Page 12 - Hong Kong

Asia's richest families now fuelling race for lucrative finance jobs

"The talent gap is growing and becoming a problem," said instructor Dixon Wong, ahead of his lesson at HKU Space, a continuing education school affiliated with Hong Kong University

Cost of expat pay packages jumps in Singapore, drops in Hong Kong

Total pay and benefits packages for average expat middle managers in Singapore rose to $258,762, mainly due to higher rental costs

Fans gather in Hong Kong to mark 50th anniversary of Bruce Lee's death

Bruce Lee, born as Lee Jun-fan in San Francisco in 1940, was extremely famous as the most powerful martial artist of the 20th century

Schools, stock market closed as Hong Kong braces for Typhoon Talim

Schools and the stock market were closed in Hong Kong on Monday as Typhoon Talim swept south of the city. As the financial hub braced for rainy and windy weather, more than 100 people sought refuge at temporary shelters. Some government and ferry services were halted and various events were postponed. The city's airport authority said 16 flights were cancelled. The Hong Kong Observatory raised a No. 8 typhoon signal, the third-highest warning under the city's weather system, at 12:40am on Monday. It was the first signal of its kind hoisted this year. The weather forecaster expects Talim with maximum sustained winds reaching 140 kilometres per hour to skirt within 300 kilometres to the south-southwest of Hong Kong on Monday morning. China's National Meteorological Centre forecast the typhoon would make landfall in the coastal regions of neighbouring Guangdong province and Hainan province on Monday night before entering the Gulf of Tonkin and making another landfall in the Guangxi

Disney star and pop singer Coco Lee dies at 48 after attempting suicide

Chinese American pop singer Coco Lee dies at the age of 48 after attempting suicide on Sunday. She was the first Chinese American to sing at Oscars

Hong Kong's reopening brings scant gains for financial hub despite push

Hong Kong, led by former policeman and now Chief Executive John Lee, has been pushing hard to revive the city's reputation with high-level events

Air India cancels flight to Hong Kong due to 'suspected technical issue'

Taking off after a long delay for Hong Kong, an Air India flight carrying more than 200 passengers on Monday returned to the national capital due to a "suspected technical issue" and later, the flight was cancelled, according to officials. Many of the passengers were accommodated on another carrier's flight, some were provided hotel accommodation in the national capital, and a full refund was also offered to people who preferred that option, an Air India spokesperson said in a statement. An official in the know said the flight AI 314 was originally scheduled to operate to Hong Kong late on Sunday night, but due to some engineering issues in the Boeing 787 aircraft, the flight was rescheduled for Monday morning. Finally, the flight took off at around 7.40 am but returned in less than an hour to the national capital. There were more than 200 people on board, the official added. "Flight AI 314, operating Delhi to Hong Kong on July 3 air-returned to Delhi after a suspected technical ..

11 injured evacuating Cathay Pacific jet after aborted takeoff in Hong Kong

A Cathay Pacific jetliner aborted its takeoff at Hong Kong International Airport early Saturday, and 11 passengers were injured while evacuating the aircraft, the airline said. Flight CX880, bound for Los Angeles, returned to the gate after a technical issue caused the crew to abort the takeoff and a precautionary passenger evacuation was initiated, the airline said in a statement. It said those on board used five escape slides to exit the plane. Cathay Pacific gave no details on the problem. Public broadcaster RTHK reported one of the plane's tires had overheated, causing it to burst, citing police. The flight was carrying 293 passengers and 17 crew members. We understand that 11 passengers are being treated at the hospital with injuries sustained during the evacuation process, Cathay Pacific said. Our priority is to look after all affected passengers and crew. By 10:30 a.m., nine of the injured passengers had been discharged from the hospital, the airline said later. Using a ..

Hong Kong protest song disappears from music streaming sites, social media

A popular Hong Kong protest song was no longer available on Wednesday on several major music streaming sites and social media platforms, after the government sought an injunction to ban the tune. Glory to Hong Kong rose to popularity during the 2019 pro-democracy protests, and became an unofficial protest anthem. In 2020, the government outlawed the protest slogan Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times over secessionist and subversive connotations, and the song was widely considered to be banned in the city as its lyrics contained parts of the slogan. Hong Kong, once a bastion of free speech and expression, has come under tighter scrutiny by Beijing after the unrest in 2019. Since then, its political system has undergone a major overhaul to ensure that only patriots loyal to Beijing can hold office. More than 250 people have been arrested under a sweeping national security law passed in 2020 that critics say is aimed at suppressing dissent. The song rose to the top of Apple .

