Hong Kong Sevens Tickets

Tickets for the Hong Kong Sevens go on sale today from 10am. The tournament, 5-7 April 2024, will be the 30th and last at the Hong Kong Stadium before the event moves to the new Kai Tak Sports Park in 2025.

Hong Kong Sevens
Date: 5-7 April, 2024
Venue: HK Stadium
Tickets: $1,950
More info: www.HKsevens.com

Merry Christmas

All of us at bc magazine would like to wish all our readers, advertisers and suppliers a Merry Christmas and hope you have a happy and healthy festive season.

Please also spare a moment of your day to remember all those Hongkongers who are separated from their families.

image surrealHK

Immigration Department To Accept Extension of Stay Applications from Outside Hong Kong

With effect from 8 April, eligible non-permanent residents who are admitted into Hong Kong under the following immigration policies/schemes and whose limit of stay is about to expire – but are presently outside Hong Kong may apply for an extension of stay under the new measure:

  1. General Employment Policy (including both employment and investment as entrepreneurs);
  2. Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals;
  3. Quality Migrant Admission Scheme;
  4. Immigration Arrangements for Non-local Graduates;
  5. Admission Scheme for the Second Generation of Chinese Hong Kong Permanent Residents;
  6. Technology Talent Admission Scheme;
  7. Capital Investment Entrant Scheme;
  8. residence as dependants; and
  9. students enrolled in full-time study programmes.

Eligible applicants may submit the applications online (www.immd.gov.hk/eng/evisaonline.html) in accordance with the prevailing application procedures for an extension of stay. If the applicant continues to meet the eligibility criteria under the relevant visa the ImmD may approve his/her application for an extension of stay. Successful applicants can then download the “e-Visa” after having paid the relevant fee.

Applicants will be able to complete the whole process and activate the “e-Visa” for an extension of stay from outside Hong Kong. The new measure will replace the temporary measure announced by the ImmD on 31 December, 2020.

Amanda Gorman New Poem – A New Day’s Lyric

Poet Amanda Gorman has Instagrammed a video of herself reciting her new poem inside an empty theatre. Gorman said “I wrote A New Day’s Lyric both to celebrate the new year & honour both the hurt & the humanity of the last one.”

Ahead of the poem’s release, Gorman is quoted in a Vanity Fair interview that A New Day’s Lyric was partly inspired by the stories of grief and perseverance she’s seen shared on social media.

Earlier in December, Gorman published the poetry collection Call Us What We Carry.

May this be the day
We come together.
Mourning, we come to mend,
Withered, we come to weather,
Torn, we come to tend,
Battered, we come to better.
Tethered by this year of yearning,
We are learning
That though we weren’t ready for this,
We have been readied by it.
We steadily vow that no matter
How we are weighed down,
We must always pave a way forward.

This hope is our door, our portal.
Even if we never get back to normal,
Someday we can venture beyond it,
To leave the known and take the first steps.
So let us not return to what was normal,
But reach toward what is next.

What was cursed, we will cure.
What was plagued, we will prove pure.
Where we tend to argue, we will try to agree,
Those fortunes we forswore, now the future we foresee,
Where we weren’t aware, we’re now awake;
Those moments we missed
Are now these moments we make,
The moments we meet,
And our hearts, once all together beaten,
Now all together beat.

Come, look up with kindness yet,
For even solace can be sourced from sorrow.
We remember, not just for the sake of yesterday,
But to take on tomorrow.

We heed this old spirit,
In a new day’s lyric,
In our hearts, we hear it:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne.
Be bold, sang Time this year,
Be bold, sang Time,
For when you honor yesterday,
Tomorrow ye will find.
Know what we’ve fought
Need not be forgot nor for none.
It defines us, binds us as one,
Come over, join this day just begun.
For wherever we come together,
We will forever overcome.

King Ly Chee 荔枝王 Resurrections

Even looking behind the mirror there’s not been much to get excited about for local live music fans over the last 18 months as COVID and government regulations have decimated live music and concert venues.

Sometimes though, behind a cloud there is actually a silver lining as fans of the iconic hardcore band King Ly Chee found earlier this month with the surprise announcement of the band’s first concert in four years.

As resurrections go, this was totally unexpected – seismically similar to the ABBA reunion among pop fans perhaps – as the band’s break-up in 2017 seemed terminal with former members all getting involved in new bands and musical projects.

