TOP STORIES
BNO passports holders face uncertainty after China’s refusal to recognise the travel document
- 2021-02-02
- Politics
- The Young Reporter
- By: Simran VaswaniEdited by: Sara Cheng
- 2021-02-02
China announced on 29 Jan it will no longer recognise the British National Overseas passport for Hongkongers as a valid travel and identity document starting 31 Jan. Britain announced earlier that it would offer BNO passports to some 300,000 Hongkongers. Successful applicants will have a pathway to British citizenship. Including those who already have the passports, the total of BNO holders in Hong Kong will add up to 5.2 million. Previously, BNO holders could only visit the UK for up to six months with no right to work or settle. A British media factsheet said the UK now expects roughly 153,700 BNO holders and their dependents to migrate there in the next year. The new BNO scheme is in retaliation to the imposition of the National Security Law that came into effect in July, a year after anti-government protests in Hong Kong. “It is expected that the Chinese government would do something in response to the BNO issues,” said a 27-year-old BNO passport holder who did not want to be named. “But I think the refusal to recognise the BNO passport is childish,” she added. She plans to settle in Taiwan where she’s been living for two-and-a-half years and keep her BNO passport. However, some feel more personally affected by the change. “We weren’t prepared for such a decision,” said Aalia Shah, 23, another BNO passport holder. “I will have to apply for a HKSAR passport for now,” Ms Shah said. “Immigrating out of Hong Kong is not really on my mind.” The BNO scheme was a part of the 1997 handover of Hong Kong to China, marking the end of the British colony.
Government continues to surprise residents with sudden lockdowns
- 2021-02-01
- Health & Environment
- The Young Reporter
- By: LAMA Sumnima RaniEdited by: LAMA Sumnima Rani
- 2021-02-01
Hong Kong’s ambush-style lockdown takes residents of Ho Choi Building on 42-58A On Hing Street in Yuen Long by surprise when police and health officials surrounded the building at 7 pm. Residents of the building are subject to undergo mandatory COVID-19 testing. A 51-year-old man residing in Ho Choi building was confirmed to have COVID-19 on 30 Jan. He belongs to the airport runway site cluster, according to the Centre for Health Protection. “It’s unexpected but necessary,” said Karen Leung, 30, who lives in Ma Tin Road across from Ho Choi building. The Centre for Health Protection has confirmed 34 additional Covid-19 cases amongst which, five are imported, taking Hong Kong’s total of COVID-19 cases to 10,452. “We will intensify our operations, the so-called lockdown, targeted operations every day until February 10” said Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung Kin-Chung at a press conference this afternoon. Meanwhile, the Centre for Health Protection continues to urge the public to maintain personal hygiene and avoid social gatherings.
COVID-19 lockdown in Majestic House, Tsim Sha Tsui
- 2021-02-01
- Health & Environment
- The Young Reporter
- By: Simran VaswaniEdited by: Simran Vaswani
- 2021-02-01
Another ambush-style lockdown is being implemented at Majestic House, 80 Nathan Road at the junction with Cameron Road in Tsim Sha Tsui on Monday evening. Large groups of police officers and medical workers have cordoned off the area while getting passers-by to leave the area. A 50-year-old man in Majestic House was confirmed to have COVID on 30 Jan, according to the Centre for Health Protection. Majestic House was first occupied in 1963 and has over 60 apartments. It is one of several residential blocks where people are subject to mandatory COVID-19 testing Monday evening. Other buildings include number 42-58A, On Hing Street in Yuen Long and Loong King Building on Ma Tau Wai Road in Hung Hom, according to the Food and Health Bureau. The Centre for Health Protection reported 34 new cases of COVID-19 in Hong Kong today. This comes after multiple lockdowns in Yau Tsim Mong district over the past week. There has been a visible cluster of growing cases in Tsim Sha Tsui over the past 14 days, according to the Centre for Health Protection website.
