The Young Reporter
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.
Hong Kong comics started a new page with uncertainty
- 2022-08-18
- Culture & Leisure
- The Young Reporter
- By: Lokman YuenEdited by: Jenny Lam
- 2022-08-18
http://youtu.be/o0DEGvl82GQ Hong Kong comics had its glory days in the 1970s to 90s, its popularity has declined since then. But some local comic writers are still drawing new pages, Jerry Cho Chi-ho is one of them. HK Comics Support Programme, a first-year government subsidised programme aimed at helping artists to publish new long comics encouraged Cho to draw again.
A Tale of Two Hotels: Food quality varies wildly between Hong Kong’s budget and luxury quarantine hotels
- 2022-07-29
- People
- The Young Reporter
- By: Tracy LeungEdited by: AMALVY Esten Carr Claude Ole Eriksen
- 2022-07-29
Hong Kong’s government-designated quarantine hotels are required to provide three meals a day to guests. But many staying in the least expensive hotels have been horrified by what they are served, while those that can afford it, order delivery or stay in more expensive hotels, often double or triple the price. “Can’t believe this is called a hotel. Motels overseas are much better than this, even Airbnb. The food tastes bad and there is even no chair for eating. I feel helpless,” said Fanny Chan, a guest at the Ramada Hong Kong Harbour View Hotel in Sai Ying Pun on quarantine day 16. Ms Chan said she paid HK$12,390 for 21 nights. Ms Chan reported that after a week, she had developed an allergic skin reaction due to the dirty state of the room and poor quality of the food she was offered. The hotel did not provide any help for her, she said. The Ramada hotel has yet to comment. “Healthy food includes grains, dairy such as milk and soya milk, vegetables, fruit and meat or alternatives like nuts and canned fish,” Director of the Hong Kong Community Dietitian Association, Bonnie Leung said. “It is highly recommended for people with special needs to notify hotels about their history of allergy when they first move in,” Ms Leung said. Nicholas White and Edith White stayed at the Sheraton Hong Kong & Tower in Tsim Sha Tsui in September for 21 nights. They paid HK$36,330 for a room with a city view, nearly double the cost of Ms Chan’s room. “We were fully aware of how difficult a 21-day quarantine stay would be so prepared to pay a bit more for a decent sized room with reasonably good food,” said Mr White. “Frankly speaking, most dishes are not bad compared to …
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 …
Consumer Council finds many cooking oils contain cancer causing substances
- 2022-07-19
- Health & Environment
- The Young Reporter
- By: Lokman YuenEdited by: Jenny Lam
- 2022-07-19
Some 60% of commonly used cooking oils in Hong Kong contain chemicals which may pose cancer risk to humans, according to tests conducted by the Consumer Council from Nov. 2021 to Jan. 2022. The results are published in the latest edition of Choice Magazine yesterday (July 18). They show that 47 out of 50 types of oil tested contain at least one type of harmful contaminant, and 29 of them contain carcinogens. They also found that 30 out of 50 samples contain 3-MCPD, and 35 of them contain phthalates. For the 29 that contain carcinogens, two exceeded European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) standard. Of those, SuperFoodLab Coconut Cooking Oil made in Thailand exceeded the standard by 10 percent, and Yu Ping King Pure Peanut Oil manufactured in China contained twice the amount of carcinogen allowed. Two types of oil from mainland brand, Yuwanjia were found to contain harmful chemicals benzo[a]pyrene, which may cause cancer risk when cooked in high heat.Yuwanjia 100% Pure Corn Oil and Yuwanjia 100% Pure Peanut Oil, exceeded EFSA standard by 2.0μg/kg and 0.1μg/kg respectively. Of the 35 types of oil that contained phthalates, only Gallo My first olive oil Extra Virgin Olive Oil was worse than Centre for Food Safety and EFSA standards. “There is no recommended tolerant level (for carcinogens), the advise is: the less you absorb it is better for your health,” Gilly Wong Fung-han, Cheif Executive of Consumer Council said. She added everyone should be mindful of these pollutants as they may cause cancer.
Hongkongers’ Book Fair goes online after last-minute cancellation
- 2022-07-15
- Politics
- The Young Reporter
- By: Lokman YuenEdited by: Jenny Lam
- 2022-07-15
A private book fair was forced to go online after the owner of the venue where it was to be held threateend to take legal action against the organiser. Raymond Yeung Tsz-chun, organiser of the Hongkongers’ Book Fair, received a notice of from Mall Plus in Wan Chai on July 12. The venue owner, Permanent Investment Company Limited issued a lawyer's letter through Man Hing Hong Properties Company Limited the following day, accusing Yeung of “sub-letting” and “causing nuisance, annoyance or danger to occupants or visitors” and would no longer rent out the premises. As a result, the online version of “Hongkongers’ Book Fair” can only showcase products from Yeung’s bookstore, Hillway Culture. Publications from seven other publishers and at least six commercial outlets which originally participated in the book fair are not in the online event. “I believe that anything related to the name “HongKongers’ Book Fair” is considered politically sensitive now,” said Yeung. Yeung organised the private book fair after the Hong Kong Trade Development Council being rejected his application to take part in the Hong Kong Book Fair by on May 16. Yeung claimed he then invested more than HK$500,000 to run his own fair instead. He said he contacted Man Hing Hong Properties after receiving the notice and scheduled a meeting with the property agent on July 12 at 10:30 a.m., but the agent did not show up. He did not have the contact number of Permanent Investment, the venue owner. TYR tried to contact Man Hing Hong Properties Company Limited and Permanent Investment Company Limited through email. They did not respond to our inquiries. “We made sure we followed all laws and regulations. We believed we can hold an independent book fair under the Rule of Law in Hong Kong,” Yeung said. “But it seems …
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 …
Study finds 70 percent recovered patients suffer from long Covid
- 2022-07-12
- Health & Environment
- The Young Reporter
- By: Lokman YuenEdited by: Jenny Lam
- 2022-07-12
A preliminary study conducted by the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2022 has found that nearly 70% recovered COVID-19 patients reported suffering from moderate or severe long COVID symptoms such as fatigue and coughing. The pilot study that included 554 recovered patients found that fatigue (33.7%) was the most common symptom, with another 23.8%-31.9% reporting respiratory symptoms. Other “Long COVID” symptoms may include, insomnia, hair loss, anxiety, brain fog, chest pain, shortness of breath, and joint pain. CU Medicine claimed 76% COVID-19 patients had at least one symptom six months after recovery in Jan, 2022. With the support of the Hospital Authority, medical researchers announced today that they will launch the first territory-wide long COVID study. The mass study will consist of two parts, an electronic survey and a self-volunteer follow-up in-depth microbiome research, with the purpose of facilitating long COVID healthcare policy, said Dean of CU Medicine Francis Ka Leung Chan. The electronic survey will include a question about long COVID symptoms and duration, and seven multiple-choice questions on long COVID. Basic Information including name, age, sex, month of diagnosis, history of hospitalisation and vaccination will also be collected, but not phone numbers or HKID number. The authorities expect at least 10,000 respondents. Physical poster with QR code of the electronic survey will be displayed at Western and Chinese medicine outpatient clinics under the Hospital Authority. Respondents can also apply for the second phase of the study. This involves microbiome analysis of up to 1000 volunteers through bi-annual stool sample donation, for up to three years.
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.