Laura Ma - South China Morning Post

Hong Kong protests go global as marchers take to streets in US, Europe and Australia in show of solidarity

Mon, 17 Jun 2019 03:35:03 +0000

Hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets in the United States on Sunday in a show of solidarity with the almost 2 million Hongkongers who marched to demand the controversial extradition bill be scrapped, and for the resignation of the city’s leader. The rallies in New York and Washington were part of 39 planned protests taking place over the weekend around the world, with protests in Britain, Germany, France, South Korea, Australia, and North America, among others. The global demonstrations...

Barack Obama plans to move into a house worth HK$50 million ... what’s that get you in Hong Kong (hint: a lot less)?

Fri, 27 May 2016 09:49:12 +0000

US President Barack Obama is reportedly planning to move into a US$6.5 million (HK$50 million) mansion in Washington’s upscale Kalorama neighbourhood when his time in the White House ends. The Obamas will be renting the 8,200 square foot home for US$22,000 (HK$170,000) a month from Joe Lockhart, former press secretary and senior advisor to Bill Clinton. The four-storey pile comes with nine bedrooms, eight bathrooms and spacious stone-tiled outdoor patio – yet the price tag is surprisingly good...

From Hong Kong to Norway on a bamboo bike: graphic designer set to make history with epic 19,000km trip

Sat, 30 Apr 2016 14:00:15 +0000

Chan Yanki is set to make history by travelling from Hong Kong to Norway – on a home-made bamboo bicycle. The 28-year-old graphic designer will cover 19,658 km over 450 days, taking her through China, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Europe in a trip estimated to end in July or August next year. Once completed, Chan, who set out on her journey from Hong Kong last month, will be the first woman to do a world tour on a bamboo bike. Watch: Wheel deal: Hong Kong woman’s epic bamboo bike...

Stop wasting time on this trivial issue and start tackling real inequality

Sat, 23 Apr 2016 13:15:15 +0000

For women, the tradition of discounted or free drinks during ladies’ night is a culturally accepted – nay, welcomed – event. Who doesn’t love free drinks? So imagine one man raising his sword to cut off the taps to our cheap drinks night. The Equal Opportunities Committee filed a case last October on behalf of the male complainant who accused an unnamed karaoke and disco club of breaching sex discrimination laws by charging men more for a drink than women. The system isn’t based on what women...

Mythbuster: does speaking Cantonese make you a better karaoke singer?

Fri, 15 Apr 2016 09:45:00 +0000

Simplest answer: depends who you ask. Cantonese has long been considered the hardest language for English speakers to learn. Having been described as sing-song like, pronunciation is believed to be particularly difficult because of its six tones. Here lays the reason for Hong Kong’s love of karaoke? “Cantonese music tends to follow speech tones very closely, so singing a song in Cantonese gives a good idea of tone melody of the spoken sentence,” says Dr Murray Schellenberg of the University of...

9 MTR by-laws that everyone in Hong Kong has seen broken before

Fri, 15 Apr 2016 05:51:40 +0000

MTR Corporation has announced a review of some of its passenger rules to bring them up to date this year. Proposed changes include lowering fines for foul language from HK$5,000 to HK$2,000 as well as exempting mobile phone ringtones from noise pollution rules. But will the changes have any effect on how we use Hong Kong’s subway system? We examine the rules that almost all of us have seen broken, and may even have flouted ourselves on the MTR. No animals or other vehicles allowed Cars and...

Behind the scenes at Hong Kong International Airport: how we manage 1,100 flights per day

Mon, 04 Apr 2016 10:11:29 +0000

Thousands of crew members work around the clock to ensure Hong Kong International Airport, one of the world’s top ten busiest, is efficient and safe. As travellers make their way to and from departure and arrival gates, intricate coordination goes into cleaning the runways and prepping the ground itself for landings and take-offs. Hong Kong’s information services department yesterday released a video showing exactly how it’s all done to ready the airport for its average 1,100 flights a day. Hong...

Chinese Superman revealed ... and he’s a Shanghai teenager with attitude

Fri, 01 Apr 2016 04:15:45 +0000

A sassy Chinese Superman based in modern-day Shanghai has been unveiled by DC Comics. Kenji Kong will be the titular character of New Super-man, a Shanghai teenager who suddenly inherits the powers of Superman. Gene Luen Yang will write the monthly comic series with artist Victor Bodganovich, DC announced at Wonder Con last week. “We wanted to tell a story that was about the Superman ideal, but tell it in a different culture,” said Yang. “Regardless of where you grow up, you know what he stands...

