James Shea at a poetry reading event co-organized by One City One Book, OutLoud Hong Kong and Peel Street Poetry.
OutLoud Hong Kong, a poetry collective, is trying to revive the local literary scene through open-mic poetry.
By Victoria Fong
Jason Lee Eng-hun meets his fellow poets at the Aftermath bar in Central every Wednesday to read poems.
OutLoud Hong Kong is an open-mic poetry collective that has been running since 1998. Lee has become a co-organizer of OutLoud since 2018 after core members Kate Rogers left Hong Kong and David McKirdy stepped back to allow fresh blood to take over.
“We offer a free, open, neutral, safe space for artistic expression in Hong Kong. We respect the autonomy and the dignity of both the readers and the people that they are addressing,” says Lee, who is a lecturer at the Department of English Language and Literature at the Faculty of Arts at Hong Kong Baptist University.
Jason Lee Eng-hun has been regularly attending poetry nights since 2006.
Since the social movements in 2014 and 2019, Lee has observed a shift in the demographic of poets and content read at OutLoud.
“I think many younger group members have started to write about the Hong Kong community (since the social movements). We have started to see more young people coming (to poetry nights) since 2014, and even more in the past three years,” he says.
While OutLoud runs on the first Wednesday of every month, its sister poetry group, Peel Street Poetry, is held on every Wednesday except for the first week to avoid time clash. Lee says he has been trying to distinguish OutLoud from Peel Street Poetry by featuring more local representation in the collective.
“Hong Kong has so much to offer culturally, but the literary scene never seems to be adequately celebrated. We have a logo which also includes the Chinese equivalent of our name (隨言香港), which represents ‘speaking out loud’ or ‘speaking freely, Hong Kong’,” he says.
Regular participants are invited to be part of OutLoud’s team. One of them is Louise Leung Fung-yee, who went to her first OutLoud event in the summer of 2019 after taking a poetry course taught by Peter Kennedy, an associate professor at the School of English at the University of Hong Kong (HKU).
“It is important for people to freely express themselves, even though the poems might not be perfect, especially during times like 2019. People need a safe space to share their thoughts and emotions,” says Leung, whose poems can be found on platforms including Cha: An Asian Literary Journal, Voice and Verse Poetry Magazine, and Vermont-based art and literature zine Canto Cutie.
She has plans to grow the local audience by including Kongish—a form of English influenced by Hong Kong Cantonese—in English-language poetry.
“There are only a handful of local Hong Kong people attending poetry nights regularly. Most of the participants are highly educated, like university students or lecturers and professors,” says the graduate of HKU.
“Many people are intimidated by English-language poetry because they think their English is not good enough or poetry must follow a certain structure. Kongish poetry is unconventional, and everyone can have fun with it,” Leung adds.
The logo of OutLoud Hong Kong is designed by Louise Leung Fung-yee and Felix Chow Yue-ching. (Photo courtesy of OutLoud Hong Kong)
Another regular participant Felix Chow Yue-ching also shares Leung’s view about making English-language poetry more approachable to locals.
“Hong Kong people may be reluctant to attend English-language poetry reading events when they see that most participants are expatriates or fluent English speakers. It is important to have a local presence in poetry nights to show that these events also welcome Hongkongers,” says Chow.
“We have thought about holding Konglish or Hong Kong-themed poetry workshops at independent bookshops in Kowloon to attract people like secondary school students who don’t usually go to English-language poetry events,” the MPhil student at HKU adds.
Check out OutLoud’s Facebook page OutLoud Hong Kong 隨言香港 or their Instagram account @outloud_hk for updates and announcements for themed poetry nights.
Students from mainland China protested against the country's strict Covid restrictions, a rare scene since 1989
Chinese students took to streets holding blank sheets of paper to voice out anger against “Zero-Covid”.
By Cynthia Chan and Eve Qiao
On the night of November 28, Lu Lin* held a blank sheet of paper on the Chinese University of Hong Kong campus. The act was to express her anger over COVID-19 restrictions and measures in mainland China, which were blamed for delaying firefighters from reaching victims in a deadly fire in Xinjiang.
“I participated in demonstrations in Hong Kong in 2018. I wanted to join protests but did not get a chance back then in mainland China. I saw how well-organised a demonstration was in Hong Kong in 2018 by seeing how the Hong Kong police maintained order. But I am worried about being arrested by the police now. It was safer when there was no National Security Law in Hong Kong,” Lu says.
“But fear is not a reason for not speaking up. It is the responsibility of a university student to care about society,” the year four social science major student says.
Lu Lin* and other students protested in the central campus of the Chinese University of Hong Kong at 7 p.m..
Lu and other students organised a candlelight vigil on November 28, four days after the deadly fire in Xinjiang. According to media reports and videos circulated on various social media platforms, the fire broke out on November 24 in a residential building in Urumqi reportedly. It killed more than 10 people, including four children, as firefighters were not able to rescue the residents because of lockdown measures in the area.
