Hong Kong lawmakers on Friday rejected a proposal by four international schools seeking a total of HK$1.4 billion (US$180 million) in interest-free loans for campus development as they face financial pressure during the coronavirus pandemic.This came as Harrow International School Hong Kong announced this week it would offer a 20 per cent reduction of the summer term tuition fees to parents, following an earlier petition demanding a fee cut of up to 25 per cent.The proposal, which was tabled by…

The head of China’s cabinet-level office that oversees Hong Kong affairs has urged the city’s leader to examine possible ways of enacting a national security law and to ensure that elections for the legislature this year are conducted in a fair manner.The meeting between Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO), and Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor was held in Shenzhen at the end of last month, according to sources.Hong Kong is facing mounting pressure…

A Hong Kong man has admitted in court to raping his nine-year-old daughter and telling his younger son that it was none of his business when the child caught him in the act.The High Court heard the sexual attacks spanned nearly six years, since 2011, when the casual vegetable seller, who could not be identified for legal reasons, first attempted to rape his daughter after school.At the time she was only six, while he was 40.Acting deputy director of public prosecutions Catherine Ko said the…

A Hong Kong police officer arrested in connection with the seizure of 25kg of drugs worth HK$12 million is believed to have orchestrated its theft from the scene of a bust he was personally in charge of last week, according to police sources.If true, it would mean the announced record seizure of 296kg of Ice, a form of methamphetamine, actually involved 321kg.Sources said the station sergeant, who was arrested along with a constable in connection with the missing drugs, was in charge of the…

Police dispersed lunchtime protesters with pepper spray in an upscale Hong Kong shopping centre just 12 hours after the government relaxed some coronavirus social-distancing measures and allowed people to gather in groups of eight on Friday.Shortly after dozens of anti-government demonstrators began yelling slogans and belting out their anthem, officers entered the IFC Mall in Central to cordon off their protest site, forcing the Apple store to lower its shutters.Later, police used pepper spray…

The fate of some 27,000 Hong Kong cross-border pupils living in mainland China was in limbo, as the education minister said on Friday that it could not be guaranteed whether they would be exempted from quarantine rules amid the coronavirus pandemic when classes resumed in late May.Although Hong Kong’s government last week decided to exempt these cross-border students from a 14-day mandatory quarantine period when entering the city, a similar rule had so far not been lifted by the Shenzhen…

Two Hong Kong men found carrying weapons at an unauthorised protest last year were jailed for eight months on Friday.Fanling Court sentenced sales consultant Yung Wai-shing, 26, and clerk Chu Tsz-wan, 24, to jail for possessing an extendable baton, a laser pointer, a catapult and a packet of metal pellets at a march in Yuen Long on the night of July 27.The court sentenced co-defendant Vincent Chu Chun-hoi, a 19-year-old cook, to correctional training for carrying an air pistol at the same event…

Ocean Park could run out of cash by September, its CEO warned on Friday as he estimated the Hong Kong attraction had missed out on nearly 1 million visitors over three months of its coronavirus shutdown.With the health crisis intensifying the resort’s financial woes, Matthias Li Sing-chung said no decision had been made on when the park would emerge from the shutdown imposed on January 26, but said it could return within two weeks once conditions were deemed suitable, even if some social…

Hong Kong police arrested 10 people following a fight between two groups with different political views at the so-called Lennon Wall in Wong Tai Sin district in the early hours of Friday.Five victims aged between 20 and 44 suffered injuries to their heads, backs and limbs in the incident that happened at a public housing estate in Lok Fu shortly before 12.30am.The dispute first erupted when a group of about 20 people carrying handy tools and paint were seen removing messages at the Lok Fu…

Investors and lawmakers in Hong Kong are urging regulators to seek compensation for people who lose money when listed companies collapse shortly after their initial public offerings.Under the current system, when banks sponsoring IPOs are found to have fallen short in their due diligence duties, the proceeds of any fine imposed by the watchdog goes to the government, not investors. Those fines amount to almost HK$1 billion (US$130 million) over the last 20 years, according to calculations by…