In 1999 when Pakistani frontman Riz Farooqi returned to his birthplace from New York ‘hardcore’ barely existed in Hong Kong. Riz though was a passionate devote… finding happiness, joy and release/freedom in the music and community.

Finding some like-minded musicians King Ly Chee was born and a generation of HongKongers found their voice and identity in Hong Kong hardcore.

bc magazine spoke with Riz Farooqi ahead of their new concerts:

King Ly Chee live again, honestly didn’t expect to see that to happen – how did it come about?
The band ended in 2017. I carried the band through numerous lineup changes which I did because I had made a commitment to myself back when I started the band in 1999 that I would keep it going no matter what. So regardless of who left I just kept it going which is why it ended up feeling like a revolving door of members. But by 2017 I was done looking for new people – it finally came to a point that it just wasn’t right to keep replacing people. That particular lineup that ended in 2017 included a total of 5 people (Myself, Ivan, Brian, Ho, and Joe) who pretty much made the band their lives and dropped everything to be able to honour commitments when it came to shows, touring and recording. 

So in 2017 it was done and I was ready to move on with my new band Dagger.

But then Covid came and put a complete stop to Dagger because my drummer, Ivan, lives in Macau. In fact the very last show I’ve played was two years ago when Dagger played at The Wanch in Feb of 2020 which was also the last time I saw Ivan. So it’s been two years of absolutely nothing going on in my life. NOTHING. I even started another band, Regret, in that time trying to get the fire going again. But the drummer of that band, Egas, ALSO lives in Macau. 

I started reminiscing and a bunch of old KLC photos and videos kept popping up on my newsfeed. These photos were from an era of the band that was MOST beloved by Hong Kong. That’s not even an understatement…looking at all those photos and videos of people right here in Hong Kong losing their minds to this band was something that really meant a lot to me. Interestingly enough the drummer for that era is an amazing dude named Kevin (out of all the band members I’ve had the honour to play with in KLC, he was always the closest to me – like a full-on brother), just so happened was also missing that era too. I contacted Andy who played guitar back then and the three of us decided to try it out to see how it felt. It was just a quick jam – but we ripped through all those songs as if literally NO time had passed. After the first jam we all kinda sat there smiling from ear to ear.  

King Ly Chee - HK hardcore

There have been many members of King Ly Chee since 1999, who will be in the 2021-22 line-up?
That’s the thing. When people ask if we’d ever reunite I always say, “which era”? For Hong Kong there was never any doubt that the ‘Stand Strong’ era would be it. So the band that is back together is myself, Kevin, and Andy (Unfortunately Alex is not in Hong Kong so it won’t include him, but our good friend Ho (also an ex-member of KLC) will be on bass). 

What has it felt like to prepare for a gig and play the King Ly Chee songs again after such a long time?
As mentioned above, it was like literally no time had passed. Kevin, Andy and I got right back into it and the craziest part was that the vibe was exactly the same from back then. People have to understand, we’re talking about something we did almost 20 years ago, and for it to click like the way it did today in 2021 is something none of us envisioned. But it felt right being back in the practice room together and we’re currently gearing up to play the first of our comeback shows. We’re STOKED. 

For those who might recognise the name but don’t know the band, can you give us a quick potted history of who are/were King Ly Chee?
King Ly Chee is a hardcore band I started back in 1999 as a way to introduce the world of “hardcore” to HKers. I wanted to introduce this underground culture in a language that was more easily digestible to the local population (Cantonese) because it’s what saved my life once (as did metal and punk rock) and I wanted to see if it could help others as well. 

Are you going to record/film/live stream the upcoming King Ly Chee shows?
The current plan is to film the first show back and then see what happens. 

king ly chee stand strongThe first show sold out in minutes, the second almost as quickly – is King Ly Chee back as a band? Will there be any new KL songs?
We have been totally shocked by how fast both shows sold out! 

Yes, we have 2 brand new songs done and will continue to write into the new year. We’ve talked about maybe getting a brand new EP out in 2022 but will see how it goes. The most important thing about getting back together is to just have fun and put zero stress on each other. All of us are married, have full-time jobs, the majority of us have children, we’re just getting back together to have fun, play shows, write music, and use this all to have an excuse to be in the same room together. 

Which of the various online music channels can readers buy/stream King Ly Chee?
We’re on everything – bandcamp being the best because bands get paid the best on this platform. 

