Hong Kong man jumps into sea to escape 6-boat blaze at pier in Tuen Mun
By Jeffie Lam
A Hong Kong man escaped major injuries on Sunday morning after jumping into the sea when his boat caught fire, with the blaze quickly spreading to another five vessels.
Police said they received a call from the boat owner, a 32-year-old man surnamed Yau, at 5.57am, who said his vessel at the dock near Sam Shing Street in Tuen Mun had caught fire while he was adding fuel.
Yau then jumped into the water as his boat started to sink, eventually being rescued by a passing vessel. He did not require hospitalisation.
The blaze quickly spread to five more boats nearby. Firefighters rushed to the scene and later put out the flames.
Police said another man had been affected by the fire, and was discovered and treated near the pier.
Further details about the condition of the second man, who also did not require hospitalisation, were not immediately available.
via SCMP Full Text Feed
By Jeffie Lam
A Hong Kong man escaped major injuries on Sunday morning after jumping into the sea when his boat caught fire, with the blaze quickly spreading to another five vessels.
Police said they received a call from the boat owner, a 32-year-old man surnamed Yau, at 5.57am, who said his vessel at the dock near Sam Shing Street in Tuen Mun had caught fire while he was adding fuel.
Yau then jumped into the water as his boat started to sink, eventually being rescued by a passing vessel. He did not require hospitalisation.
The blaze quickly spread to five more boats nearby. Firefighters rushed to the scene and later put out the flames.
Police said another man had been affected by the fire, and was discovered and treated near the pier.
Further details about the condition of the second man, who also did not require hospitalisation, were not immediately available.
via SCMP Full Text Feed
Japan’s Space One delays Kairos rocket launch again: media
By Agence France-Presse
A start-up aiming to become Japan’s first private firm to put a satellite into orbit postponed a rocket launch for the second day running on Sunday, local media said, after its first try ended in a mid-air explosion.
Tokyo-based Space One had initially scheduled lift-off for its Kairos rocket for 11am on Saturday, but pushed the launch back 24 hours because of high wind speeds.
It postponed the launch again on Sunday because of weather, according to local media including national broadcaster NHK.
Space One officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
In March, the solid-fuel Kairos, carrying a small government test satellite, lifted off for the first time from the Space One launch pad, dubbed Spaceport Kii.
But seconds later, technical problems were detected and a self-destruct order was sent to the 18-metre rocket.
via SCMP Full Text Feed
By Agence France-Presse
A start-up aiming to become Japan’s first private firm to put a satellite into orbit postponed a rocket launch for the second day running on Sunday, local media said, after its first try ended in a mid-air explosion.
Tokyo-based Space One had initially scheduled lift-off for its Kairos rocket for 11am on Saturday, but pushed the launch back 24 hours because of high wind speeds.
It postponed the launch again on Sunday because of weather, according to local media including national broadcaster NHK.
Space One officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
In March, the solid-fuel Kairos, carrying a small government test satellite, lifted off for the first time from the Space One launch pad, dubbed Spaceport Kii.
But seconds later, technical problems were detected and a self-destruct order was sent to the 18-metre rocket.
via SCMP Full Text Feed
Hong Kong NGO warns of pupil suicide rise after logging 10 cases amid term start
By Emily Hung
Hong Kong’s largest suicide prevention group has said more pupils took their own lives around the start of the school term this year than in 2023, calling for more crisis intervention options to help address the stigma surrounding seeking help.
Samaritan Befrienders Hong Kong said that based on data collected from news reports and its school networks, the number of student suicides rose between mid-August and September, a peak period for cases. Ten children took their own lives this year during the period compared with six in 2023.
For the first 10 months of 2024, the group’s suicide crisis intervention centre received more than 240 requests for help from youngsters aged 18 or below. The full-year figures in 2023 and 2022 were 217 and 175, respectively.
Samaritan Befrienders executive director Angie Chan Hiu-yuen said despite abundant efforts devoted to student suicide prevention in recent years, there were many “offsetting factors”.
“As we go all out to find out students at risk of killing themselves, some will try even harder to mask their emotional distress out of worries of being sent to the psychiatric ward. That’s what young people shared a lot on social media,” said Chan, who took up the role at the NGO in September.
“It’s still common for people to denounce those who commit suicide as being ‘irresponsible’, which further deters suicidal people from sharing their thoughts.”
via SCMP Full Text Feed
By Emily Hung
Hong Kong’s largest suicide prevention group has said more pupils took their own lives around the start of the school term this year than in 2023, calling for more crisis intervention options to help address the stigma surrounding seeking help.
