Society
Hong Kong's air quality hits yearly low
- 2022-09-23
- Society
- The Young Reporter
- By: Jiaxing Li、Summer LiEdited by: Ziyu Bruce Zhao
- 2022-09-23
With Hong Kong's air a faint yellow haze for the last two weeks, the Environmental Protection Department reported that the city's Air Quality Health Index reached "serious" level four times in the past two weeks, a first for this year. The AQHI warning system was launched in 2013 to alert the public to potentially dangerous levels of four air pollutants: ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide and particulate matter. Anything over a 10 on the AQHI scale is classified “serious”. "The major cause for the pollution of this time is the rising concentration of ozone pollutants trapped in the air," said Gao Meng, an Assistant Professor specializing in air quality modeling and climate change at Hong Kong Baptist University. He described the problem as a "long-lasting issue" for Hong Kong in autumn each year when ozone pollutants climb to their peak as the dry season begins. "This year's polluted weather came a little bit earlier than before," Gao added. "It is because the tropical storm Ma-on hit the city in late August, bringing a dry autumn with more sunshine.” On "serious" days, the EDP says people should minimize outdoor physical exertion and avoid staying outdoors, especially in areas with heavy traffic. Employers of outdoor workers are advised to assess the risk of outdoor work and take appropriate preventive measures to protect the employees' health. "My sore throat has been more and more serious recently because of the air pollution," Hauky Han, a student at Hong Kong Baptist University, said. "I feel like something is stuck in my throat, and I never felt this situation in Hong Kong before." "It is essential for the public, especially people who are vulnerable to certain air pollutants, including children and the elderly, to take a good job of protection amid such days, " Gao said. …
Calls in Brisbane to abolish the monarchy on Australia’s National Day of Mourning
- 2022-09-22
- Society
- The Young Reporter
- By: Angela HuangEdited by: Hamish CHAN
- 2022-09-22
Hundreds of people marched in the Brisbane’s Central Business District to oppose the British monarchy on the National Day of Mourning for Queen Elizabeth II. The organisers, the Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance (WAR) said they were “against racist colonial imperialism”. "This is a stance against the continued crimes committed against marginalised First Nations, black, brown and Asian communities," the group posted on Facebook last Tuesday. Queen Elizabeth II died at the age of 96 at Balmoral Castle in Scotland on Sept. 8. Steve Miles, 25, joined the protest even though he is not an indigenous Australian. “The bloodshed… the English monarchy has crossed the world and they're talking about respecting the dead,” said Miles. “I think it's more important to respect all of our own ancestors who brutally had their lives changed irreversibly by this brutal regime.” For more than a century, the Australian government has been criticised for its treatment of indigenous Australians. A few streets away at King George Square, dozens of people assembled to watch a live stream of the memorial service for Queen Elizabeth II held in the Great Hall at Parliament House in Canberra. Becky Wlloyd, 39, said she was here to pay respects to the Queen. “I guess I wouldn't really call myself a royalist person, but I do think it's an important moment in history,’ said Wlloyd. “Although there has sometimes been controversy around what royalist or monarchy means, I think that there had been some really positive things and so I'm paying my respect to her and to what she has contributed to.” The bells at Brisbane City Hall chimed 70 times at 12:00 pm, in memory of the Queen’s reign. Between 1905 to 1967, children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent were forcibly removed from their families and …
New iPhone 14 goes on sale in Hong Kong
- 2022-09-16
- Society
- The Young Reporter
- By: Yixin GaoEdited by: REN Ziyi David
- 2022-09-16
The new iPhone 14 series went on sale in Hong Kong today. Potential customers pack into Apple Stores around the city to check out the new functions on the device. Lucy Lang, 21, who owns an iPhone 13 was at the Festival Walk store this afternoon. She liked the iPhone 14 pro in purple and would buy one when she has enough money. “The photographic functions and the appearance of the phone are all I care about, and the iPhone 14 pro can satisfy me well,” Lang said. One of the new functions on the iPhone 14 pro is the “Dynamic Island”. It is an interactive display on the top of the screen where the notch used to be in previous models. The status bar shows information such as currently playing music, and call notification, estimated arrival of rides without disrupting users’ activities on the main screen. Harry Han has been following the development of iPhones for years. He said the “Dynamic Island” was brilliant but unnecessary. “I don’t intend to buy it right now, My iPhone 12 is enough for me,” he said. Three days before the pre-sale of the iPhone 14 series, Huawei, one of the most popular Chinese smartphone manufacturers, launched the pre-sale of the Mate 50 series. But the new model. does not support 5G functions. Enkito Chen, 20, a Huawei user, said that she liked the Airdrop function of iPhone products but it was not sufficient for her to choose iPhone because its signal is quite weak. In Hong Kong, the cheapest device in the iPhone 14 series was HK$6899. Apple raised the price of the new series in key markets such as the UK, Japan, and Germany versus the iPhone 13, while it remained the same in the local market and in China. CC …
Hongkongers pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth II
- 2022-09-09
- Society
- The Young Reporter
- By: Noah TsangEdited by: Lokman Yuen
- 2022-09-09
Around 40 people left flowers at the British Consulate-General in Hong Kong to offer condolences to Queen Elizabeth II, who died yesterday at 96. Local resident Wong Hong-ken, 70, who grew up under British colonial rule, said he was heartbroken over Queen Elizabeth’s death. "The British colonial government headed by the Queen built a great social atmosphere, spreading values like democracy," said Wong. "To this day, there is still an emotional bond between Hong Kong and the Queen.” Hong Kong was a British colony from 1842 to 1997, when it returned to Chinese rule. The Royal Family announced the Queen’s death yesterday at 6:30 pm UK time [local time 1:30 am today] on Twitter. “The death of her majesty's queen is a huge shock to the nation, and the world,” UK Prime Minister Liz Truss said in a statement. “The death of my beloved mother, Her Majesty The Queen, is a moment of the greatest sadness for me and all members of my family,” King Charles III, the Queen’s eldest son, said in a statement. Queen Elizabeth II was born on April 21,1926 in London, England. She was crowned as Queen on June 2, 1953. King Charles III will be crowned at St James’s Palace on Saturday.