Hong Kong prisoners get more exercise time outside than our schoolchildren, research reveals

Sun, 20 Mar 2016 21:30:00 +0000

Prison inmates in Hong Kong get more outdoor exercise time than primary and secondary school students, according to a University of Hong Kong researcher. Although research consistently shows sports and physical activity as key to mental well-being, there prioritised enough in schools, said Dr Robin Mellecker of the HKU’s Institute of Human Performance. “Prison inmates get more outdoor time than school kids,” she said, explaining that exercise releases “happy hormones” that contribute to...

Who’s the biggest giver? Top 10 philanthropists in China and the United States

Wed, 09 Mar 2016 10:30:30 +0000

China’s top legislative body on Wednesday began deliberating the country’s first charity law. Last year, China ranked 144 among 145 countries for charitable behaviour, in a survey by NGO Charities Aid Foundation. Observers say the new law could go some way to reversing Chinese people’s reluctance to give. READ MORE: Needy clauses: Would China’s proposed charity law be a gift to the disadvantaged? Compared with their American counterparts, who gave away their money in support of a wide range of...

In pictures: Fog, smog and the eerie Hong Kong skyline

Wed, 09 Mar 2016 07:10:11 +0000

Hopeful solar eclipse watchers might have been disappointed by the heavy fog that blocked views of the astronomical phenomenon, but others enjoyed the eerie scene as fog engulfed Hong Kong’s skyline. The Hong Kong observatory says on their website that a maritime airstream is the cause of a coastal fog that will linger in the city and coast of Guangdong until mid-week next week. Eclipse watch #fail in Hong Kong this morning! pic.twitter.com/UHXdKiHmLp — James Reynolds (@EarthUncutTV) March 9,...

#OneDayIWill: Malala Yousafzai and Jane Goodall featured in International Women’s Day Google doodle

Tue, 08 Mar 2016 08:30:28 +0000

Malala Yousafzai and Jane Goodall lead Google’s interview of 337 women and girls for their International Women’s Day doodle. March 8 marks the global event aiming to celebrate and inspire women. The search engine company travelled to 13 countries asking women to finish the sentence “One day I will…” Most film locations worked with a women-only crew to create a celebratory and encouraging environment. Locations include San Francisco, Rio de Janeiro, Mexico City, Lagos, Moscow, Cairo, Berlin,...

Telefishion and the ATV broadcasts that made history for all the wrong reasons

Thu, 03 Mar 2016 16:15:15 +0000

Asia Television has been a critical part of Hong Kong’s broadcasting history, starting as a pioneer of entertainment when it was launched as Rediffusion Television in 1957. The station enjoyed many successes over the years, but was totally eclipsed by dominant free-to-air broadcaster TVB. Programming deteriorated over the years as shrinking advertising and frequent ownership changes took the broadcaster from impressive highs to cringeworthy lows. Credit went to ATV for a new phrase to express...

How Trump got Drumpf-ed: the truth behind John Oliver’s epic takedown of the Donald

Wed, 02 Mar 2016 07:49:44 +0000

As Super Tuesday results were reported, it was unsurprising that Donald Trump was the most searched candidate on Google on Wednesday morning. But the runner-up was neither Marco Rubio nor Ted Cruz. The second-most Google-searched candidate was “Donald Drumpf”. Comedian John Oliver this past week set social media ablaze with his roast of Donald Trump and his plea to #MakeDonaldDrumpfAgain. READ MORE: Donald Trump as US president? It’s going to be so much fun On his show Last Week Tonight with...

Internet explodes to celebrate Leonardo DiCaprio finally winning an Oscar

Mon, 29 Feb 2016 08:30:15 +0000

The Oscars-snub-Leo jokes can officially retire. The 88th Oscars was the year Leonardo DiCaprio finally won an Academy Award after four previous acting nominations over 22 years. READ MORE: DiCaprio finally gets an Oscar and ‘Spotlight’ is best picture, but diversity drama takes centre stage every night before the Oscars, Leo has this nightmare pic.twitter.com/p9qPAiQ5yt — Adam Khan (@Khanoisseur) February 28, 2016 Taking home the little gold statue for...

Who can win Hong Kong’s real estate? Blogger’s ‘real prices’ Monopoly board highlights homeownership pipe dream

Mon, 15 Feb 2016 05:00:00 +0000

Imagine forking out just $4,000 to own Victoria Peak. Or the whole of Lantau Island for $600. Even in 2007 when the latest version of Hasbro’s Monopoly was released, these amounts couldn’t afford to rent a room, let alone buy a plot of land. This might just be Monopoly money, but even with the most valuable currency these amounts would not be able to buy you property in Hong Kong. The first version of Hong Kong Monopoly in 1991 listed Victoria Peak at $400, so the tenfold price hike is more than...