Samaritan Befrienders Hong Kong said that based on data collected from news reports and its school networks, the number of student suicides rose between mid-August and September, a peak period for cases. Ten children took their own lives this year during the period compared with six in 2023.
For the first 10 months of 2024, the group’s suicide crisis intervention centre received more than 240 requests for help from youngsters aged 18 or below. The full-year figures in 2023 and 2022 were 217 and 175, respectively.
Samaritan Befrienders executive director Angie Chan Hiu-yuen said despite abundant efforts devoted to student suicide prevention in recent years, there were many “offsetting factors”.
“As we go all out to find out students at risk of killing themselves, some will try even harder to mask their emotional distress out of worries of being sent to the psychiatric ward. That’s what young people shared a lot on social media,” said Chan, who took up the role at the NGO in September.
“It’s still common for people to denounce those who commit suicide as being ‘irresponsible’, which further deters suicidal people from sharing their thoughts.”
via SCMP Full Text Feed
AI crackdown: China stamps out tech misuse to preserve national literature and ideology
By Sylvie Zhuang
Beijing is stepping up its defence of classic literature against AI misuse that it says could undermine and endanger China’s leading ideology.
The Chinese government says AI’s “peculiar adaptations” from classic television dramas based on Chinese literature are “highly deceptive”. Like memes, these edited video clips are made largely for laughs and social media traction, and highlight Beijing’s challenges in regulating artificial intelligence.
The National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA), the agency that oversees state broadcasting, last week issued a notice calling on its supervisory bodies to clean up videos that use AI to create jokes derived from Chinese cultural touchstones.
It said there was an increasing trend of altering video clips from television shows based on novels hailed as the greatest works of Chinese literature, including Dream of the Red Chamber and Journey to the West.
The broadcast watchdog said these AI-remastered jokes “seek to gain traffic without boundaries and disrespect classic intellectual properties”.
It added that they “challenge traditional cultural perceptions, go against the core spirit of the original works and may constitute copyright infringement”.
The AI-remastered videos, which are largely characterised by a humorous or sarcastic tone, can still be found on Chinese social media platforms, with some clearly labelled as generated by AI while others are not.
via SCMP Full Text Feed
By Sylvie Zhuang
Beijing is stepping up its defence of classic literature against AI misuse that it says could undermine and endanger China’s leading ideology.
The Chinese government says AI’s “peculiar adaptations” from classic television dramas based on Chinese literature are “highly deceptive”. Like memes, these edited video clips are made largely for laughs and social media traction, and highlight Beijing’s challenges in regulating artificial intelligence.
The National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA), the agency that oversees state broadcasting, last week issued a notice calling on its supervisory bodies to clean up videos that use AI to create jokes derived from Chinese cultural touchstones.
It said there was an increasing trend of altering video clips from television shows based on novels hailed as the greatest works of Chinese literature, including Dream of the Red Chamber and Journey to the West.
The broadcast watchdog said these AI-remastered jokes “seek to gain traffic without boundaries and disrespect classic intellectual properties”.
It added that they “challenge traditional cultural perceptions, go against the core spirit of the original works and may constitute copyright infringement”.
The AI-remastered videos, which are largely characterised by a humorous or sarcastic tone, can still be found on Chinese social media platforms, with some clearly labelled as generated by AI while others are not.
via SCMP Full Text Feed
Ex-OpenAI engineer launches robotics start-up, joining race to produce intelligent machines
By Xinmei Shen
An ex-OpenAI engineer has started a new robotics venture with offices reportedly in China and Singapore, joining the race to produce intelligent machines as China moves to boost the industry.
Roger Jiang, who left ChatGPT creator OpenAI in June 2023, founded Light Robotics in Singapore in August this year with the goal of building general purpose robots, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Jiang contributed to building OpenAI’s GPT-4 in areas including foundational reinforcement learning from human feedback, data and contamination investigations, OpenAI’s website shows.
Light Robotics, named Liangyuan Xinchuang in Chinese, will focus on consumer-facing companion robots. It has set up offices in both Shenzhen and Singapore, according to a report by Chinese news outlet 36Kr on Friday.