The High Court has thrown out a Hong Kong resident’s challenge to his quarantine status, dismissing his application for a writ of habeas corpus over his mandatory isolation at a government-run facility.Accountant Syed Agha Raza Shah, who tested negative for Covid-19 upon his return, was sent to the Chun Yeung Estate in Fo Tan for a 14-day stay after returning from Pakistan via Qatar with about 200 other Hong Kong residents on April 29.On Thursday, he applied for a writ of habeas corpus…

Hong Kong’s police chief has reacted with fury over the “dishonour brought to the force” by the arrest of 18 officers for various offences over the past three weeks, including nine detained on Friday in connection with actions against street sleepers.Commissioner of Police Chris Tang Ping-keung said the behaviour of the officers concerned had brought disgrace to the force and dealt a severe blow to its credibility and nullified efforts achieved over the years.“As commissioner, I am not just…

Bars and other entertainment venues were finally allowed to reopen their doors on Friday after more than a month of coronavirus measures, but Hong Kong’s famed nightlife scene was far from buzzing as people remained wary over the potential risk of infection.But along with the caution there was a sense of optimism from customers and business operators alike.A day after the city detected four imported cases in Hong Kong residents returning from Pakistan, the number of new infections dropped to…

Hong Kong started returning to normal on Friday as the city eased the social-distancing rules brought in to help combat the spread of Covid-19.For the first time in more than a month, residents were able to go to gyms, beauty parlours, bars, cinemas, and other public venues which the government previously forced to close.With local transmission of the virus levelling off over the past two weeks, officials have allowed a partial reopening of eight types of business, but with conditions attached…

A meeting in Hong Kong’s legislature descended into shouting matches and scuffles as 11 opposition lawmakers were thrown out by a pro-establishment leader who took control of a key committee to begin clearing a backlog of bills for review.The pan-democrats walked out of talks on Friday after losing their hold over the House Committee, threatening court action against Legislative Council staff, including legal advisers and security guards, whom they accused of abandoning political neutrality and…

1. Pandemic drives rethink of Hong Kong’s hospital needs More isolation beds and more land to hold them among key concerns going forward, Hospital Authority chief tells the Post. 2. Inadequate links between public, private hospitals ‘Non-urgent’ cases postponed as overburdened public hospitals focus on Covid-19 patients. 3. Musician recounts horror from Covid-19 bar cluster Mark Anthony Balcueva struggled to breathe and had to be put on a cocktail of drugs, with only the thought of his…

The commitment of students in bringing people together will be the focus of the 39th annual Student of the Year Awards organised by the South China Morning Post.With the theme “Leading for a better society”, two new awards this year include a special prize for the most nurturing environment, which will go to a school and its students, and another for mentorship.A total of 11 awards in nine categories, including science, maths, languages, sports, and visual and performing arts, will be presented…

Most of Hong Kong’s 70,000 teachers remained professional during the anti-government protests, despite complaints being made against more than 170 of them for misconduct, the city’s education chief said in a Thursday interview with the Post.Reflecting on the movement that started almost a year ago, Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung Yun-hung said there would be more emphasis on teaching proper values and knowledge about mainland China.However, he said there were no plans for schools to…

Three years ago, when visiting Washington as she neared completion of her term as Hong Kong’s second-ranking official, career civil servant Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said she planned to leave government and do something different at year end – “perhaps social work”. Would that she had. Instead, she became Hong Kong’s fourth consecutive chief executive to become wildly unpopular since China regained sovereignty in 1997, yet another Beijing-backed leader required (or quite willing) to enforce…

Exam authorities will carry out citywide research to develop an alternative student grading system in the event university entrance tests are cancelled because of future pandemics, Hong Kong’s education minister told the Post on Thursday.In an exclusive interview, Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung Yun-hung also said his bureau would review with schools how to better prepare for class suspensions, including teacher training and resources for non-traditional instruction methods.Hong Kong…

