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Mega Event Rugby7S Kicks Off at Kai Tak Stadium for the First Time

The Hong Kong Sevens is underway at the new multi-billion dollar Kai Tak Sports Park. The rugby tournament is set to welcome more than 43,000 fans worldwide over three days with a total of 26 games. Reporter: Audrey FU Editor: Gigi Ho Wing Chi

Culture & Leisure

Art Basel 2025: Beyond Tradition, Digital Art in the Spotlight

Digital art is a major attraction at Art Basel 2025 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. The three-day event features 240 exhibitors from 42 countries. The exhibition space is organized into several distinct sections, including Galleries, Insights, Discoveries, Encounters, and Kabinett. Reported by: Yang Haicen, Wang Ludan Edited by: Gigi Ho Wing Chi

Culture & Leisure

AI at Art Basel

2025 Hong Kong Basel is highlighted by AI involved creation. Artists including Mak2, Emma Webster, Miao Ying, Jon Rafman, Frank Wang Yefeng, Alison Nguyen, and Lu Yang blend AI creating with traditional art. The exhibition of Encounters collects two pieces of outstanding AI artistic installation, including Lu Yang’s DOKU the Creator and Jon Rafman’s Signal Rot.  “Lu Yang used AI technology to model himself based on his real image and used AI to assist in his painting,” said Allison Cheung Ka-jung, 25, director of Encounters. Inspired by pop-up stores, the installation transforms the act of purchasing into a game of chance, with artworks created by artist DOKU concealed in “blind boxes”, which sell non-fungible tokens that can be shown on the screen instantly after consumers’ purchasing.  Jon Rafman’s Signal Rot, exhibiting in Neon Parc, Encounters exhibition, uses AI to generate the virtue band model and the music.  “It's actually a fictional band that he's created through AI, and there's a number of fictional bands that we created through AI and built kind of online presence or personalities for,” said Madé Spencer-Castle, 31, associate director of Neon Parc, Encounters exhibition. “Each AI band member has Instagram accounts even though they're completely AI-generated,” he added. Shao Fengtian's TENC oil painting series in the Madein Gallery, Galleries exhibition, also uses AI technology to assist in drawing lines and colouring.  “This painting was created by Shao Fengtian by feeding AI the photos he took and then using AI to generate lines and colours,” said La Xueer, 31, the director of Madein Gallery.  “Artists have always been really at the forefront of new technology and utilising new technology in creative and innovative ways,” said Spencer-Castle. “Art needs to evolve and change with practice. If you are old-fashioned and keep looking to history for inspiration, it …

Photo Essay

Holi Festival: “The most fun event” in Brisbane

Hundreds of students, with their faces and white clothes smeared with coloured power, gathered at Forgan Smith Lawns of the University of Queensland on March 14 to celebrate Holi, the Hindu festival of colours, love and spring dedicated to the deities Radha and Krishna. It’s the third year the event is held at the college.  Participants wore white, which acts as a canvas for the colours. The powders, a mixture of cornflour and colourings, symbolise different blessings: red for love, green for new beginnings and blue for Krishna, according to the National Geographic.  Students smeared and threw the coloured powders either in the air or at each other. “The Holi is the only event you will attend where you will leave looking completely different to how you arrived,” said the Student Union of the University of Queensland, in a post on Instagram. DJ Gaurav Bose and Martin Garrix played music in the middle of the lawn, while students slipped and slid in water pools to the beat of Hindu music. “I think it is fantastic, this is the most fun event that I have had in university so far,” said Camille Bloomfield, an 18-year-old student. “I love seeing all the people being so friendly with each other. It just feels like a community being able to come together to celebrate.”  The University of Queensland set up a Cultural Inclusion Council in 2021 that has been holding events with different cultures, such as Chinese New Year, Holi Festival and Toga Party.  But Shaktika Malhotr, 25, an Indian student, thought the event may not help to spread her culture. “This event is not preaching about Hinduism. People are just coming here to have fun,” said Malhotr.   Despite that, Malhotr said this kind of event helps drive away the homesick. “But being an …

Business

Pop Mart shares extend rally as revenue more than doubled in 2024, driven by IP operation and globalisation strategy

  • The Young Reporter
  • By: Yichun Fang、CAO JiawenEdited by: WANG Ruoshui、XIA Fan、BO Chuxuan
  • 2025-03-27