Around 50 to 60 students joined the candlelight vigil as Lu recalls. They sang songs like “Do You Hear the People Sing” and “The Internationale” and chanted slogans such as “We do not want PCR tests! We want freedom!” and “We want to watch films and dine out!”
“I wanted to cry when I heard those slogans. It reminded me of suppression under the party’s rule when I stayed in the mainland,” Lu says.
“I have prepared for the worst. I am ready to face arrests or to run away from the site anytime. We also contacted some lawyers beforehand in case we were arrested,” she adds.
Blanks sheets of A4 white papers held by students symbolise a lack of freedom of speech, as posts and articles deemed “sensitive” were wiped from China’s internet by the country’s censorship apparatus.
Waves of protests erupted in different cities in China such as Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Chongqing, Xiamen. Citizens and students took to streets and protested on university campuses to voice out their anger against the Chinese government’s COVID-19 restrictions.
The Chinese government announced relaxation of epidemic control policies in a statement released by the State Council on December 7, two weeks after the people took to the street. Measures such as compulsory quarantine arrangement for those tested positive cases were lifted and negative PCR test results to travel across cities were no longer required.
“My father in Chengdu does not need to do daily PCR testing anymore. He had been doing that every day for more than two months before the change of policy came,” Lu says.
“Relaxation of restrictions came all of a sudden. The government has exhausted most medical resources after three years and now it has no choice but to lift the ban. I organised a mass gathering in Hong Kong to fight for freedom and democracy. But these values can not coexist with their version of patriotism in China as the Chinese government gives no room for those values,” she says.
Sherry Zeng* lit up candles to commemorate the tragedy in Xinjiang happened on November 24. (Photo courtesy of Sherry Zeng)
Another university student Sherry Zeng*, who is studying in Hong Kong, also took part in a candlelight vigil on the Chinese University of Hong Kong campus on November 27 to vent her anger and grief about the tragedy in Xinjiang. This is her first time taking part in such an event.
“I felt pain when I first read about the fire in Urumqi on social media…but I dare not to attend mass gatherings as I am afraid of being caught. I want to graduate on time,” Zeng says.
“Lighting up candles is the safest way to express my feelings. I want to fight for freedom of speech and thoughts. I love China but not the government. My actions are expressions of my love for my country,” she adds.
Zeng, who is from Shenzhen, says local authorities announced that COVID-19 restrictions would be relaxed on December 8. Negative PCR test results are no longer required before entering indoor premises, and infected patients can be quarantined at home.
“I think the change in policy has something to do with protests in China,” she says.
Posters related to the fire in Xinjiang were posted on Chen Heitou’s university campus. (Photo courtesy of Chen Heitou)
University student Chen Heitou* witnessed a protest organised by his classmates at the university campus on November 27 for the first time.
“I learnt about the gathering from our hostel’s WeChat group. I went there with my camera,” says Chen, who is studying in Guangdong.
Standing at the front of the crowd with his camera, Chen took video of five students holding blank sheets of white paper and chanting slogans like ‘Why do we need to seek approval for seeing doctors outside school?’ and ‘Why are our opinions ignored?’ to vent their anger and frustration about the school policy.
“Some asked party leaders to step down. One girl shouted ‘My university life is ruined,’ with a crying voice,” he recalls.
Chen says the school has relaxed some restrictions, such as allowing more students to leave the campus a few days after the protest. Students leaving the campus needed to submit hard-passed applications from August to November in 2022.
Restrictions in Chen’s hometown, Haikou, Hainan have also been relaxed.
“Hainan is a tourist attraction and now tourists from other provinces are not required to undergo mandatory quarantine,” he says.
Chen thinks the protest may be one of the reasons that helps push for the change of policy.
“I think (the protest) may have contributed to the relaxation of restrictions, but it did not play a big role because I believe the state has its own considerations. It is impossible to make such a big change based on the opinions of some groups,” he says.
Chen says he and his schoolmates do not use the word “protest” to describe the action. They use words such as “that night” and “make your voice heard” when they refer to the night when they protested on campus.
“Before the protest, I understood ‘protest’ as a fierce confrontation between people and government and only happens outside China. But after that night, I feel like that protest is about people who have suffered and want to get an explanation of the unreasonable restrictions,” Chen says.
“To me, the protest is a way to vent out our long-accumulated dissatisfactions since the outbreak of the pandemic,” he says.
*Names changed at interviewees’ requests.
Edited by Ella Lang and Ryan Li Sub-edited by Chaelim Kim
Some students in mainland China spend money to secure internship opportunities.
By Fiona Dongye
Year Three student Zhong Qingya of Soochow University paid an agency RMB ¥35,000 (US $4,900) to get an internship this summer. She was worried that the pandemic, which has greatly weakened the economy, will make her job hunt difficult when she graduates next year.
Zhong came across the job-seeking agency on the social media platform WeChat in June 2022 when she failed to secure a summer internship, while some of her friends had gotten one or two offers.