Sunset traditional culture: Hong Kong’s last homemade “Yuk Bing Siu” liquor store, Kwong Yu Yee Winery
- 2022-07-27
- Society
- The Young Reporter
- By: Nicholas ShuEdited by: Editor
- 2022-07-27
Tucked away in a tenement building on Pei Ho Street in the Sham Shui Po District is a time-honoured winery store, Kwong Yu Yee. While the simple façade looks no different from the other stores in the neighbourhood, the intoxicating aroma of rice wine from within draws visitors to stop by every time. The winery moved from Guangzhou to Hong Kong more than 70 years ago. The old shopfront originally had two stories. After being demolished in the 1960s, it was rebuilt into a six-story tenement building on the original site. The golden lacquer signboard which reads “New Kwong Yu Yee” and the wooden beamed ceiling, together with the paint-peeled floor have been well-retained. 65-year-old Wong, who claims to be very low-key and would not give away his full name to anyone, is the second generation of the shop owner. “My father was the owner and I started to run it more than 40 years ago when it was in its golden age,” he said. Wong recalled during that time, there were four restaurants nearby and his shop wholesaled wine to them. “Back then, they had to register to buy our wine,” Wong said, “And let’s say if you tie your shoelaces in front of our door, the whole street would be blocked by our customers soon.” “There’s no restaurant now,” he said, “It’s really hard for us to do business now.” Wong said that nearly 60% of the shop's business nowadays comes from neighbourhoods. “Our regular customers contribute to our business most now, but the epidemic situation is putting us in a tricky situation since every customer is being more sensitive and concerning more about the price," Wong said, "But it seems to be better now." In addition to the foreign wine wholesale business, the winery also sells the …
Hong Kong virtual social platform offers escape from reality
- 2022-07-13
- Society
- The Young Reporter
- By: Lokman YuenEdited by: Jenny Lam
- 2022-07-13
Buying train tickets, karaoke with friends, feeding ducks by a lake, or visiting art exhibitions. Those are some of the activities that “Siubak” and “Winter” enjoy with each other, not in reality, but in a virtual world. Both of them are young men in real life. They are administrators of LIHKG VR (連登VR群), a Hong Kong VRChat Telegram group. They organize online activities regularly through instant messaging. Members log in to the virtual world to hang out with each other’s avatars and chat on the audio channels. But there are no regulations on how users portray themselves in the virtual world. A middle-aged man can appear as a young girl, or a teenager can become a superhero. The origin of VRChat and virtual social platform The first avatar-based social platform was launched in 2003 by the San Francisco based online multimedia platform, Second Life. Similar products have since appeared, such as Roblox and Mole Manor in the US and China respectively. Created by Graham Gaylor and Jesse Joudrey in Texas in the US, VRChat started in 2017 as early access. Similar to Facebook and Instagram, avatar based social networks like VRChat enables users to build social connections online through a video game platform “steam”. In 2020, Siubak rallied for people from LIHKG to join VRChat in a telegram group . Since last year, he has been administrating a chat with 1700 users. Today, LIHKG VRChat has an average of 200 daily users. The identity crisis Siubak and Winter manipulate an avatar of a white-haired Japanese anime girl. A male character with purple hair speaks in Cantonese, asking the girl to make cute poses. In the virtual world, users can be anybody they can imagine. Clinical psychologist Adrian Wong believed some users gain self-esteem in virtual reality when they fail …
Flat buyers seek help from legislators about changed mortgage conditions
- 2022-07-06
- Society
- By: Lokman YuenEdited by: C.K. Lau
- 2022-07-06
Buyers of The Vertex, a residential estate in Cheung Sha Wan, have sought the help of two legislators to demand the development’s new owner abide by the more generous mortgage package set by its former owner. They say the VMS Group, which purchased the development from the China Evergrande Group last year, should provide them with loans equivalent to 90% of the values of their respective flats, as promised by China Evergrande, instead of lowering the loan cap to 80%. In a letter dated June 15 to the buyers, VMS said the buyers’ deposits would be forfeited if they failed to complete their purchases according to the new terms by yesterday (July 5). A buyer surnamed Chan told the TYR earlier that she had paid HK$400,000 as a deposit and the stamp duty for a HK$7 million unit, and felt helpless about meeting the purchase deadline she would have to top up her deposit after the mortgage cap was lowered. A buyer representative surnamed Lee said about 20 buyers currently faced having their deposits forfeited by VMS. On Monday, the buyers held a meeting with legislators Bill Tang Ka-piu and Doreen Kong Yuk-foon, who agreed to help them pursue their case. Kong said she hoped the government would follow up on whether the developer concerned had breached any rules governing the sale of new flats by asking flat buyers to sign supplementary contracts on mortgage terms and arrangements. She said the Consumer Council had agreed to continue to mediate between the buyers and VMS and the management committee of its Consumer Legal Action Fund (CLAF) would make a decision by early August on whether to provide financial support for the buyers to take legal action to pursue their claim. Yesterday, Tang said the developer may not forfeit the buyers’ deposits …
