vox asia » Hong Kong Vox

Ecotech Recycling Converts Plastic Waste Into Fuel

Shari Nijman — Mon, 16 May 2011 09:00:21 +0000

Hong Kong – Disposal of waste is becoming an ever growing problem in this densely-populated territory.

Landfills are filling up and the mountain of waste doesn’t show any sign of becoming smaller any time soon.

But one company operating out of a newly-developed Ecopark is planning to put Hong Kong’s plastic waste to good use, by turning it into diesel fuel. If it were up to EcotechRecycling, Hong Kong’s cars, buses and boats would run on the waste produced by their drivers.

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Labour Day Marchers Demand Better Benefits, More Rights

Shari Nijman — Tue, 03 May 2011 15:19:31 +0000

Hong Kong — On the day that Hong Kong’s controversial minimum wage law came into effect, thousands of protesters gathered at Victoria Park for the annual Labour Day rally.

For many, the new law did not go far enough and they demanded more.

Construction workers dressed in their working clothes and social workers carrying banners called out for increased wages, more labour rights and more job security.

A small but very loud group representing the male sex workers of Hong Kong targeted their message “sex work is work” proudly at the bystanders as they marched through Causeway Bay, Wan Chai and Admiralty to the Hong Kong Government Offices in the Central business district.

Foreign domestic workers were vocal about their exclusion from the long-anticipated law.

“For the last few years we’ve have been asking the Hong Kong government to include us in the minimum wage, but they have excluded us,” Grace Andanaio, representing the Filipino workers association, Ifugao, said.

Domestic workers are required by law to live with their employers; their minimum wage of slightly over HK$3,600 a month is not covered by the new statute which stipulates a minimum hourly rate of HK$28.

“Today, this is the moment the moment when we can voice out as foreign domestic workers so we can reach the $4,000 as our minimum wage,” Andanaio said. ”We know where we are standing, we know our basic rights.”

“We are fighting for our salary because I think its not enough, but it’s been long years [in which] they ignore us,” Emily Aviano, another Filipina protester, said.

The traditionally well-organized Filipina workers unions were joined by others representing women of other Asian nationalities working as domestic helpers under the mantra “solidarity forever.”

Andanaio said Filipinas have to work together with the other foreign domestic workers and the local community. She emphasized strength in numbers when it comes to reaching their goals.

“I hope the numbers that we have here now will increase,” she said. “So that the more the Hong Kong government will see that more people voice out their concern, they might at least consider to our pleas, to our request to them.

Hong Kong’s Disappearing Villages: Fung Hang, Two Residents Left

Vincent Du — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 07:50:51 +0000

Hong Kong – Fung Hang Village has yet to join the growing roll of abandoned villages in Hong Kong, whose names live on only in memory, in government archives or in books. That is because two people still consider Fung Hang home.

“More than 10 big households, around 150 people, lived here 50 years ago,” 82-year-old inhabitant Cheung Cheung said.

“But now there are only two residents and several dogs here.”

Almost all Hong Kong’s seven million population is crowded into urban areas, which makes up about 30% of Hong Kong’s landmass.

According to annual reports of the Hong Kong Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, agricultural land utilization in 2009 was 758 hectares, almost half of the 2000 figure of 1430 hectares.

It is hard for those remaining in the villages to maintain the life style that they had in the past.

Almost all Hong Kong’s seven million population is crowded into the urban areas, which just occupy around 30 percent of the land area. According to the annual reports of the Hong Kong Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, the agricultural land utilization in 2009 was 758 hectares, almost half of the 2000 figure of 1,430 hectares.

Fung Hang is located in Plover Cove Country Park at the northeastern edge of the New Territories facing Shenzhen.

“That place used to be the paddy field, ” said Cheung, pointing to a swathe of deserted land. “But I was not a farmer when I was young. I sold fish at a market in Sha Tau Kok, the town on the opposite side across the bay.”

Travelling costs are a burden for Cheung. He needs to take a boat taxi to reach Sha Tau Kok for routine shopping, which costs him HK$150 for a round trip, a lot for an individual who receives a government pension of only $1,000 a month.

Cheung has four children. Two live in the city, in Kowloon, and two live in the UK.

“About 10 years ago, villagers in Fung Hang started to leave to the city or abroad, trying to find better-paid jobs,” Cheung said. Only Cheung and 73-year-old Wong Ah Ying, his sister-in-law, remain.

