Category: news

Hong Kong New Year Countdown Concert 2021-22

A slew of local artists including AGA, Alfred Hui, Gin Lee, Jay Fung, Joyce Cheng, MIRROR, Edan Lui and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra created a distinctly Hong Kong style Countdown Concert in West Kowloon.

Live music has been one of the industries hardest hit by Covid and after a 2021 almost devoid of concerts, we can only hope that the Countdown Concert is the start of a year full of gigs and the uplifting feeling and happiness that sharing live music brings.

The concert was live-streamed on New Year’s Eve and is now available on the HKTB youtube channel.

https://youtu.be/5o_SCHF5Ak0

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2022/Hong-Kong-Countdown-Concert-West-Kowloon-31-December-2021/i-T2X9s6B

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2022/Hong-Kong-Countdown-Concert-West-Kowloon-31-December-2021/i-rsFHkjQ

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2022/Hong-Kong-Countdown-Concert-West-Kowloon-31-December-2021/i-74BN29d

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2022/Hong-Kong-Countdown-Concert-West-Kowloon-31-December-2021/i-bd7Hd7D

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2022/Hong-Kong-Countdown-Concert-West-Kowloon-31-December-2021/i-HPhPb6q

Hong Kong New Year Countdown Concert – Set list

1.《＠princejoyce》鄭欣宜 (Joyce Cheng)
2.《Megahit》Anson Lo@MIRROR
3.《喘息空間》 Gin Lee
4.《金星女孩》Anson Kong@MIRROR
5.《Wonderful U》AGA
6.《So Called Love Song》AGA
7.《理性與任性之間》AGA
8.《開始倒數》AGA、 Jay Fung
9.《3am》AGA、 Jay Fung
10.《冬日寂寞考》Jay Fung
11.《思念即地獄》Jay Fung
12《另一個諾貝爾》陳卓賢@MIRROR
13.《狂人日記》Jer@MIRROR
14.《Tonight》AGA x 香港管弦樂團 (HK Philharmonic Orchestra)
15.《一步一悔過》Jay Fung x 香港管弦樂團 (HK Philharmonic Orchestra)
16.《女神》鄭欣宜 (Joyce Cheng) x 香港管弦樂團 (HK Philharmonic Orchestra)
17.《e先生連環不幸事件》Edan x 香港管弦樂團 (HK Philharmonic Orchestra)
18.《日出時讓街燈安睡》GinLee x 香港管弦樂團 (HK Philharmonic Orchestra)
19.《青春頌》許廷鏗 (Alfred Hui) x 香港管弦樂團 (HK Philharmonic Orchestra)
20.《IDK》Gin Lee
21.《幸福門》Gin Lee
22.《先哭為敬》Gin Lee、《很堅強》鄭欣宜 (Joyce Cheng)
23.《最難行的路》鄭欣宜 (Joyce Cheng)
24.《天下無雙》許廷鏗 x Jay Fung
25.《我的快樂時代》許廷鏗 (Alfred Hui) x Jay Fung
26.《修羅場》許廷鏗 (Alfred Hui)
27.《佛系人生》許廷鏗 (Alfred Hui)
28.《停半分鐘聽一闋歌》許廷鏗 (Alfred Hui)
29. 《鏡中鏡》姜濤
30. 《12》MIRROR
31.《BOSS》MIRROR
32《IGNITED》MIRROR

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2022/Hong-Kong-Countdown-Concert-West-Kowloon-31-December-2021/i-F3NbqsH

photos: HKTB

Hong Kong Public Holidays 2022

Dates for your dairy…

Labour Day and the Birthday of the Buddha in 2022 both fall on a Sunday, the day following them will be designated as a general holiday in substitution.

In addition, since the day following the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival in 2022 falls on a Sunday, the second day following that Festival will be designated as a general holiday in substitution.

As Christmas Day in 2022 falls on a Sunday, the second weekday after Christmas Day will be designated as a general holiday in substitution.

Add Hong Kong’s public holidays to your e-calendar at 1823 Hong Kong Public Holidays iCal Calendar.

 

New Years Eve 2022 @ Victoria Harbour

Hundreds of thousands of HongKongers braved a chilly evening and gathered on both shores of Victoria Harbour to kick out a depressing and stressful 2021 and communally embrace the hope and expectations of a New Year.

It was disappointing that even after months of no local Covid infections and harsh quarantine measures, the government still cancelled the annual New Year’s Eve fireworks display. The ‘enhanced’ Symphony of Lights didn’t really offer anything to those watching from Kowloon side, not even a 2022 on the front of the HKCEC…

But you would be wrong to think too negatively, people gathered knowing there were no fireworks. We gathered peacefully, no shoving or pushing, to recharge each other. To support and strengthen the old and the young after the harshness of the last twelve months.

Where alone and individually we might not feel strong to face 2022, together unspoken counting down to midnight we recharged each other’s batteries and shared our strength.

Together we are HongKongers and our flame burns brightly in the cold dark night! Happy New Year!

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2022/New-Years-Eve-2022-Victoria-Harbour-Hong-Kong/i-P8bXMXW

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2022/New-Years-Eve-2022-Victoria-Harbour-Hong-Kong/i-JXh7kpv

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2022/New-Years-Eve-2022-Victoria-Harbour-Hong-Kong/i-MBNzXxS

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2022/New-Years-Eve-2022-Victoria-Harbour-Hong-Kong/i-x4CQg5C

photos: HKTB

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.

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

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

Free Travel on MTR, Bus, Trams on 19 December

Even though almost everyone who wants to vote can easily walk to their polling station the government (scared of a low voter turnout?) has arranged free travel for all on Sunday 19 December, LEGCO election day.

“Members of the public will be able to enjoy free rides on the MTR, franchised buses and the tram.”

As the government puts it: “The above-mentioned public transport operators will provide free rides from the first to the last departure on that day. Services will be maintained at the normal level and be enhanced for busier routes and during peak periods subject to passenger demand and actual traffic conditions. The public transport operators will separately announce further details of the arrangement.”

The exact details of the free travel will be confirmed by the relevant companies.

Centenary of Tsim Sha Tsui Clock Tower Bell

At 6pm today, 9 December 2021, a ‘Chiming Ceremony’ commemorated the centenary of the former Kowloon-Canton Railway Clock Tower Bell. It’s the first time the bell has been heard in 70 years.

The Kowloon-Canton Railway Kowloon Terminus used to be located at the present site of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre. Designed by Arthur Benison Hubback and built on reclaimed land overlooking the harbour; the Kowloon Terminus opened in 1916 as the southernmost railway station of China and served as a gateway between the Mainland and Hong Kong.

1931 TST Air view

A lack of space for expansion saw the southern terminus move, in 1974, to a new station built on land reclaimed from Hung Hom Bay.

The station building was demolished in 1978 except the clock tower which was conserved thanks to the efforts of the Heritage Society. Additionally, six pillars of the original station building were moved to the Urban Council Centenary Garden in Tsim Sha Tsui East.

Now known as the Tsim Sha Tsui Clock Tower, the tower is a popular landmark. The Bell of the Clock Tower began service in 1921 and ceased operation in 1950.

Now in 2021 the Bell’s chime will be brought back and report the time via a digital bell system synchronised with the web clock of the Hong Kong Observatory, sounding hourly every day between 8am and midnight.

A “Centenary of the Bell – Resonance of Time” exhibition will run from 10-24 December in the foyer of the HK Cultural Centre. More information at www.hkculturalcentre.gov.hk/en/hkcc/TSTClockTower

Images courtesy of the relevant owners