and local green NGOs and setting up social media accounts to raise awareness. Villagers have held around 10 demonstrations to raise awareness of their plight. “My parents don’t have much energy to protest and some of the elderlies are not familiar with social media, so we as the younger generation, take up this job to reach out to the public and attract more people to take part in preserving Pun Shan Village,” said Wong Yuk-hong, 29, the son of Ms Wong and the organizer of the rezoning plan protest. As one of the oldest mining villages in Ma On Shan, Pun Shan village witnessed the mining industry from its beginnings in 1906 to prosperity and finally to its closure in 1976. …
Privacy concerns drive people away from evening dine-in
- 2021-02-18
- Society
- The Young Reporter
- By: Zhu Zijin Cora 朱子槿Edited by: LAM Tsz Yau
- 2021-02-18
Despite relaxed social distancing rules and resumed dinner service, some Hongkongers still won’t eat out over the fear of personal data collected by the authority as the government requires all diners to record their detailed information for potential virus tracing. Eateries can resume dine-in service until 10pm with a maximum four people per table from Thursday, as long as they fulfill prerequisites, including staff getting Covid-19 tests every two weeks and diners recording personal information by scanning a QR code through the official “Leave Home Safe” app or by other means. The government’s controversial contact-tracing app has raised public concerns over privacy issues and abuse of data, as it will access user phone storage. Despite some online calls for boycotting the app, as of Thursday, the app download has surged to over 1 million since its launch in mid-November and seized the top position in the App Store. “I see no reason for customers leaving personal information when eating out,” said restaurant operator Ryan Lo Tsz-yeung. “Our restaurants also have no right to ask for diners’ information.” Health officials have said on separate occasions that the virus-exposure app will only let the government know “who was present at the venues at a specific time” for potential tracing, while the encrypted data will only be stored in user phones for 31 days. Hong Kong Baptist University’s “BU-Trace,” launched last October and led by Xu Jianliang, Associate Head of the Department of Computer Science, is an alternative to the official app, Prof Xu said. “People can use other apps to check whether their information has been transferred to servers if they are skeptical of the government,” Prof Xu said. Prof Xu also said the government could make their app open source, meaning publishing the software code for people to inspect the operating …
Air-frying food at high temperatures creates carcinogenic risk, Consumer Council says
- 2021-02-17
- Health & Environment
- The Young Reporter
- By: CHEN BingyiEdited by: LAMA Sumnima Rani
- 2021-02-17
Air fryers, which sell themselves as a healthier alternative to deep fryers, “pose different risks,” the city’s Consumer Council said in an online press conference today. The watchdog tested the electrical safety and performance of 12 air fryer models and found that half posed various safety hazards to consumers, including creating a potentially carcinogenic compound. “For air fried food, consumers should take it in moderation and not lower their guard simply because air-frying is deemed to be a healthier cooking method,” said Nora Tam Fung-Yee, chairman of the Research and Testing Committee of the Consumer Council. Foods containing abundant amounts of asparagine, a type of free amino acid found in foods such as potatoes, are more likely to produce acrylamide, a human carcinogen the council said, when cooked at high temperatures. The content of acrylamide in french fries that were cooked in the 12 different air fryers ranged from 102 to 7,038 micrograms per kilogram, six of which exceeded the EU suggestion of 500 micrograms per kilogram. The air fryers are from brands Proluxury, Denki, Midea, Imarflex, ecHome and TSK. According to the instructions or recipes provided by the brands. One model, Imarflex, exceeded the benchmark by 13 times, said Ms Tam. When the fries were cooked at lower frying times or cooking temperatures, the levels of acrylamide fell to levels consistent with the EU’s suggested amount . The council also found issues with excessive temperature, insufficient insulation and inadequate earthing terminal. The Consumer Council provided four tips for using air fryers safely. Avoid sharing a power outlet with other electrical appliances that have high power consumption Do not exceed the maximum capacity of the air fryer and do not densely pack food to avoid undercooking Do not cover the air outlet when the air fryer is in operation to …
“No experience, no technology, no talent”: how poor supervision of tech investment in China lead to a waste of funds
- 2021-02-17
- Society
- The Young Reporter
- By: CAO Jingyi、Li Shiwen、Mereen Santirad、Wang ZiweiEdited by: Janice Lo
- 2021-02-17
Hongxing Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (HSMC), a government-backed manufacturing project in Wuhan, has gone belly-up. The 128 billion yuan (HK$153 billion) project is now just an abandoned construction site. The weeds have grown over what is supposed to be the floor of the factory. Local authorities reported that the project was stagnant due to “poor planning and shortage of funds”. The semiconductor business in China has a history of fraudulent players. Two decades ago, the much-hyped Hanxin microchip project, also known as “heart of the Han” processor was later discovered to be a scam. Workers at the plant were simply replacing Motorola brand chips with the Hanxin logo.The developer, a university professor from Jiaotong University in Shanghai, was found to have stolen the technology from Motorola. He was later found guilty of fraud and banned from state funded projects. In July 2020, Dekema (Nanjing) Semiconductor Technology Co. Ltd declared bankruptcy due to “financial difficulties”, leaving behind 19 billion yuan (HKD$23 billion) in unpaid debt and wages. China’s state council set a goal to become a global leader in the semiconductor industry by 2030 and aims to produce 70% of the semiconductor by 2025. The central government put up about 764 billion yuan (HK$465 billion) in the industry over the five years, including 388 billion yuan (HK$465 billion) from provincial and municipal governments, according to the report by the Central for Strategic and International Studies. However, the plan to create a domestic semiconductor industry was just a little successful due to “no experience, no technology, and no talent” of the semiconductor industry, for instance, HSMC. The company received 15.3 billion yuan (HK$18.3 billion) funding for the operation in 2019, according to the Wuhan Municipal and Reform Commission. By July 2020, HSMC was already in trouble. Construction of the factory had stalled since …
China’s online college cheats offer Zoom babysitting during pandemic
- 2021-02-17
- Society
- The Young Reporter
- By: Cai Zhiling、Chen Wantong、Dong Shuer、Wang HeyuEdited by: Sara Cheng
- 2021-02-17
China’s academic cheating agencies that write college essays for a fee are cashing in by offering Zoom babysitting services. Ghostwriters would attend online classes and write the exams so that customers don’t have to do anything at all. Search “ghost-writing” on any Chinese social media platform and you will likely end up with a bunch of commercials for so-called ghostwriters. These are companies or self-organised teams which charge a fee for writing academic papers and assignments. Customers only need to provide information about subject requirements and the due date of the work. The ghostwriters then do the work but get none of the credit. We contacted agencies that do virtual exams for students via text messages. One agency, Giant GPA, for example, comes up with a package price of $1699 US dollars for writing essays, attending Zoom sessions and writing the exam with the camera switched on. That works out at more than $13,000 Hong Kong dollars, about a third of the annual fee for an undergraduate degree in Hong Kong. Another essay mill, TOP gave a quote of 6,500 to 7,500 yuan (HK$7,780 to HK$8,977), with a guaranteed 60 marks in exams and a B-, or 80 marks for online classes. If the online exam is under invigilation, the client would have to take pictures of the questions and send them to the tutor, who will stand by and respond simultaneously. "Make sure you pay attention to the angle ( at which the photo is taken)," the agent reminded The Young Reporter. He added that TOP would generally not attend Zoom classes for clients. Another agency, Finger would charge 1500 to 2200 yuan (HK$1,795 to HK$2,633) for a group project, two written assignments plus a final exam. The same ghostwriter would do all the work for the course. Clients, …