Tsang Fook Piano Company to close in March after 105 years in business
- 2021-02-01
- Culture & Leisure
- The Young Reporter
- By: CHUNG Yee MenEdited by: Jasmine Tse
- 2021-02-01
Tsang Fook Piano Company, Hong Kong’s oldest musical instrument store, announced on Jan. 22 that it will end its business in March. The descendant of the Tsang Fook family revealed the decision to close was made because the next generation had limited interest in inheriting the business. The announcement mentioned how the company has witnessed the ups and downs of the city for more than a century, and it is now time to say goodbye. Its two branches in Wan Chai and Wong Chuk Hang are putting on a clearance sale before the closure. The founder, Mr Tsang Fook, learned how to make and tune pianos in Europe and America. In 1916, he opened Tsang Fook Piano’s first branch on Morrison Hill Road in Wanchai. In the 1980s, Mr Tsang set up a factory and manufactured his own ‘made in Hong Kong’ pianos named Morrison. The street nearby was named “Kam Hong Street” (translated as “the piano company street”) to commemorate the factory building. The brand earned its prominence not only in Hong Kong but also in South East Asia, Britain and New Zealand. Later on, the company expanded its business to music instruments wholesale, retail and education. Customers expressed their regret about the closure of Tsang Fook Piano Co. This afternoon, Mr Yip, a retiree, wandered around the showroom for half an hour, trying to turn back time. When Mr Yip was young, he visited the store regularly. He was the guitarist of a band. Since the 1950s, Tsang Fook Piano Company has been one of the few stores in Hong Kong selling foreign music instrument brands, including his favourite Gibson guitar. “At that time, Tsang Fook was far more well-known than Tom Lee and Parsons Music. And now, the online world and the chains throttled its room …
Pulitzer winning journalist talks to HKBU Journalism students about Panama Papers
- 2021-01-31
- Society
- The Young Reporter
- By: AMALVY Esten Carr Claude Ole EriksenEdited by: CHEN Bingyi
- 2021-01-31
On Jan. 25, Frederik Obermaier, one of the two Süddeutsche Zeitung journalists who initiated and coordinated the biggest data leak in history, the Panama Papers, spoke to a class of journalism students at Hong Kong Baptist University about the entire publishing process. Mr Obermaier introduced how he worked with his colleague Bastian Obermeyer, from the first John Doe text messages that started it, all the way to publishing, and the aftermath of the Panama Papers. Mr Obermaier started the presentation by describing their first contact withJohn Doe, the whistleblower that claimed to possess insider data on the activities of a well-known Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca dating back to the 1970s. “Hello. This is John Doe. Interested in data? I’m happy to share,” Mr Obermaier read the first anonymous messages his colleague received. Mr Obermaier explained that these messages were not uncommon in their office. Thus, they started to investigate if any of the data was legit and trustworthy. Upon receiving all of the data, it amounted to 2.6TB of data, the largest in history blowing all its predecessors out of the water. “If we were to open all the files by ourselves, it would take a minimum of 10 years, not to mention read through them,” Mr Obermaier said. He added “that securing the data was the first challenge they face.” In order to safeguard the precious data, Süddeutsche Zeitung purchased a €17,000 (HK$159,000) air gapped computer placed in a lockbox chained to the floor. Glitter nail polish was layered on top of the computer screws to ensure that it had not tampered with. Communication with John Doe was also encrypted that there was no way of knowing his or her identity. However, as Mr Obermaier explained, the biggest task still remained, publishing this story as quickly and clearly …
Lack of transparency in quarantine policies in China
- 2021-01-31
- Society
- The Young Reporter
- By: GOH KylanEdited by: LI Chak Ho Samuel
- 2021-01-31
For university students, the Winter break is supposed to be relaxing. But for Knightley Liu and me, returning to the mainland from Hong Kong began with a 14-day quarantine in a hotel room ridden with cockroaches and more. With the coronavirus pandemic unabated, quarantine policies are now common worldwide. Mainland China's quarantine policies vary from place to place, depending on local governments. There is a limited number of flights between Hong Kong and major mainland cities such as Beijing and Shanghai. So Shenzhen and Zhuhai, the only two mainland cities that have road connections with Hong Kong, are popular among people who choose to be quarantined elsewhere before they go to their final destinations. To cope with the large group of inbound travellers, Shenzhen and Zhuhai have adopted corresponding measures. Shenzhen now requires travellers to reserve a place, without a choice of hotel before they enter the city, and sets the daily limit to only 2,000 returnees. There are currently only six shuttle buses from the Hong Kong border to Zhuhai daily, each carrying a maximum of 40 people. The Hotel: No Choice After crossing the border into the mainland, Kightley and I were taken to a bus bound for the quarantine hotel, while I received no response when I asked medical officials where I am going. I could only check my location on a map. In Hong Kong, the Department of Health provides a list of hotels that inbound tourists can choose from, with the room rates and various hotel policies such as whether the hotel offers takeaway services. But in the mainland, travellers can choose how much they wish to pay and the kind of facilities which they want to stay in, but not the actual hotel. Knightley, a mainland year three student from Hong Kong,who returned to the …
Art exhibition calls Hong Kong people to reflect on the meaning of migration
- 2021-01-30
- Culture & Leisure
- The Young Reporter
- By: LAM Tsz YauEdited by: CHEN Bingyi
- 2021-01-30