Light Robotics is hiring talent in Singapore and already has one engineer based in Shanghai, the company’s LinkedIn page shows. A Liangyuan Xinchuang Technology Limited Company was established in Shanghai in August, according to Chinese corporate database Qichacha.
via SCMP Full Text Feed
By Xinmei Shen
An ex-OpenAI engineer has started a new robotics venture with offices reportedly in China and Singapore, joining the race to produce intelligent machines as China moves to boost the industry.
Roger Jiang, who left ChatGPT creator OpenAI in June 2023, founded Light Robotics in Singapore in August this year with the goal of building general purpose robots, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Jiang contributed to building OpenAI’s GPT-4 in areas including foundational reinforcement learning from human feedback, data and contamination investigations, OpenAI’s website shows.
Light Robotics, named Liangyuan Xinchuang in Chinese, will focus on consumer-facing companion robots. It has set up offices in both Shenzhen and Singapore, according to a report by Chinese news outlet 36Kr on Friday.
Light Robotics is hiring talent in Singapore and already has one engineer based in Shanghai, the company’s LinkedIn page shows. A Liangyuan Xinchuang Technology Limited Company was established in Shanghai in August, according to Chinese corporate database Qichacha.
via SCMP Full Text Feed
Hongkongers wake up to winter’s chilliest day as mercury dips to 13 degrees
By Jeffie Lam
Hongkongers on Sunday woke up to the chilliest day of this winter so far as the mercury fell to 13 degrees Celsius (55.4 Fahrenheit) in urban areas amid a strong northeast monsoon, while temperatures fell to below 6 degrees on the city’s tallest peak.
The local forecaster also reminded residents to stay warm while taking part in outdoor activities, warning that the weather would be windy on Sunday and that the “wind chill effect” would be particularly significant on high ground and exposed areas.
“A strong northeast monsoon is affecting the coast of Guangdong,” it said.
“Locally, up to 8.30am, the minimum temperature recorded at the Observatory was 13.0 degrees, the lowest so far this winter, and temperatures were a couple of degrees lower in the New Territories.”
The temperature over at Tai Mo Shan, the city’s tallest peak, was only 5.9 degrees at 9.30am, barely above the 3 degrees in the early hours of the day.
The mercury dipped to 8 degrees at Ngong Ping in Lantau and 9 degrees at Tate’s Cairn.
via SCMP Full Text Feed
By Jeffie Lam
Hongkongers on Sunday woke up to the chilliest day of this winter so far as the mercury fell to 13 degrees Celsius (55.4 Fahrenheit) in urban areas amid a strong northeast monsoon, while temperatures fell to below 6 degrees on the city’s tallest peak.
The local forecaster also reminded residents to stay warm while taking part in outdoor activities, warning that the weather would be windy on Sunday and that the “wind chill effect” would be particularly significant on high ground and exposed areas.
“A strong northeast monsoon is affecting the coast of Guangdong,” it said.
“Locally, up to 8.30am, the minimum temperature recorded at the Observatory was 13.0 degrees, the lowest so far this winter, and temperatures were a couple of degrees lower in the New Territories.”
The temperature over at Tai Mo Shan, the city’s tallest peak, was only 5.9 degrees at 9.30am, barely above the 3 degrees in the early hours of the day.
The mercury dipped to 8 degrees at Ngong Ping in Lantau and 9 degrees at Tate’s Cairn.
via SCMP Full Text Feed
Hong Kong could be first to get Swiss start-up’s drug for diabetic eye disease
By Eric Ng
Hong Kong could be one of the first jurisdictions to use a novel treatment for diabetics suffering from a potentially blinding disease if a Swiss start-up’s drug is approved.
OCS-01, an eye drop developed by Oculis Holding and currently under phase 3 trials for diabetic macular edema (DME), can be an alternative to a medication that is injected into the eye, according to Riad Sherif, CEO of the firm, whose shares are listed in the US and Iceland.
The injection is invasive and shunned by many early-stage patients, according to Sherif, a former president for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Alcon, a Swiss-American pharmaceutical and medical device company specialising in eye care.
“Few patients are treated early because they don’t want to have the monthly injections,” he said. “Two-thirds of people with DME globally are not treated [at all].”
Only 60 per cent of DME patients saw improvements after receiving the injections, he added.
via SCMP Full Text Feed
By Eric Ng
Hong Kong could be one of the first jurisdictions to use a novel treatment for diabetics suffering from a potentially blinding disease if a Swiss start-up’s drug is approved.
