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WORLDOct 12Spirit of Hong Kong Awards: educator who removes death’s stigma through cultureJoseph Lau Yui-yip has taken students to cemeteries, funeral parlours and heritage exhibitions because he believes some parts of Hong Kong culture are best understood outside the classroom. Lau heads the student affairs department of Polytechnic University’s college of professional and continuing education and has spent years researching subjects ranging from funeral customs to a little-known Hakka animal dance. His work has put him among the finalists in the culture category of this year’s...South China Morning Post
BUSINESSOct 12The game changer in Hong Kong’s gold ambition? Shenzhen’s jewellery hubBeijing is building a gold-backed monetary architecture to accelerate yuan internationalisation. In this three-part series, Part 1 traces China’s path as a gold superpower, while Part 2 explores the crucial role of Hong Kong’s offshore vaulting infrastructure. Hong Kong’s ambition to become an international gold trading centre rests not only on serving the nation’s financial needs, but also on China’s booming consumer market for gold. As the world’s largest gold producer and importer, China...South China Morning Post
BUSINESSOct 12Hong Kong must ease listing rules to attract more angel funds and start-ups: HKEIAHong Kong would need to ease its listing rules and transaction requirements to attract more angel funds and become a hub for start-ups to go global, according to a leading industry body in the city. The city has only around 100 active angel funds – private investment vehicles targeting very early-stage innovative enterprises. This was far fewer than Shenzhen, which had about 400 such institutions, according to Samson Tam Wai-ho, honorary chairman of the Hong Kong Electronic Industries...South China Morning Post
BUSINESSOct 11Laopu Gold deepens Hong Kong footprint with entire-floor lease at Central tower: sourcesBeijing-based jeweller Laopu Gold has leased an entire mid-floor at One Exchange Square in Central to support its global expansion, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The brand was taking around 13,000 square feet at the flagship Central tower, which houses Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX), one source said. The deal comes as mainland consumer firms and financial institutions increasingly anchor their presence in Hong Kong’s core business district. Recent transactions on...South China Morning Post
WORLDOct 11Hong Kong hiker dies, Singaporean teen discharged after 2 trail emergenciesAt least two people were airlifted to hospital in the past two days after falling ill while hiking in Hong Kong, with a middle-aged man dying and a 17-year-old Singaporean girl discharged. The teenager was flown to Ruttonjee Hospital in Wan Chai on Saturday morning after vomiting and experiencing chills while hiking on Lion Rock, a 495-metre (1,624-foot) peak. In a separate incident, a 66-year-old man suddenly felt unwell and collapsed while hiking with his nephew in Plover Cove Country Park in...South China Morning Post
WORLDOct 11From Abby Choi to the ‘Hello Kitty’ killing: Hong Kong’s most shocking crimesThe alleged murder and dismemberment of Abby Choi Tin-fung in 2023, which prosecutors say was linked to a dispute over a luxury flat, has once again gripped Hong Kong as the trial over the 28-year-old socialite’s death entered its second week. Choi’s ex-husband, Alex Kwong Kong-chi, 31, and his elder brother, Anthony Kwong Kong-kit, 35, have pleaded guilty to preventing the lawful burial of her body. Their father, Kwong Kau, 68, has pleaded not guilty to the same charge. All three men deny...South China Morning Post
BUSINESSOct 11Why are mainland China’s tax officials suddenly so interested in my Hong Kong MPF?For the past few months, this newspaper has extensively covered China’s ongoing clampdown on tax avoidance, especially its push to tax the income of super-rich families held in offshore trusts. We never expected to become targets of the campaign ourselves. But there have been signs in recent weeks that officials are starting to take an interest even in the incomes of South China Morning Post journalists, with several of us being contacted by the tax man. First, a colleague with our Beijing...South China Morning Post
WORLDOct 11Spirit of Hong Kong Awards: Gaza nurse’s obstacle-laden road to becoming a professorOn six occasions, Hammoda Abu-Odah, a Gaza nurse-turned Hong Kong scholar was offered an opportunity to study overseas. But each time, border closures and travel restrictions prevented him from taking them up. Abu-Odah had obtained a nursing degree in his native Gaza but set his sights on an academic career abroad. He kept working, teaching and conducting research, despite the many challenges that prevented him from leaving. Finally, on the seventh attempt, he made it to Hong Kong, where he...South China Morning Post