About one kilometer away from Fung Hang, the village of Kuk Po is completely abandoned. It serves as a destination for hikers who trek over the hills to view the village ancestral hall and an abandoned primary school where Cheung studied during his childhood.

“As a Hongkonger, I really want to see these villages like Fung Hang alive, especially the soul of the traditional culture in those remote villages,” said Ki Yu-tin, a postgraduate student of anthropology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. “But from my perspective, it’s hard to find an approach to preserve the traditional culture.”

In the past, traditonal customs abounded in Fung Hang. “Tons of people used to release sky lanterns during the Mid-autumn festival,” Cheung said.

The only remaining historic building in Fung Hang is the old ancestral hall. It has stood for over a century but its survival looks bleak.

“In the next couple of years, a road will be built here, so people can come easily, ” said Michael Law, an employee of a property agency.

His company is making an assessment for house development in Fung Hang. “It’s our first time coming here. The desirable environment is an advantage for real estate development, ” he continued. “It’s peaceful, quiet and pleasant. Most importantly, for the target buyers, people living in Sha Tau Kok and Shenzhen, it’s convenient to come, just a five-minute boat trip.”

Fung Kai-yan, the executive director of the Hong Kong Green Nature Union, a non-governmental organization, strongly opposes such residential development in the rural areas.

“The villages will be afflicted with a catastrophic outcome if commercial residence projects are established there, accompanied by huge infrastructure construction,” he said.

“Eco-tourism and heritage tourism can be considered as the best way to preserve and rejuvenate those old villages,” Fung said.

Hong Kong’s Disappearing Villages: Tai O, South Lantau

Vincent Du — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 07:12:50 +0000

Hong Kong – For more than 200 years, Tai O was the most significant fishing port in Hong Kong.

Today its salt plains lie idle and the tiny village at the remote western end of Lantau Island, the largest in the Hong Kong archipelago, is home to a dwindling and ageing population. The government has identified tourism as a means of revitalisation but it remains to be seen whether tourist dollars will benefit its remaining residents.

Take a virtual tour:

“More than 100 policemen worked in Tai O several years ago when there were 30,000 villagers,” said a shrimp-sauce vendor and 50-year resident of Tai O, who gave his name as Mr Lee.

“Today, only two prowl cars from Tung Chung are in charge of this area, because there are no more than 3,000 villagers here nowadays.”

Just 22 km away, Tung Chung is a spanking new metropolis studded with high-rises and shopping malls which serves as the gateway to Hong Kong’s international airport and administrative nerve centre of Lantau Island. A generation or two ago, Tai O dwarfed Tung Chung.

The once bustling Tai O police station is now a building site. Labourers are converting it into a luxury boutique hotel due for completion in late August.

On a weekday, a few visitors wandered the streets of old Tai O. Almost half were westerners. Travel advertisements describe the village as the “Venice of the east” in honour of the wooden stilt-houses that line the shallow estuary and still serve as home to many Tai O residents.

Counting the Tourist Dollars

Sitting at the entrance to the historic and cultural showroom run by the South Lantau Rural Committee, 69-year-old Cheung Pui’s clicker-counter recorded the 293rd visitor of the day.

“I am employed by the village committee to introduce Tai O’s history for visitors,” Cheung said.

“Ninety percent of the antiques shown here were donated by the local villagers.”

Tai O’s decline started in the 1950s, when Hong Kong began to urbanize and industrialize. The number of fishing boats has plunged dramatically, from 500 to just 20.

“It is the out-of-date scene that attracts the tourists,” said Lau Chuk Wing, the vice president of the Tai O Village Committee.

“The most obvious obstacle we encounter when we develop the local eco-tourism and heritage-tourism resources is transportation. Through city metro and public bus, travellers have to spend at least two hours to get here from the city centre,” Lau said.

In 2004, the Hong Kong government released a Concept Plan for Lantau in which targetted tourism as the means for revitalizing Tai O. It allocated development funds, much of it targetted at renovating some of the village’s older buildings.

“There are not enough work opportunities here, so the young people leave,” Lau said. “Another reason for the migration is the poor condition of local basic facilities like hospitals and schools in Tai O.”

Dr Karen Liu of the Geography Faculty at the University of Hong Kong has spent several months conducting a field-study into the impact of tourism on the villagers’ livelihood.

Almost 80 percent of the villagers now are elderly. “The main reason for them to stay is the close relationship among each family. Owing to the intense connections in the local community, the elderly people won’t leave,” Lui said.

