Scam cases in Hong Kong fell by 2.9 per cent last year over the figure for 2024 after rising annually since 2019, while overall recorded crimes decreased by 5.9 per cent, according to police. In revealing the annual figures on Tuesday, Commissioner of Police Joe Chow Yat-ming also told lawmakers that fewer traditional street crimes…
Hong Kong lawmakers have called for greater scrutiny of flat owners’ proxies attending meetings on building management affairs in response to the government’s proposed legal amendments to combat bid-rigging following the deadly Tai Po blaze last year. During a Legislative Council panel meeting on Monday, Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs Alice Mak Mei-kuen said…
Hong Kong authorities will submit a draft law by the end of this year to strengthen enforcement against fire safety violations, including issuing fixed penalties alongside existing prosecution options that can take months to carry out. Responding to questions from the South China Morning Post, a Security Bureau spokeswoman said that a fixed penalty system…
The provisional administrator of the housing estate ravaged by Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades will attend hearings of the independent committee “as necessary” to represent the “common interests” of the owners’ corporation, the city’s home affairs chief has said amid criticisms that displaced residents lack legal representation in the probe. Secretary for Home and…
Some residents of Tai Po’s Wang Fuk Court have urged an independent committee investigating Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades to identify and hold those responsible to account, as the judge leading the inquiry vows a fair and thorough probe. The committee’s first hearing began at 10am on Thursday with a minute of silence to…
Survivors of Hong Kong’s deadly Tai Po blaze have condemned what they called “insensitive and bureaucratic” arrangements for a government subsidy, with some saying they were blindsided by demands to provide proof of legal heirship in the wake of the blaze that tore through the estate and killed 168 people last year. The outcry over…
Hong Kong authorities are considering changing the proposed fine for smoking on a construction site to a fixed penalty of HK$3,000 (US$385) rather than a maximum of HK$150,000. Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han said on Tuesday that the initial plan was to amend the Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance, which only stipulates…
A secondary school in Hong Kong has apologised after a teacher was criticised for citing the deadly Wang Fuk Court blaze as an example to urge students to take a fire drill seriously. The MKMCF Ma Chan Duen Hey Memorial College in Tseung Kwan O on Tuesday said it was aware of the incident that…
Hong Kong’s construction watchdog should help small firms procure approved scaffolding nets at a lower cost, a leading contractor has said after inspectors found two sites using plastic meshes that failed security tests. Lawrence Ng San-wa, permanent honorary president of the Hong Kong Construction Sub‑contractors Association, said on Monday that the industry was concerned about…
Hong Kong’s security minister has said the city currently faces four primary risks to its national security, with soft resistance being one of the most significant threats. Speaking on a radio programme on Saturday, Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung also said the police national security hotline had drawn 1.1 million reports since its inception…