Short Reads
‘Like hell inside’: when a bomb exploded in a Hong Kong cinema
A bomb exploded during the screening of a police satire in the Hoover Theatre in Causeway Bay in 1974, injuring 11 and sending 400 audience members stampeding for the exits.
How painting is like meditation for artists in this Hong Kong group show
Like creating the mandalas that help Hindus and Buddhists meditate, the painter’s act of applying repetitive techniques can put them in the ‘zone’, says Chun Poon, organiser of a show of Hong Kong art.
‘Sex and horse racing’: when a former Hong Kong jockey was jailed for rape
A former Hong Kong jockey was charged in 1999 with raping an employee while his wife was away. Hung Wai-tak was found guilty, and sentenced to five years in prison for the attack.
Reflections | Amid plague of ads on social media, China’s first advertising recalled
Adverts are turning me off social media. They’ve been around a long time. A fake ad was recorded 2,700 years ago in China, and ads there 1,000 years ago were as sophisticated as some we see today.
Home from Home | UK local elections about as exciting as 2023 ‘patriotic’ Hong Kong polls
Enthusiasm was low for recent local elections in the UK, even though they came as political parties prepare for a national election. I voted for the only candidate I’d met. So what if he is a Conservative?
Art is ‘a form of therapy’, says US artist with exhibition in Hong Kong
The Speagle’s is a solo exhibition of colourful paintings by Paul Hunter Speagle in which the US artist takes an unfiltered look at his home life. The show runs until June 1 at JPS Gallery in Hong Kong.
Reflections | Singapore gets a new prime minister, who doesn’t have an emperor to placate
When Lawrence Wong becomes Singapore prime minister his government will wield the real power. In imperial China, absolute monarchs appointed prime ministers but hesitated to share power with them.
Children’s book highlights role of Hong Kong’s foreign domestic helpers
A children’s book, My Extra-Special Aunty, uses illustrations by Hong Kong domestic helpers from the Philippines to show the ‘meaningful connections’ helpers have with the families they work for.
Then & Now | How did Hong Kong POWs manage to fashion theatre costumes?
Amateur dramatics helped alleviate the boredom of prisoners of war during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, and creating the costumes involved every inch of innovation the inmates could muster.
When panic buying at a Hong Kong bakery chain led to a 3-day ‘cake run’
When a rumour swept Hong Kong that bakery chain Maria’s was going out of business, holders of vouchers for its cakes began panic buying. Some 400 bakers worked to meet demand until the ‘cake run’ ended.
Then & Now | Shopping, sedan chairs, seeing China – tips for 1930s Hong Kong tourists
Pearl of the Orient, a city of myriad lights – Hong Kong was promoted to 1930s visitors by China’s Nationalist government much as it would be for decades afterwards. No sedan chair rides these days, though.
Reflections | As Hong Kong chases Muslim Mideast money, memories of China’s oldest mosque
An hour by high-speed train from Hong Kong, in Guangzhou, is the Huaisheng Mosque, which probably dates from the 10th century, some three centuries after Muslims began settling in the city.
The floating library visiting Hong Kong to help those in need
Hong Kong is hosting Germany-based Christian charity GBA Ships’ floating library. With over 2,000 books, it aims to promote literacy and ‘empower people with knowledge’.
Home from Home | How UK TV’s University Challenge still stumps me; but not Hongkongers
Watching two Hong Kong students help win the UK’s long-running University Challenge TV quiz show, Cliff Buddle recalls the challenges of viewing British TV favourites in Hong Kong in the 1990s.
When a Hong Kong policeman walked free after shooting his boss dead at work
Police Chief Inspector Leung Chi-lung was shot in his office in 1994 by Sergeant Leung Chung, who then held him hostage for three hours. The inspector died, but the sergeant was cleared of his murder.
Language Matters | Where did jeans and denim come from? The clues are in the names
The Italian city of Genoa and the French city of Nîmes are responsible for giving the world jeans and denim, respectively, which were later exported to northern Europe, Britain and North America.
Photographs from 80s Hong Kong paired with post-punk band at M+ museum
Wong Kar-wai and Chow Yun-fat are among the Hong Kong cinema luminaries featured in photos shot by Canadian Greg Girard on 1980s film sets. They will be presented at M+ with a musical accompaniment.
Then & Now | Good luck finding expert guides to tell tourists truths about Hong Kong
Tourists to Hong Kong have long been fed rote-learned clichés about its history by uninspiring and uninspired guides. In today’s new normal, who would dare risk offering them anything different?
Language Matters | Japanese ‘katsu’, from English ‘cutlet’, now English word in its own right
Among Japanese origin added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2024 is katsu, a ‘boomerang word’ – one the Japanese borrowed from English in the first place.
When a swindler offered to have Hong Kong hospital chief’s ex-wife killed
When a man offered to have Dr Walton Li’s ex-wife murdered in return for HK$800,000 in 1998, the hospital chief called the police. Iu Shui-tai was sent to prison for making the hoax offer.
