https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/rss/521359/feed en https://assets-v2.i-scmp.com/production/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg Jen Paolini Jen Paolini Heritage, on paper, is simple enough to define – legacies one receives from the past and passes on to the next generation – but the topic becomes more complicated and hotly debated when the question of ownership and involvement enters the picture. As a shared, experienced ecosystem, who decides who “owns” culture, and who can participate? At the same time, how do you safeguard a heritage you did not inherit, or live through? Hong Kong’s tradition of oyster aquaculture can be traced back more... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/article/3371924/week-postmag-how-we-preserve-protect-and-honour-heritage-ever-changing-world https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/article/3371924/week-postmag-how-we-preserve-protect-and-honour-heritage-ever-changing-world Sat, 24 Oct 2026 22:00:25 +0000 Jen Paolini Jen Paolini What drives the urge to collect? Does collecting ever become a habit, rather than a passion? Ultimately, what brings more fulfilment: amassing quantity or curating quality? A torrent of questions floods the mind when it comes to understanding the raison d’être of collecting. But rather than hear from me, a non-collector – all I accumulate is white hairs, at an astonishing speed – our dedicated Collecting issue happens to be the perfect stage for PostMag’s managing director, Eugene Tang, to share... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/article/3370345/week-postmag-collectors-preserving-art-design-and-cultural-heritage https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/article/3370345/week-postmag-collectors-preserving-art-design-and-cultural-heritage Sat, 10 Oct 2026 22:00:11 +0000 Jen Paolini Jen Paolini Cramming for exams, lugging hardbound tomes from locker to class and back, scribbling essays on lined paper until your hand cramps – all that is long behind me. I dare not share too much in fear of showing my age, but back in my day – when does one arrive at “old enough” to use this phrase unironically? – cursive writing and fountain-pens were mandatory, breathing in chalk dust from the blackboard was a quotidian hazard and we were still wheeling cumbersome television-VCR combo sets through the... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/article/3368791/week-postmag-showcase-hong-kong-talent-aia-scholars-award-winning-fashion-designer https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/article/3368791/week-postmag-showcase-hong-kong-talent-aia-scholars-award-winning-fashion-designer Fri, 25 Sep 2026 22:00:13 +0000 Jen Paolini Jen Paolini Even at more than 120 years old, there are still firsts for the South China Morning Post. One of them was this month’s anticipated debut of our signature China Conference business, trade and investment forum in Astana, Kazakhstan. In honour of that milestone, and the exciting developments brewing in this fast-flourishing region, the curation for this issue includes two tales from Central Asia. Hei Kiu Au saddles up for a journey to the Great Steppe, where a father and son have raised a monument... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/article/3367205/week-postmag-guqin-revival-odes-central-asia-and-peek-puyis-last-days-emperor https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/article/3367205/week-postmag-guqin-revival-odes-central-asia-and-peek-puyis-last-days-emperor Sat, 12 Sep 2026 22:00:12 +0000 Jen Paolini Jen Paolini How is a legacy defined? Of the many profound, poetic and compelling words that far more eloquent scribes have strung together to capture that notion and its palpable impact, perhaps American songwriter, actor, filmmaker and librettist Lin-Manuel Miranda summed it up best when he penned the following lines, for his hit musical Hamilton: “It’s planting seeds in a garden you never get to see. I wrote some notes at the beginning of a song someone will sing for me.” Legacy is intertwined with that... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/article/3365660/week-postmag-hong-kongs-leading-tech-hub-marks-25th-anniversary-focus-future https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/article/3365660/week-postmag-hong-kongs-leading-tech-hub-marks-25th-anniversary-focus-future Sat, 29 Aug 2026 22:00:12 +0000 Jen Paolini Jen Paolini No matter where or how far we go, there are certain constants that are our lifelong companions – the refrain of a rumbling stomach, for one, telling us, almost like clockwork, when it’s time to eat. A love of food and drink, or even just sating hunger, drives more of our decision-making than we give it credit for. Consider the schedules that are structured around meals, the trips that are planned to gastronomy-rich destinations, the reservations booked months in advance for an acclaimed... