INFO · Search
· Chinese version · Subscribe

The Young Reporter

Business

Government recruitment and vocational training booths spotlight Education and Careers Expo

Last week’s Education and Careers Expo at the Exhibition Centre highlighted government job offerings and employment training as the city hopes to retain young talents and boost the local workforce. Among the 123 exhibitors at the expo, 32 of them were government departments and bureaus present at the event, which aimed to introduce visitors to job opportunities through exhibitions, sharing sessions and interactive activities. “As the largest employer in Hong Kong, offering over 190,000 full-time jobs in the civil service alone, the government has a wide range of opportunities for those who are willing and ready to work hard and keep learning to achieve success,” said Ingrid Yeung, Secretary for the Civil Service, at the opening ceremony of the Expo. Various government departments also held information and sharing sessions throughout the expo, such as the Civil Service Bureau for the legal aid department. “I’ve had more opportunities to ask questions regarding the job content, interview and selection criteria, so I think [the Expo] is quite helpful to me,” said Tiffany Cheung, 23, a fresh university graduate looking for a job in the government. “I think [the information session] is quite clear, and the speaker made very clear about the content of the position. It matches my expectation regarding the role.”   Apart from recruitment booths, many schools for continuing education and vocational training  introduced education programs and showcased new innovations that could streamline existing work methods. One example was the Smart Chinese Medicine Cabinet, a Chinese medicine pharmaceutical box which aims to streamline the collection of ingredients for Chinese medicine recipes using sensor technology. By scanning the QR code, the display modules on each drawer would light up and show the ingredients required for the pharmacists to collect. The cabinet is part of the Vocational Training Council’s health and life …

Society

Waste-charging Scheme delayed to August

  • The Young Reporter
  • By: XIA Fan、ZHANG YipingEdited by: Ji Youn Lee、Yuqi CHU
  • 2024-01-24

The start date of the new waste-charging scheme based on the pay-as-you-throw principle was pushed back again by four months to Aug 1, announced Secretary for Environment and Ecology Tse Chin-wan on Friday. The scheme was scheduled to start on April 1. The delay is to better explain the details and ease public confusion, Tse said in the press conference. Justina Chan, a street vendor selling socks in her 40s, said the scheme was a disturbance to her normal life. “When the day comes, I have no choice but to obey the rules. Though I would never say I support it from my heart,” said Chan. The scheme, initially proposed over two decades ago, seeks to address public awareness of recycling and reduce waste through a requirement for dumping rubbish with government-approved bags. Marcus Lo, 26, a government employee, said he agrees with measures for environmental protection, but is concerned over resistance. The price of the new government rubbish bags is HK$0.11 per litre. For bulky waste and large furniture, a "fee label" with a standardised price of HK$11 is required to be purchased. According to the Hong Kong Waste Reduction report, the disposal rate of Municipal Solid Waste was 1.51 kg per person per day in 2022. A family using a 10 or 15 litre government bag every day is likely to spend about HK$30 to HK$50 a month on the bags, compared to under $10 at the current price. Lo called for more attention being paid to the vulnerable groups. “If the government could put more effort into helping the low incomers, the enforcement process would be smoother as the new launch will drive up their living cost,” said Lo. The Finance Committee Procedure last December passed a bill giving a monthly subsidy of HK$10 to people receiving …

Society

Marathon organisers urge runners to monitor their conditions following a death

  • The Young Reporter
  • By: ZHAO Runtong、LIU YutongEdited by: Ji Youn Lee、Juncong SHUAI
  • 2024-01-23

  Organisers of the annual Standard Chartered Marathon have reminded runners to “closely monitor their post-race physical condition and allow themselves recovery after the race.” The warning came after a 30-year-old participant collapsed at Tin Hau MTR station following the race. There were multiple injuries, according to the Hospital Authority. At 4 pm yesterday, a total of 39 runners had been admitted to hospital, with one death pending investigation and one in critical condition due to heart overload. As of Monday, he is still receiving medical treatment in Ruttonjee Hospital. The Hong Kong, China Association of Athletics Affiliates and Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited stated their deepest condolences to the family of the deceased athlete and offered assistance as necessary. “Overexertion, heat stress, dehydration and cardiovascular issues could all be the cause of death in a marathon," said Dr. Hon Sze-sze, Principal Coordinator of Sports Program at Hong Kong Baptist University, "In order to avoid injuries, we should do foot preparation activities before the race and maintain appropriate fluid intake during the marathon.. If we feel ill, we must stop running  to avoid overexertion,” she added. The Standard Chartered Marathon kicked off at Nathan Road in Tsim Sha Tsui at 6 am on Sunday. It included a full marathon, a half marathon, and a 10-kilometre challenge. Kenyan runner Seroi Anderson Saitoti, 31, won the men's overall full marathon with a time of 2 hours, 12 minutes and 50 seconds. Medina Armino, 26, from Ethiopia won the women’s overall full marathon with a time of 2 hours, 28 minutes and 47 seconds. Local athlete Yiu Kit-ching, 35, performed very well with a time of 2 hours 41 minutes and 9 seconds. Local runner, Wong Kai-lok, 28, said the route of the Standard Chartered Marathon is mostly mountain roads, which are more …