OCS-01, an eye drop developed by Oculis Holding and currently under phase 3 trials for diabetic macular edema (DME), can be an alternative to a medication that is injected into the eye, according to Riad Sherif, CEO of the firm, whose shares are listed in the US and Iceland.
The injection is invasive and shunned by many early-stage patients, according to Sherif, a former president for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Alcon, a Swiss-American pharmaceutical and medical device company specialising in eye care.
“Few patients are treated early because they don’t want to have the monthly injections,” he said. “Two-thirds of people with DME globally are not treated [at all].”
Only 60 per cent of DME patients saw improvements after receiving the injections, he added.
via SCMP Full Text Feed
When a ferry crashed into a Hong Kong typhoon shelter, killing 3 – from the SCMP archive
By SCMP
This article was first published on December 16, 1989.
By Eammon Fitzpatrick and Jimmy Leung
The Marine Department has launched a full inquiry into why a Hong Kong-Macau catamaran ferry suddenly swerved off course and cruised at full speed into the Yau Ma Tei typhoon shelter, killing at least one person and injuring 18 others before running aground.
(Five days later, authorites updated the death toll to three.)
A man thrown overboard from a pleasure craft crushed as the Apollo Jet slammed into the embankment of the typhoon shelter was still missing early this morning, Saturday December 16, 1989, despite frantic efforts by divers to find him.
Deputy District Commander of Yau Ma Tei police, Mr Richard Tudor, said the accident happened at about 5.40pm when Apollo Jet, owned by the Hong Kong-Macau Hydrofoil company, apparently went out of control.
via SCMP Full Text Feed
By SCMP
This article was first published on December 16, 1989.
By Eammon Fitzpatrick and Jimmy Leung
The Marine Department has launched a full inquiry into why a Hong Kong-Macau catamaran ferry suddenly swerved off course and cruised at full speed into the Yau Ma Tei typhoon shelter, killing at least one person and injuring 18 others before running aground.
(Five days later, authorites updated the death toll to three.)
A man thrown overboard from a pleasure craft crushed as the Apollo Jet slammed into the embankment of the typhoon shelter was still missing early this morning, Saturday December 16, 1989, despite frantic efforts by divers to find him.
Deputy District Commander of Yau Ma Tei police, Mr Richard Tudor, said the accident happened at about 5.40pm when Apollo Jet, owned by the Hong Kong-Macau Hydrofoil company, apparently went out of control.
via SCMP Full Text Feed
Britain joins trans-Pacific pact in biggest post-Brexit trade deal
By Reuters
Britain officially became the 12th member of a trans-Pacific trade pact which includes Japan, Australia, and Canada on Sunday as it seeks to deepen ties in the region and build its global trade links after leaving the European Union.
Britain announced last year it would join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) in its biggest trade deal since Brexit.
The accession means Britain will be able to apply CPTPP trade rules and lower tariffs with eight of the 11 existing members from Sunday – Brunei, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam.
The agreement enters into force with Australia on December 24, and will apply with the final two members – Canada and Mexico – 60 days after they ratify it.
The pact represents Britain’s first free trade deals with Malaysia and Brunei, but while it had agreements with the other countries, CPTPP provisions go further, especially in giving companies choices on how to use “rules of origin” provisions.
The CPTPP does not have a single market for goods or services, and so regulatory harmonisation is not required, unlike the EU, whose trading orbit Britain left at the end of 2020.
via SCMP Full Text Feed
By Reuters
Britain officially became the 12th member of a trans-Pacific trade pact which includes Japan, Australia, and Canada on Sunday as it seeks to deepen ties in the region and build its global trade links after leaving the European Union.
Britain announced last year it would join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) in its biggest trade deal since Brexit.
The accession means Britain will be able to apply CPTPP trade rules and lower tariffs with eight of the 11 existing members from Sunday – Brunei, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam.
The agreement enters into force with Australia on December 24, and will apply with the final two members – Canada and Mexico – 60 days after they ratify it.
The pact represents Britain’s first free trade deals with Malaysia and Brunei, but while it had agreements with the other countries, CPTPP provisions go further, especially in giving companies choices on how to use “rules of origin” provisions.
The CPTPP does not have a single market for goods or services, and so regulatory harmonisation is not required, unlike the EU, whose trading orbit Britain left at the end of 2020.
via SCMP Full Text Feed
Imran Khan continues to defy Pakistan’s government from jail as his wife leads protests
By Ayman Ragab
Despite being in jail since 2023, former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan continues to mobilise his supporters in a tug of war against the government and the army.