Where can people purchase King Ly Chee albums, merchandise?
Currently, the only store selling our stuff in Hong Kong is the amazing Infree Records in Mong Kok run by a true HK legend Soni. If you all haven’t visited this store yet, you’re missing out on an absolute cultural event. 

As a musician what has been the hardest aspect of life under COVID?
Not being able to play shows and tour. I couldn’t care less about recording – I actually HATE recording – being a studio musician/band has never interested me at all. For me the whole point of being in a band is to actually play shows in front of people engaging with music screaming their heads off. 

Apart from the King Ly Chee gigs, what’s on the musical horizon for your other bands Dagger and Regret.
Nothing else…not until it’s easier for people to travel to Hong Kong.

Apart from writing, singing and performing in three bands Riz Farooqi started and runs the hardcore website UniteAsia which brings together bands and fans of hardcore, punk, metal from across Asia.

King Ly Chee Live

Read more about King Ly Chee here

https://www.bcmagazine.net/2017/05/07/king-ly-chee-break-up/
https://daily.bandcamp.com/features/riz-farooqi-interview
Vice: How King Ly Chee Is Keeping Hong Kong Hardcore Alive
Facebook: www.facebook.com/kinglychee
Instagram: kinglychee

Buy/stream King Ly Chee

Bandcamp: https://kinglychee.bandcamp.com
Spotify: King Ly Chee

King Ly Chee Live

King Ly Chee @ Cultkey – 27 December 2021
King Ly Chee @ The aftermath – 29 January 2022

images: skipp zhang, fb

Immigration Department Introduces Online Visa Applications

The Immigration Department (ImmD) announced today (22 December) that online visa applications and “e-Visa” arrangements will be launched on 28 December.

The new service will allow applicants to complete the entire visa application process, including application submission, payment and “e-Visa” collection, online without having to attend an Immigration office in person.

Under the new process, eligible applicants can submit their applications online through the ImmD mobile application, the ImmD’s website or the GovHK website. Once their applications are approved, applicants can use the online payment service to pay the relevant fee and download the “e-Visa” instantly upon payment. The “e-Visa” can be printed and/or saved as a PDF file on a personal mobile device.

The “e-Visa” service includes: “Notification Slip for Entry Visa/Permit”, “Notification Slip for Conditions of Stay” and “Foreign Domestic Helper – Notification Slip for Extension of Stay and Entry Visa”.

The new system will replace the existing sticker-type labels for entry visas/permits, extension of stay and more.

The “e-Visa” contains a QR code for anti-forgery purposes. The information on the “e-Visa” can only be seen by scanning the QR code with the ImmD mobile application.  Personal information cannot be retrieved by scanning the QR code with other mobile applications – which just means anyone who wants to read the information will download the app, not the most private or secure system.

Full details of the new “e Visa” can be found at the Immd website www.immd.gov.hk/eng/evisaonline

Hike The North Dragon Stream

A beautiful video from Wild Pi about hiking the North Dragon Stream, one of the Five Dragons of Tung Chung, and renowned for its pristine water.

Tung Chung’s Five Dragons refer to the five main streams at Wong Lung Hang (Yellow Dragon Valley). The five streams are: North Dragon Stream, Living Dragon Stream, Yellow Dragon Stream, Hidden Dragon Stream and East Dragon Stream.

Flowing into Tung Chung Bay, Yellow Dragon Stream – into which the others flow – is the major stream and it originates at Sunset Peak, Hong Kong’s third-highest mountain.

Warning: Hiking in streams is dangerous! Check the weather before setting out, never go alone.

Pick up your rubbish, don’t spoil nature’s beauty by leaving anything behind.

For more about Wild Pi :
Instagram: www.instagram.com/wild.pi
Facebook: www.facebook.com/wildpi3.14/
YouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCiIukLawRWR_nDSrA3oRXTg

Siobhan Haughey World Champion and World Record Holder!

Magnificent! After a pair of silver medals at the Tokyo Olympics Siobhan Haughey has won her first World Title in the 200m freestyle at the Short Course Worlds.

Not only is Siobhan a World Champion she is also the new World Record holder! Haughey’s time of 1:50.31 beat Sarah Sjostrom old record of 1:50.43 set in 2017.

Watch the race here

Siobhan Haughey World Champion