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The Young Reporter

Society

LegCo members: Ask schools to report vaccination numbers regularly

Pro-government Legislative Council members urged the Secretary for Education, Kevin Yeung, to require schools to report the number of students and staff who are vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to better monitor and handle the pandemic. An Education Bureau (EDB) survey showed that as of May 2021, the total vaccination rate of the 2,000 schools, including kindergartens, primary and secondary schools, being polled was only 18%, according to a LegCo brief. Addressing a LegCo panel on education today, Mr. Yeung also added that a further survey may be conducted to find out the number of vaccinations in schools. Addressing a LegCo panel on education today, Mr. Yeung also added that a further survey may be conducted to find out the number of vaccinations in schools. Some health experts have said that if schools’ vaccination rate reaches 70-80%, more school activities or extracurricular activities could be allowed. Mr. Yeung said, “In the months ahead, we hope to finalize the plan with the experts, we need to see what the epidemic situation is like. If possible, we hope that schools can achieve a 70-80% vaccination rate and more activities can be held.” Lau Kwok-fan, a legislator and member of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), stressed that the government needs to have statistics on the number of persons vaccinated. “Personally, now that we don’t have any survey to collect figures about teaching staff vaccination rate, I’m a bit disappointed with that because you might expect or want to achieve 70-80% rate to allow for more activities and yet you don’t have a mechanism to collect or to record the figures in relation to vaccination. That actually cannot support your goal,” Mr. Lau said. However, Mr. Yeung said that schools can let the government know if they …

Politics

100th Anniversary of CCP: Government Closes Victoria Park from Public Gathering, Collectors Queue for Commemorative Stamps

Collectors  queued up at Hong Kong’s main post office to purchase special commemorative stamps issued for the 100th Anniversary of the Communist Party of China, while Hong Kong police closed Victoria Park to restrain protesters from gathering during the 24th observance of  the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Establishment Day.    More than 60 customers lined up at the General Post Office in Central to purchase the special edition stamps after the office had opened.    “The 100th Anniversary of the Founding of the Communist Party of China” Commemorative Stamp was first issued today.Individual stamps and a stamp sheetlet are included in the collector set.    “I feel happy for the 100-year establishment of the Communist Party of China,” said Tse, who only disclosed her first name, has been collecting stamps for years. She bought two stamp sheetlets for her grandchildren.    She said Hong Kong had restored peace and security compared to the same day last year.   In the same line, Tong, who did not provide his first name, said he was thankful for the 100th anniversary, “but it was nothing special, because the Communist Party of China will still thrive in the coming years.”   Mr Tong said he supported the cancellation of the July 1 march.    “Hong Kong used to be chaotic, but now I can travel around more conveniently,” he said. “ That’s why I can come and collect the stamps.”   Hong Kong police banned the July 1 march for the second consecutive year, citing coronavirus pandemic restrictions on public gatherings Despite the cancellation of the annual July 1 march, at noon police sealed off Victoria Park, where the march traditionally started, to prevent unauthorised assembly.    “Anyone who enters or stays at the prohibited area will be subjected to the maximum penalty …

Last flights from UK before the "circuit breaker" reached Hong Kong

  • 2021-06-30

Passengers on Cathay Pacific Flight CX252, one of the last flights to arrive from London before the temporary prohibition of arrivals from the United Kingdom gradually disembarked at Hong Kong International Airport at 11.58am today. A Flight CX252 passenger, a student who just finished the coronavirus test and did not want to be named, called on the Hong Kong government to provide assistance to other students studying in the UK. "The government has not taken into account the feelings of we students," he said. "The sudden policy has prevented many of my friends coming back. They have been stranded in the UK for a year." The Hong Kong government announced Monday that there would be a "circuit breaker" policy for flights originating in the United Kingdom. Beginning July 1 all civilian aircraft from the UK will be prohibited from landing in Hong Kong. Additionally, passengers who have stayed in the UK for more than two hours will also be prohibited from boarding civilian aircraft bound for Hong Kong. Recently, the Delta variant, a more dangerous strain of the coronavirus, has caused a new wave of infections in the UK. About 95% of the sequencing cases in the UK from June 7 to 21 are due to the new variant. At the same time, infections of L452R, which is also a variant strain of the coronavirus, have been detected in more than 130 people arriving from the UK, which may worsen the epidemic situation in Hong Kong, said the government. This latest "circuit breaker" policy implemented by the Hong Kong government has affected some students currently studying in the UK who planned to return to Hong Kong. Eva CAI is a Hong Kong student attending summer school in the UK. She originally planned to return to Hong Kong on Aug. 8. …

Business

Fairwood’s annual profit doubles due to government subsidies

Hong Kong’s second largest fast food chain Fairwood Holding Ltd (00052) reported net profit attributable to shareholders of HK$153.6 million in the financial year ended Mar 31, 2021, more than doubled from a year ago due to government subsidies. This was 152.4% above its yearly net profit of HK$60.9 million the previous year. However, its annual revenue dropped 12.7% to HK$2.65 billion under COVID-19. Shares of the company rose about 1% to close at HK$18 after the results were announced while the Hang Seng Index lost 0.97% to 28,983.89. Basic earnings per share of the company increased 152.2% to 118.59 HK cents, from 47.03 HK cents a year ago, it said in a statement. Fairwood, which operated fast food restaurants, institutional catering and property businesses, said mandatory social distancing policies and restricted opening hours for restaurants led to a significant reduction in restaurant patronage during the reported period. However, the increase in take-away services offset part of the loss in revenue. Businesses in mainland China were also affected with same-store sales down by nearly 27% in local currency. But the company was optimistic that its businesses in Hong Kong will recover as the pandemic is kept under control, and it will continue to expand in the mainland. With the completion of a bakery production line in April this year, the company would offer various bakery products and reduce costs, it said.  

