Hong Kong police officers assigned to identify victims of the deadly Tai Po fire remain mentally stable despite facing tougher conditions than in previous disasters, the force’s psychologists have said. Police clinical psychologist Michael Fung Ho-kin told the Post on Wednesday that the psychological services group had provided mental health support to frontline officers before,…
Hong Kong recorded a 17 per cent rise in visitors in November to 4.2 million, compared with the same month last year, bringing total arrivals for the first 11 months close to the full-year forecast. The Hong Kong Tourism Board announced on Monday that between January and November, tourist arrivals rose 12 per cent to…
The Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors has called on the government to introduce dedicated legislation and a new statutory body to fast-track the buy-back of Wang Fuk Court flats after the deadly fire, clearing the way for residents’ resettlement. Former president of the institute Chiu Kam-kuen, now chairman of its Housing Policy Panel, estimated that…
The dust has settled and Hong Kong’s eighth Legislative Council is getting ready, with new lawmakers finding their way. There were quite a few surprises, looking at the results. With many new candidates and political groups vying for seats, the contest for the directly elected geographical constituencies was highly competitive. Some candidates were fielded by…
Filipino domestic helpers who survived Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades say they have no intention of leaving the city, even though they were traumatised by the tragedy. Some of 35 survivors attending a full-day fair at St John’s Cathedral in Central on Sunday told the Post about their ordeals after losing all their personal…
Two Tai Po-based preachers offering emotional support to survivors of Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in seven decades have said their work has forced them to confront their own traumas from the tragedy. Jessie Fu Kam-wah and Ron Cheng King-on, both members of the Chinese Rhenish Church in Tai Po, said they had met elderly people…
For years, Winfield Chong Wing-fai, an executive committee member of the Democratic Party and long-term advocate against bid-rigging, has juggled countless invitations from Hong Kong residents to attend meetings of owners’ corporations, so homeowners can seek his advice on building maintenance projects. The number and frequency of those invitations increased exponentially after last month’s deadly…
Two non-governmental organisations serving Hong Kong’s large community of about 400,000 domestic helpers, mostly women from the Philippines and Indonesia, have joined forces to train some of them as community leaders to support their peers. Many NGOs may lack the resources and capacity to help individual workers, who work long hours far away from home…
Hong Kong continues to count the economic losses from the city’s deadliest fire in decades, with the disaster having destroyed 1,736 flats at Tai Po’s Wang Fuk Court, turned residents’ valuables into ashes and triggered the cancellation of banquets and mega-events. Economists and industry leaders estimate the losses could run into billions of Hong Kong…
Hong Kong’s constitutional affairs chief has dismissed suggestions that a record number of invalid ballots cast in the recent Legislative Council election was due to some people being forced to vote, adding that authorities may reconsider introducing “smart ballot boxes” to address the issue. Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Erick Tsang Kwok-wai also said…