Society

Budget 2023: Light public housing remains controversial

A few steps from the Kai Tak MTR station, an extensive but barren ground is enclosed by barbed wire, incongruent with the surrounding high-rise residences and shopping malls. The land is earmarked for the construction of light public housing. As one of eight sites designated by the government, Kai Tak is expected to provide 10,700 units for people waiting for more long-term public housing. “It’s hard to imagine over 10,000 people will flood into this area in the future. I’m afraid it’ll be a mess at that time,” said Alex Tsang, a resident living in the Kai Tak neighbourhood for three years. Anger spread among Kai Tak residents once the site selection for light public housing was announced in January. In today’s budget address, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said the government is committed to the construction of 30,000 flats by 2027. “I can understand the government's intention to build light public housing, but the site selection is wrong,” said Tsang. “Kai Tak should be a part of the CBD , but the temporary housing scheme will last seven years, nobody knows what will happen in the future.” The Light Public Housing scheme proposed by Chief Executive John Lee in his maiden policy address last year aims to give a better living environment to people waiting for permanent public houses.  “As the supply of housing land is not evenly distributed across each year, and land creation takes time, there is still a shortage of land ready for public housing development in the short run,” said Chan in today’s budget speech. The first batch of housing is expected to cost HK$14.9 billion. Building light public housing costs 25% more  than public rental housing, according to Liber Research Community, an independent think tank in Hong Kong. “Some light public housing is planned …

Health & Environment

Endangered waterbird spotted in Hong Kong

  • The Young Reporter
  • By: James Ezekiel Kalaw MODESTOEdited by: Ming Min AW YONG
  • 2023-02-11

A routine morning bike ride at Tai Lam Country Park on 20 January turned into an unforgettable moment for birdwatcher John Chow Kwok-pun. He spotted what he recognised as a female merganser bird at a stream near Kat Hing Bridge, but could not identify it at the time because the bird was diving and swimming in the reservoir. “My first impression was that it was likely to be a female Red-breasted Merganser, a rare but regular species in Hong Kong,” said Chow. “However, its presence in freshwater habitat raises suspicion that it may not be this species, but one of two that prefers freshwater habitat.” Three days later, Chow returned to the bridge along with other bird watchers. “I could see that the merganser has fine gray scales on the chest and flanks, ruling out Red-breasted and Common Mergansers,” said Chow. “The overall features fall within those of a Scaly-sided Merganser, a previously unrecorded species in Hong Kong.” It turned out to be the first Scaly-sided Merganser ever spotted in Hong Kong. It is an endangered duck species native to North Asia and the Russian Far East. "The Scaly-sided Merganser, though first recorded in Hong Kong this year, has been recorded in the region and is considered a rare winter visitor to South China," said Joyee Chan Long-kwan, a fauna conservation officer at the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department. The large duck is endemic to the East Asian-Australasian Flyway, a major migratory route for over 50 million waterbirds, according to the East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership, which includes the Hong Kong Bird Watching Society. "Hong Kong is a major stopover point along the bird migration route. The wide variety of local habitats contributes to the diversity of the birds," said Chan. The Scaly-sided Merganser is on the endangered list of the …

Culture & Leisure

Hong Kong Cantopop: K-song's popularity reduces diversity of local music

Cantopop has played an important role in Hong Kong music culture since 1960, yet faced criticism for being dominated by mainstream love songs, or so-called “K-songs”. The term “K-song” appeared 20 to 30 years ago and comes from the word “karaoke”, a popular choice of activity teenagers like to do in the 80s-90s, according to Michael Kam Wing-hin, associate programme director of the associate degree in social sciences at College of Institute. Some say that the emergence of “K-song” reflects the musical preferences of mainstream audiences while critics say K song is a commercial act adopted by music production companies to gain profit. Jacky Chueng, one of the four “Heavenly Kings” in Cantopop, had high sales of his K songs in the 80s and 90s, but his jazz style in the later years led to mediocre sales, Kam said. “This situation may reflect that ‘K songs’ have a good response and audience acceptance, but it does not necessarily mean that the quality of ‘K songs’ is high. While those with a high level of musical quality does not mean that they are easy to become hits,” said Kam. As K songs guaranteed commercial success, companies have shifted their attention more to producing these types of songs, which reduced the diversity of songs in the music industry, and led to mass production of songs with similar characteristics. Kam agreed K songs are a product of the music market. Songwriters tend to produce K songs because audience acceptance and market response is the key to decide whether a song is hot or not, and K songs are mostly about love, with catchy melodies that are easy for people to sing along with, gaining a lot of concern and support, Kam said. “K song” is also seen as a way for artists to …