BUSINESSOct 11Huanggang Port a ‘milestone’ for integrating Hong Kong, Greater Bay Area: John LeeThe revamped Huanggang checkpoint is a “critical milestone” for the connectivity of the Greater Bay Area, Hong Kong’s leader has said, as the city and Shenzhen count down to its launch on Monday. Speaking at a ceremony on Sunday, Chief Executive John Lee-Ka Chiu said the Huanggang control point was a “landmark project” built and shared through the joint efforts of Hong Kong and Shenzhen. “Hong Kong unveiled its first five-year plan last month to proactively align with the national 15th five-year...South China Morning Post
BUSINESSOct 11Hong Kong finance chief highlights 4 priorities ahead of Apec meeting this monthThe Apec finance ministers’ meeting in Hong Kong this month will focus on fiscal policies that support livelihoods, digital infrastructure financing, inclusive finance and young financial talent, underlining the city’s role as an international financial centre, the finance chief said. “These four priorities are areas of strength for Hong Kong and fields in which we can make an active contribution,” Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po wrote in his weekly blog on Sunday. “Hosting the finance...South China Morning Post
BUSINESSOct 11Admission scores fall for Hong Kong physiotherapy courses amid jobs crunchAdmission scores for physiotherapy degree programmes at three Hong Kong tertiary institutions fell by as much as 10 per cent this year compared with 2025, amid gloomy career prospects in the sector, the latest data shows. The decline prompted the professional body for physiotherapists to call on the government to halt healthcare funding cuts in the next budget, saying they had contributed to a jobs crunch in the sector. Across four institutions, 23 per cent of students admitted to physiotherapy...South China Morning Post
SCI & TECHOct 11Spirit of Hong Kong Awards: biotech firm eyes cervical cancer test breakthroughHong Kong biotech entrepreneur Ricky Chiu Yin-to is seeking to make cervical cancer screening easier through urine-based HPV testing, using sample-concentration technology developed by his company. His company, Phase Scientific, made its name during the Covid-19 pandemic through its rapid antigen test, Indicaid. The product received US emergency-use authorisation in July 2021, was used in Hong Kong community testing and sold in more than 30 countries. At the start of the pandemic, the firm...South China Morning Post
WORLDOct 10127 arrested as Hong Kong police bust Vietnamese-led loan-sharking syndicateHong Kong police have arrested 127 people in a six-month undercover operation against a Vietnamese-led crime syndicate accused of running loan-sharking rackets charging interest rates of up to 3,700 per cent, as well as illegal gambling and unlicensed bars in West Kowloon. The syndicate is also alleged to have helped illegal immigrants find shelter and work, with police raiding eight premises on October 8 and 9. Among those arrested were 10 alleged core members, including the suspected leader, a...South China Morning Post
HEALTHOct 10Hong Kong records 21 mpox cases since August, high-risk groups urged to get jabsHong Kong has recorded 21 cases of mpox since August, accounting for 70 per cent of this year’s total, prompting health authorities to urge people who engage in high-risk sexual contact to take protective measures and get vaccinated to reduce their risk of infection. The latest case, involving a 29-year-old man, brought the total number recorded in Hong Kong this year to 30, comprising 23 local cases and seven imported ones, the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) said on Saturday. Twenty-one...South China Morning Post
WORLDOct 10Hong Kong police smash alleged Thai prostitution ring, seize HK$13 million cashHong Kong police have dismantled a local syndicate allegedly running a vice ring involving Thai women, seizing HK$13 million in cash (US$1.66 million) and freezing HK$5 million in suspected crime proceeds. The force said on Saturday that it arrested five local men and two foreign men, aged between 44 and 54, for allegedly running a prostitution ring in the Tsim Sha Tsui district by luring Southeast Asian women to work as sex workers in Hong Kong. Four core members, including three brothers and...South China Morning Post
BUSINESSOct 10Guangdong yachts to sail into Hong Kong from Friday under southbound schemeGuangdong-registered yachts will be allowed to sail into Hong Kong waters from next Friday under a new travel scheme, the city’s transport minister has confirmed. Writing in her weekly blog on Saturday, Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan said the maiden voyage ceremony for the Southbound Yacht Travel Scheme would be held on launch day. “Building on the groundwork laid by the Northbound Yacht Travel Scheme, the maiden voyage ceremony for the Southbound Yacht Travel Scheme marks a...South China Morning Post