Pop Mart’s annual revenue more than doubled and surpassed 13 billion yuan thanks to its IP development and globalisation strategy, according to its 2024 annual results published on Wednesday.  Under code 9992, shares of the Beijing-based company climbed more than 9% to HK$ 153.7 today, following yesterday’s 10% gain. During yesterday’s midday announcement, the company reported a 106.9% increase in revenue and a 203.9% yoy surge in net profit to 3.3 billion yuan for the previous fiscal year.  “Market acceptance of Pop Mart’s IPs, such as CRYBABY and THE MONSTERS, which contain a flagship product Labubu, is still very high, and unless something unexpected happens, the growth prospects for Pop Mart this year are very positive,” added Kenney Wen, head of Investment Strategy at KGI Asia. The revenue of THE MONSTERS, one of the heated IPs of  Pop Mart, saw a revenue of 3.04 billion yuan, a 726.6% surge compared to last year, contributing 23.3% of the overall revenue. CRYBABY, as one of their “fast-growing emerging IPs”, also reached a revenue of 1.16 billion yuan, with a year-on-year growth rate of 1,537.2%. “Buying dolls of these IPs has become a trend-setter,” Wen said. The group’s sales are expected to grow by more than 50% year-on-year in 2025, according to Wang Ning, chairman of the board of directors of Pop Mart, who spoke at yesterday’s Annual Results Announcement. He expected the total sales to reach more than 20 billion yuan in 2025, with the overseas market accounting for more than 10 billion yuan of this total. In 2024, for the market other than Mainland China, the revenue from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and Overseas increased by 375.2% from 1,066.1 million yuan in 2023 to 5,065.7 million yuan.  Wang added that the company expects the North American market alone in 2025 to …

Culture & Leisure

Performance art at WestK puts cultural relationships to the test

The new performance architecture exhibition Pollinator comes to Hong Kong for the first time at WestK harbourfront as part of the WestK FunFest 2025, creating a unique space for collaboration between local artists from different fields. The Pollinator is co-created by American artists Alex Schweder and Ward Shelley. They have invited 18 local performance and visual artists to take turns living in the five tents that are connected by a giant wheel. The idea is to attract artists from different cultural backgrounds and to explore how architecture affects social connections, according to the poster at the exhibition. During the artists’ residency, the only way to communicate or to move between the buildings is to use the giant wheel, which is entirely human-powered. “The wheel is like a mixer that mixes us up together as a community,” said Ward Shelley, 75, one of the co-creators of Pollinator. Each artist occupies one of the tents as a studio to display their creative process and final work. The first group of cohabitating artists comes from four fields: performance architecture, paper art, dance, and performance art. “One of the rules in the community is that artists cannot come down from the buildings for the whole period, and artists are not allowed to rest in the building where they have their studios,” said Shelley. “The rules make us interact.”  “We do not know each other and we all come from different countries, so we think differently, ” said Florence Lam, 33, a performance artist.  “But because we are going to be sharing the space and interacting with each other, my ‘neighbours’ will be involved in what I am creating,” Lam added. Ho Tung is a 27-year-old dancer. It is her first time participating in an outdoor performance art exhibition. “I often go to the ‘neighbours’ …

Culture & Leisure

Picasso inspired Asian art on display at M+

Picasso's iconic works are displayed together with those of contemporary Asian artists, offering an opportunity for a unique cross-cultural experience for visitors. Co-organised by M+ and the Musée National Picasso in Paris, and in association with the French May Arts Festival, this exhibition named “Picasso for Asia-A Conversation” is held at the M+ Museum from Mar. 15. It provides the audience a fresh and unique look at Picasso's influence on Asian art, and explores the complex relationship between Western and non-Western, according to the M+ website. “Influenced by Picasso's Cubist painting style, Asian artists have injected traditional Oriental calligraphy and Zen into the Cubist framework, constituting a unique Oriental aesthetic,” said Wang Jingfang, 51, Director of China Artists Association.  “For example, Hong Kong artist Chen Fushan's painting Untitled (Figures Transfixed by a Butterfly) combines geometric segmentation techniques to show surreal spatial layers in ink painting form,” Wang added. “I have a deeper understanding of Picasso's art when comparing the paintings of Picasso and those of Asian artists,” said Zhang Qing, 20, a university student in architecture. “Such cross-cultural exhibition is the presentation of artistic works and ideas at a higher level.” Lee Kityue , 45, a member of M+, has visited many different kinds of exhibitions before.   Lee said that unlike previous solo artist exhibitions, this cross-cultural fusion exhibition made her feel fresh. “Breaking away from Western perspectives and interpreting Western art through Asian culture is very interesting,” Lee said. “I hope to see more exhibitions of this type in the future.” In addition to the basic artwork display, the exhibition also features a variety of immersive interactive installations, such as audio-visual projections and interactive painting systems. “Art is not a static image, not a one-way output,” said Yuki Zhang, 30, a digital artist. “With the use of interactive installations, …

