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More than 170 school buildings are standing abandoned and idle across Hong Kong, even as the increasing number of cross-border students has led to a shortage of school places in parts of the New Territories. There have been calls for the government to reopen some school buildings to ease the pressure, and also to provide much needed community spaces. But as Varsity learns, attempts to put the buildings to use are mired in red-tape.

The recent dispute over the shortage of infant formula highlighted tensions between Hong Kong and the Mainland. But it also shone a light on the territory's low breastfeeding rate. The ratio of mothers who still breastfeed their babies after six months lags behind most Asian countries and regions. As Varsity discovers, many mothers complain Hong Kong lacks a supportive environment for breastfeeding.

Arranged marriage may seem like an anomaly in a society saturated by images and stories of love, romance and dream weddings. But for many members of Hong Kong's ethnic minorities, arranged marriage is a cultural norm and an accepted fact of life. Varsity listens to their stories.

Talking and learning about death can help us to embrace life but death is a taboo subject in Chinese culture. In Hong Kong, death education used to be associated with the elderly and the terminally ill. But this is beginning to change. Varsity talks to those who are pioneering life and death education for young people, in the hope that understanding more about death will help them appreciate life.

Speech problems and communication disorders can have a devastating impact on a child's learning, development and personality. With timely professional intervention, these problems can be significantly lessened and even overcome. But as Varsity learns, Hong Kong suffers from an acute shortage of qualified speech therapists and lacks a recognised standard professional accreditation system.

It takes more than blood ties to make a happy family. Adoption can be a fulfilling way to create a family. Here Varsity speaks with Hong Kong families that have transcended genetics and race to build loving and lasting bonds.

We live in a world of unsolicited junk calls, junk letters and junk e-mails. Often we wonder how these cold-callers and message senders managed to get our contact and other personal details. Help could be at hand in the shape of tightened regulations on handling personal data and tougher penalties for those who misuse personal information.

B&B or "bed and breakfast" is a popular choice of accommodation for travellers in many parts of the world, including Asian destinations such as Taiwan and Japan but in Hong Kong, many of them operate in a grey area due to the lack of specific regulations.

The sight of more than 100 topless hunks waving from the upper deck of an open-top bus in Central this summer provoked caterwauls, admiration, criticism and envy. Most of the models hired by American fashion retailer Abercrombie and Fitch to promote the opening of their Hong Kong store, were recruited from overseas. But there were a few locals as well and they reported a much more muted response from customers. What does the whole episode tell us about how the East Asian male body is perceived in Hong Kong?

Associate Degrees were introduced in 2000 to provide more opportunities for students to pursue tertiary education if they failed to get onto a traditional undergraduate programme. They were supposed to lead to either jobs or to eventual entry into a university degree course. Varsity looks at whether they have fulfilled their promise.