“I feel really anxious. If I do not have any work experience in my resume this year, I will not be able to compete with others when I have to hunt for a job after graduation. Although the price was expensive for me, I paid without hesitation,” she says.
The agency helped Zhong secure a three-month online internship opportunity at ByteDance—the mother company of Chinese-version Tik Tok—lasting from June 1 to September 1.
“The agency told me that the internship would give me the opportunity to participate in Douyin’s community operation. I would have a chance to work with well-known creators, conduct user research, and improve the review and recommendation systems,” Zhong says.
“If I do not have any work experience in my resume this year, i will not be able to compete with others.”
A man claiming to be a ByteDance employee added Zhong on WeChat after she paid the agency.
“He told me that he was my mentor. Then he assigned work such as proofreading articles and copying and pasting data into excel sheets to me. The job’s nature was completely different from what the agency told me. I did not have a chance to get to know other people in the company or learn about the operation of the company,” she says.
After the internship, the agency gave her a certificate issued by Bytedance.
“But I later found out that this internship cannot pass background checks, which means if someone checks with Bytedance about my internship, no record can be found. So if I put this internship record in my resume, it is likely to be considered a fraud,” Zhong says.
A job or a scam?
Li Lan has been running a job-seeking agency that helps students like Zhong to find internships since 2016.
“When I first started my agency, students who sought help were usually incompetent students,” Li says.
“It is becoming more difficult to hunt for jobs due to the pandemic, so more and more students from top universities also seek help from us to look for internships, especially after 2020,” she says.
According to data from China’s Ministry of Education, the total number of college graduates was 9.09 million in 2021, up 350,000 from 2020.
Li says her agency usually has a network of employees working for tech giants such as Bytedance and Tencent. The agency pays these employees for referring students to work at their companies as interns.
“But now many companies have stricter management on internship referral. Some employees have been fired for selling internship opportunities to job agencies, so it is getting harder and harder for job-seeking agencies to sell internship opportunities to students. Some agencies scam students by asking someone to act as employees of certain companies to cheat on students,” she says.
“More and more students from top universities also seek help from us to look for internships.”
Li lan, a job-seeking agency
Li warns it is difficult to tell which job agencies are reliable.
“Some students encounter refund disputes when trying to get internships through agencies. Students should read contracts carefully to avoid troubles,” Li adds.
Alice Zhao is a career counselor at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
“Students usually can find internship information from career centres of universities. Our school, for example, holds an internship-sharing session every year before the summer break. We also invite senior students and companies to give talks and some companies even recruit interns on campus,” Zhao says.
But Zhao says sharing sessions and talks have been canceled in the past three years due to the pandemic. “This makes it easy for students to be scammed,” she says.
“Many universities have increased their enrollment, resulting in more and more graduates in recent years. At the same time, the epidemic has affected the development of many industries, leaving fewer jobs for college students in the labour market,” Zhao says.
A gentleman attending the 2021 Suit Walk in Taipei, Taiwan. (Photo courtesy of Tai Wei-chien)
Photographers from Hong Kong and Taiwan take street snaps to capture fashion inspiration from passers-by.
By Carrie Lock
Many street-style photographers around the world are shooting people’s streetwear as they believe one’s unique identity, character and attitude towards life are shown through their clothes. Hong Kong street photographer Stacey Li* is one of them.
“Seeing people dressing up stylishly, I can feel that they are enjoying their lives. I want to make records for future generations so that they know how Hongkongers in the 2020s dress up,” she says.
Li started doing style snaps in the summer of 2021 and has been posting nearly 500 Hong Kong people in their trendy outfits on her Instagram account named @streetsnap.portrait with more than 730,000 followers.
From her experience, the photographer points out that pedestrians of different districts have distinctive styles of observation.
“Black, grey and white colours are prevalent among white-collar pedestrians in Central. Luxury brand logos may not appear in everyone’s outfit, but most of them care about styling details. For example, their shirts are beautifully ironed and accessories are used to present personal style,” Li says.
“People walking in Mongkok show their characteristics by choosing bold colours, whereas pedestrians in Causeway Bay have a good understanding of brands. They look stylish even in t-shirts and jeans,” she continues.
She observes that the personal traits of Hongkongers are showcased through accessories, hairstyle, use of colours and tattoos.
“Yet, compared with cities like New York and Tokyo, Hong Kong lacks diversity in looks mainly because of our climate. It limits people’s exploration in styling,” the photographer says.
Modern styles captured by Stacey Li at Mong Kok and Central. (Photo courtesy of Stacey Li)
Li regards Hong Kong as an unfriendly place to do on-the-street snaps.
“Although Hong Kong does not recognise portrait rights, street photographers are often attacked and accused of clandestine photo-taking, especially photographers like me who are not well-known by the public,” Li says, adding that it is the reason why she declines to reveal her full name.
“Also, Hongkongers are sensitive to cameras and walk so fast that I often fail to take a snap of their outfits,” she adds.
Despite all these, Li wishes to convey the message of love through her lens.