Calling for Khan to be released, thousands of members of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party marched to the capital Islamabad in late November 2024. They were led by Khan’s wife Bushra Khan, also known as Bushra Bibi, in what appeared to underline a new dynamic for the ousted leader and his party.
Khan was removed from office in 2022 after falling out of grace with the army and jailed in 2023 on multiple charges. Khan-aligned lawmakers hold most seats in Pakistan’s parliament, but have been prevented from forming a government.
via SCMP Full Text Feed
By Ayman Ragab
Despite being in jail since 2023, former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan continues to mobilise his supporters in a tug of war against the government and the army.
Calling for Khan to be released, thousands of members of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party marched to the capital Islamabad in late November 2024. They were led by Khan’s wife Bushra Khan, also known as Bushra Bibi, in what appeared to underline a new dynamic for the ousted leader and his party.
Khan was removed from office in 2022 after falling out of grace with the army and jailed in 2023 on multiple charges. Khan-aligned lawmakers hold most seats in Pakistan’s parliament, but have been prevented from forming a government.
via SCMP Full Text Feed
What Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy can learn from China’s reformers
By Zhengxu Wang
The Musk-Ramaswamy duet is gearing up for one of the most ambitious reform projects in US political history. Appointed to president-elect Donald Trump’s proposed Department of Government Efficiency, their mission is to overhaul the government, make it smaller, streamline bureaucracy and ultimately transform the way America operates. It’s a grand vision to tackle some of the country’s most entrenched problems.
There might be a lesson or two to be learned from China’s rich history of reformers. From Shang Yang (390-338BC), whose legal and economic reforms paved the way for a unified Qin dynasty, to the Song dynasty’s Wang Anshi (1021-1086), whose New Policies famously failed, and Zhang Juzheng (1525-1582), whose tax reforms, while unpopular, helped the Ming dynasty reach a peak, China’s reform tradition has been shaped by powerful ideas and institutional resistance.
More recently, under paramount leader Deng Xiaoping in the 1980s and premier Zhu Rongji in the late 1990s, China undertook two of the most significant reform movements in its modern history.
While Deng famously equated his plan to downsize the government to a revolution, his reforms mainly rewrote economic rules. Markets were opened up to foreign investors, special economic zones were created, and collective farming gave way to household farming. Not that he did not tackle the oversized bureaucracy and officialdom – old cadres were retired en masse and kicked into “advisory committees”, and in just over two years, he trimmed the military by a million troops, despite a border conflict with Vietnam.
But it was Zhu’s reforms of 1993-2002 that are more comparable to the American project envisioned by Tesla CEO Elon Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
Zhu massively restructured China’s government and the state-economy relationship. In the first restructuring round, central government agencies were cut from 86 to 59, as employees on government payroll fell by 20 per cent. The second round, from 1998-2002, was even more radical: 15 ministries were axed and 1.15 million positions removed from the government payroll. Tens of thousands of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) closed their doors or were privatised, and millions were laid off.
via SCMP Full Text Feed
By Zhengxu Wang
The Musk-Ramaswamy duet is gearing up for one of the most ambitious reform projects in US political history. Appointed to president-elect Donald Trump’s proposed Department of Government Efficiency, their mission is to overhaul the government, make it smaller, streamline bureaucracy and ultimately transform the way America operates. It’s a grand vision to tackle some of the country’s most entrenched problems.
There might be a lesson or two to be learned from China’s rich history of reformers. From Shang Yang (390-338BC), whose legal and economic reforms paved the way for a unified Qin dynasty, to the Song dynasty’s Wang Anshi (1021-1086), whose New Policies famously failed, and Zhang Juzheng (1525-1582), whose tax reforms, while unpopular, helped the Ming dynasty reach a peak, China’s reform tradition has been shaped by powerful ideas and institutional resistance.
More recently, under paramount leader Deng Xiaoping in the 1980s and premier Zhu Rongji in the late 1990s, China undertook two of the most significant reform movements in its modern history.
While Deng famously equated his plan to downsize the government to a revolution, his reforms mainly rewrote economic rules. Markets were opened up to foreign investors, special economic zones were created, and collective farming gave way to household farming. Not that he did not tackle the oversized bureaucracy and officialdom – old cadres were retired en masse and kicked into “advisory committees”, and in just over two years, he trimmed the military by a million troops, despite a border conflict with Vietnam.
