Hong Kong’s note-issuing banks are replacing burnt cash for Wang Fuk Court residents, following emergency measures introduced by the city’s Monetary Authority and lenders to support those affected by last November’s devastating fire at the Tai Po estate. The extent of the residents’ financial losses came into the spotlight as they returned to the site…
Hong Kong’s annual Cheung Chau Bun Festival drew more than 10,000 visitors by noon on Sunday, including tourists who had travelled specially to witness the signature parade featuring “floating” children dressed as Middle Eastern oil moguls and judges. Visitors to the outlying island on Sunday splurged on frozen pineapples, watermelon juice and frozen mango mochi…
A group of Hongkongers have started the city’s first corpse restoration team, aiming to bring an affordable service in reconstructing badly disfigured bodies, allowing the dead to be buried with dignity and consoling their families. The six-member team, under local funeral information sharing platform RIPHK, has handled more than 10 cases since it started operations…
Hong Kong authorities are extending an operation targeting poorly maintained fire safety equipment for another two years, aiming to inspect 5,000 high-risk old buildings after an initial phase resulted in 75 prosecutions. Law Kin-san, acting senior divisional officer for policy at the Fire Services Department, said on Thursday that ad hoc checks on high-risk buildings…
Hong Kong police are investigating a burglary at a seaside luxury house in Tai Po, where a businesswoman lost an estimated HK$8 million (US$1.02 million) worth of premium wines, Mao-tai liquor and vintage tea leaves, the South China Morning Post has learned. A source on Thursday said that the victim, a 53-year-old local businesswoman, reported…
Smoking will be banned at construction sites in Hong Kong from July 17 under a government proposal sent to the legislature following the deadly blaze at Tai Po’s Wang Fuk Court last November. The government introduced three amendments to existing ordinances to improve fire safety at the sites on Tuesday. “Since the tragic fire which…
The Hong Kong government will lift resale restrictions on replacement homes for flat owners displaced by the Tai Po fire and provide them with two-year vouchers to purchase second-hand subsidised housing, according to an official buy-back document seen by the South China Morning Post on Tuesday. The document states that original owners who opt for…
Owners at Wang Chi House, the only block spared in Hong Kong’s fire-ravaged Wang Fuk Court, have until October 15 to finalise the sale of homes under a government buyback scheme – provided more than 75 per cent of them indicate their intention to sell by the end of next month. However, the tight timeline…
An outspoken resident who survived Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades has said he will not give any more media interviews after his release following an arrest over alleged government loan fraud. Jason Kong, a former member of the Wang Fuk Court owners’ board. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. “Going forward, I won’t be responding to anything,…
A 38-year-old motorcyclist has died after his vehicle crashed into a fallen tree by a road in Hong Kong’s New Territories. Police said on Sunday that they received a report at 10.32pm the day before that an accident involving a motorcycle had taken place in Tai Po. The force said the rider was travelling along…