“The other realistic reason is they are all relatively impoverished. It is not easy for them to afford an apartment in the city,” she added.

Wan Lin-ying, 85, is typical. She has lived in Tai O for more than 30 years. Her husband died in 1985 and she lives alone. Her neighbours buy her meals every lunchtime.

Her sheet-metal shack is maintained by volunteers from Habitat for Humanity, a non-governmental organization whose aim is to help poor people maintain their flimsy houses.

“Tai O is the place where squatter houses still exist,” said Dr Dennis Cheung Kin-keung, the principal consultant and acting programme director of Habitat for Humanity. “That’s the reason why we chose this place to conduct this four-year project.”

After the revitalization project was launched, Tai O saw an influx of merchants.

“The only group who can benefit from tourism development is those businessmen buying sea food from the mainland to sell to visitors here,” Cheung said. “The local villagers don’t benefit from the government’s policy.”

She is doubtful that tourism will benefit the indigenous residents.

“In Hong Kong, village disappearances is the historical trend. The government can make little effort to prevent it,” Liu said.

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Visit the Village Doomed by the High-Speed Rail Link

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HK Budget 2011 Wrap: Even “Free” Money Fails to Stifle Criticism

Eldes Tran and Chien Mi Wong — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 05:24:40 +0000

Hong Kong — It’s been a bumpy ride for Hong Kong residents, politicians and, in particular, Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah since he gave his fourth budget speech this year. His proposals have been called short-sighted, and his reversal on the HK$6,000 cash handout ill-conceived. Vox Asia takes a look at the political twists and public chatter.

How far will the cash handouts travel?

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

A Multi-National Intake: HKU JMSC Students Hail From Across the Globe

Kathleen Ngai — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 02:06:53 +0000

This year’s intake of masters students at the Hong Kong’s Journalism and Media Studies Centre (JMSC) make up one of the most diverse groups at The University of Hong Kong.

About 80 graduates enrolled in 2010-11 as both part-time and full-time students. The following map indicates their countries of origin:

In addition to classes and lab sessions, the JMSC programme emphasises internship and in-service training opportunities to provide hands-on experience. One such project is the JMSC-ABC on Campus reporting programme.

Click the picture below for the Bureau website and work examples.

The ABC on Campus Team 2010-2011

The interactive pie chart below indicates the diversity of MJ students’ nationalities.

Diverse Interests

Eldes Tran

Eldes Tran, 28, worked at the Los Angeles Times as a copy editor for four years before coming to JMSC. With the newspaper industry struggling, she wanted to join the Master’s of Journalism programme in Hong Kong to gain an international perspective.

“I want to broaden my journalism skills and also, coming to Hong Kong gives me a chance to know more about what’s happening in Asia. I would love to stay and work in Asia after graduation.”

Tran interned with the South China Morning Post (SCMP) during the spring and fall semesters. One of the live projects she spent time on was the interactive database, Who Runs Hong Kong, managed by SCMP journalist, Irene Jay Liu, who also teaches computer-assisted reporting at the JMSC. She said it was a great experience learning how to combine complicated data for investigative stories.

Chien Mi Wong

Chien Mi Wong, 25, worked in the banking industry for one-and-a-half-years before coming to JMSC. Seeking a career change, Wong wants to switch to journalism because she loves writing.

“I want to be a financial journalist because I have always loved writing,” Wong said. “And with my financial background, I hope to become a successful financial journalist someday, and JMSC is definitely a good place to start.”

Richard Schuster

Richard Schuster, 29, worked in the broadcast industry in Hungary for seven years before coming to JMSC. He was a news anchor for five years at TV2 and an assistant teacher at the University of Film, Theatre and Television in Budapest. Schuster decided to come to JMSC to gain an Asian perspective and enhance his journalism skills.

“JMSC is one of the best schools in the world, and Hong Kong is where everything is happening,” Schuster said. “Coming to JMSC, I hope to learn to become a creative storyteller.”

The JMSC can be followed at Twitter (JMSCHKU). View a sample of recent tweets:

Love over Sex – The Unusual Sub-Text of a Hong Kong Porn Movie

Kathleen Ngai — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 17:18:01 +0000

Hong Kong – Widely touted as the world’s first 3D porn movie, 3D Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy is an explicit and visually titillating production. But unusually for a porn film, it contains a deeper message: sex is not an essential ingredient in a relationship.

Due for release on big screens across Hong Kong on April 14, the soft-core movie is a remake of the 1991 Hong Kong cult sensation, Sex and Zen.