Hong Kong to ease entry rules for foreign workers to stem manpower crunch

When we have a serious labor crunch, if we do nothing about that, the entire community will be affected, Lee said, warning of risks to the city's economy and competitiveness

Mumbai costliest city to live for expatriates in India: Mercer Report

Hong Kong retained the top position as the costliest city for expats globally

Hong Kong journalist wins in rare court ruling upholding media freedom

An award-winning Hong Kong journalist won an appeal quashing her conviction related to work on her investigative documentary Monday in a rare court ruling upholding media freedom in the territory. Bao Choy was found guilty in April 2021 of deceiving the government by getting vehicle ownership records for journalistic purposes after she had declared in her online application that she would use the information for other traffic and transport related issues. The investigative journalist was trying to track down perpetrators of a mob attack on protesters and commuters inside a train station during the massive anti-government protests in 2019 for her documentary. Choy was fined 6,000 Hong Kong Dollars (USD 765) for two counts of making false statements at that time and called it a very dark day for all journalists in Hong Kong. That ruling also sparked outrage among local journalists over the city's shrinking press freedom. On Monday, judges of the city's top court unanimously ruled in

Would not recommend books featuring bad ideologies: Hong Kong leader

Hong Kong's leader said on Thursday the city's public libraries would not recommend books featuring bad ideologies" to residents after they pulled titles related to the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown and certain political figures, further shrinking the city's freedoms. Chief Executive John Lee was addressing a lawmaker's question about dozens of books in public libraries that were taken down without a clear explanation. Those include publications about the bloody crackdown and others written by pro-democracy politicians and political commentators. Hong Kong is a former British colony that returned to China's rule in 1997, promising to retain its Western-style freedoms. But the city's cultural and creative sectors said the city's freedoms have shrunk since Beijing imposed a tough national security law following massive pro-democracy protests in 2019. Critics said the book pulling would further undermine Hong Kong's reputation for having free access to information and freedom of ..

China opens new channel giving access to $3 trn swap market with Hong Kong

China has set a 20 billion yuan ($2.9 billion) daily limit for net trading under Swap Connect, and instruments eligible include swaps referencing the seven-day fixing repurchase rate

HSBC Holdings brushes aside Hong Kong investor's Asia spin-off proposal

The comment came as Ken Lui, an individual HSBC shareholder and leader of a Hong Kong-based investor group, called for the break up of the bank

Death whisperers: Elephant poaching for ivory remains unabated

Poachers kill 41 jumbos in 5 yrs; activists warn against India taking a softer stance on international ivory trade

Hong Kongers hold first protest in yrs since lifting of Covid restrictions

Dozens of people on Sunday joined Hong Kong's first authorised demonstration against the government since the lifting of major COVID-19 restrictions under unprecedentedly strict rules, including wearing a numbered badge around their necks. The rules set out by the police, who cited security reasons, came as the financial hub was promoting its return to normalcy after years of anti-virus controls and political turmoil. During the pandemic, protests were rare due to COVID-19 restrictions. In addition, many activists have been silenced or jailed after Beijing imposed a national security law following massive protests in 2019. Critics say the city's freedom of assembly has been eroded. Sunday's demonstration against the proposed reclamation and construction of rubbish-processing facilities was the first police-approved march of its kind after the city scrapped its mask mandate and social distancing limits. But organizers had to comply with police requirements such as taking measures t

Hong Kong traffic accident leaves some 70 people injured including children

Four passenger buses and a truck collided near a Hong Kong road tunnel on Friday and about 70 people were injured, including children. Most of the injuries were minor. The accident occurred after midday near a tunnel entrance on Tseung Kwan O Road in Lam Tin, a residential area in Kowloon. Some 60 people sustained light injuries and around nine others suffered more serious injuries, police said. It was unclear what caused the collision. Scores of firefighters, paramedics and police rushed to the scene. Several people lay on stretchers and at least one passenger was seen being helped out of a vehicle. A window on the side of a bus was shattered. Some of the injured, including elderly people, were treated by paramedics at the scene. A group of primary school students was seen sitting on the road and some of them sustained hand injuries.

Hong Kong registers air passenger traffic at 2.1 mn in Jan, up 28 times

The Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) announced that in January, passenger traffic at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) registered around 2.1 million, marking a year-on-year surge of 28 times

Hong Kong population drops for third straight year under Covid shadow

Hong Kong's government announced Thursday that the territory's population dropped for a third straight year as deaths rose during the pandemic and anti-virus measures reduced the number of arriving workers, but did not mention an exodus of residents sparked by a crackdown on the pro-democracy movement. The city's population declined 0.9% to 7.3 million at the end of 2022 from a year earlier, according to provisional data released by the Census and Statistics Department. It said there was a net outflow of 60,000 residents, with 21,200 new residents arriving. For much of the pandemic, Hong Kong followed mainland China's stringent zero COVID strategy, deterring professionals from moving into the international financial hub. Its population decline has been exacerbated by a growing number of young professionals leaving for Britain, the United States and other countries in response to the erosion of Hong Kong's Western-style civil liberties after a harsh new National Security Law silenced