Periscope

There is no doubt we have a problem with the air we breathe. Hong Kong's dirty air is costing the territory billions of dollars and driving away professional talent. The government has vowed to tackle roadside pollution by phasing out the most polluting vehicles. But maritime pollution is an even bigger culprit when it comes to some of the major pollutants in the air. As Varsity learns, even shipowners are urging the administration to take tougher action.

It can be tough being a kindergarten kid in Hong Kong. First, there is the endless round of extra-curricular interest classes, then the exhausting round of interviews for a primary school place. In the race to make sure their children get the best start in life, parents are putting themselves and their children under increasing pressure to get ahead.

As our society becomes more fractious and divided we ask whether the culture war has arrived in Hong Kong. In the United States, the...

Tensions between Hong Kongers and mainlanders continue to grab the headlines, one of the more recent flashpoints being the shortage of infant formula and the restriction of the amount of milk powder visitors can take out of the city. But there is another simmering conflict. Hong Kongers themselves are increasingly polarised between those, such as the Hong Kong Autonomy Movement who identify with an emerging local consciousness, and nationalists who put their Chinese identity first.

A recent mass prayer gathering to oppose any consultation on legislation to outlaw discrimination against gays has sparked discussion about the participation of Hong Kong's evangelical Christians in politics and social affairs. It also highlighted the growing gulf between evangelical and liberal Christians on social issues such as gay rights and political reform. Are we witnessing the beginning of a culture war?

For years, Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement has concentrated its efforts on winning office through the ballot box. But more than 15 years since the handover, democratic reform in the city remains stalled. Increasingly, democrats are fed-up with trying to change the system through participating in it. As society debates plans to Occupy Central to, many have already taken their demands and protests out of the Legislative Council and onto the streets, organising campaigns of civil disobedience and seeking more radical means of resistance.

This issue of Varsity looks at the relationship some Hong Kongers have with the places they call home: Many young Sheung Shui residents say they feel...

Scenes of locals protesting against parallel traders outside Sheung Shui station caused a stir back in the Autumn and focused attention on complaints that the traders' activities have changed the character of the town. But as Varsity discovers, even before Sheung Shui became a hub for such trading activity it had already undergone dramatic transformation from a rural backwater into one of Hong Kong's so-called new towns.

To casual passers-by, the area outside the Jade Market in Sham Shui Po may be just a dumping ground of mattresses and random objects belonging to a bunch of homeless vagrants. But to the community of street-sleepers who live there, this is home, with its own unwritten rules regarding space and property. Varsity listens to the voices of the homeless in Sham Shui Po.

They found themselves in the headlines when they fought to save their homes in Choi Yuen Village. But their houses and farms were finally demolished to make way for the controversial Guangzhou-Hong Kong Express Rail link. Now, the TV cameras have left and some of the original villagers are stuck in temporary houses while their dreams for a new model village are held up by red-tape.