Its love-making scenes leave little to the imagination and have attracted the inevitable media headlines. But producer Stephen Shiu said that the movie’s real inspiration is a Chinese classic romantic novel The Carnal Prayer Mat.

“The soft core that I have made is at a standard where you can take away all the sex scenes and still have a great movie. If we don’t reach this level, then nothing distinguishes our movie from hard core porn,” Shiu said in a CNNGO interview.

The story starts with a innocent love scene as boy meets girl.

Wei Yangshang, a Ming Dynasty scholar, meets Tie Yuxiang, a beautiful and talented young lady. They fall in love at first sight, marry and quickly consummate their passion.

Wei believes that life is short, so he should enjoy his life with unbridled sexual pleasure as time allows. However, the well-bred Tie’s inhibitions leave Wei unsatisfied.

The story’s turning point begins when Wei follows a friend to the cunning Prince of Ning’s Pavilion of Ultimate Bliss, where men and women engage in wild orgies.

During his time in the sex cave, Wei experiences round-the-clock excitement, rape, and torture. His promiscuous sex life results in divorce from Tie. But the couple still love each other.

Another turning point occurs when the divorced couple end up in terrible circumstances in the cave.

Tied-up and experiencing genital torture, they confess their eternal love for each other.

The torture leaves them unable to have sex ever again. But Wei experiences an epiphany. He realises that making love isn’t all that important, and the couple go on to live happily together ever after.

Hitched in Hong Kong: The Changing Face of Cross-Border Marriages

Eldes Tran — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 16:18:44 +0000

Hong Kong — Don’t go believing that the new film Don’t Go Breaking My Heart represents a new trend in Hong Kong.

In Johnnie To’s movie, two men from Hong Kong fall in love with a woman from mainland China, and she ends up marrying one of them. Such cross-border unions, in reality, may be on the decline, according to Hong Kong statistics.

But of those couples who do get married in Hong Kong, more of them are staying here instead of going to China, a reversal from the pre-handover era.

There were 22,330 cross-border marriages in 2009, down 55% from 2006, when there were 34,628 such unions as the graphic below shows.

The number of cross-border unions since the 1980s appears to have peaked in 2006. The lowest year, of the eight years given in the data set, was 1986, with only about 16,000 such marriages. (The Census and Statistics Department provided data for only 1986, 1991, 1996, 2001, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009.)

Of those cross-border marriages in 2009, 81% were of Hong Kong men marrying mainland women. That percentage remains the same, for the most part, as far back as 1986. Marriages between Hong Kong women and mainland men appear to be in the minority.

The biggest change over the more than two decades is that more cross-border couples are registering their marriages in Hong Kong. That suggests more are staying in the city instead of going to China, which was the case more than 10 years ago.

The census bureau compares Hong Kong marriage registrants with applicants of Certificates of Absence of Marriage Records (CAMR). It interprets CAMR couples as having an intention or purpose of marrying in the mainland, but it also acknowledges that certificate holders may not always lead to marriages. The CAMR is official proof that a couple was not married in Hong Kong, allowing registration for marriage abroad.

In the visualization above, the left column is Hong Kong marriage registrants and the right CAMR holders. The size of each year’s circle is evidence of the reversing trend in cross-border marriages.

Off the Beaten Track: A Taste of Cheung Chau

Carol Zhong — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 09:57:20 +0000

Hong Kong — A walk on one of Hong Kong’s outlying islands is only a short ferry trip from the hustle and bustle of downtown. Our reporter takes time out to explore Cheung Chau’s local food and attractive beach.

Cheung Chau, the dumbell-shaped island in Hong Kong’s western waters is reached from Central Pier 5: the fast ferry journey takes half an hour; the journey on the more infrequent slow ferries is a leisurely 50 minutes.

First Treat: Hello Kitty Waffles

Topped with cream, honey and sugar, the snack is an ideal accompaniment to an afternoon cup of tea.
in the afternoon.

The waffles are served by the Lovely Island Restaurant located close to the ferry pier.

Cheong’s Fish Balls

Cheong's Fishballs. Since 1959.

Cheong’s Fish ball is just along the waterfront from the Lovely Island Restaurant. It specialises, as its name suggests, in fish balls. The deli, which has been in operation for more than a half-century, since 1959, charges $23 for a set meal of fish- and cuttlefish balls. They are also available with rice noodles.