In pictures: a day at Che Kung Temple celebrating the Lunar New Year in Hong Kong

Wed, 10 Feb 2016 16:07:44 +0000

Hundreds of thousands of Hongkongers flock to Che Kung Temple in Sha Tin at the start of every Lunar New Year. During the festive season visitors brave the crowds and long waits to pay their respects and wish for luck in the coming year. The Taoist temple was named after Song dynasty commander Che Kung, who held a reputation for ridding villages of plagues and suppressing uprisings. The temple’s signature feature is a fan-shaped brass wheel of fortune, which if spun three times is said to bring...

Lunar New Year fireworks: Best of Hong Kong pyro show on social media from different vantage points

Tue, 09 Feb 2016 17:47:54 +0000

Hundreds of thousands gathered on both sides of Victoria Harbour to watch the Chinese New Year fireworks, setting aside the tensions raised by Monday night’s riot in Mong Kok. Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying warned last night’s protesters who escaped arrest to avoid going to the fireworks and causing further trouble. The Lunar New Year pyrotechnics display was one of the most anticipated events during the holiday, featuring monkey faces lighting up the night sky. READ MORE: Fireworks light up...

#Fishballrevolution: Hong Kong’s social media users react to violent Mong Kok hawker protest

Tue, 09 Feb 2016 04:39:37 +0000

Street hawkers clashed with police in Mong Kok on the first night of the Lunar New Year in violent scenes, prompting Hong Kong netizens to dub it ‘fishball revolution’. A mass response to health officers cracking down on street food sellers’ hygiene standards quickly became a riot on Portland Street, with glass bottles and bricks being used as projectiles. Tensions escalated after police pointed guns in the faces of protesters and warning shots were fired. READ MORE: Hong Kong’s New Year...

Money isn’t everything: not all foreign players live up to multimillion-dollar Chinese Super League contracts

Thu, 28 Jan 2016 08:39:42 +0000

China is flexing its considerable financial muscle in “the world game”, expanding its reach into football in line with the passions of President Xi Jinping, who has made no secret of his love for the game and his ambitions for China to host the World Cup. READ MORE: Outcry over ‘mandatory Chinese players’ plan forces mainland sponsor and Portuguese league to back down At the same time, the Chinese Super League has acquired and negotiated with some of the biggest soccer stars from around the...

What you can buy for the price of a Hong Kong flat: an Italian castle, a Sydney apartment with harbour view or a Dublin townhouse

Tue, 26 Jan 2016 06:45:00 +0000

Hong Kong’s housing was again crowned the most unaffordable in the world, according to the most recent Demographia survey. The average flat sells for 19 times the gross average income, the highest ever price gap since the US- based survey began reporting 11 years ago. The results were hardly a surprise given the high demand for Hong Kong housing. Subdivided flats smaller than 100 square feet can be rented out for as much as HK$3,000. At the end of 2015, a luxury Hong Kong apartment on Conduit...

How orchids and tangerine trees are an enduring tradition of Lunar New Year

Fri, 22 Jan 2016 03:14:56 +0000

The “polar vortex” may worry Hongkongers who prefer to burrow in a heated duvet at home, but it’s no match for the need to buy orchids and tangerine trees in preparation for Lunar New Year. Already the sidewalk traffic at Mong Kok’s Flower Market has slowed to a shuffle despite a sense of urgency. Pedestrians are surrounded by flurries of pale pink petals and orange fruits as drive-by customers in vans pick up the plants, mixing the tangerine scent with diesel exhaust. READ MORE: 10 luxury Lunar...

Timeline: Hong Kong’s missing booksellers and what we know so far

Wed, 20 Jan 2016 06:45:00 +0000

Publishers and sellers of books banned in mainland China disappear from Hong Kong and Thailand, followed by handwritten letters, faxes, and now - a televised confession of guilt for an offence committed 13 years ago. As concerned Hongkongers deconstruct CCTV’s Oriental Horizon segment, here’s how events have unfolded since Gui went missing from Thailand. OCTOBER 17 Gui Minhai, writer and co-owner of publishing house Mighty Current, which runs the Causeway Bay bookshop, goes missing during a...

Who believes China’s narrative on Hong Kong’s missing bookseller mystery?