But it was Zhu’s reforms of 1993-2002 that are more comparable to the American project envisioned by Tesla CEO Elon Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
Zhu massively restructured China’s government and the state-economy relationship. In the first restructuring round, central government agencies were cut from 86 to 59, as employees on government payroll fell by 20 per cent. The second round, from 1998-2002, was even more radical: 15 ministries were axed and 1.15 million positions removed from the government payroll. Tens of thousands of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) closed their doors or were privatised, and millions were laid off.
via SCMP Full Text Feed
Trump picks Richard Grenell as envoy for special missions
By Reuters
US president-elect Donald Trump said on Saturday he was picking Richard Grenell, his former intelligence chief, as presidential envoy for special missions, a post where he is likely to drive policies toward some of America’s adversaries, including North Korea.
“Ric will work in some of the hottest spots around the World, including Venezuela and North Korea,” Trump said on his Truth Social media platform without further describing the duties.
Grenell served as Trump’s ambassador to Germany, a special presidential envoy for Serbia and Kosovo peace negotiations, and as acting director of national intelligence during Trump’s 2017-2021 term.
After campaigning for Trump ahead of the November 5 election, he was a top contender for secretary of state, a job that went to US Senator Marco Rubio. He was also considered for special envoy for the Ukraine war, which went to retired Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg.
Trump takes office next month.
Presidents name special envoys to focus on global issues or crises that often go beyond an ambassador’s focus on bilateral relations with another country.
via SCMP Full Text Feed
By Reuters
US president-elect Donald Trump said on Saturday he was picking Richard Grenell, his former intelligence chief, as presidential envoy for special missions, a post where he is likely to drive policies toward some of America’s adversaries, including North Korea.
“Ric will work in some of the hottest spots around the World, including Venezuela and North Korea,” Trump said on his Truth Social media platform without further describing the duties.
Grenell served as Trump’s ambassador to Germany, a special presidential envoy for Serbia and Kosovo peace negotiations, and as acting director of national intelligence during Trump’s 2017-2021 term.
After campaigning for Trump ahead of the November 5 election, he was a top contender for secretary of state, a job that went to US Senator Marco Rubio. He was also considered for special envoy for the Ukraine war, which went to retired Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg.
Trump takes office next month.
Presidents name special envoys to focus on global issues or crises that often go beyond an ambassador’s focus on bilateral relations with another country.
via SCMP Full Text Feed
From Teresa Teng to Chiung Yao: Taiwan’s lost age of cultural sway over mainland China
By Yuanyue Dang
When news broke earlier this month of the death of Taiwanese writer Chiung Yao, mainland fan Nicole Li was flooded with childhood memories of watching TV dramas based on Yao’s work.
“I can almost recite the lines and plots of My Fair Princess and Romance in the Rain,” 30-year-old Li said, referring to mainland-Taiwanese co-productions in the late 1990s and early 2000s. “Most people of my generation would have the same memories.”
The shows were wildly popular, attracting millions of mainland viewers when they were broadcast on Hunan TV.
Former Hunan TV director Ouyang Changlin said the peak for these shows was around 1999 when the second season of My Fair Princess aired, capturing around 65 per cent of the mainland market.
For Li and her generation of young mainland Chinese, some of their earliest cultural memories are of the work of Taiwanese writers, musicians and filmmakers like Chiung Yao.
So much so that after her suicide, mainland Chinese media was flooded with tributes from artists, the public and even state media.
But in recent years, Taiwanese pop culture has struggled to appeal to mainland audiences.
via SCMP Full Text Feed
By Yuanyue Dang
When news broke earlier this month of the death of Taiwanese writer Chiung Yao, mainland fan Nicole Li was flooded with childhood memories of watching TV dramas based on Yao’s work.
“I can almost recite the lines and plots of My Fair Princess and Romance in the Rain,” 30-year-old Li said, referring to mainland-Taiwanese co-productions in the late 1990s and early 2000s. “Most people of my generation would have the same memories.”
The shows were wildly popular, attracting millions of mainland viewers when they were broadcast on Hunan TV.
Former Hunan TV director Ouyang Changlin said the peak for these shows was around 1999 when the second season of My Fair Princess aired, capturing around 65 per cent of the mainland market.
For Li and her generation of young mainland Chinese, some of their earliest cultural memories are of the work of Taiwanese writers, musicians and filmmakers like Chiung Yao.