Hong Kong lawmakers from opposing camps are gearing up for a showdown over control of a key committee in the legislature, with both sides bracing for physical clashes.The opposition camp is expected on Friday to filibuster at the Legislative Council House Committee meetings, using legal opinion obtained from two constitutional law experts. They will accuse pro-Beijing heavyweight Starry Lee Wai-king of conflict of interest in handling council affairs while standing for re-election, slamming her…

The eyes are an important route for the coronavirus into the human body, according to University of Hong Kong research which found the strain was up to 100 times more infectious than severe acute respiratory syndrome and bird flu in two facial orifices tested by the public health experts.Laboratory tests revealed the “virus level” of SARS-Cov-2 – the strain of coronavirus that causes the Covid-19 disease – was far greater than for Sars in the upper respiratory airways and conjunctiva, the cells…

Professor Samuel Yeung-shan Wong says he loves Canada, and wants it to learn from Hong Kong’s successes in the battle with Covid-19.Wong, director of the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s school of public health, earned his medical degree at the University of Toronto in the 1990s and did his residency in Halifax, Nova Scotia.When he chats with his Canadian cousins they tell him that “they aren’t going out”, he said. Hong Kong, meanwhile, has avoided a Canadian-style lockdown, and on Friday…

A serial litigant known for taking the Hong Kong government to court faces being declared bankrupt after the justice department filed a petition against him.Retired civil servant Kwok Cheuk-kin, dubbed the “king of judicial reviews” by the media, has been filing applications with the High Court since 2006, often challenging the legality of government policies and decisions.But many of his attempts ended in failure, and despite being ordered to bear the government’s legal costs in such…

Disqualified lawmaker Lau Siu-lai was denied the opportunity to respond to allegations of not genuinely upholding Hong Kong’s mini-constitution before she was barred from trying to win back her seat in the Legislative Council, a judge has observed.Mr Justice Anderson Chow Ka-ming made the remark on Thursday while hearing an election petition from Lau, who has asked the High Court to determine whether pro-establishment lawmaker Chan Hoi-yan had been duly elected to the office of Kowloon West…

Bars will reopen across Hong Kong on Friday after a month-long coronavirus shutdown, as Lan Kwai Fong venues prepare to slash prices and the nightlife hub’s founder predicts takings as low as half normal levels.More than 100 frontline workers have been tested for the virus as part of the Central party zone’s relaunch, which comes as the government eases social-distancing restrictions in response to the improving Covid-19 situation in the city.Pubs and bars will only be allowed to operate half…

A Hong Kong decorator who suffered a loss of income during anti-government protests was sentenced to four months’ jail for attacking a man following a row over posting messages on a so-called Lennon Wall last year.Kwun Tong Court heard that around 10pm on August 26, Hui Ching-ngai engaged in a heated argument with Ho Chin-leng, who saw Hui tearing down posters from a Lennon Wall inside a pedestrian tunnel in Tseung Kwan O.Hui, 39, who was drunk, picked up a broom and an umbrella from the ground…

Muhammad Ali offering to help free Iran hostages, a contest pitting an abacus against a calculator and an Indian hospital using patients as guinea pigs made the headlines 40 years ago this week.May 4, 1980● The Macau ferry Fatshan, which capsized during Typhoon Rose in August 1971, was brought to the surface by a Chinese salvage team. Three skeletons, believed to be the remains of three of the victims trapped in the vessel when it sank near northeastern Lantau Island, were discovered inside the…

Hong Kong recorded four new coronavirus infections on Thursday, all involving returnees from Pakistan the previous night, as the city prepared to bring back more residents stranded in South Asia.The diagnoses ended a two-day streak without any new cases, and takes the city’s total number of confirmed infections to 1,044.Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the communicable diseases branch of the Centre for Health Protection (CHP), said the patients in question, aged between 11 and 47, all returned to…

Two police officers have been arrested for possessing more than HK$12 million (US$1.9 million) worth of drugs, which the force believes were stolen from the record haul of crystal meth seized last week.One of the two policemen detained, a 41-year-old station sergeant, who is attached to the Kowloon West anti-triad squad, was caught with 2kg of Ice in the Royal Garden Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui East on Thursday, police said, just days after being part of a team that seized 296kg of the drug in a…