“One day I bumped into an elderly couple at IFC. Their moves caught my eyes so I went closer to observe them,” she shares.
“At first, I thought the husband was reminding his wife to wear her mask properly as she was covering her mouth. In fact, he said to his wife that he is going to buy her a lipstick. Later, I saw them holding each other’s hand and entering a makeup store,” she continues.
A heart-warming moment captured by Stacey Li at IFC. (Photo courtesy of Stacey Li)
In Li’s pictures, the couple is looking into each other’s eyes and holding hands. “I enjoy capturing moments about love, but not necessarily romantic relationships. People can feel the warmth of the photos,” she adds.
Street Style Snaps in Taiwan
Beyond Hong Kong, street photographer Kevin Tai Wei-chien in Taiwan also snaps pictures of the city’s most stylish.
“For me, street photography is an observation of people’s lives. I want to combine photography with something related to people’s lives, and what first came into my mind was outfit snap,” Tai, who developed an interest in fashion photography when reading his first GQ magazine as a kid, says.
He started street fashion photography when he was studying at university. Later, his work was recognised by GQ Taiwan.
“Having met and exchanged contact with the chief editor of GQ Taiwan at a brand function, I later contacted him and requested an opportunity to take snaps at Taipei Suit Walk organised by the publication,” he says.
Tai Wei-chien is a 26-year-old Taiwanese street photographer. (Photo courtesy of Tai Wei-chien)
After the event, he was invited to write style blogs for the magazine. “I still remember how excited I was at that time,” he continues.
He thinks it’s impossible to define the fashion style of the Taiwanese in general. But he can recognise cultural symbols shared by the local people from their outfits.
“What I mean by cultural symbol can be a certain fashion item which is popular across the country, it’s part of our collective memory. These days, when you see people wearing merch T-shirts with the Chinese name of a local restaurant, they must be Taiwanese because only Taiwanese know that restaurant and the inside joke,” the 26-year-old photographer says.
When taking snapshots, Tai picks pedestrians who look confident about their looks. To capture the best moment, he always stands behind a lamppost at the side of a crosswalk.
“It’s a covert spot for me to take quick snaps. The targets usually do not know they are shot as most of them are looking at the front or their destination,” he continues.
Similar to the situation in Hong Kong, only a few can make a living as full-time street photographers in Taiwan. Tai is a full-time fashion photographer working for several publications.
“Many street-style photographers need to do freelance jobs for their living. Other than taking snapshots on the street, we take photos for huge fashion events,” he says.
Stylish pedestrians on the street of Taipei City. (Photo courtesy of Tai Wei-chien)
Tai points out that fashion activities are widely available in Taiwan. Taipei Fashion Week and Taipei Suit Walk are some of the examples. And fashionistas show up whereas photographers can record their outfits outside the venue.
“Fashion event attendees tend to wear non-mainstream or uncommon items, which are not well-accepted by the public, as other attendees are able to appreciate their unique style,” he says.
The Culture of Street Style Photography
Street outfit snaps are by-products derived from fashion week, as Katherine Ho, senior fashion editor of Vogue Hong Kong notes.
“Street-style photography was present before the internet and social media. Fashion magazines reported and published street style during fashion week,” Ho says.
She says that style snaps can give outfit inspiration to ordinary people.
“Models and fashion icons are tall and skinny, they are too perfect while street snaps showcase what people of different body shapes and colours are wearing. They are more relatable and applicable to ordinary people,” she says.
Ho also observes that street-style photography is not popular in Hong Kong because of the lack of local fashion activities.
“There are a number of big fashion events in other countries which attract fashionistas to attend. So they provide more working opportunities for overseas street-style photographers,” she points out.
Only a few fashion events are held in the city like the annual fashion week organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, where fashionistas can dress up and show up every year but people know little about them, according to the fashion editor.
“If more fashion activities are held in the city, the culture of street style photography may flourish,” she continues.
2022 was a difficult year for the entire world, and we are still running into obstacles and resistance as the pandemic develops. In this issue of Varsity, our reporters have written about people who suffered greatly and other numerous touching stories.
In the periscope section, Varsity reporters interviewed women from Iran and those who protested mainland China’s harsh “Zero-Covid” policy. They struggle for independence and freedom in their own nations. The screams and roars of the victims in the stories are a testament to bravery.
The footsteps of artists were never stopped by the pandemic. No matter the street photographer Stacey Li or Charlotte Lui who draws sketches on the metro, they are chasing their goals in a special way. These Stories are available in our lifestyle and people section.
This issue of Varsity also featured other social topics. For example, recent government papers related to city hygiene problems are pushing scavengers to the corner. They already survive in the lowest level of Hong Kong society and now their living space is even more limited. Ice factories supplying one third of the daily ice demand of the whole city are facing the risk of being shut down due to the change of land use by the government.
Aristotle once said, “Courage is the first of human qualities, because it is the quality which guarantees the others.” I sincerely hope the stories in the December issue can bring courage and hope to our audience. There are people struggling but never give up fighting.