Health & Environment

Hong Kong’s first Chinese medicine hospital to provide training for local students

        Construction of Hong Kong’s first Chinese Medicine Hospital is expected to start in Tseung Kwan O in a couple of days. Speaking at a launch ceremony today, Secretary for Food and Health, Sophia Chan Siu-chee described it as a milestone in the development of traditional Chinese medicine in the city.    Dr. Cheung Wai-lun, project director of the Chinese Medicine Hospital, said the facilities will include around 400 beds, 70 diagnostic rooms and 45 treatment rooms. The new hospital is expected to serve about 310,000 outpatients every year.    “About 200 Chinese medicine practitioners will participate in training and research at the Chinese Medicine Hospital,” Dr. Cheung said. The hospital will also recruit both full-time and part-time traditional Chinese medicine workers.   The hospital will be run by Hong Kong Baptist University under a private-public partnership arrangement and about 65% of the services will be government-funded.   At the moment, traditional Chinese medicine students in Hong Kong have to go to the mainland for their internships. But once the new hospital comes into operation, a third of the students from three local universities can do their internships in Hong Kong initially.   The hospital will come into service in phases from 2025 and eventually up to half of the local students can be trained there.   Professor Alexander Wai Ping-kong, president of Hong Kong Baptist University said the Chinese Medicine Hospital will hire Chineses medicine practitioners from Hong Kong, the mainland and other countries.   Yao Yuzhen, a mainland student studying Chinese medicine at Hong Kong Baptist University, hoped the new hospital will make it more convenient to conduct scientific research.   “Hong Kong does not have any inpatient department in traditional Chinese medicine right now,   so there can only be limited use of some …

Disposable face masks aggravate Hong Kong’s ‘already very serious’ waste problem, says local environmentalist

  • 2021-06-28

  As Hong Kong nears the one-year mark for mandatory face masks in public areas, the city’s already overstretched landfills are coping with more than 3 billion disposable masks, said Don Cheng, from local charity Greeners Action.   “This is a very heavy burden on our environment, our landfills and on the whole waste management system,” Mr. Cheng said in a phone interview.   Between 10 tonnes and 15 tonnes of masks are sent to Hong Kong landfills every day, Secretary for the Environment, Wong Kam-sing, said in a press release in May last year.    Mr. Cheng said that the waste problem in Hong Kong was already serious before the pandemic. “We dispose of over 11,000 tonnes of solid waste every day, and 21% of it is plastic,” he said.   Most single-use face masks are made of plastics such as polypropylene, which is recommended for preventing the spread of COVID-19 but may also contain cancer-causing toxins.   “These masks also contain other kinds of materials and metals. It is quite difficult to separate them,” said Mr. Cheng, adding that this makes them unsuitable for recycling.   “Quite a number of these face masks litter our natural environment, for example on hiking trails, at the beach and in the ocean,” he said.    Disposable face masks may take as long as 450 years to break down, according to Hong-Kong-based marine conservation organization OceansAsia.   Discarded masks are hazards for wild animals with environmental groups around the world reporting animals injured or killed after being caught in the straps.   Most Hongkongers use seven to 10 single-use masks a week, according to a survey last year by Greeners Action. That’s 4 million to 6 million face masks a day, said Mr. Wong.   Toni Lo, a local primary school teacher, …

Politics

Three pro-democracy groups apply for permission to hold annual July 1 march

League of Social Democrats, Tin Shui Wai Connection and Save Lantau Alliance applied on Friday to the police for its consent to arrange the annual July 1 protest on the handover anniversary.    Civil Human Right Front had been organising the march since 2003 but the group said on Sunday that it would not hold any activities after the police questioned its legitimacy.    “The July 1 protest has become a platform to express the needs of civilians and fight for democracy and universal suffrage,” Convenor of Save Lantau Alliance Eddie Tse Sai-kit said.   Deputy secretary general of the League of Social Democrats, Vanessa Chan Po-ying, said the proposed time, route and destination were the same as the previous demonstration.   She said they expected the police to cite the epidemic as a reason to oppose their application so they included many precautionary measures such as grouping in four, keeping a 1.5-metre distance and offering masks and cleansing products to keep the risk of spreading to the lowest.    Mr Tse said Hong Kong people need to cherish the value of protesting on the street on July 1.   “We would like to tell Hongkongers that there is a group of people who stay persistent every year to come out despite the suppression and political risk,” said Lam Chun, a member of Tin Shui Wai Connection. “I hope Hongkongers can come out to show the scene of more than a million participants.”   “We will keep on when people’s hearts are not dead,” Ms Chan said.   Mr Lam said they would have a meeting with the police on details within a couple of days and would appeal if permission was not given.   “Hongkongers from every walks of life have their demands on the government,” said a citizen …

