Tokyo, Japan | Image credit: Yu Kato/Unsplash Octopus, a payment app, is scheduled to launch in Japan by the third quarter of this year, providing added convenience for travellers from Hong Kong. Soon, visitors can use their Octopus mobile apps to make payments in Japan without relying solely on exchanged currency. The platform is already…
Amid the flurry of measures announced in the budget by Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po it was good to see the pledge to transform Hong Kong into a hub for international exchange and cooperation for artificial intelligence (AI). The plan to leverage technology to create a new economic driver would come with HK$1 billion (US$128.6…
Hong Kong authorities can only apply a new pricing model for the HK$2 (25 US cent) transport fare scheme by September of next year because they need time to organise updates, checks and tests covering 17,000 Octopus card readers on vehicles and ferries, the welfare chief has said. Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun…
A Hong Kong public transport subsidy scheme will only start charging elderly and passengers with disabilities 20 per cent for more expensive routes from September of next year, with authorities blaming stored-value card company Octopus for the delay, the Post has learned. The HK$2 (US$0.26) concession scheme is being revised as part of spending cuts…
The Hong Kong government’s proposed adjustment to the controversial HK$2 (25 US cents) transport subsidy scheme for the elderly will fail to tackle the deficit and instead alienate the demographic, social policy experts have said. Nelson Chow Wing-sun, an emeritus professor at University of Hong Kong’s department of social work and social administration, was among…
Chinese researchers say they have developed a material that changes colour at a molecular level based on the surrounding light, creating a new form of camouflage that could help people blend into their environments – much like a chameleon. “In other words, applying this technology to clothing could make an individual effectively ‘invisible’,” said lead…
One of the great pleasures of travelling to different places is that it provides an opportunity to compare with the situation in one’s city and country. There is an extra dimension to the pleasure when revisiting after an absence of some years, to better evaluate the effect of the changes in the interim. Over the…
Hong Kong e-payment service provider Octopus recorded HK$100 million (US$12.9 million) worth of transactions by tourists over the National Day “golden week” holiday from October 1 to 7, a 30 per cent increase from the same period last year. The company on Tuesday also said the number of active users of “tourist mobile Octopus” tripled…
Hong Kong’s success has always been in its openness to opportunity and willingness to try new things. This “can-do” spirit may now seem a bit canned in expression, but the truth of it remains – Hong Kong cannot afford to lose its appetite for risk. It was what made us a cultural icon in the…