Le Journal
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Towering traditions: Hong Kong’s centuries-old Kam Tin Jiao Festival returns
Once every decade, villagers in Kam Tin build a nearly 30-metre (100-foot) tall bamboo structure – large enough to hold almost half the capacity of the Hong Kong Coliseum – to stage rituals and Cantonese opera performances for an audience of residents, deities and spirits alike. The colossal structure, adorned with vibrant plaques and a flag, is the largest of its kind in Hong Kong and serves as the centrepiece of…
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Japan quake shows urgent need to improve tourist safety: ‘didn’t know where to go’
The magnitude 7.5 earthquake that occurred off northeastern Japan recently highlights the need for Japan to provide safety tips and evacuation information to foreign nationals more effectively, particularly as the country witnesses an inbound tourism boom. Locals and foreign visitors alike were asked to evacuate as the weather agency issued tsunami warnings for part of the Pacific coast of Hokkaido, as well as…
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China’s fake name scandal sparks warnings about government credibility and corruption
Multiple documents on websites run by public institutions in China were found to feature fake names and people, a pattern state media warned could harm government credibility and provide a haven for corruption. The series of blunders unfolded when internet users on December 3 found that a tender document listed what appeared to be a fake judging panel, with the names of all five members coinciding with the first…
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Role reversal: Meta adopts Qwen as Chinese AI becomes industry foundation
When US tech giant Meta Platforms released its flagship Llama family of artificial intelligence models in February 2023, they were open-sourced, a move that singled it out among global AI model developers at the time. That September, one of the many derivatives of Llama was announced: Alibaba Cloud’s Qwen. The first generation of Qwen adopted Llama’s training process and cited Meta's seminal research findings in its…
The best things to do in Hong Kong this week, December 13-19
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The best things to do in Hong Kong this week, December 13-19
Don’t miss Car Boot Christmas Market China Hong Kong City’s Car Boot Christmas Market has returned, trading traditional tinsel for a grittier street-culture aesthetic. In collaboration with wood artisans Start from Zero, the Tsim Sha Tsui harbourfront space is hosting more than 100 vendors, ranging from Eric Kot Man-fai’s fashion brand Like Black to vintage curios. With classic motors on display, live sets from The Boogie Playboys and charity games in aid of animal rescue groups, it’s a...
Divers
How China is building a great green wall to protect itself from desertification
After decades of human activities and overgrazing, desertification has accelerated at an alarming speed in China, resulting in sandstorms, flooding and drought. The economic repercussions are potentially affecting more than 400 million people. In the past, Chinese kingdoms and empires erected the Great Wall to prevent steppe nomads from invading from the north. Now, the government is planting a whole new kind of…
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McDonald’s Hong Kong named Company of the Year at SCMP Live’s Business Awards
McDonald’s Hong Kong was voted Company of the Year at the 2025 Business Awards organised by SCMP Live, a highlight for the company as it marks half a century of operating in the city. The restaurant chain’s CEO Randy Lai and chairman Zhang Yichen received the award from SCMP’s CEO Catherine So during a lunch ceremony in Hong Kong on Friday. The toned-down ceremony replaced the black-tie gala dinners that…
Southeast Asia’s rich buy sky garages while the middle class lose their homes
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Southeast Asia’s rich buy sky garages while the middle class lose their homes
Daniel Ho’s clients want the best money can buy: branded residences and glass-wrapped penthouses complete with panoramic views and high-rise parking spots fit for supercars in the elite enclaves of Bangkok, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur and Manila. A world away, or so it seems, mid-level asset manager Charoen Kijvekin sees a very different reality playing out. His clients are debt-stricken Thais trying to claw back repossessed homes from auction and families on the bottom rung of the property ladder...
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Am I Chinese? In the US, the answer is complicated
Back in multiracial Singapore, the answer to the ethnicity question was simple. As a member of the majority race, I was unambiguously Chinese. “Hey, are you Chinese?” “Yes.” Done. Such exchanges were quintessentially Singaporean: short and direct. Now based in the United States, however, I’ve discovered that introducing myself has become a diplomatic exercise with varying complexity levels. Depending on the audience…
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Korean man sues wife for ‘malicious abandonment’ after she refuses to donate liver to save him
A South Korean man sued his wife for “malicious abandonment” and filed for divorce after she refused to donate part of her liver to save him, sparking heated debate on Chinese social media. The couple, both in their early 30s, had been married for three years and were raising two daughters – a two-year-old and a newborn just one month old at the time of his diagnosis. Last winter, the husband was diagnosed with…
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US schools embrace Asian-American history in new curriculum
When high school students in the West Hartford Public Schools district study World War II in the coming year, they will learn about more than just the typical hallmarks like Japanese-American detention camps. They will also hear about Sadao Munemori, a soldier who died protecting comrades from a grenade. The 22-year-old posthumously became the first Japanese-American awarded the Medal of Honour. Lessons like this…
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Hong Kong inferno exposes regulatory silos, lax oversight: who is accountable?
Ambiguous rules, lax supervision and uncoordinated policies involving at least four departments are among some deep-rooted problems contributing to the inferno that killed 160 residents in Hong Kong, analysts have said, as the Post reviewed what went wrong. Some industry insiders also questioned whether housing authorities, who oversee a lesser-known independent checking unit, should have played a bigger role in…