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Culture & Leisure

Art Basel Hong Kong full-scale returns with an objective turnover

The 11th edition of Art Basel Hong Kong was held from Mar. 28 to 30 at the Convention and Exhibition Center, with more than 80,000 visitors and totaling $39.4 million, recording a 4% increase in global turnover. Art Basel 2024 showcased the work from 242 of the world's leading galleries from 40 countries and territories.  Lu Caiyun, Chairman of UBS Wealth Management Asia, said in a public address that art market sales in Mainland China and Hong Kong reached approximately US$12.2 billion, a 9% increase year-on-year. "While the cloud of high interest rates, inflation and political instability continues to slow down growth at the top end of the market, buyers are particularly active in the lower price points,” said Clare McAndrew, the founder of Arts Economics.  This year, 23 galleries from Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas exhibited in Hong Kong for the first time, with an increase of 65 galleries over 2023, according to Art Basel Hong Kong. “Our goal is to connect visitors from around the world with our home, Hong Kong, through the collaboration and innovation inspired by art and artists," said the director of Art Basel Hong Kong Sylvia Lok in public address.  

Business

Education and Career Expo highlights government positions and further education

  • By: Ji Youn LeeEdited by: Chi On LIU、Junzhe JIANG
  • 2024-01-29

Attracting more than 800 booths, The Hong Kong Education and Career Expo addressed civil servant positions, featured job openings from private institutions, and provided further study opportunities as a burst for applicants seeking government and commercial sector jobs and a boost of studying abroad. The three-day expo was held from Jan.25, bringing more than 3,000 job openings from 16 countries and 17 regions to the participants.  To help the participants better understand the government’s jobs, the series talk on “Careers in the Government” became one of the most popular stands at the event.  “Hong Kong government, which is the biggest employer in Hong Kong, offers more than 190,000 full-time jobs for those willing to work hard and keep learning to achieve success,” said Ingrid Yueng, Secretary for the Civil Service.  Correspondingly, applications for civil service jobs increased sharply. The applicants for Customs officers surged by 90%, with a 40% increase for Immigration officers since October, according to Yueng. Tiffany Cheung, 23, a fresh graduate from a local university, said the government’s talks during the expo were very insightful for her future career path.   “I can ask questions regarding the application process and job content here, so I think [this event] is quite helpful,” Cheung said. “The talks are quite clear, and the speaker made the content of the position very clear. It matches my expectations regarding the role.”  The unemployment rate in Hong Kong from October to December of 2023 was 2.9%, which resumed at the pre-pandemic level in 2019, according to government data. However, Sandy Cheung, a final-year history student at Hong Kong Baptist University, said finding a job proved difficult because there are few opportunities in Hong Kong for her major.  “My history major limits my career prospects, and many of my friends consider teaching or working at …

Society

Housing differences between Singapore and Hong Kong, here’s what you need to know

Hong Kong and Singapore, two small and open Asian economies, have different degrees of housing ownership. Hong Kong has ranked first place in the least affordable housing markets among 92 cities since 2010, according to Demographia International Housing Affordability, yet Singapore ranked 40th on the latest list.  More than 113,000 residents left Hong Kong in 2021, marking a 1.6% population decline, the biggest population drop since the record.  Ample living space, brighter economic prospects and affordable housing prices were the top three reasons why people left the city, according to the research by the Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies in 2021. However, the population of Singapore, which has one of the highest homeownership rates in a market economy,  grew by 3.4% last year. Here are four aspects you need to know about differences in housing issues between Hong Kong and Singapore. What percentage of the population owns a house in each economy? Hong Kong  In Hong Kong, 49.8% of the population owned a house in 2021, meaning only about 3.6 million people owned a house in 2021. Currently, there are 2,657,800 domestic households in Hong Kong. The average household size in the territory is two members per household.  Singapore As a country with more than 5.6 million people, Singapore has a higher population density than Hong Kong. Yet, nearly 90% of the population owned property in 2021 in the state, according to the Department of Statistics of Singapore, with three members living in one house on average.     How many public and private housing units are there in each country? Hong Kong Hong Kong had a total of 2,960,000 living quarters last year. About 60% of properties are private permanent quarters, which are housing estates developed by private developers.  Around 40% of the quarters are public rental housing units …

Society

Largest outdoor cinema in Hong Kong reopens after one-year closure

Hong Kong’s biggest outdoor cinema, The Grounds, welcomed guests again on Thursday after Covid-19 rules forced its suspension a year ago. The cinema is at Central AIA Vitality Park. “It’s very challenging to build this event and put it together in Hong Kong. We just try to reopen this cinema as soon as we can,” said Simon Wilson, managing director and co-founder of The Grounds. The government announced a relaxation of social distance measures starting from Oct. 20, including allowing live performances and outdoor eating at some premises such as theme parks. This cinema can accommodate up to 380 people in 100 upgraded private garden pods. The audience can remove face masks in their booths. But only up to four people are allowed in each booth in order to comply with social distancing rules. Guests can order food from a web-based app. The menu offers Vietnamese food, tacos and wines. Three different types of tickets are available, depending on the location and the types of seats, with prices ranging from HK$200 to HK$900. Only classic and nostalgic movies are playing this season, including Forrest Gump and the Harry Potter series.  Wilson said that movies in different Languages would be shown this season. The Grounds collaborated with Golden Scene Cinema to start the outdoor shows in 2021, and has shown  local movies, including Suk Suk. The cinema is opened for three months each year and the current season will end on Dec. 30. “Actually I have seen today’s movie before. It is a good romantic comedy,”  said Angela Shih, who invited four of her friends along. “ We just planned to spend our girls’ night here. I am really excited and looking forward to it.” Wilson said they had a great response in ticket sales, especially for musicals and blockbuster films. …

Health & Environment

Two out of 40 prepackaged juices found to contain mycotoxin

  Consumer Council said two of prepackaged juices samples were tested positive for patulin, a mycotoxin a UN committee on Food Additives say could suppress immunoreactions, damage nerves and affect the development of infants. Although patulin is commonly present in decaying fruits, especially apples, "the risk is higher in juices because mould cannot be seen", said council spokesman Michael Hui King-man. The distributors have instantly removed the two cold pressed apple and blended apple juices, in which the amount of patulin have exceeded the Centre for Food Safety's action level. The council also found that the dietary fibre content of all 40 samples, including those with fruit pulps claims, was lower than the detection limit of less than 1.1g/100ml of fruit juice. Vitamin C content in apple juices was also found generally lower than 2mg/100ml, whilst that in orange juices, on the whole, was higher, ranging from 11 to 52mg/100ml. High sugar content in all samples also entailed that they are "not deemed as a low-sugar food" under Hong Kong's current nutrition labelling standards. For the sample with the most sugar, drinking 1 bottle of 360ml of juice would amount to 46g of sugar intake. In other words, it is equivalent to 92% of an adult average daily intake of 50g free sugars limit. The council urged consumers not to substitute fruit juice for fruit because juices contain less vitamin C and fibre but are more expensive. Reported by Holly Chik Edited by Daisy Lee

Photo Essay

"The Egg Tart: Evolution of a Classic Hairstyle

TYR's Kenji Chan walks us around a historical barber shop and a celebrity-serving modern salon which offers the same time-honoured hairstyle "Eat Tart", which crazed the city in the 1950s."The pompadour haircut has al-ways been a classical and good men 's haircut," said Adam Chan Moon-tong, a young yet experienced hairstylist.Style such as comparing the look with vintage stone washed jeans and Wonton noodles, Chan said thatHong Kong people had forgotten the grooming culture Shanghai barbers brou