• AP Photos: Year of Ox puts focus on Hong Kong's wild bovines
• Waste not, want not: Hong Kong cafe zeros in on reducing trash
• Getting lots of exercise tied to lower risk of kidney disease

• Hong Kong: Record number of new coronavirus infections as deaths continue to rise
• Hong Kong's success in fending off COVID comes back to haunt
• 'Silent emergency' as heat risks rise in Hong Kong - and globally

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Positive Trends
Short Summaries of Top Stories

AP Photos: Year of Ox puts focus on Hong Kong's wild bovines
9 February 2021 - The Chinese Year of the Ox begins Friday [12 February], and in the shadow of Hong Kong's futuristic urban skyline, wild bovines are getting some love. Cattle and water buffalo embody hard work and serenity in the 12-animal Chinese zodiac, and were used on Hong Kong farms for centuries ... While Hong Kong is best known for its neon-lit, densely-packed urban environment, more than three-quarters of the southern Chinese territory of 7.5 million people remains green hills and forests. (more)

Waste not, want not: Hong Kong cafe zeros in on reducing trash
18 April 2020 - A zero food waste cafe in Hong Kong is trying to tackle the financial hub's escalating trash problem by providing meals that are fully compostable, such as vegetables and herb flatbreads, and packaging that is turned into fertilizer. (more)

Getting lots of exercise tied to lower risk of kidney disease
15 February 2020 - People who get plenty of physical activity may be less likely than their more sedentary counterparts to develop chronic kidney disease, a recent study suggests. 'Our results show that regular exercise may mitigate age-related deterioration in kidney function and the risk of chronic kidney disease,' said study co-author Xiang Qian Lao of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. (more)

Hong Kong raises $1 billion in oversubscribed first green bond
22 May 2019 - Hong Kong raised $1 billion from the sale of its first green bond on Wednesday, as the former British colony looks to establish itself as a centre for green finance. The proceeds from green bonds get earmarked for investment in environmentally friendly projects. (more)

Social enterprise restaurant offers Hong Kong's senior citizens job opportunities - and dishes up new careers
14 November 2018 - Mdm Kitty Li Siu-yin, 69, says she enjoys working in a social enterprise restaurant that has helped many elderly Hongkongers to restart their careers. The eatery [Gingko House] ... is known for its Vietnamese cuisine. The restaurant chain Mdm Li works for is one of a growing number of employers offering job opportunities to the city's senior citizens. Gingko House general manager Kenneth Choi Man-kin said he also helped run the social enterprise's partner, Everbright Concern Action, which was opening an organic frozen food production line to offer simple jobs to the city's retirees. (more)

Taiwan to ban single-use plastic drinking straws, plastic bags, disposable utensils entirely by 2030
22 February 2018 - Taiwan is set to ban single-use plastic drinking straws in several phases, starting with the food and beverage industry next year. The Environmental Protection Administration announced the plan in late February. Minister Lee Ying-yuan said a blanket ban is set to be introduced in 2030 on all plastic bags, disposable utensils, and disposable beverage cups. (more)

Hong Kong tycoon pledges $128 million to charity as index passes milestone
23 November 2017 - The billionaire chairman of Hong Kong developer Henderson Land said he will donate HK$1 billion ($128 million) to charity after the city's benchmark index surpassed the 30,000-point level, keeping a pledge he made seven years ago. Lee Shau-kee, nicknamed 'Hong Kong's Warren Buffett', promised in his autobiography in 2010 that he would donate HK$1 billion when the Hang Seng Index surpassed 30,000 points -- a level last scaled in November 2007 -- and would continue to donate that sum each year the index stayed above that level. (more)

Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival kicks off in blaze of colour
9 June 2016 - Scores of paddlers clashed on the waterways in glorious sunshine on Thursday morning as they kicked-off the annual Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival. Across the city, centuries-old traditions returned with events scattered from Tai O to Aberdeen, Stanley to Sha Tin, with hordes of chanting onlookers and participants bracing themselves for the tough competition and searing conditions. The races were a feast for the senses as boats sped past the spectators in a flurry of spray and bright fabric. The highlight in Tai O village was was a water parade featuring three dragon boats bearing temple deities and shuttling around the stilt houses, in hope of entertaining the gods and blessing the village. (more)

Hong Kong shares close at seven-year high on hopes of fresh inflows
10 April 2015 - Hong Kong stocks closed on Friday at a seven-year high, posting their biggest weekly gain in more than three years, as the city's bourse expects investment quotas for mainland investors to rise by over 30 per cent to accommodate heavy capital inflows. On Friday, mainland investors used about half of the 10.5 billion yuan ($1.69 billion) daily quota for Hong Kong shares under the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect scheme. (more)

Incense trees flourish again in Hong Kong
24 December 2014 - On land deep in Hong Kong's lush green northern suburbs near the border with mainland China, farmer Koon-wing Chan is working to keep a legendary scent alive in the city known as the Fragrant Harbour. Chan runs Hong Kong's last commercial plantation of agarwood trees, prized throughout the centuries for aromatic resin used to make incense, perfume, and medicine. (more)

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Flops
Short Summaries of Top Stories

Hong Kong: Record number of new coronavirus infections as deaths continue to rise
28 February 2022 - Hong Kong reported a record 34,466 new coronavirus infections Monday [28 February] as deaths continued to climb, as authorities assess the possibilities of locking down the city. Hong Kong is grappling with a coronavirus surge driven primarily by the omicron variant. Daily cases have more than quadrupled from a week ago, when the city reported over 7,500 infections. (more)

