Two Hong Kong publishers have said a shortage of writers – both up-and-coming and experienced – posed a challenge to the local literary industry, as the annual book fair opened on Wednesday. Publishers Breakthrough and Boundary Bookstore told HKFP on Wednesday that the shortage of local writers had added to existing business woes, such as the rising cost of printing and a changing readership that saw fewer people buying books. The publishers were among 760 exhibitors in this year’s Hong Kong Book Fair, which will run until next Tuesday at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan C...
Hong Kong Free Press
Hong Kong’s Foreign Correspondents’ Club (FCC) has said it was “deeply concerned” to learn that the head of the Hong Kong Journalists Association Selina Cheng had been fired by American newspaper The Wall Street Journal, weeks after being elected as chair of the city’s largest press union. “The FCC has reached out to The Wall Street Journal for comment and to ask why Ms Cheng’s employment was terminated,” the foreign press club said in a statement issued on Thursday morning. “We urge The Wall Street Journal and all news organisations to respect reporters’ rights to join press clubs and to advo...
Hong Kong Free Press
More than 80 per cent of Hongkongers think people should be able to publicly criticise the government if they disagree with the authorities’ actions, a survey has found. US think tank Pew Research Center on Monday released results of a questionnaire that surveyed adults in East Asia – specifically Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan – on their views on government criticism. In Hong Kong, 81 per cent of the 2,000-odd people surveyed said they believed that people who disagreed with what the government was doing should be able to publicly criticise the authorities. Fifteen per cent said the...
Hong Kong Free Press
Hong Kong’s consumer watchdog has issued an apology after mainland Chinese beverage giant Nongfu Spring hit back at an “unscientific” report published by the body about bottled water. In a statement on Thursday, the Consumer Council said it had launched “in-depth research and follow up” after receiving a legal letter from Nongfu Spring, adding that it had met the company’s representatives on Wednesday. Nongfu Spring’s actions came after the Council Council published a report on Monday, which assessed the chemical components of 30 brands of bottled water. They included local brands Watsons Wate...
Hong Kong Free Press
A Hong Kong power giant has been ordered to review its management system following a series of voltage dips, the city’s environment minister has said, as he revealed the city saw 26 power outages in the past three years. “The Government is of the view that CLP needs to examine its company culture and management system for the entire power supply system to identify the root causes of the problem,” environment minister Tse Chin-wan said in a written response to questions from Election Committee lawmaker Chow Man-kong on Wednesday. Independent reviewCLP Power, one of Hong Kong’s two main energy p...
Hong Kong Free Press
American newspaper The Wall Street Journal has terminated Hong Kong-based reporter Selina Cheng weeks after she was elected chair of the city’s embattled Hong Kong Journalist Association (HKJA), which has met with increasing pressure from authorities. Reporters on Wednesday afternoon received an invitation to a press conference at 5.30 pm about the “unreasonable decision to terminate the employment of HKJA chair Selina Cheng.” The newspaper announced in early May that it planned to move its Asia headquarters to Singapore, with layoffs of Hong Kong staff. According to Hong Kong’s Employment Ord...
Hong Kong Free Press
Ten students have achieved perfect results in Hong Kong’s university entrance examinations, as more than 90 per cent of candidates achieved a passing grade in a new subject that replaced the city’s liberal studies curriculum. Students across the city received their results on Wednesday. Of the 10 perfect scorers, eight were “super top scorers,” who achieved top marks in an additional mathematics module on top of the core Chinese, English, and mathematics subjects, three electives, and a passing mark in Citizenship and Social Development. The top grade in the HKDSE exam is a 5** — the top 10 pe...
Hong Kong Free Press
Hong Kong passport holders may now spend up to 60 days in Thailand visa-free, the Immigration Department has announced. The department said on Tuesday that Thailand had extended the period of visa-free entry for holders of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) passport from 30 to 60 days, adding that it would bring “great travel convenience” to Hongkongers. Thailand, which is located along China’s Belt and Road infrastructure initiative and a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), has a “close relationship” with Hong Kong in terms of people-to-people and cu...
Hong Kong Free Press
Hong Kong logged 3.13 million visitor arrivals in June, according to provisional figures from the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB), 14 per cent more than in the same period last year when the city was emerging from three years of Covid-related isolation. However, arrival figures remained well below pre-pandemic figures. In June 2018, Hong Kong saw 4.74 million arrivals, and 5.14 million visitor arrivals were recorded in 2019. Last month’s total represented a decline of 34 per cent from 2018 and 39 per cent from 2019. Over 21 million visitors arrived in Hong Kong in the first six months of the ye...
Hong Kong Free Press
A 20-year-old man has been charged with unlawful assembly over his suspected involvement in a protest that took place in a Hong Kong shopping mall four years ago. Issac Lee, a student, appeared at Kwun Tong Magistrates’ Courts on Tuesday morning. He was remanded in custody until next Tuesday, when his case will next be mentioned in court. Lee is suspected of taking part in an unlawful assembly in Kwun Tong’s apm shopping mall on June 30, 2020, along with Arthur Chiang, Truvian Wong, Cheung Chung-lun and others. Around 100 people gathered in the mall that day for a “sing with you” demonstration...
Hong Kong Free Press
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