Eric Yip Chun-wai has become the youngest winner in the National Poetry Competition in the United Kingdom for his poem “Fricatives”. (Photo courtesy of Eric Yip Chun-wai)
By Victoria Fong
Eric Yip Chun-wai has become the youngest winner of the National Poetry Competition held by the Poetry Society in the United Kingdom.
Yip was informed that he won the award in February 2022. Instead of sharing the good news right away, Yip kept it a secret, even to his family.
He received messages in his family group chat on WhatsApp during his trip back to Cambridge after attending the award ceremony in London on 31 March 2022. He then revealed his victory to his family when they asked if he had become a headline.
“I feel really bad not being the first to tell my family, but I was very naïve, and I thought no one in Hong Kong would care about it and I could still be the first to tell them about a day after the ceremony,” says Yip.
“I was curious about poetry competitions in the UK when I first arrived, so I googled it. The National Poetry Competition came as the first finding result, so I thought I’d give it a try,” he recalls.
In his winning poem “Fricatives”, Yip attempts to explore ideas about language and submission within a Hong Kong subtext. He wrote the poem mainly during September 2021 before learning about the competition and revised it on and off for weeks before the competition deadline, 31 October 2021.
According to the Poetry Society, the National Poetry Competition 2021 had 16,729 poems entering the competition with 7,012 poets from 100 countries. The competition has been running since 1978, and judges read all the entries anonymously before selecting the winning poems.
He also read some analysis of his poem “Fricatives” online posted on Facebook.
“Sometimes, when people discuss the poem, they say, ‘Eric did this…’. That makes me feel like someone is shining a flashlight in my face,” says Yip, who is now studying Economics at the University of Cambridge.
“It’s very interesting to read different perspectives. I have my own thoughts with the poem, and some people read it in a way that I don’t necessarily agree with, but that’s fine. Once the poem is published, I don’t have the authority on how it is meant to be read,” the Year Two university student says.
Eric Yip Chun-wai attending an event with Hong Kong novelist Yin Lo (right) at The Common Press in London. (Photo courtesy of Eric Yip Chun-wai)
New opportunities
Since winning the competition, Yip has befriended other poets including Hong Kong poets Jennifer Wong and Mary Jean Chan. He also did a virtual reading with Chinese American poet Chen Chen and English poet Andrew McMillan.
“The opportunity to talk to other poets and to meet other poets is surreal to me. Before the competition, I could have never imagined this happening,” he says.
“I was really starstruck. It’s very lucky for me to be able to chat with the poets whose work I love and respect. It’s just great to have someone who also clearly loves poetry and knows a lot about poetry,” he says.
While Yip finds these discussions insightful, he also describes them as “nerdy”. “We talk about poets we like and geek out about poetry and books,” he says.
Eric Yip Chun-wai attending an event with Hong Kong novelist Yin Lo (middle) at The Common Press in London. (Photo courtesy of Eric Yip Chun-wai)
As a person who has never published any poems before, Yip thinks the poets he met has helped him learn how to become a poet.
“I’ve been trying to learn more about the ‘logistics’ of poetry such as submitting to journals and attending poetry readings. I think the poets have a lot more experience since they have published poems and books before,” he says.
How it began
Yip stumbled upon Hong Kong-British poet Sarah Howe’s work online around 2018 when he was 16 years old. Howe’s debut collection Loop of Jade, which won the T. S. Eliot Prize for Poetry in 2015 held by the UK organization Poetry Book Society, inspired him to write English poetry about Hong Kong.
“There are some poems in her collection describing life and sceneries in Hong Kong. That was my first-time seeing Hong Kong being described in an English poem. I feel like that gave me permission to write about Hong Kong in English poetry,” he adds.
When Yip was in Hong Kong, he used to translate English poems into Cantonese to his mother, who particularly enjoyed poems written by Sarah Howe. “Sarah Howe’s poems about tenement buildings in Hong Kong or shared kitchens and communal spaces evoke a lot of personal memories for my mum. She would say, ‘Oh, I recognize what she is talking about! A lot of the essence and the humanity of poetry are not bounded by language,” he says.
Encouraging young poets
Yip hopes he can be an encouragement to aspiring poets in Hong Kong.
“There is a part of me that hopes if there is someone who writes poem and feels like no one cares about this, and perhaps when they hear the news about a Hong Kong teenager winning a competition in the UK, they will feel encouraged to know there are other people from Hong Kong who also read and write poetry,” he says.
Yip stores his poems in a Google Drive and does not have an urgent plan to publish a book.
“I feel like I am not ready because I don’t think my poems are at a level that I want them to be. I get dissatisfied with my work very easily. I know that one of the biggest mistakes one can make is to rush things.”
“I think a book of poems is a milestone. That is something I want to work towards, but I wouldn’t put a date on this,” he says.
Turbo Ice Limited has stood in Tuen Mun for 27 years and supplies around one-third of ice used in Hong Kong. But its facing closure as its plot of land will be seized by 2025.