Sun Chiu Kee: Traditional Dim Sum

Peace Buns: unique to Cheung Chau

Dim sum shop Sun Chiu Kee located in Tung Wan Road is famous for its various home-made Chinese traditional cakes, specifically red bean cake, purple rice cake, sesame cake and the most noted pastry in Cheung Chau – “the peace bun” (pictured).

These buns are the centre-piece of the annual Bun Festival which celebrates the island’s deliverance from a plague in the 19th century. when many people participate in a scramble up towers of buns. Who ever collects the most, wins. This year the carnival will take place between April 23 and May 11.

Sushi Rolls and Red Bean Buns. Simple but tasty.

Hometown Teahouse

Also located in Tung Wan Road, is owned by a Japanese woman Takahiko–san and her husband. The shop is little more than a counter with an open window through which the couple serve a variety of sushi rolls and red bean buns. Simple but tasty.

Tung Wan Beach

Just a short stroll across the narrow width of the island is Tung Wan Beach. Rarely crowded during the week, it is a popular spot for windsurfing.

Hong Kong’s windsurfing Olympic Gold-medialist, Lee Lai-shan hails from Cheung Chau. Her uncle and aunt still run a windsurfing centre there.

The map of Cheung Chau Island, looks like a Chinese dragon.

Feathers Fly at International Pillow Fight Day 2011

Chien Mi Wong — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 06:11:12 +0000

Hong Kong — Hundreds of enthusiastic pillow fighters gathered for a massive bedding brawl to celebrate the Hong Kong International Pillow Fight Day on Saturday.

More than 1,200 signed up on Facebook for the Hong Kong edition of the International Pillow Fight Day, which was held at Statue Square, Central on April 2. Approximately 130 cities around the world combined forces to organise one of the world’s largest flash mob event of the year, endorsed by Urban Playground Movement, a group that organises free, fun, non-commercial public events all over the globe.

“I contacted the international pillow fight day website and no one was volunteering for Hong Kong so I made a Facebook event, invited a hundred friends and put it on a few other websites, and I guess friends told friends and it went a bit crazy!” said organiser Tom Grundy, before being overpowered by a flood of pillows.

Pillow fighters voice their opinions of the event here.

To view a slideshow of the event, click here.

Pillow Fighters Voice Their Opinions

Deysy Ordonez-Arreola, 22, United States

“I think it’s actually quite fun…I mean, you get a lot of bottled up energy that is just out there!”

Deysy Ordonez-Arreola, 22, USA minutes, seconds "Deysy Ordonez-Arreola, 22, USA"

Mario Archidiacono, 26, Italy minutes, seconds "Mario Archidiacono, 26, Italy"

Vivian Lee, 17, Hong Kong minutes, seconds "Vivian Lee, 17, Hong Kong"

Mario Archidiacono, 26, Italy

“All the way from Australia, to come here for the pillow fight!”

Deysy Ordonez-Arreola, 22, USA minutes, seconds "Deysy Ordonez-Arreola, 22, USA"

Mario Archidiacono, 26, Italy minutes, seconds "Mario Archidiacono, 26, Italy"

Vivian Lee, 17, Hong Kong minutes, seconds "Vivian Lee, 17, Hong Kong"

Vivian Lee, 17, Hong Kong

“I found out about it on Facebook. One of my friends attended it and it was on my news feed.”

Deysy Ordonez-Arreola, 22, USA minutes, seconds "Deysy Ordonez-Arreola, 22, USA"

Mario Archidiacono, 26, Italy minutes, seconds "Mario Archidiacono, 26, Italy"

Vivian Lee, 17, Hong Kong minutes, seconds "Vivian Lee, 17, Hong Kong"

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vox asia » Hong Kong Vox

Ecotech Recycling Converts Plastic Waste Into Fuel

Labour Day Marchers Demand Better Benefits, More Rights

Hong Kong’s Disappearing Villages: Fung Hang, Two Residents Left

Hong Kong’s Disappearing Villages: Tai O, South Lantau

Counting the Tourist Dollars

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Love over Sex – The Unusual Sub-Text of a Hong Kong Porn Movie

Hitched in Hong Kong: The Changing Face of Cross-Border Marriages

Off the Beaten Track: A Taste of Cheung Chau

First Treat: Hello Kitty Waffles

Cheong’s Fish Balls

Sun Chiu Kee: Traditional Dim Sum

Hometown Teahouse

Feathers Fly at International Pillow Fight Day 2011