Culture & Leisure

Art Department: The story behind the visuals

Irving Cheung Yee-man, a 40-year-old  film production designer and art director, once worked on film production in the Shaw Studio for 69 hours straight without sleeping. She would keep working but not be conscious about what she was doing. “Why am I still working?” was the realisation when her consciousness was delayed. For Cheung, working in the film art department is exciting, despite the high-pressure schedule and irregular working time.  “Few other industries have such a job that people working for it can tell others, ‘hey, I just witnessed an explosion today, or a bank robbery, even flesh-cutting from a corpse’,” Cheung said.  In Hong Kong, the rising popularity of recent domestic films has brought more attention to the film art department, which is often hidden behind the media spotlight and the cheers of moviegoers. As the directorial debut of award-winning visual effects specialist Ng Yuen-fai, the action sci-fi film Warriors of Future has become the highest-grossing Chinese-language film in Hong Kong of all time, taking over HK$80 million at the Hong Kong box office, according to data released by the official social accounts of this film.  With expensive and time-consuming production, Warriors of Future has impressed audiences with its rich visual effects and sparked a media discussion on Hong Kong’s special effects filmmaking.  To achieve the artistic presentation of a film, the art department is responsible for creating the overall visual look of a film in collaboration with the director. An art department is supervised by a production designer whose job can be divided into three stages: pre-production, scene creation and post-production. Production designers will discuss and co-create the backgrounds of the film characters at the pre-production stage when the script has yet to be developed. Then, the production designer will lead the art director and costume designer in …

Culture & Leisure

Hong Kong film industry questions for its revival era

In October, two local films, "Warriors of Future" and "Table For Six", broke over HK$70 million at the box office while some movie related people wonder whether the Hong Kong film industry can have its second glorious "1980-90" era.  "As time passes and more significant events occur, there will inevitably be more compelling movie ideas.," Luk said.   "Warriors of Future", starring Louis Koo, Lau Ching Wan, and Carina Lau, is the biggest movie ever made in Hong Kong while "table of six" became the top Hong Kong-produced comedy at the box office in Hong Kong in 2022. Luk said social events can inspire new themes to Hong Kong films and create a craze. For example, a 2002 film "Internal Affairs" created with the background after Hong Kong's handover in 1997. Hong Kong is also attempting to produce a wider genre of films. Over half of the films with the gangster genres in the 1970s to 1990s to kung fu films such as “Ip Man” series from 2008 to 2019, the Hong Kong films mostly are about themes of police and bandits. “By introducing science fiction films to the local market, "Warriors of the Future" has made an important first step for Hong Kong's film industry,” said Luk. Chan Hoi-king, 21, a former film student in Hong Kong Baptist University, now studying at the University of Birmingham thinks the Hong Kong film industry is expected to revive. “The government has begun to face up to the development of the film industry, and the rebirth of Hong Kong film is expected,” said Chan. The Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau has set aside approximately HK$240 million to promote the development of Hong Kong films. Eligible film projects will receive a maximum of HK$9 million in funding under the new measure "Asian Cultural Exchange …

Culture & Leisure

Last surviving hand-painted porcelain factory in Hong Kong

Yuet Tung China Works, first established in 1928, mainly exports hand-painted dinnerware and family crests, such as plates and bowls, to foreign countries. The Canton famille-rose porcelain making technique can now only be found in Hong Kong's last hand-crafted porcelain factory after the decline of handicraft industry.

Culture & Leisure

Local art gains more attraction while censorship fears continue

  • The Young Reporter
  • By: Aruzhan ZEINULLA、Dhuha AL-ZAIDIEdited by: Nicholas Shu
  • 2022-12-23

A typical day for Ka Yu Ng, a 32-year-old independent artist in Hong Kong, starts by reflecting her anxious thoughts, embracing her sensitive emotions; feelings of vulnerability that she once hated and tried so hard to supress growing up. She spends most days on Peng Chau Island in her small studio, embraced by the melodic instrumentals playing in the background, engulfed by the scent of sandalwood incense, as she channels her feelings into art, words, and music.  Away from the hectic city, 5+2 studio, named after her childhood nickname which sounds like “five plus two” in Cantonese, is Ng’s daily personal exhibition venue where she is free to produce visuals.  Having been in Hong Kong’s art scene for three years, Ng thinks the local art has developed. “The locals are more aware of building their own style. I believe it’s a very good start,” she said. Local art in Hong Kong has been gaining more attention since the social movement in 2019 and the shortly followed COVID-19 pandemic. However, some artists have faced restrictions on creativity, which has led them to question the extent of their artistic freedom.   “The social unrest and the pandemic are reminding people that something in this place needs to be protected, the culture in particular,” Ng said.  Hong Kong comprises approximately 29,420 creative establishments, with around 136,470 members, according to the official website of the local government. As a culturally dynamic city, it boasts 11 components of the cultural and creative industries, including arts, antiques and craft, accounting for about 5% of the city’s GDP. This year, the government announced a series of new subsidies for art talents. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu pledged new funding for the new generation of artists, in his first Policy Address in October. Financial Secretary Paul Chan committed several …