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/article/3362528/week-postmag-hong-kong-tea-peruvian-spuds-global-food-adventure-awaits https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/article/3362528/week-postmag-hong-kong-tea-peruvian-spuds-global-food-adventure-awaits Sun, 02 Aug 2026 00:00:07 +0000 Jen Paolini Jen Paolini It’s amazing what the human body and psyche are capable of, but whenever we celebrate and marvel at the things that can be achieved when one puts their mind to it, it’s often gruelling tests of endurance and displays of peak physical performance that steal the show. Exerting mental fortitude in the face of adversity, keeping passion alive to fuel growth and curiosity, and embracing the unknown are less mentioned, but no less important. At the heart of it, there are always people, driving the... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/article/3360925/week-postmag-celebration-human-spirit https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/article/3360925/week-postmag-celebration-human-spirit Sun, 19 Jul 2026 00:00:08 +0000 Jen Paolini Jen Paolini Stop me if this sounds familiar: in your day-to-day, you move from big screen, to medium screen, to little screen, ad infinitum. Clicking and typing and swiping aside, not much is still done by hand. In the face of automated processes, machine-powered mass production and hi-tech advancements, craftsmanship is gradually being lost to time and convenience. I, too, live a digital-driven existence – it’s hard not to, in 2026 – but there are some exceptions: publications such as this one that we can... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/article/3359309/week-postmag-covering-crafts-bhutans-heritage-arts-designers-mountainous-planet https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/article/3359309/week-postmag-covering-crafts-bhutans-heritage-arts-designers-mountainous-planet Sun, 05 Jul 2026 00:00:07 +0000 Jen Paolini Jen Paolini Around the half-year mark is typically a good time to pause, revisit and reflect on the past six months, to take stock of our personal and professional progress. I like to imagine it as sitting in the middle carriage of an MTR train, where, if you stand in the centre, once you hit a straight stretch, you can look both forwards and backwards, a metaphorical past and future yawning ahead of and behind you. Are we still on track with the goals we confidently set in January, did we peter out... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/article/3357695/week-postmag-glimpse-tomorrow-today-singing-robots-global-sci-fi-attractions https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/article/3357695/week-postmag-glimpse-tomorrow-today-singing-robots-global-sci-fi-attractions Sun, 21 Jun 2026 00:00:06 +0000 Jen Paolini Jen Paolini Do you remember the last time you did someone a good turn? I’ll go first. Just today, I held the lift for a harried-looking lady who was perhaps running late for work. In Hong Kong, where the “close-door” button is habitually mashed, I think that counts. Joking aside, our stories this week, for the most part, take on a “doing good” slant. Good deeds can take shape as small acts of kindness that do just enough to brighten someone’s day, or something permanent and long-lasting that can transform... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3356087/week-postmag-honouring-kind-souls-making-world-better-place https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3356087/week-postmag-honouring-kind-souls-making-world-better-place Sun, 07 Jun 2026 00:00:08 +0000 Jen Paolini Jen Paolini American painter Bob Ross was fond of quipping, “We don’t make mistakes; we have happy accidents.” Our “happy accident” this week is that food and nostalgia, serendipitously, became recurring themes, threading this issue’s stories into a layered journey that traverses not only land and sea, but also time, to arrive at the table. Shakespeare’s Hamlet laboured under the weight of “to be, or not to be”, but when it comes to food, the most important philosophical question is: do you live to eat, or... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3354497/week-postmag-nostalgic-celebration-food-glorious-food https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3354497/week-postmag-nostalgic-celebration-food-glorious-food Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:06 +0000 Jen Paolini Jen Paolini As we inch ever closer to summer – the stifling heat and high humidity already threatening – our thoughts stray to distant lands and paradisal climes, while our eyes stray (hesitantly, in fear of the outrageous prices that will fill us with dread) to travel booking platforms, warily tracking the ups and ups of fare hikes. But even as jet fuel costs continue to soar and flight routes globally get axed, the urge to explore remains irresistible. Buckle up – our dedicated summer travel issue is... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3352839/week-postmag-summer-travel-edition-offers-holiday-tips-all-tastes https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3352839/week-postmag-summer-travel-edition-offers-holiday-tips-all-tastes Sun, 10 May 2026 00:00:06 +0000 Jen Paolini Jen Paolini Readers tend to be curious creatures – it’s in our nature to want to know, learn and absorb more, all for that deeply satisfying brain scratch. For me, the thirst for knowledge takes me into the depths of bookshops, the corners of libraries and countless other places – if not other worlds. When faced with printed material we’re interested in – much like this issue of PostMag, I hope – most people wouldn’t think twice about picking it up, leafing through it and perusing it from beginning to end.... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3351188/week-postmag-toxic-tomes-trip-fifa-world-cup-host-mexico-city-and-carmen-kowloon https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3351188/week-postmag-toxic-tomes-trip-fifa-world-cup-host-mexico-city-and-carmen-kowloon Sun, 26 Apr 2026 00:00:08 +0000 Jen Paolini Jen Paolini Springtime heralds new beginnings, renewal and a world emerging from slumber. In that vein, PostMag enters into the next chapter of its long life as we bid a heartfelt farewell and express our thanks to Cat Nelson. Since autumn 2024, she has adroitly steered PostMag with her keen vision and relentless pursuit of inspiring stories, enriching our Sundays with razor-sharp wit, delightful reads and impactful reporting. I’m grateful for the path she has set PostMag on, and excited to continue the... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3348852/week-postmag-hsbc-main-building-turns-40-hong-kong-sevens-and-new-beginnings https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3348852/week-postmag-hsbc-main-building-turns-40-hong-kong-sevens-and-new-beginnings Sun, 05 Apr 2026 04:45:07 +0000 Cat Nelson Cat Nelson This issue means a lot to me (you’ll understand by the end). Choosing what goes in our annual Art Issue is no small feat. While we’re never short of story opportunities in Hong Kong, we’re practically drowning in them come March every year as the global art world descends on the city. But when we heard Spanish photographer and artist Coco Capitán was coming to town for “Imagination Investments”, a three-part exhibition that marks her first major presentation in the city, we knew we had to speak... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3347292/week-postmag-artists-spain-hong-kong-stockholm-and-farewell https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3347292/week-postmag-artists-spain-hong-kong-stockholm-and-farewell Sun, 22 Mar 2026 04:45:19 +0000 Cat Nelson Cat Nelson Strong women run throughout this issue. It is International Women’s Day today, after all. In our cover story, Salomé Grouard meets filmmaker Elizabeth Lo, whose documentary Mistress Dispeller was shortlisted in December for the Best Documentary Feature Oscar – a first in the category for a Hong Kong director. The film explores China’s strange and little-known industry of “mistress dispellers”, professionals hired to end extramarital affairs. What I found extraordinary was the sensitivity with... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3345750/week-postmag-celebration-women-film-sport-science-and-life https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3345750/week-postmag-celebration-women-film-sport-science-and-life Sun, 08 Mar 2026 04:45:11 +0000 Cat Nelson Cat Nelson It’s comforting – in an admittedly dystopian way – how well my algorithm gets me. Over the past few weeks, I’ve gone down a rabbit hole of horoscope content (both Eastern and Western) on Instagram. Wondering what the Year of the Fire Horse might hold for an Aquarius rabbit? My second-hand knowledge, absorbed from online pseudo gurus with questionable levels of expertise, can tell you (it’s looking bright, if you can believe them). I learned that the Fire Horse has something of a reputation. In... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3342591/week-postmag-lunar-new-year-and-meaning-home https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3342591/week-postmag-lunar-new-year-and-meaning-home Sun, 08 Feb 2026 04:45:13 +0000 Cat Nelson Cat Nelson The first time I went to Macau was in 2017, and I spent an embarrassing amount of time lost inside The Venetian. Let me tell you, there’s something profoundly disorienting about a fake sky and canals indoors. I kept passing the same gondola, panic mounting. I suspect I’m not alone in this experience – or in the broader reality that many people never see much beyond Macau’s glitz and glam. It’s easy to visit for a weekend, stick to the resorts and come away thinking you’ve seen the city. But for... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3340967/week-postmag-many-layers-macau https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3340967/week-postmag-many-layers-macau Sun, 25 Jan 2026 04:45:08 +0000 Cat Nelson Cat Nelson Hello, January! I hope you survived the first proper work week of 2026. I’ve been going through the avalanche that is my inbox and am barely hanging on. Luckily, this week’s cover story offers a burst of energy as Hsiuwen Liu plunges into the Cantopop revival currently filling Hong Kong’s dance floors. She hits the tiles at Cantomania and finds what started as an underground party is now a full-blown movement, joining a wave of Cantopop nights around town. Cantomania’s DJ Fabsabs (real name Pete... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3339317/week-postmag-cantopop-dance-revival-and-dream-trip-bahamas https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3339317/week-postmag-cantopop-dance-revival-and-dream-trip-bahamas Sun, 11 Jan 2026 04:45:08 +0000 Cat Nelson Cat Nelson When we started putting together this year’s festive issue, Jean-Pierre – the new-ish French restaurant in Central – was an obvious pick. It’s maximalist, champagne-fuelled and intentionally chaotic in a way that feels very on-brand for the season. But speaking with the personality behind the madness, Marc Hofmann, what stuck with me wasn’t the excess; it was how unexpectedly sincere it all is. The restaurant is rooted in childhood memories and family gatherings, not just an excuse to pour... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3336209/week-postmag-festive-food-styling-and-cantopop-christmas-ballads https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3336209/week-postmag-festive-food-styling-and-cantopop-christmas-ballads Sun, 14 Dec 2025 04:45:08 +0000 Cat Nelson Cat Nelson Slow, scrappy creativity isn’t exactly the first thing that jumps to mind when you think of Hong Kong. This is a city of speed and polish – not hand-stapled booklets and photocopied pages. But in some ways that’s exactly why the rise of local zine culture feels so right. Space is tight, rents are high and everything feels optimised, so a little scrappy resistance makes sense. Zines are small, personal and defiantly lo-fi. And increasingly, they’re everywhere. The Zine Yo! Fest, a multi-week... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3332798/week-postmag-hong-kongs-zine-culture-macau-noir-and-wild-tasmania https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3332798/week-postmag-hong-kongs-zine-culture-macau-noir-and-wild-tasmania Sun, 16 Nov 2025 04:45:10 +0000 Cat Nelson Cat Nelson To be entirely honest, we started calling this edition The Power Issue in passing, and then the name just stuck. And really, it fits. What else do you call a line-up that includes a basketball icon turned business juggernaut, three of Hong Kong’s most influential finance leaders and a world No 1 tennis star who is not afraid to talk a little trash? Let’s start with Shaq. Mathew Scott heads to Macau, where the sports legend is front and centre for the NBA’s return to China after a six-year pause.... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3331035/week-postmag-women-charge-shaquille-oneal-and-aryna-sabalenka https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3331035/week-postmag-women-charge-shaquille-oneal-and-aryna-sabalenka Sun, 02 Nov 2025 04:45:07 +0000 Cat Nelson Cat Nelson Welcome to our first collecting issue. What drives someone to build a collection? That’s the question, in part, we set out to answer. I am, admittedly and decidedly, an amasser of things but not a collector. I’ve got half of the equation (sentimentality) but lack the intentionality required in curating a set of objects. I open the door and let it all in. But the people in our stories have a much more deliberate approach. We spoke with vinyl obsessives, watch nerds and furniture fanatics – I say... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/passions/article/3330208/week-postmag-collection-obsessions-rare-vinyl-vintage-watches-and-bespoke-furniture https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/passions/article/3330208/week-postmag-collection-obsessions-rare-vinyl-vintage-watches-and-bespoke-furniture Sun, 26 Oct 2025 04:45:08 +0000 Cat Nelson Cat Nelson I’m firmly a millennial, and honestly, I can’t complain. Sure, we’re avocado-toast-shamed into oblivion and blamed for killing everything from diamonds to department stores. But we’ve also had the rare privilege of growing up in a strange and specific in-between. I remember life before tech was everywhere. I knew how to burn a CD before I ever touched a touch screen. I was well acquainted with the pre-iPhone internet and actual boredom. That perspective – one foot in the analogue, the other... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3329395/week-postmag-tech-inspired-art-sex-tape-and-fading-neon-signs https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3329395/week-postmag-tech-inspired-art-sex-tape-and-fading-neon-signs Sun, 19 Oct 2025 04:45:07 +0000 Cat Nelson Cat Nelson The first time I stayed at a Kimpton was this past spring, on a trip to Koh Samui, Thailand. The vibe? Lush, laid-back and “ridiculously personal”, just as I learned their tagline promises. I left well-fed, mildly sunburned, slightly obsessed and thrilled to discover a Hong Kong outpost was in the works. It was only later that I heard the local debut already had its own prequel (I’m new here, remember?), one that involved scaffolding, smoke and a skyline-lit blaze that made headlines in March... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3328519/week-postmag-mariners-club-returns-bistros-boom-and-miffy https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3328519/week-postmag-mariners-club-returns-bistros-boom-and-miffy Mon, 13 Oct 2025 03:03:54 +0000 Cat Nelson Cat Nelson It’s a twisted truth that it’s always when a venue’s closing that everyone suddenly remembers how much they loved it. On September 27, the Metropol Restaurant shut its doors after 35 years, and the public reaction has been, unsurprisingly, intense. Our cover feature this issue joins the crowd. Over several visits in its final weeks, photographer Jocelyn Tam captured the Admiralty restaurant’s slow wind-down. Her images convey, as associate editor Gavin Yeung writes in his intro, “a relic of Hong... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3327771/week-postmag-macaus-revitalised-kam-pek-market-and-farewell-metropol-restaurant https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3327771/week-postmag-macaus-revitalised-kam-pek-market-and-farewell-metropol-restaurant Sun, 05 Oct 2025 04:45:07 +0000 Cat Nelson Cat Nelson Have you ever wanted to pack it all away and move to the farm? I certainly have, usually around the 10th consecutive hour in front of a screen. It’s tempting to romanticise rural life. Fewer emails. More trees. Cute farm animals. Reality, of course, is rarely so idyllic. In this week’s cover story, Joyce Yip visits Nam Chung, where Kit-ching has spent the last decade building a life as a full-time farmer. Her August was supposed to be a break. Instead, typhoons tore through the area, flattening... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3326997/week-postmag-stories-rural-resilience-and-aura-farming-phenomenon https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3326997/week-postmag-stories-rural-resilience-and-aura-farming-phenomenon Sun, 28 Sep 2025 04:45:07 +0000 Cat Nelson Cat Nelson One of my childhood regrets is never learning how to jump double Dutch. By the 1990s, I’m not sure it still guaranteed you cool-kid status (a few decades earlier, I imagine it might have). Still, there’s something undeniably impressive about skipping rope. There’s a level of agility that suggests you might just be a little more on it than everyone else. Skipping came back into my life in my mid-20s during a short stint of boxing training. Never have I felt so clumsy. Strange how often things... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/passions/article/3326119/week-postmag-making-rope-skipping-cool-and-rediscovering-goa https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/passions/article/3326119/week-postmag-making-rope-skipping-cool-and-rediscovering-goa Sun, 21 Sep 2025 04:45:07 +0000 Cat Nelson Cat Nelson Corporate awards tend to promise more than they deliver. So, when I arrived in Osaka for the Cartier Women’s Initiative Impact Awards in May, I kept my expectations in check. Still, the week that also marked the opening of the Women’s Pavilion at Expo 2025 offered more than window dressing. Designed by Japanese architect Yuko Nagayama and British artist Es Devlin, and backed by Cartier, the pavilion champions gender equality. The ceremony itself was part of a broader effort. Launched in 2006,... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3325325/week-postmag-sustainable-luxury-and-tea-steeped-tradition https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3325325/week-postmag-sustainable-luxury-and-tea-steeped-tradition Sun, 14 Sep 2025 04:45:08 +0000 Cat Nelson Cat Nelson What better time to start planning your next holiday than the end of summer? Yes, yes I know, we’re only just back from a slow-paced August. I managed to escape Hong Kong’s brutal heat with a weeklong trip to Yunnan province last month, but I’m already plotting the next getaway. That’s the thing about travel, isn’t it? It’s addictive. The change in place, in pace and in tastes. It’s hard to get enough. So, in the spirit of escapism (and a soft landing back into real life), we’re kicking off... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3324483/week-postmag-swimming-holidays-and-cyborg-cockroaches https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3324483/week-postmag-swimming-holidays-and-cyborg-cockroaches Sun, 07 Sep 2025 04:45:08 +0000 Cat Nelson Cat Nelson Get ready to get hungry. That was my main takeaway from reading this week’s cover story. Rice noodles topped with roast meat. Pepper-fried squid. Steamed fish with dried mandarin peel. Vanessa Lee traces the history of Tanka cuisine, once cooked aboard sampans docked in the harbours of Aberdeen, Shau Kei Wan and Tai O, and the families keeping it alive. The Tanka are one of Hong Kong’s original indigenous communities, and their cuisine grew out of life on the water: fresh catch, preserved... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3322795/week-postmag-treats-tanka-table-and-asian-comedians https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3322795/week-postmag-treats-tanka-table-and-asian-comedians Sun, 24 Aug 2025 04:45:07 +0000 Cat Nelson Cat Nelson The best stories are often the ones hiding in plain sight: half-obscured and easy to overlook. That’s the starting point for our cover story this week, on Hong Kong’s ghost signs. It’s a spooky, slightly mysterious term, but you know them – hand-painted shopfronts, weather-worn billboards and bits of calligraphy that have somehow survived decades of redevelopment and repainting. The project is the work of designer Billy Potts and photographer Ben Marans, who have spent the past few years... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3321219/week-postmag-ghostly-signs-hong-kong-and-old-master-q https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3321219/week-postmag-ghostly-signs-hong-kong-and-old-master-q Sat, 09 Aug 2025 04:45:07 +0000 Cat Nelson Cat Nelson One of the first things I ever loved was a Hello Kitty diary. Yes, there were stuffed animals (Snuffy the bear, RIP), sticker books and an American Girl doll or two, but it’s the red Sanrio diary from 1993 that’s somehow become a core memory. The lock, shaped like Hello Kitty’s head, was cute but flimsy at best. Inside? Kindergarten confessionals, scrawled in shaky handwriting and even shakier grammar. Things escalated in Grade 2 when Miki moved from Japan to our sleepy California town. With... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3319783/week-postmag-hello-kitty-creator-sanrio-and-south-african-safari https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3319783/week-postmag-hello-kitty-creator-sanrio-and-south-african-safari Mon, 28 Jul 2025 02:29:58 +0000 Cat Nelson Cat Nelson As I read our cover feature this week, I started thinking about the overlap between a bamboo scaffolding master’s craft and my own as the editor of a magazine. Hear me out for a second. They’re both tactile endeavours, requiring craftsmanship and an attention to the little things. Each of us takes building blocks – words and images or poles and ties – to construct something greater than the sum of its parts. And most of all, both have an unmistakable human touch. “There’s always a human hand... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3318708/week-postmag-hong-kongs-bamboo-scaffolding-and-bali-bone-healer https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3318708/week-postmag-hong-kongs-bamboo-scaffolding-and-bali-bone-healer Sat, 19 Jul 2025 04:45:08 +0000 Cat Nelson Cat Nelson A cheese omakase shouldn’t work. Or at least that’s what I told myself as I sat down in the polished back room of Roucou, Jeremy Evrard’s exuberant new restaurant-slash-love-letter to dairy. Course after course of … cheese? Surely that’s a recipe for indigestion, even for the lactose tolerant. But then came a thick smear of Brillat-Savarin wrapped in nori and topped with caviar. Next, a tower of Parmigiano Reggiano crisps with herring and a whisper of lemon. Then a savoury shellfish bisque with... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3317808/week-postmag-racing-le-mans-healthy-obsession-cheese-and-drop-bordeaux https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3317808/week-postmag-racing-le-mans-healthy-obsession-cheese-and-drop-bordeaux Sat, 12 Jul 2025 04:45:07 +0000 Cat Nelson Cat Nelson Before she was an Oscar winner, Michelle Yeoh Choo Kheng was flying through glass panels and landing kicks in cult Hong Kong action films, shot without doubles, rewrites or much in the way of safety precautions. Somehow I missed that part of her career until now. In our cover feature, Sean Tierney dives into the wild, improvisational heyday of late 1980s and early 90s Hong Kong action, when the industry’s “get it done” ethos collided with an era of boundless energy, in a genre aptly named Girls... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3316024/week-postmag-girls-guns-trip-wanfenglin-and-peak-japanese-luxury https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3316024/week-postmag-girls-guns-trip-wanfenglin-and-peak-japanese-luxury Sat, 28 Jun 2025 23:30:08 +0000 Cat Nelson Cat Nelson Last weekend, I was riding the tram (I know – a dead giveaway that I’m new here and have a kid under five) when I noticed some old lettering on a building I’ve passed dozens of times. It was the name of a stamp company that occupied the space decades ago. There’s a lot of that in Hong Kong: traces of the past that fade into the background, until something makes you look again. In a way, this issue’s cover story picks up where last week’s feature on Hong Kong’s tiles left off. Both explore the... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3315180/week-postmag-art-deco-hong-kong-meditative-martial-arts-and-street-dance https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3315180/week-postmag-art-deco-hong-kong-meditative-martial-arts-and-street-dance Sat, 21 Jun 2025 05:00:08 +0000 Cat Nelson Cat Nelson This week’s main feature is a lesson in how almost every quotidian – might I say, boring – detail actually holds a fascinating story. You’ve been to many a cha chaan teng, but how often have you given any thought to the mismatched tiles plastering the walls? For artist Adrian Wong Ho-yin, Hong Kong’s off-kilter tiles became the inspiration for his current show at Oil Street Art Space in North Point. He describes how these ceramic pieces evoked the feeling of “looking through a wormhole into the... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3314280/week-postmag-art-tiles-getting-lost-translation-and-marathon-star https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3314280/week-postmag-art-tiles-getting-lost-translation-and-marathon-star Fri, 13 Jun 2025 22:15:07 +0000 Cat Nelson Cat Nelson Throughout my life, I’ve been lucky to feel like I belong – at least as much as anyone can hope to. I grew up on the central coast of California, where ethnic ambiguity didn’t raise any eyebrows. I was never made to feel different or like an outsider. “People saw me as white, so that was how I felt,” wrote my colleague, and fellow half-Asian, Shea Driscoll, in a recent essay exploring his own evolving sense of identity. That hit home. And though I didn’t explicitly think of myself as white, I... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3313309/week-postmag-queer-friendly-football-team-innsbruck-and-michelin https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/postmag/culture/article/3313309/week-postmag-queer-friendly-football-team-innsbruck-and-michelin Sat, 07 Jun 2025 01:00:20 +0000