The Cypher Vol. 10: Migration A Self-Return Show exhibits works from five local artist units, calling people to reflect on the significance of migration. The art exhibition takes place at Negative Space in Wan Chai from Jan. 16 to Jan. 30. It is co-organised by Video Cypher, a platform that gathers local video creators since 2017. The 15-day exhibition is a sequel to the online screening last November, where five local artist units were invited to produce a video on the topic "Migration". Installations and decorations shown in the exhibition are a self-reflection of the artists as a form of continuation to their work. S Chan, the curator of the exhibition, mentioned that the artists emphasized the change of physical distance in their work of their own accord. Ms Chan therefore decided to conduct the exhibition in a home-like area to illustrate a sense of familiarity for people to reflect on migration. The exhibition area is paved with foot massager pads to convey a sense of painfulness to the visitors. "The foot massager pads are associated with the sea water background on the poster, through which we would like to analogize the difficulty of migration," Ms Chan explained. The first artwork, "Road to Nowhere", is a two minute animation made by Ziki Cheung Kit-yin. The animation makes people reflect if migration is still a good option for people to escape from the problems in their home country and have a fresh start in a new place even when there are problems all around the globe. An installation of bowling pins placed in front of a television with the ball is set in front of the screen, which Ms Cheung created to further evolve the message presented in her animation. "The bowling pins are associated with the television which trapped the …
Hong Kong tailor designs light wedding dress on a growing craze
- 2021-01-27
- Society
- The Young Reporter
- By: Bowie TseEdited by: Cherry Lee
- 2021-01-27
Apart from long trail and princess-like cake wedding gowns, a young local designer -tailor designs and produces simple but sophisticated dresses, known as the “light wedding dress.” Despite the complex and difficult process in producing wedding dresses, Ms Lai dreams to bring the craze of light wedding dress to light and produce aesthetic wedding dresses for each bride. According to the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, the size of the creative industry has increased by 5.3% steadily since 2018. In spite of the growing industry, Ms Lai has faced hurdles along and questioned the support for the creative industry by the government.
Are colorful masks safe for health and environment?
- 2021-01-26
- Society
- The Young Reporter
- By: CHEN BingyiEdited by: Carol Yuan
- 2021-01-26
Searching in the bags with colorful masks, Amy Ng picked out a blue purple one that matched the color of her blue denim jacket. Amy Ng, a 40-year-old lady, is heading to Tsim Sha Tsui to purchase some colorful masks for her family. “Since you have to wear a mask every day,” said Ms Ng, “why not wear it beautifully and happily?” Masks have become a daily necessity in Hong Kong where the fourth wave of the epidemic is raging. Recently, colorful printed masks have become popular. But there are doubts whether they are compromising safety for fashion. The Centre for Health Protection website recommends using masks that have three layers: the water-repellent outer layer, the filter layer and the hydrophilic inner layer. The outermost layer is usually made of polypropylene, a non-woven fabric. It is the most crucial layer because it can prevent liquid from splashing, to stop the flying droplets from contacting the middle layer as well as the mouth and nose. “Traditionally the masks are blue, green and white. It is safe because the dye is already mixed with the materials,” said Joanne Yip, an associate professor at the Institute of Textiles and Clothing Department of Hong Kong Polytechnic University. To make the traditional blue and green masks, producers will put the dye into the polypropylene, melting them together and screening the fabrics out, according to Dr Yip. With Christmas approaching, some stores now offer an array of masks with everything from Christmas trees, to reindeer and snowman. MF Living is a store in Tsim Sha Tsui that offers more than 240 kinds of colorful masks. “Since our store opened in October, there has been a long queue of customers almost every day,” said Angela Lau, a saleswoman at MF Living. Ten masks cost HK$38 while DIY …
Hong Kong Trump supporters urge US to be harsh on China as Biden takes office
- 2021-01-22
- Politics
- The Young Reporter
- By: Sara ChengEdited by: Mereen Santirad
- 2021-01-22
Since immigrating to the United States from Hong Kong more than 20 years ago, Matthew, a 44-year-old actuary living in Virginia, has voted four times in the presidential election. Twice for Barack Obama and then for Hillary Clinton. In 2020, it was Donald Trump. Pro-democracy Hongkongers, like Matthew, have seen government crackdowns on the city's autonomy and freedoms during the anti-extradition protests and after the passage of a draconian national security law. Feeling desperate, some projected their hope onto former President Mr. Trump, who they thought gave China a hard time. But as that hope is extinguished when Joe Biden came to office as the 46th US President on Wednesday, Hong Kong Americans who sided with Mr. Trump wait and see how the country’s relationship with China may develop in a new era. "I hope the new cabinet would understand the so-called 'cooperation with the CCP' and a 'win-win' will only make the CCP win twice and do no good to the US in the long term,” Matthew said in a text interview on the day of the inauguration. He did not want his surname to be shown for fear of being targeted by authorities. Though Matthew recognised the Democrats' effort in pushing forward the Human Rights and Democracy Act last year -- a bill that requires the US to assess Hong Kong's autonomy and allows punishing officials violating human rights -- he found the tariffs imposed by Mr. Trump more effective in weakening China and doubted if Democrat Mr. Biden would endorse them. Mr. Biden’s aide said in August that the president "would re-evaluate the tariffs upon taking office" but had not committed to lifting them, the Washington Post reported, after Mr. Biden blamed the taxes for harming America’s economy. When asked if he would make China pay for …