Society

Parents react to abolished HK$2500 education grant from budget address

The cancellation of the HK$2,500 education subsidy has drawn mixed reactions among parents about the latest budget plan, which aims to reduce education expenditures. Cammy To, 34, a mother with a daughter in kindergarten, said she does not consider the grant to be very impactful for her daughter’s education.  “My child studies in full-day kindergarten. A month of tuition fee with meal fee is almost HK$1,500. One semester’s textbook fee is about HK$1,100. So a HK$2,500 grant for a year is just better than not having any subsidies,” she added. The grant did not require a means test for application, making it accessible to all families. According to the Education Bureau, around 800,000 applications of the HK$2,500 grant succeeded and nearly HK$2 thousand million were given to households in the academic year of 2023/24. Lan Wong, 53, a parent to a primary school student, expressed confusion about the proposal after the abolishment was proposed.  “The original grant did not require a means test that both rich and poor could get it,” said Wong.  She added that removing it all of a sudden is unfair for some families, especially for those who need this yearly subsidy.  Christine Choi, the head of the Education Bureau, commented on March 7 during a press conference that the abolition was a necessary step to decrease the government’s expenditure while maintaining educational standards in Hong Kong. “The HK$2,500 grant was introduced as a relief measure, we had announced beforehand that it was designed to alleviate challenges,” said Choi. “Families in need could apply for other subsidies that the government is currently providing.” Professor Cheung Chi-keung, the Head of the Department of Educational Administration and Policy at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, also expressed concern. “Removing subsidies for education is deteriorating Hong Kong’s talent cultivation in …

Culture & Leisure

First Hong Kong Snooker Grand Prix

Australia's Neil Robertson won the inaugural 2025 Snooker Grand Prix at Hong Kong's Kai Tak Stadium. The tournament was a brand new venue and offered a different experience for both players and spectators. The prize money for the tournament was also much higher, which motivated the players to strive for a better result and to promote the development of snooker in Hong Kong.

Society

Elderly flower girl turn artist puts on a show at Victoria Park

94-year-old local artist, Fapopo, who will not disclose her real name, put on a display of her own with her floral design on furniture and canvases at this year’s Hong Kong Flower Show. Fapopo is her pseudonym for the public. She has been planting, drawing, and arranging flowers for over 50 years. It started when she sold flowers at Mong Kok Flower Market in her twenties and that deepened her passion for floral painting. “I was poor and had no money to buy canvases at first, so I just used unwanted furniture to draw,” she said. “I really appreciate Fapopo’s passion and I am glad that I got to know her story at this year’s Flower Show,” said Ada Tam, a 60-year-old retiree. “Her fascinating journey in pursuing her dream is also very much in line with this year’s theme.” “Ablaze with Glory,” is the theme of this year’s Hong Kong Flower Show, organised by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD). The Cosmos, a flower that symbolises resilience and strength, is this year’s chosen flower. Some 40,000 varieties of it are on display in an array of colours including yellow, pink and white. A total of 238 organisations participate in this year’s event, including 157 from Hong Kong and 81 from 11 countries. Raymond Ng, a 77-year-old photographer, said the Cosmos is now growing well as early spring brings ample but not intense sunshine. Its brightness brings vitality to Hong Kong. Eileen Lau, a retiree in her sixties, said the Cosmos is appealing and colourful, which can represent the vibrancy as the theme of the show. “But I also worry if the Cosmos would wither easily because it looked so fragile and thin,” Lau said. “I actually do not have much feeling about the chosen flowers as I care …