Society

Apple Daily newspaper folds after a 26-year run

Long lines snaked around newsstands in Hong Kong today as supporters snapped up the last edition of the Apple Daily newspaper. Top officials of the 26-year-old tabloid-style paper have been detained or jailed. The company’s assets were frozen by the government under the National Security Law, forcing it to shut down. Its website and mobile app also stopped being updated after midnight. About a million copies of the last edition circulated around the city, about ten times its normal print run. Splashed across the front page was a photo taken from the paper’s offices in Tseung Kwan O showing a crowd outside. The headline read “ Hong Kong people bid farewell in pain”. Apple Daily’s proprietor, Jimmy Lai, is serving a 20-month jail term for taking part in illegal protests in 2019. He also faces accusations of violating the National Security Law. The newspaper has long taken an anti-communist and pro-democracy stance. Gary Sing Kai-chung, a former senior photographer of Apple Daily, who has worked at the paper for 17 years, was angry and sad about the newspaper’s closure. “It is like watching a family member get killed,” Mr Sing told The Young Reporter. He described Apple Daily as a pioneer in the Hong Kong media industry.  “They sent motorbikers to the scenes to take photos when covering breaking news. More reporters would arrive later to cover the incidents and do follow up stories. This workflow was started by Apple Daily,” said Mr Sing. He said Apple Daily was also willing to invest in equipment. “The speed of changing from film cameras to DSLR cameras was so fast at the Apple Daily,” said Mr Sing. “While other media outlets were still hesitating on whether digital cameras were good, we had already swapped to the new cameras in all divisions.” “If …

Hong Kong to consider mainlanders to work as domestic helpers

  • 2021-06-23

Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Law Chi-kwong said in a Legislative Council meeting today that the government is looking into allowing mainlanders to work as domestic workers in Hong Kong.   Mr Law was responding to a question from legislative councillor, Paul Tse. Mr Tse pointed out that the COVID-19 epidemic has resulted in a drastic drop in the number of foreign domestic workers coming to Hong Kong from Southeast Asia. “Job-hopping” by helpers in the city also contributed to the shortage, Mr Tse said.   He also questioned whether the government will consider foreign domestic helpers to acquire permanent residency if they remain in Hong Kong for seven years.    But the government said it has no plan to make such changes.   The Hong Kong Employment Industry Association expressed reservations on allowing mainlanders to work as domestic helpers. The Association's chairwoman, Wendy Lau Lai-sze pointed out that it may be difficult to identify mainlanders who might be working in Hong Kong illegally.   She added that it is easy for mainlanders to take root in Hong Kong because they might have relatives here and end up staying here.   Teresa Liu Tsui-lan, managing director of Technic Employment Service Centre pointed out that salaries for workers from the mainland are generally higher than for most foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong.   “They  charge between RMB5,000 and  6,000 for completing one task only,” she said, “Hong Kong cannot offer that much.”   According to the Labour Department, the minimum wage for foreign domestic workers is $4,630 per month.    Shadow Hui, a local resident, has been employing foreign domestic helpers for over 20 years.   “It is quite difficult to hire overseas helpers right now,” she said. “ So If she (mainland domestic workers) works well and makes me confident in …

Society

Survey: More Hong Kong people feel they are both “Hongkongers” and “Chinese”

The number of Hong Kong people who regard themselves as “Hongkongers” has remained unchanged over the past six months, but those who identify themselves as both “Hongkongers” and “Hongkongers in China” have grown, a survey has found. In its latest survey to track the sense of identity of Hong Kong people, the Hong Kong Public Opinion Programme has found that about 44% of the respondents regarded themselves as “Hongkongers” early this month, which was the same figure recorded in early December. Over the past six months, the number of respondents who identified themselves as “Chinese” dropped slightly from 15% to 13%, while those who identified themselves as both “Hongkongers” and “Chinese” rose from 38 to 42%. Taking other variables into consideration, the survey found that the number of people who regarded themselves as “Hongkongers” in a broad sense grew from 69% to 72%, while those who identified themselves as “Chinese” in a broad sense dropped from 29% to 26%. A total of 1,008 Cantonese-speaking Hong Kong residents aged 18 or above were interviewed in the survey. Tong Pan-Hang, who is a Hong Kong Baptist University student majoring in history, said he preferred the identity of "Chinese". "Many of my local friends don't like 'China' very much. They think they are 'Hongkongers' instead of 'Chinese' mostly because they think ‘China’ means 'backward'," he said. Tong said that his father now works in Guangdong Province, and his family has a sense of belonging to China. A Midland Realty worker who prefers to be known as Mr Chan said he did not regard the identities of "Hongkongers" and "Chinese" as necessarily opposite to one another. "It's not controversial that you identify with your birthplace," he said. "But Hong Kong people do live in a part of China.” Source: Hong Kong Public Opinion Programme