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Hong Kong’s Luxury Timber Problem: Major stockpiles, minor prosecutions
Hong Kong has a timber-trafficking problem. Held in 50 cargo containers at secure sites, a stockpile of more than 1,200 tons of seized tropical hardwood attests to the city’s role as a major conduit for timber smugglers on route to China. And while its storage is causing severe financial implications for the city, its size ...
Falling through the cracks: Homelessness in Hong Kong
Last August, as Hong Kong braced for one of the strongest typhoons in its history, Jose Ramundo M. Gabriel was on a footbridge in North Point, searching for something, anything,...
Risky Business: Driving for Uber in Hong Kong
It was almost 5am on Jan. 1 when Prius (not his real name) parked his Toyota Prius (his real car) outside the Police Tactical Unit compound in Fanling and began what he calls his...
Old but not old enough: Architecture advocates worried post-war buildings will disappear
The “form follows function” ethos of modernist architecture shaped Hong Kong in its post-war boom years. But now, experts and advocates fear gems from the period are...
Green Burials: Why Hongkongers remain reluctant about alternative funerals
In the Fu Shan Garden of Remembrance, Heaven Kam attended two of the shortest funerals he has ever been to. Within 15 minutes, the priests said their prayers, and family members,...
The Sun Writers Club: Meet the maids reporting Hong Kong’s hidden stories
After she finishes cooking dinner, cleaning up and reading her employer’s children a bedtime story, Marites Palma aims to be in bed by 9pm — especially if a deadline is...
Filipino migrant mothers in Hong Kong sing for their distant children
Each Sunday, a choir of Filipina domestic workers in Hong Kong gathers to sing songs that remind them of the children they left back home. Known as the “Unsung...