In the first of a two-part series tracing the new trends of illegal betting in Hong Kong amid excitement over the World Cup 2026, Edith Lin looks at how social media has become a new channel pushing the youth to engage in unlawful bookmaking activities. Ken Chan* started betting on football matches when he was…
Hong Kong authorities will consider requiring operators to display the odds of winning on claw machines, while remaining open to increasing the prize value and maximum payout per game under a proposed regulatory regime, the home affairs minister has said. “The most important thing is to protect players and consumers, ensure they play in a…
A Hong Kong homemaker sits alone at a pinball machine, engrossed in the game for an hour to kill time before picking up her sons from school for lunch on a weekday morning at a shopping centre in Sham Shui Po. The 47-year-old mother-of-two, who only identified herself as Mrs Cheung, said she played pinball…
Hong Kong authorities have proposed amending gambling laws to tighten oversight of claw machines and other prize-based amusement games by issuing individual licences for each device, in a bid to prevent addiction. In a document released by the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau on Monday, officials called for a mandatory regime for internet cafes, requiring…
After years of debate over whether claw and pinball machines encourage high-stakes gambling, Hong Kong has finally proposed stricter oversight to curb gaming, particularly among teenagers. Cases of addiction linked to these machines are rising in the city, but drawing a clear distinction between gaming and gambling remains difficult. As Hong Kong prepares to amend…
Hong Kong’s leader has defended the government’s decision to put the legalisation of basketball betting on hold, stressing the policy was never intended to encourage gambling and that all risks must be controlled before any further steps are taken. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu made the remarks on Tuesday after the government’s surprising U-turn last…
Hong Kong’s innovation and technology (I&T), intellectual property and investment promotion departments will receive budget increases of at least 10 per cent in the coming financial year, even as the government moves to curb recurrent spending, while the environmental branch and public broadcaster face sharp cuts of 70 and 28 per cent, respectively. The Home…
Senior civil servants are among scores of witnesses to be cross-examined by an independent committee set up to probe the cause of Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades in a string of open hearings expected to take around two months, the South China Morning Post has learned. The committee tasked to investigate the fire, which…
Some tenants of a government-subsidised youth hostel in Hong Kong fear having to return to shoebox homes and are scrambling to find alternatives after a private operator announced its shutdown last week. A resident of the BeLIVING Youth Hub in Causeway Bay told the Post on Friday that the hostel’s operator, the Hong Kong United…
Hongkongers displaced by the deadly Tai Po fire feel as if they are “being tossed around like a ball” after being told to leave their temporary accommodation by the end of the month, and are urging authorities to let them stay until long-term housing is found. Affected residents were recently told by social workers that…