Tue, 19 Jan 2016 07:15:30 +0000

A rapid succession of letters, calls and a televised confession from Hong Kong’s missing booksellers have raised more questions than answers for sceptical experts and citizens alike. Within a day of Gui Minhai admitting to a drunk driving accident in 2003, Lee Bo’s wife received a letter where Lee referred to Gui’s “complicated history”, calling him “morally unacceptable”. “He also has many facades that I do not know ... He is a morally unacceptable person. This time he has caused me...

Pioneers of politics: Tsai Ing-wen joins Asia’s growing list of women who lead their countries

Mon, 18 Jan 2016 08:37:42 +0000

Women in Asia have long been fighting for top spots in political leadership. In fact, it has been more than 50 years since Asia and the world saw the first female prime minister, courtesy of Sri Lanka’s Sirimavo Bandaranaike. Taiwan’s Tsai ing-wen is the latest to be welcomed as the first female leader in her country. Tsai Ing-wen Believing that strong opposition was necessary to democracy, Tsai took over as leader of the Democratic Progressive Party in the throes of 2008 when no one else wanted...

'It was like 9/11': Travellers arriving in Hong Kong from Paris tell of horror at attacks

Sun, 15 Nov 2015 12:45:15 +0000

People around the world staggered at the atrocities committed in Paris on Friday that killed 129 and injured more than 300. In the wake of the most violent attack on France since World War II, the first passengers from Paris to land in Hong Kong on were still reeling from grief and shock. IN PICTURES: How Hong Kong and the world mourned for Paris “I was eating a burger with my colleague in a little French restaurant near the hotel [in the first district] when my husband called me to check if I...

Fly through Hong Kong, no chopper necessary with Google Maps' latest feature

Mon, 19 Oct 2015 11:00:45 +0000

Hong Kong has been recreated as a virtual reality-style fly-through space after Google Maps launched its latest new feature. You can now swoop between skycrapers, over mountain ridges and across Victoria harbour. "Hong Kong's skyline is one of the most dramatic in the world," wrote Dominic Allon, Managing Director of Google Hong Kong in a blog post announcing the new 3D imagery. "Put on your virtual wings and explore parts of the city you’ve never visited before." As Google pushes further for...

Pandas, teahouses and indoor sun: Here are 8 reasons Chengdu beats Shanghai

Wed, 16 Sep 2015 10:45:45 +0000

Chengdu is best known for its pandas, pretty ladies and being a Unesco City of Gastronomy, but it also surprised many this week when it was named the most successful economy of any mainland Chinese city. The city in the southwest province of Sichuan has spectacular job and wage growth that saw it beat Shanghai and the capital Beijing hands down in the rankings compiled by US think thank, Milken Institute. READ MORE: Sorry, Shanghai: A city known for its pandas and pretty women has the best...

'We want deal!': Trump fakes Asian accent to mock Chinese and Japanese businessmen at US rally

Wed, 26 Aug 2015 10:30:30 +0000

Just 24 hours after suggesting that Chinese President Xi Jinping deserved a McDonald's hamburger instead of a formal White House state dinner, Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump took another jab at Asia – this time by mocking Chinese and Japanese “business styles”. Trump, at a campaign rally in Dubuque, Iowa, attempted an impersonation – in broken English – of potential business partners who he says dispense with pleasantries and brashly demand an agreement. READ MORE: 'I would get him...

Skewered on US talk show ‘Conan O’Brien’, ‘breast assault’ case makes a boob of Hong Kong

Wed, 05 Aug 2015 09:00:30 +0000

Conan O’Brien has made Hong Kong the butt – or boob, rather – of jokes during his monologue on Monday night’s episode of his popular TBS talk show. Word of protester Ng Lai-ying’s “dangerous” breasts reached the ginger-haired comedian’s ears and was spun into minutes of hilarity – while sharpening disbelief at a ruling last week that deemed Ng had assaulted a police officer and must go to jail for three and a half months. “In Hong Kong, a woman was sent to prison for assaulting a police officer...

Oozing with machismo? Hongkongers rate city’s gents as the ‘manliest in Asia’ in new survey

Thu, 30 Jul 2015 11:45:00 +0000

Hong Kong may as well be the macho capital of Asia – or at least, the city’s residents believe so – according to a new online survey rating the sex appeal of men across Asia. Pitted against India, Japan, mainland China and others, Hong Kong came out on top with a score of 6.13 out of 10 for manliness, based on the survey conducted by Hong Kong Baptist University and commissioned by lighter company Zippo. More than 1,000 Hong Kong men and women aged 18 to 35 took part in the survey from June to...