By Leopold Chen
Turbo Ice is facing difficulty as the government plans to seize its land for housing projects.
Workers of an ice factory in Tuen Mun work 24 hours a day on bags of ice and have them delivered across Hong Kong, but they may lose their jobs soon.
Chan Hin-hang, executive director of Turbo Ice Limited, says they knew that their land might be seized back in 2014, but the government did not take any action or have a timetable.
“On October 5 this year, the government delivered us a letter and told us that our plot of land will be seized by 2025,” Chan says.
According to a document submitted to Tuen Mun District Council in August 2021, the factory located by Ng Lau Road will be converted into public housing buildings.
Applicants have to wait six years on average for a public housing unit, and the government has vowed to halve the waiting time, according to the Housing Authority.
About 234,600 applicants were on the public housing waiting list as of this September, while only 11,400 applicants settled in public housing units in the third quarter of 2022, says the Housing Authority on its website.
“I agree with the government that we need more public housing flats. But it is equally important to address our concerns. The government just updates its development plan on the gazette without having any discussion with us,” Chan says.
Established in 1982 in an industrial building, the ice factory moved to its current location for sufficient water and power supplies to increase productivity in 1995.
“In the past, with limited water and power, we produced 1,000 bags of ice per day at most. But now, we can have 2,000 bags per hour, with 10 kilograms per bag,” Chan says.
The company can deliver ice to anywhere with traffic roads in Hong Kong, according to Chan, and it takes up around one-third of the ice supply across the city.
Ice is poured into a truck, ready to be delivered.
“It is impossible for Hong Kong to live one day without ice, and for my business, it is impossible to stop for even one day. Cold drinks, seafood at wet markets, and even concrete for construction… none of them can be made available without ice,” Chan says.
“Should we stop our production for just one day, ice supply across the city will be overwhelmed,” he adds.
The ice factory is not alone, other rural industries are also trapped in similar situations.
Chi Kee Sawmill & Timber, the last sawmill in Hong Kong located in northern Sheung Shui, folded on September 13 2022 because its plot of land was seized by the government for development purposes.
“Our hope is to remain here longer. The government might think keeping us here hinders the process of construction. That is why even if we gain support from media and political figures, our wish still cannot come true. What a pity,” a sawmill’s spokesman wrote on Facebook on the last operation date of the sawmill.
Yuet Wo, an 80-year-old seasoning producer, located just next to the last sawmill, is also facing possible closure.
The 80-year-old Yuet Wo is another factory facing closure as it falls within the range of a development area in Sheung Shui.
“Our land is just a small part of the development project, while many residents and operators in the area are affected too. As long as we stay, we insist on telling our story well,” the factory wrote on Facebook on November 19.
Government Response
Speaking at a press conference on October 20, Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn Hon-ho vowed that the government has plans to seize 500 hectares of land for public housing development in the coming five years.
As compensation, Linn promised to allow affected business operators to rent multi-story industrial building units, which are expected to be available in 2027, at concession prices.
The government personnel had marked on the factory’s wall to identify the range of land to be seized.
In response to Varsity’s enquiry, the Development Bureau says that thorough research is conducted before a plot of land is zoned for development.
“In selecting sites for development and determining development scale, the government adopts a planning-led strategy, having regard to factors including the overall spatial layout, infrastructure capacity, and urban-rural integration, etc.,” the bureau says in an email.
“(We will also) make available more suitable vacant government land for letting to brownfield operators affected to be affected by government projects by way of Short-term Tenancy (STT) through restricted tender,” it adds.
STT refers to the leasing of unallocated lands for temporary use for a fixed term of one to five years, the government decides whether a next term should be granted afterward.
Delicate but Indispensable
Brian Wong Shiu-hung, a member of the Liber Research Community, who specialises in housing and planning research in Hong Kong, questions the feasibility of the government’s relocation measures.
“That (STT) is not a guarantee for rural industries to work without worry, and it makes more rural industries reluctant to be relocated because that adds more uncertainty in their operation,” Wong says.
Brian Wong Shiu-hung of Liber Research Community believes that the government’s relocation measures cannot genuinely help industries to relocate.
He has observed that the government chooses to redevelop industrial land in rural areas because these factories lack bargaining power.
He points out that the government tends to avoid underutilised plots controlled by village gentries and land banks of property developers when it tries to resume lands for urban development.
“What remains after we deduct these two groups of land are the non-indigenous villages and plots occupied by some rural industries. These become easy targets of the government because of the political convenience, as they are less powerful and have less bargaining power in the decision-making process,” he says.
Wong points out that industries in rural areas are essential to keep Hong Kong resilient at critical times.
“When the logistics are interrupted, and there is no import, the local production of daily necessities becomes indispensable to stabilise pricing,” he says.
“If the government only focuses on urban development and ignores the value of these rural industries, it would not be a kind of sustainable development that the government is expounding,” he adds.
Protesting Iranian women are fighting for their freedom
Women in Iran have launched a “Hijab Revolution” to fight for their own freedom.