The production of reusable masks for all Hongkongers was not for profit, a government official said as she revealed the manufacturer’s identity and defended the lack of a public tender for the project worth hundreds of millions of dollars.Annie Choi Suk-han, permanent secretary of the Innovation and Technology Bureau, said most of the masks were being made by Crystal International Group at a facility in Vietnam.The rest were assembled, disinfected and packed using three local facilities offered…

Charles Li, one of the longest-serving chief executives of a global financial marketplace, has thrown in the towel after more than a decade as head of the Hong Kong stock exchange (HKEX), in a surprise announcement to let his contract lapse in October 2021.The former oilfield worker, journalist and banker, also known as Li Xiaojia, will not seek reappointment when his current term expires at the end of October next year, according to a statement. He will continue to lead Asia’s third-largest…

Alarmed by the amount of rubbish they were generating by just drinking coffee and eating cup noodles, two former garments entrepreneurs decided it was time to find an eco-friendly alternative to all the plastic packaging that ends up in landfills globally.George Chen Dah-ren and Vivian Chang first approached material scientists in Hong Kong and mainland China, and were in 2013 pointed in the direction of Alexander Bismarck, then a Materials Science professor at Imperial College London. The…

Hong Kong doctors have performed Asia’s first heart transplant using a new technology invented in the United States that keeps the organ warm, beating and supplied with blood during the transfer, in a medical breakthrough that will enable more life-saving operations across borders.Dr Timmy Au Wing-kuk – chief of Queen Mary Hospital’s cardiothoracic surgery department, which carried out the medical procedure – hailed the Organ Care System as a success story that could not only allow up to five…

Cathay Pacific is looking at “structural change” as it investigates how to downscale its business in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the Post has learned.Hong Kong’s flag carrier is mulling scenarios that could reduce staff headcount, routes served and planes flown, as well as the possible consolidation of its airline brands, in drastic steps that would mirror those taken by rivals in recent weeks.“We are currently working with colleagues from across the airline to model varying degrees…

As the United States has taken a step back from world affairs to focus on an unprecedented health crisis at home, China has made full use of its massive military power to promote itself as a leader in the global fight against Covid-19.In the latest of a slew of recent overseas aid efforts carried out by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), a Chinese medical team put the finishing touches to a testing laboratory in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, which they had helped to build from the ground up…

Malaysia’s on-again-off-again political partners Mahathir Mohamad and Anwar Ibrahim said “it’s time” to restore an election mandate that they won two years ago, issuing a statement together for the first time since internal bickering in February led to the collapse of their ruling coalition. The two leaders – now in the opposition – said the current government led by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin wasn’t the choice of voters at ballot boxes and does not have a mandate to rule. The statement…

Picka.treatsg, an online business operating out of a Singapore public flat, saw an increase in orders of its cakes late last month, after the authorities announced commercial snack and drinks outlets would have to temporarily stop operating.This came amid tighter restrictions during Singapore’s circuit breaker or partial lockdown period, and just before the start of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.Singapore moves nursing-home employees into hotels to protect elderlyWith orders growing from…

Rising job losses and persistent xenophobia over the origins of the coronavirus are leading to growing resentment against Chinese migrant workers in Indonesia. Last week, legislators in Southwest Sulawesi province rejected the planned arrival of about 500 workers hired by the Chinese-backed PT Virtue Dragon Nickel Industry and PT Obsidian Stainless Steel despite permits being issued by the central government in Jakarta. The provincial governor Ali Mazi told state news agency Antara he…

When 93-year-old Thomas Abraham was being treated for Covid-19 in the intensive care unit of a hospital in Kottayam, southern India, the one thing he missed was making black coffee for his wife, Mariyamma, 88.He need not have worried, the two would soon be having their morning cuppa together again – Mariyamma had contracted the disease too and both were being treated in the same hospital.“[At first] we were in separate wards but when both of us started missing each other, the doctors moved us…

