The latest from HKFP on the battle against the coronavirus pandemic in Hong Kong.
LATEST NEWS & VIEWS
Hong Kong students urged to protect eyesight as screen time, number of glasses wearers rise post-pandemic
Hong Kong students have been told to look after their eyesight and participate in an annual health assessment as the number of youngsters needing glasses increased by 4 per cent during the Covid-19 pandemic. Students’ vision has deteriorated in recent years, particularly among lower-grade primary students, the Department of Health said on Tuesday citing data…
HKFP Lens: Hong Kong marks China’s National Day with displays of patriotism, pyrotechnics
Sunday marked the first National Day holiday in Hong Kong since all Covid-19 restrictions were lifted, with crowds once again allowed to gather and fireworks illuminating Victoria Harbour after a four-year hiatus. The day began with a flag-raising ceremony and reception, during which Chief Executive John Lee hailed the “endless opportunities” Beijing had given Hong…
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Explainer: Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee’s first year in office
Chief Executive John Lee has completed his first year as Hong Kong’s leader. Lee rose through the police ranks to become security chief then chief secretary, the city’s No. 2 official. After running unopposed for top office, he was selected last May with 1,416 votes from the overhauled Election Committee, members of whom were vetted…
Series of knife attacks underscores mental health shortcomings in ‘happy Hong Kong’
After a brutal knife attack killed two women at a mall in Diamond Hill this month, Hong Kong police held a press conference which spelt out the shockingly indiscriminate nature of the assault. “We found that the arrestee has a history of mental illness… no evidence has shown so far that the two deceased women…
Meet the gov’t veterinarian keeping Hong Kong – and a ‘bubble’ in mainland China – free of horse diseases
Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, even when humans hoping to cross Hong Kong’s border with mainland China were subject to at least 21 days of quarantine, one group was able to travel into and out of the city with relative ease: racehorses. Last September, the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) – which holds a government-granted monopoly…
Dealing with death: Young Hongkonger shares lessons from an unusual career choice
It’s not the career choice for many in their twenties, but Ming Tai has amassed more than 47,000 followers on his Instagram page, where he shares stories from his work in the funeral industry. While a lot of people might be taken aback at the prospect of working with corpses, it did not take Ming…
COMMENTARY & ANALYSIS
As China rises, so does the suffering of billions of animals of many species
Hong Kong customs officers have intercepted a shipment of thousands of live turtles and tusks from protected hippos destined for mainland China. The smugglers were feeding an insatiable Chinese demand for animals’ bodies. With the dramatic rise of China in recent decades has come the emergence of hundreds of millions of middle-class and wealthy people…
Improving Hong Kong’s pandemic response and mental healthcare will take independent reviews – and action
Last month, the Hong Kong government lifted our Covid-19 state of emergency. A few weeks earlier, the World Health Organization had declared the pandemic over as Covid becomes endemic. These developments allow the government to focus on urgent tasks of economic development and reengaging globally. Now is also the time to reconsider a publicly available,…
Combatting ‘job-hopping’ isn’t the solution, solidarity with Hong Kong’s migrant domestic workers is
By Lydia Catedral I had a baby in Hong Kong in 2021, which highlighted for me how important caregiving support is – especially in a pandemic. In a recent meeting I attended, Assistant Commissioner to Labour Cheung Hoi Shan claimed that it was families like mine – those who had babies or seniors in their…
Let art flourish in Hong Kong’s busy streets
Some say the latest public art project at Harbour City, a shopping mall in Hong Kong’s Tsim Sha Tsui district, looks like gigantic hanging portraits of death. The project – collages of monochrome photographs showing smiling Hongkongers and celebrities celebrating the end of the mask rule after three years of Covid restrictions – is being…
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