By Kossy Chen
Iranian student Nasrin Riahi enjoys freedom and liberty in Hong Kong while women in her home country are still fighting for basic human rights.
“I’m smart with good grades in school and good English, so I just applied to study in Hong Kong to start a new life,” says Riahi, who came to Hong Kong in September 2022.
Riahi thinks that women in Iran have been tortured by inequalities all their lives.
“My mom never wanted to bring a girl into this world because she thought a girl would not live happily in Iran. I felt sad at first, but now I think she is right. I don’t think there is anything harder in the world than being a girl in Iran,” the 23-year-old Hong Kong university student says.
“In Iran, women can’t ride bicycles since the posture may evoke men’s sexual desire. Women are not allowed to dance or sing. Women can’t drink alcohol. If others smell alcohol from our breath, we will get eighty lashes. Women also can’t divorce or go abroad without their husband’s permission,” she explains.
An Iranian woman cut her hair and yelled slogans outside the Iranian Embassy in Seoul, South Korea (Photo courtesy of an authorized website).
The business major student says The Islamic Republic of Iran uses religion as a tool to rule the people, and controls have become tighter as some people have started to ignore these rules and live the way they like.
“We were born to be Muslims with no choice. The regime has instructed morality police to force women to wear hijab better. My mom has warned me to wear a hijab properly whenever I go out. And how can I have fun at beaches with a hijab? I’m done with that!” she says.
A Women-Led Uprising: A Spark to Start a Great Fire
A few days after Riahi’s departure to Hong Kong, the death of Mahsa Amini on September 16th ignited public anger in Iran.
Amini failed to cover her head properly and died in custody after being detained by the morality police. She was 22 and just had been admitted to a university.
Protesters have vented their anger at the country’s mandatory hijab laws and the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, despite crackdowns from authorities like Internet shutdowns.
Iranian demonstrators take to the streets of Tehran (Photo courtesy of an authorized website).
According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, at least 458 people including 63 children have been killed by security forces in the nationwide protests before December 7th.
The report also shows protesters have been killed in 26 provinces.
We Need Help
Zahra Fakerzad, a student at Tehran’s Sharif University of Technology, was at the heart of anti-government protests and crackdowns in early October.
“We thought security forces were going to kill us! They used guns, batons, and teargas,” Fakerzad recalls.
“I had friends who were killed or went missing at universities across the country. Those who were arrested and released said they were tortured so much in jail that they wanted to commit suicide,” the 22-year-old says.
“The military never stands by the people and always tells lies. They rape women before killing them because it is forbidden in Islam to kill a virgin, then they tell people that victims kill themselves due to depression,” she says.
But Fakerzad is still hopeful and finds unity from her fellow Iranians.
“Even though our families urge us not to take part in the protests, we still try to go. We boycott classes, shout ‘women, life, freedom’ and wear no hijab. We even cut our hair which signifies protests in ancient times,” she says.
“We want freedom! The issue of women’s rights is to add a small fire to start a big fire, soit is not just about hijab or feminism but about overthrowing the regime. Iranian protestors—men and women worldwide also join us—and we have never been this close before,” she continues.
But she is upset about Iran’s helpless situation in the international community.
“Many countries ignore this Middle Eastern chaos. They find it beneficial for our government to stay because they can buy our oil at the lowest price, so they say, ‘we strongly condemn the violence’, but take no action to stop it,” she says.
“Our protest deserves more media coverage by the international community. There is a saying that the darkness does not always stay. Even if the Islamic Republic may not fall now, it will be toppled in the next five to ten years,” she adds.
No Way to Turn Back
Another Iranian woman, Leila Salles, has been protesting since September 16, 2022, the day Mahsa Amini’s first photo was posted on social media. She quit her auditor job in late October to devote herself to protests.
“I don’t wear hijab anymore as an activist. I also share news of protests and research on how we should protest in advance,” the 22-year-old from Tehran says.
“Every day around 9 p.m., protesters chant ‘death to the dictator’ targeting the supreme leader. Our group used to go to the roof, but one time I was scared when I saw someone taking pictures, so we returned home and turned off the lights to chant loudly. Everybody wants Ayatollah Khamenei to leave!” Salles says.
“We don’t want to reform. We want a new revolution and voting for the next election. Who wants a ridiculous government basically run by sexual predators?” she says.
Pro-Iranian protesters wave posters at Paris’ Place de la Republique on October 29, 2022 (Photo courtesy of an authorized website).
Salles is aware that what she is doing is dangerous. “I can’t go anywhere alone because I can feel the eyes on me. Some men look at me differently. I suppose they are from plainclothes Basiji force (a volunteer force under the umbrella of the Islamic regime) looking for protestors’ heads for execution,” she says.
“Actually, they can always find an excuse to kill, even if you are just a passerby. If the government doesn’t care about people’s lives, everything you do puts you in danger,” she adds.