So much so that after her suicide, mainland Chinese media was flooded with tributes from artists, the public and even state media.
But in recent years, Taiwanese pop culture has struggled to appeal to mainland audiences.
via SCMP Full Text Feed
Hongkongers in England, Wales extend record birth numbers under BN(O) scheme
By William Yiu
Hongkongers in England and Wales had more than 2,120 babies last year, extending their record high figures since the introduction of a bespoke immigration pathway, while the birth numbers in their new homes hit a nearly 50-year low.
But high childcare costs presented significant barriers to entering the workforce, particularly for women, according to a think tank’s report on Hongkongers settling in the UK.
“In 2023, there were 2,129 babies born in England and Wales, where at least one of the parents’ [place] of birth was Hong Kong,” the UK Home Office said in a reply to a freedom of information request the Post made last month.
The number of newborns with at least one parent from Hong Kong rose from 1,568 in 2019 to 1,602 in 2020, 1,665 in 2021 and 1,953 in 2022, according to Britain’s Office for National Statistics.
The 2023 figures, which were up 9 per cent against the year before, were the highest since the British National (Overseas) visa scheme began in 2021.
Britain rolled out the immigration pathway after Beijing imposed the national security law on Hong Kong in June 2020 to ban acts of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign powers following the anti-government protests in 2019.
via SCMP Full Text Feed
By William Yiu
Hongkongers in England and Wales had more than 2,120 babies last year, extending their record high figures since the introduction of a bespoke immigration pathway, while the birth numbers in their new homes hit a nearly 50-year low.
But high childcare costs presented significant barriers to entering the workforce, particularly for women, according to a think tank’s report on Hongkongers settling in the UK.
“In 2023, there were 2,129 babies born in England and Wales, where at least one of the parents’ [place] of birth was Hong Kong,” the UK Home Office said in a reply to a freedom of information request the Post made last month.
The number of newborns with at least one parent from Hong Kong rose from 1,568 in 2019 to 1,602 in 2020, 1,665 in 2021 and 1,953 in 2022, according to Britain’s Office for National Statistics.
The 2023 figures, which were up 9 per cent against the year before, were the highest since the British National (Overseas) visa scheme began in 2021.
Britain rolled out the immigration pathway after Beijing imposed the national security law on Hong Kong in June 2020 to ban acts of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign powers following the anti-government protests in 2019.
via SCMP Full Text Feed
China mistress sues woman who refused to divorce husband after receiving US$165,000 from her
By Yating Yang
A Chinese mistress paid a “divorce fee” of 1.2 million yuan (US$165,000) to the legal wife of her married lover, only to have her petition for a refund rejected by the court after the wife accepted the money but refused to divorce.
In December 2013, a man surnamed Han, based in Shishi, Fujian province in southeastern China, married his wife, Yang, with whom he has two daughters whose ages remain undisclosed.
Later, Han began an affair with his colleague, identified as Shi. They also entered into a business partnership and welcomed a son together in November 2022.
In an attempt to “replace” Yang, Shi confronted her and proposed a deal, offering to pay 2 million yuan (US$280,000) if Yang agreed to divorce Han. To initiate the agreement, Shi transferred 1.2 million yuan to Yang at the end of 2022.
However, more than a year later, Yang still had not consented to a divorce.
Frustrated, the mistress demanded her money back and even filed a lawsuit to recover the 1.2 million yuan after the wife refused to return it.
via SCMP Full Text Feed
By Yating Yang
A Chinese mistress paid a “divorce fee” of 1.2 million yuan (US$165,000) to the legal wife of her married lover, only to have her petition for a refund rejected by the court after the wife accepted the money but refused to divorce.
In December 2013, a man surnamed Han, based in Shishi, Fujian province in southeastern China, married his wife, Yang, with whom he has two daughters whose ages remain undisclosed.
Later, Han began an affair with his colleague, identified as Shi. They also entered into a business partnership and welcomed a son together in November 2022.
In an attempt to “replace” Yang, Shi confronted her and proposed a deal, offering to pay 2 million yuan (US$280,000) if Yang agreed to divorce Han. To initiate the agreement, Shi transferred 1.2 million yuan to Yang at the end of 2022.
However, more than a year later, Yang still had not consented to a divorce.
Frustrated, the mistress demanded her money back and even filed a lawsuit to recover the 1.2 million yuan after the wife refused to return it.
via SCMP Full Text Feed