The night of March 6, 2020, started much like every other night for boxing camp owner Pitak Kaewprapol – with a visit to a fight.Pitak and thousands of other Muay Thai fans had packed the New Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok to watch an evening of kick-boxing, ignoring a government order just three days earlier requiring large gatherings to be cancelled or postponed.Like many others among the crowd of fans, tourists, celebrities, trainers and promoters who packed the 5,000-capacity stadium,…

Ratri Anindyajati had plenty of things to worry about when she, her sister and her mother became the first three people in Indonesia to catch the coronavirus. Little did she know that personal abuse and social stigma would be among them.But that was exactly what came her way after President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo revealed to a stunned nation on March 2 that Indonesia had recorded its first two infections. Though he did not name the victims, their details soon leaked out; Anindyajati’s younger…

In a back room of Singaporean dentist Teehee Dental Works, three orange-topped boxes hum with a sterile buzz.Over the next three hours, a thousand strands of liquid resin will form and harden to become plastic nasal swabs, ready to be used in Covid-19 test kits. Those 3D printers – normally making dentures and crowns – are a part of a local effort to re-tool some of Singapore’s industries to respond to a growing need for test kits amid the widening coronavirus pandemic.With one of Asia’s…

President Vladimir Putin told Russians they are “invincible” when they stand together as the country on Saturday marked the 75th anniversary of the end of second world war on lockdown from the coronavirus.With the number of virus cases surging and authorities urging Russians to stay in their homes, celebrations of this year’s Victory Day were muted after the Kremlin grudgingly agreed to postpone plans for a grand parade with world leaders.Instead of columns of military hardware and thousands of…

Singapore is moving 2,600 nursing-home employees into hotels to reduce their interaction with the community, with health minister Gan Kim Yong on Tuesday saying it was critical to protect older Singaporeans as they tended to be more severely affected by Covid-19. Nineteen of the country’s 20 deaths from the disease were patients above the age of 60, and four were nursing-home residents. All 9,000 of the country’s nursing-home staff have been tested, with one positive result. The 30 residents…

As Asia’s rich contemplate where to place their nest eggs, most have overwhelmingly chosen Singapore over rival international financial centre Hong Kong so far this year, according to the region’s largest wealth manager.High-net-worth individuals have mainly instructed their private bankers at UBS to place new money in Singapore rather than Hong Kong, said Edmund Koh, the Swiss bank’s president in the Asia-Pacific region. Last year, the region’s high-net-worth individuals opened more new…

A group of 150 Chinese workers believe the world’s largest maker of trainers used the coronavirus as an excuse to fire them, having helped Taiwanese firm Pou Chen successfully expand its production into Vietnam for more than a decade.Pou Chen, which makes footwear for the likes of Nike and Adidas, informed the group in late April that they would no longer be needed as they were unable to return to Vietnam from their hometowns in China due to the coronavirus lockdowns.“We believe we contributed…

There was a collective sigh of relief when Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach shook elbows over the postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in March because of the coronavirus pandemic. What with the unprecedented postponement of an Olympics and subsequent uncertainties over athletes, logistics, sponsors, a Tokyo 2020 main office employee contracting Covid-19, and the increasing friction between Abe’s and Tokyo governor (and…

Malaysia’s politics took another dramatic turn on Friday ahead of its first parliamentary sitting in months as the speaker of the house accepted a motion by former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad to launch a no-confidence vote against his replacement, Muhyiddin Yassin.Mahathir, however, has conceded that he does not believe he has the numbers required to command the majority support of parliament, claiming that Muhyiddin had won over supporters by giving them government roles. “Maybe we will…

South Korea confirmed 12 new coronavirus cases on Friday, its first increase above 10 in five days, as authorities warned numbers would increase as it had identified a new cluster of infections linked to a 29-year-old man.The IT company employee had spread the virus to at least 14 others as he wandered around the capital Seoul and four neighbouring cities over a long weekend period at the start of the month, said the Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.While the 12 cases were those…