New Executive Council to consider border reopening and Article 23 legislation
- 2022-07-05
- Society
- By: Lokman YuenEdited by: Jenny Lam
- 2022-07-05
Chief Executive, John Lee Ka-chiu has promised that the government will strike a balance between reducing inconvenience to travellers and public health safety in reopening Hong Kong’s border. He was speaking at the first Executive Council meeting of the new administration. He added that his government will also consider legislation under Article 23 of the Basic Law. Lee was joined by the Convenor of the Executive Council, Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee and 15 non-official members in this morning’s meeting. Secretary for Health, Lo Chung-mau expressed hope yesterday for the border with the mainland to reopen in August. Lee said this morning that he has asked Lo to look into measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 while reducing inconvenience to travellers. Hong Kong recorded an average of 1600 new COVID-19 cases a day in the past week. “ If the figure goes up, then hospitalisation will increase and other hospital services will be affected.“ Lee said. “Even if emergency services can be maintained, other services will be affected, particular for patients who require consistent and persistent treatment,” Lee said ahead of the Executive Council meeting. Lee said the government has the responsibility to legislate under Basic Law Article 23 , and this administration will conduct thorough legal research and consider new and ‘very harsh’ national security measures practised in another common law jurisdiction. Article 23 states that Hong Kong "shall enact laws on its own to prohibit any act of treason, secession, sedition, subversion against the Central People's Government. “We will do it as soon as possible … I hope this law, when it is completed, will work and can handle all kinds of problems that we can imagine. I do not want to see any amendments,” he said.
Food for sustainability: a local practice of organic and sustainable agriculture in Hong Kong
- 2022-07-02
- Society
- The Young Reporter
- By: Ziyu Bruce Zhao、Summer LiEdited by: Ziyu Bruce Zhao、Summer Li
- 2022-07-02
With almost 8 million people crowding in a just over 1000km² land, Hong Kong is not famous for its agriculture. However, a number of local organic farms have started up for several years to teach people not only how to grow their own food, but also the benefits of improving the sustainability of agriculture. Link to full video: https://youtu.be/ZqWWuB0AvlM
Community service for engineer who advised client to place $550,000 purchase orders with his own company
- 2022-06-30
- Society
- The Young Reporter
- By: Lokman YuenEdited by: C.K. Lau
- 2022-06-30
A maintenance engineer was sentenced to 200 hours of community service for fraudulently placing purchase orders worth $550,000 with a company controlled by his mother while acting as a contractor for the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Dillion Leung Ka-wah, 46, a former chief maintenance engineer of Hong Yip Service Company Limited, had earlier pleaded guilty to two charges of fraud at the Kowloon City Magistrates Court for deceiving the university’s Hong Kong Community College. The Independent Commission Against Corruption brought the charges against Leung, who was seconded by Hong Yip to take charge of the campus’s maintenance works between December 2017 and September 2019. During the period, Leung was alleged to have deceived the college into placing purchase orders worth over $550,000 with Mulan Trading Company, which was set up by him in June 2017 and subsequently controlled by his mother, contrary to Section 16A(1) of the Theft Ordinance. In mitigation yesterday, Leung’s lawyer told the court that he had returned the $53,862.50 profit that he earned from the orders and that his ex-employer considered him a diligent employee and would be willing to rehire him if he was not jailed. In letters sent to the court, both Leung’s wife and grandmother said Leung had been a law-abiding citizen with no bad habits and was remorseful that he had committed the fraud because of greed. Magistrate Frances Leung Nga-yan sentenced Leung to 200 hours of community service for each charge to be served concurrently.