Dates for your dairy… General Public Holidays for 2024
Add Hong Kong’s public holidays to your e-calendar at 1823 Hong Kong Public Holidays iCal Calendar.
Note: As the second day of Lunar New Year in 2024 falls on a Sunday, the fourth day of Lunar New Year will be designated as a general holiday in substitution.
They died for our freedom and we should never forget..
At the going down of the sun…
And in the morning…
We shall remember them
Volunteers young & old, are selling poppies in support of the Royal British Legion on the streets of Central on 11 November, 2023.
Poppies can be obtained at the following locations:
Temporary Poppy Depot at Room 1705, One Exchange Square, 8 Connaught Place, Central – 9am to 5pm.
Skybridge, Level L2 at Pacific Place on Friday and Saturday 10th and 11th November 2023 between 10am to 6pm
Images: Royal British Legion Hong Kong
After a COVID-induced gap the Shi Fu Miz Festival returned to Cheng Chau’s Sai Yuen Adventure Playground for its eighth edition!
Qoniatus Sholikhah was there to capture the atmosphere and dance the day and night away.
An eclectic line-up featured:
25 Years Of Rush Hour: Antal, Esa, Gigi Testa, Soichi Terada Live
Abyss Takeover, Ani Phoebe, Arthur Yeti, Arun R, Bagvs, Bongomann, Busyboi B2b Jfüng, Camion Bazar, Casey Anderson & Misty Penguin, Chaotic Pavilion Takeover, Cyk, Di Linh, Elaheh, Emel & Katsu, Ganjaman Vibrations, Gero, Gia Fu, Guido Balboa & Yadin Moha, Greg-Greg & Mlch, Heavy Hk Takeover, Identified Patient, Jamie Tiller, Just Bee & Mengzy & Subez, La Mamie’s, Licaxxx, Midland, Club Takeover, Mogwaa, Mr. Ho, Muto, Octave One Live, Red Greg, Re:Flex, Sai Street Sessions, Sarayu, S.O.N.S, Sticky Fried Vibes Takeover, Tri Takeover, Toppings, Xiaolin, Y2k Takeover, Yu Su, Yunus.
Sign up on the festival’s facebook page to get updates on the 2024 festival when it’s released.
Click on any photo for more images
All photos copyright Qoniatus Sholikhah
This picture is of a Toulouse taxi driver stealing my bag and passport! As a traveller, there are few things worse than watching someone steal your passport and see it disappear into the distance.
I had flown into the city to watch the Rugby World Cup match between Japan and Samoa it’s a ‘pretty’ city. Lots of wide tree-lined streets decorated with cafes offering outdoor seating – vastly different in feel and look to narrow streets of Hong Kong. A pleasant change of pace.
The rugby has been great, the atmosphere at stadiums passionate and friendly as fans from across the globe have flown in to support their teams.
To-steal though applies across the city, and the country for that matter. The lovely hostel I stayed at is ‘proud’ she only raised her rates by 10 per cent. When other hotels were doubling or tripling theirs. (In Marseille, some hostels had increased 6fold – charging between 115 and 300Euro (HK$950 -HK$2,450)for a dormitory bed!
Many of the bars and restaurants in cities hosting games have local prices and ‘rugby fan’ prices as they hope you won’t notice the difference… And for a country that prides itself on the quality of its food and wine that they still allow smoking and vaping in restaurants and cafes is ‘disappointing’. To have the flavours of your tasty, and not cheap, meal or the notes of a glass of wine destroyed by a cloud of cigarette or vape smoke gets frustrating fast.
As much as I hate their exploitative policies Uber has thrived because their drivers have in many countries made using a ‘taxi service’ an enjoyable and stress-free experience.
The many bad apples among taxi drivers, sadly including Hong Kong, having destroyed the simple convenience of using a taxi years ago
At To-steal airport I showed the driver my hotel, he quoted 15 Euros. Set the amount in the meter and drove off. Less than 100m later he was telling he wanted an extra 35 Euros (HK$350).
I told him to stop the car and let me off. And started to video his demands for more money. Whereupon he stopped the car sharply, turning around and punched me in the face as he tried to grab my phone and stop me filming. My phone flew across the car as he started driving again screaming in French.
He stopped the taxi again screaming get out, and fearful of being attacked again. I got out and went to the back to get my bag, only to have him drive off into the distance with my passport and bag.
The French police found my bag and passport. The city itself seems to have no regulation or complaint mechanisms as according to the city office they are private companies.
The rugby and the overseas fans have been great, but France, can go fuck itself!
Surely influenced by the Hello Hong Kong marketing campaign, Super Typhoon Saola saw the HK Observatory raise the T10 storm signal for just the 16th time in over 100 years as Saola’s wind speeds topped 220km/h (135 mph).
Click on any photo to see the full gallery of images.
Happy Birthday to us!
Twenty-nine years ago on the 1st September 1994, bc magazine debuted on the streets of Hong Kong.
A lot of people – staff, friends, advertisers and readers have been involved over the years, thank you for your continued support and strength especially now. Stay safe.
Carpe Diem!
Radio Free Asia are reporting that Hong Kong government broadcaster RTHK has announced it will axe the LGBTQ+ radio show 自己人 We Are Family after 17 years on air, according to the show’s anchor and producers.
“I received personal notice at the beginning of July from the director of Radio Television Hong Kong’s Chinese channel that ‘We Are Family,’ which started up in 2006, is being officially terminated in August,” the show’s anchor Brian Leung said in a July 22 post on his Facebook page.
“In Hong Kong, we are mentally prepared, as a lot of things seem to be a matter of sooner or later,” Leung wrote in an apparent reference to an ongoing crackdown on liberal media and political opposition.
“There’s little we can do. What can be done has been done.”
Activists told Radio Free Asia that the move comes as Beijing continues to tighten its grip on public speech in Hong Kong, in a bid to make the city more patriotically Chinese.
Leung thanked his listeners and said it was “dark times” for equal rights, rather than the end of the road.
The show’s producers said on its official Facebook page that it had started in 2006 on the back of a wave of regional interest in LGBTQ+ culture sparked by Taiwanese director Ang Lee’s film “Brokeback Mountain.”
Continue reading the full article here
Beautiful!!!
Hong Kong’s women’s 7s team runout at the Hong Kong Sevens for the first time!!
Brilliant!!!
Agnes Tse scores a historic first try for Hong Kong on their Seven’s World Series debut.
image: Takumi Photography
HK Sevens
Date: 31 March – 2 April, 2023
Venue: HK Stadium
Tickets: $1,950
More info: www.HKsevens.com
