INFO · Search
· Chinese version · Subscribe

The Young Reporter

Society

Hong Kong Pet Show promotes love and respect for animals

The Hong Kong Pet Show 2022 began on Thursday at the Convention and Exhibition Centre. More than 500 exhibitors have participated in this four-day Pet Show, showcasing over 1,000 brands of pet food, supplies, and services from around the world. In addition to merchandising, there are also pet pageants, dog obedience demonstrations and charity talks at the venue. Tickets cost HK$30 per person, the same for adults and children, and can be purchased both online and at the counter. Pet owners can bring one pet each but the animal must either be on a leash or in a stroller Carl Wong, Director of Hong Kong Pet Show 2022, said he hoped the show can promote products as well as foster people’s understanding of pets as part of the family through lectures and sharing. Some people abandon their pets because of economic problems, especially during the pandemic, according to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) of Hong Kong. 78% of the surveyed 777 adult Hong Kong residents said their household income has dropped since the outbreak and 52% claimed they would reduce their expenses besides buying necessities, according to Credit Institution TransUnion’s statistics. “I spend HK$6000 to HK$7000 every month on my dogs,” said Shada Shum, a visitor who raises two Bichon Frises. “A single pet grooming session can cost around HK$500.” Shum said although her financial situation has been affected by the epidemic, she still takes good care of her pets because they are precious family members and her companions in times of trouble. Apart from cats and dogs, many pet owners in China, especially those in their 20s, prefer exotic animals such as lizards or snakes according to China Pet Consumer White Paper 2021 by iResearch. However, keeping exotic pets such as a chameleon requires …

Society

Hong Kong's air quality hits yearly low

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. …

Business

Hang Seng Index sinks to decade low as Fed hikes rate

Hong Kong stocks tumbled after the Federal Reserve’s 75 basis points rate hike. Ongoing rate hikes by the U.S central bank alongside concerns about a global economic slowdown has been posing pressure to global markets. The Hang Seng index slumped by 1.61% to 18,147.95, from this morning's 18,080.93. The index dropped to 17,965 points during the trading day, reaching a historic low since 2011. Bank stocks contracted in general. HSBC plunged more than 3% while Hang Seng and Standard Chartered dipped more than 1%. Real estate stocks closed in red, with New World Development recording a more than 3% slip. “It’s not time to buy yet as Hong Kong’s stock gauges fall to new lows, with aggressive US interest-rate hikes adding to pessimism around Covid Zero and the ongoing property crisis in China,” Manish Bhargava, fund manager at Singapore’s Straits Investment Holdings told the Standard. Following the Fed’s third consecutive hike, both HSBC and Bank of China raised their prime rate by 12.5 percentage points to 5.125%. Standard Chartered also upped interest rate to 5.375% from its previous 5.25%. Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the de facto central bank of the city, also announced an upwards 3.5% Base Rate adjustment. The three major U.S stock indexes slid by around 1.7% after the hike. Most Asian markets sank, with Japan’s Nikkei Index dropping 0.58%. “We have got to get inflation behind us,” Jerome H. Powell, the Fed chair, said at a news conference on Wednesday. “I wish there were a painless way to do that; there isn’t.” The several rounds of raised interest rates have led to the devaluation of at least one-tenth of the world's 36 currencies. “The Fed has raised interest rates sharply for many rounds, and the U.S. dollar has appreciated rapidly…” Zhao Lijian, the spokesman of the Chinese …

Society

Calls in Brisbane to abolish the monarchy on Australia’s National Day of Mourning

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 …

Borrowed

  • 2022-09-19

By Jasmine Tse

Sink or Swim Fleeing China to Hong Kong

  • 2022-09-19

By CHENG Suk Wa

Hong Kong's Women of Colour

  • 2022-09-19

By Simran Vaswani

Society

New iPhone 14 goes on sale in Hong Kong

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 …

Society

Hongkongers pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth II

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.