Hong Kong's success in fending off COVID comes back to haunt
27 February 2022 - For two years, Hong Kong successfully insulated most of its residents from COVID-19 and often went months without a single locally spread case. Then the omicron variant showed up. The fast-spreading mutation breached Hong Kong's defenses and has been spreading rapidly through one of the world's most densely populated places, overflowing hospitals and isolation wards and prompting measures to test the entire 7.4 million population and hastily build six isolation and treatment centers. (more)

'Silent emergency' as heat risks rise in Hong Kong - and globally
24 December 2018 - While typhoons and fires grab headlines, heatwaves kill more people than any other weather-related disaster, experts say. William Yu is giving a tour of a Hong Kong apartment where each of the three bedrooms has been divided into a separate flat -- part of a lab he has set up to show how many families live in small, crowded, and hot spaces with no air conditioning or fresh air. (more)

Hong Kong closes 13 beaches as stinking, congealed palm oil washes ashore
8 August 2017 - Hong Kong has closed more than a dozen beaches after a palm oil spill washed foul-smelling, Styrofoam-like clumps ashore, the latest major environmental disaster to blight the territory's waters. The spill has sparked outrage among some residents and environmentalists and comes just a year after mountains of rubbish washed up on Hong Kong's beaches, with labels and packaging indicating most of it had come from mainland China. (more)

Hong Kong study: E-cigarettes -- a million times more harmful than outdoor air for cancer-causing substances
29 February 2016 - Electronic cigarettes were found to contain one million times more cancer-causing substances than outdoor air in a study by Baptist University. Researchers also discovered a type of flame retardant that affected the reproductive system and could lead to cancer -- the first such discovery in e-cigarettes. The Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health, which commissioned the study, called for a ban on e-cigarettes as soon as possible before they become more popular. In analyzing 13 types of e-cigarettes bought on the market, researchers found that the level of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) -- a by-product of burning petroleum that is commonly detected in roadside air -- ranged from 2.9 to 504.5 nanograms per millilitre. The substance, which contains highly carcinogenic chemicals such as benzo(a)pryene, also carries various kinds of chemicals that promote growth of cancer cells. (more)

In Hong Kong, no endgame for chaotic protests
17 October 2014 - Three weeks ago, students at a rally stormed a fenced-off courtyard outside Hong Kong's government headquarters, triggering unprecedented mass protests for greater democracy in the semiautonomous Chinese city. Since then, the movement has spiraled into a volatile and dangerous crisis with no clear endgame. A government offer to negotiate with students appears highly unlikely to resolve the largest uprising since the former British colony returned to Chinese control 17 years ago. Here are three key questions as the democracy protests continue to unfold: (more)

Hong Kong standoff reflects wide rifts in society
5 October 2014 - The story of Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, Hong Kong's top leader, is the type of rags-to-riches tale that is generally admired in this commercially-minded city. But Leung is deeply unpopular, thanks mainly to his longstanding ties with mainland China. Beijing's burgeoning influence in this former British colony is a key factor driving protests that have paralyzed parts of this dynamic city and brought on some of the worst confrontations in decades. Anger toward Beijing is not shared by all in Hong Kong, and the scuffles that began Friday between protesters and people trying to force them off the streets reflect widening rifts within this city of 7 million. Protesters and their supporters have turned out by the tens of thousands at times over the past week to voice their disapproval of Leung and of plans that would require a pro-Beijing committee to screen the nomination for Hong Kong's inaugural election for chief executive in 2017. The dissatisfaction that sparked the protests extends well beyond unhappiness with Leung and political reforms. Incomes have stagnated while living costs have soared. (more)

Masses of Mercedes thicken Hong Kong air-pollution mess
15 April 2014 - Hong Kong is one of the best places in the world to do business. As long as you don't breathe. Toxic air caused 3,279 premature deaths last year in the city that means 'fragrant harbour' in Chinese, contributing to more than 5.5 million doctor visits in the metropolis of 7.2 million, according to an index developed by the University of Hong Kong's School of Public Health. A 35 per cent surge in private-car registrations in the past decade is confounding the policy makers who want cleaner air without the license restrictions and congestion charges imposed by rival financial centres London and Singapore. Even other Chinese cities such as Beijing and Shanghai are trying to clear pollution by curbing vehicles. Hong Kong has the third-most vehicles per kilometre of road -- after Monaco and the United Arab Emirates. Cars dominate major links at peak times even though most people use mass transit, according to a study from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts, supported by the environmental group Friends of the Earth. While 90 per cent of residents rely on public transport to commute, buses accounted for no more than 7 per cent of vehicles on Central's Connaught Road at rush hour and 30 per cent in Causeway Bay, the study found. (more)

Hong Kong's air kills 1,600 early in 2013 first half, says study
12 July 2013 - Hong Kong's air pollution caused more than 1,600 premature deaths in the first half of the year, almost 40 times the number of fatalities attributed to the H7N9 avian flu virus, according to a study by the Clean Air Network. The air pollution also cost HK$18.7 billion ($2.4 billion) in the six months ended 30 June, showed the study, which cited data from the Hedley Environmental Index. It was responsible for 76,361 days spent in the hospital and 3.6 million visits to doctors, the data show. (more)

Worst pollution this year envelops Hong Kong
15 April 2013 - On Monday, 15 April, Hong Kong residents breathed in the worst air of 2013, joining citizens in mainland China who have been choking on dangerously high pollution levels, and further undermining the city's role as an Asian financial centre. The situation was caused as pollutants, in particular nitrogen dioxide, became trapped within the city where skyscrapers packed together stop air from circulating, a spokesman for the Environmental Protection Department said. People with heart or respiratory illnesses, the elderly, and children were advised to stay indoors as the city's iconic harbour was shrouded in thick smog and the skyscrapers of Hong Kong island were barely visible from Kowloon. (more)