WORLDOct 10Hong Kong to expand community recycling after shelving waste-charging schemeHong Kong will strengthen its community recycling network with measures such as round-the-clock automated collection points after scrapping the waste-charging scheme due to strong public backlash, the environmental chief has said. Secretary for Environment and Ecology Tse Chin-wan on Saturday also pledged to review the permitted profit levels of the city’s two power companies when their control agreements with the government expire in 2033. He added the government would boost clean energy...South China Morning Post
BUSINESSOct 10How to zoom through new Huanggang Port crossing at Hong Kong’s borderThe Huanggang Port will open on Monday after more than six years of redevelopment and rounds of preparatory drills. The 24/7 checkpoint will be the first to adopt the “joint clearance” model, where passengers can complete both departure and entry clearance in a single three-gated automated channel. As the final checks are carried out, the South China Morning Post explains what you need to navigate the new checkpoint. 1. Do I need to register for ‘joint clearance’? Yes, Hong Kong and mainland...South China Morning Post
SCI & TECHOct 10Spirit of Hong Kong Awards: explorer inspires youth through glacial field tripsWhen Wilson Cheung took Hong Kong secondary school students into the Swiss Alps this summer, terrain he had once been able to reach had become inaccessible. Glacier melt and thawing ground had destabilised parts of the mountain, while rockfall made fieldwork more hazardous. Only weeks earlier, Cheung had completed a roughly 1,700km (1,056-mile) scientific snowkite traverse across Greenland in 2026. The journey took him across the ice sheet while he continued collecting data in one of the world’s...South China Morning Post
BUSINESSOct 10Worker prospects in Hong Kong hair, beauty sector not cut and dried amid staff shortagesHongkonger Terrence Wu Chung-ting puts on an apron, picks up a comb and massages hair essence into a client’s scalp during a treatment for hair loss. But eight years ago, Wu’s job could not have been any more different. A finance graduate from one of the city’s top universities, he was then a marketer for beauty products and focused on sales. But when he saw untapped potential in Hong Kong’s hairdressing industry, he boldly switched careers from a white-collar to a blue-collar profession,...South China Morning Post
WORLDOct 10Spirit of Hong Kong Awards: Blind musician with rare birth disease plays her heart outA year after a seven-hour surgery in Hong Kong in 2025, Cassie Li Pui-ying was on stage at Queen Elizabeth Stadium, playing the drums before an audience of more than 2,500 people. She heard the applause but could not see who it came from. That March night was organised by Live Theatre, which her mother Marine Mak also helps run. Li sang, spoke and played the drums. The group gives visually impaired students a stage to perform on. Despite having been through several serious health scares, what...South China Morning Post
DISASTEROct 10Lack of heat action plan leaves Hong Kong’s vulnerable residents at risk, experts warnEnvironmentalists and academics have criticised the omission of a systemic heat-health action plan in Hong Kong’s first five-year plan and latest policy address, warning that relying on “common sense” is failing to protect vulnerable residents from rising temperatures. Their comments came as new research from the University of Hong Kong (HKU) found that extreme heat may have contributed to as many as 3,238 excess deaths in the city over the past decade. In response to the South China Morning...South China Morning Post
SCI & TECHOct 10New Taipei-Hong Kong subsea route opened to cut risk and meet AI demandOne of the world’s biggest network service providers has opened a new subsea route between Taipei and Hong Kong to strengthen the system against repeated underwater cable disruptions around the island. Britain-headquartered RETN said the new route would take its total to six serving Taiwan: four connecting Taipei and Hong Kong, and two linking Taipei and Tokyo. “Like many island economies, Taiwan’s international connectivity relies heavily on subsea cables, which creates exposure to risks such...South China Morning Post
POLITICSOct 9Hong Kong lawmakers back 5-year plan as firms urged to align with blueprintHong Kong’s legislature has passed motions supporting the city’s first five-year plan and thanking Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu for his latest policy address, while Beijing’s top representative in the city urged mainland Chinese enterprises to align themselves with the government’s blueprint. At the close of a three-day Legislative Council debate on Friday, Chief Secretary Eric Chan Kwok-ki thanked lawmakers for their suggestions, saying they would help improve governance. “The process of...South China Morning Post