Her parents became increasingly enraged with the regime after hearing screams from a fire that broke out at Evin prison, a facility known for housing political prisoners, near their home on October 15.
“They believe the government is to be blamed (for this incident), but my mother is a teacher and my father is a doctor, so they are powerless to protest since they rely on government institutions for a living,” she says.
She tried applying to universities abroad but has decided to stay until changes are made.
“I don’t want to leave my family behind. When Iran’s Internet is still blocked, how can I tell if security forces raided my sister’s school or killed everyone?” she adds.
Force to a Change
Fatemeh Aman, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, believes that current protests respond to 40 years of discrimination and violations of women’s rights.
“Iranian women…were stripped of their rights after the 1979 revolution. Currently, the majority of young people with higher education in Iran are women, and these women want more than some old leaders are willing to offer them. They demand freedom,” she says.
“Back then (during the International Women’s Day protests in Tehran in 1979), men were not widely supportive of the protests. Right now, women—often schoolgirls—are leading the protests, and men are supporting them,” she adds.
Fatemeh admits the future of protests is unpredictable.
“We were born to be Muslims with no choice… And how can I have fun at beaches with a hijab? I’m done with that!”
“The truth is that the regime will not be toppled simply by protests. For a positive outcome, the protests should stay non-violent, steady and continuous with all sectors’ participation,” she points out.
“The regime change requires strikes, especially from the oil and energy industries and the regime base. If they join the protests, the regime may be forced to bow to the women’s demands,” she adds.
Chiu Siu-ting pursues her dream of becoming both a doctor and a singer.
By Phoebe Chu
Medical student, YouTuber, Instagram singer and part-time TV artist, Chiu Siu-ting has a jam-packed schedule every day.
The 21-year-old University of Hong Kong student spends 70 per cent of her time studying and the rest 30 per cent on singing-related activities. And she has 43,200 subscribers on her YouTube channel and 41,500 followers on Instagram.
Her YouTube channel “Pam Chiu” has more than 2.1 million views for the 34 videos she has created since four years ago. Other than singing covers of popular songs, she has produced 20 videos regarding tips and skills to thrive in the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education.
Chiu Siu-ting owns a YouTube channel with about 43,000 subscribers.
On Instagram, she has shared hundreds of songs she covered in Cantonese, Putonghua, English and Korean since 2015.
“My phone is always on “Do Not Disturb” mode, even if notifications pop up, I just ignore it,” Chiu says.
Her schedule is different every week.“Sometimes I spend three days doing shootings and four days on school work. I have to do online classes while I am on my way to do shooting at a site,” the Year Four student adds.
The part-time TV artist says she has to practice dancing for shows at the Television Broadcast Limited (TVB) sometimes.
“But I always make sure I can have enough sleep, so I usually go to bed at 2 a.m. If I have lectures at 12 p.m., I wake up at 10 a.m.,” she adds.
Chiu believes self-discipline is the key to managing her time. “Make sure you have completed your work before having fun,” she says.
She loves social gatherings with her secondary school friends but seldom sees them. “Even when I have time, I have to spend it on studying rather than meeting my friends,” she says.
Chiu Siu-ting studies during her TVB shooting break times. (Photo Courtesy of Chiu Siu-ting)
“I believe a little progress each day adds up to big results. I am glad to be gifted with the ability to sing and study but a lot of effort is needed to gain achievements,” she says.
This year, she joined STARS Academy 2, a talent competition hosted by TVB, and made it to the top five.
“I struggled for a long time before submitting the registration form. I was very unsure till the very last moment. I feared I would not be able to manage my time if I joined the competition. I thought of giving up singing. My family told me to sign up for the contest when I was struggling,” she says.
Chiu Siu-ting made it to the top five in STARS Academy 2 hosted by TVB. (Photo Courtesy of Chiu Siu-ting)
In a bid to keep up with her studies while joining the competition, Chiu started revising part of her lectures even before the semester began.
“My study has always been my top priority and I seldom skip classes even if I have shootings after the competition. Sometimes, I feel insecure when my classmates devote all their time to their studies, while I spend time on singing-related work,” she says.
Chiu will become a doctor after graduation in two years. She hopes to sing as long as she can manage her time well. “Being a doctor and singer is not contradictory, it is common for people to have a slash career nowadays. I hope I can have my own song instead of just covering others’ songs in the future,” Chiu says.
Under the COVID-19 pandemic, secondary school students have stopped exercising.
Hong Kong secondary students are doing less exercise due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
By Yap Ying Ye
Ashley Wong Wui-yin has gained six to eight kilograms since 2020, as she has become less active during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I am less toned and look so much chubbier now. I am embarrassed to wear a swimsuit these days,” the Form 3 student says.
The student stopped her habit of doing sports and stayed at home all day since the pandemic struck Hong Kong in 2020.
“I stopped swimming regularly since 2020 as swimming pools were closed. I did not have a Netflix account before the pandemic, but I started eating and watching Netflix everyday during the pandemic,” Wong says.
“Training sessions of the table tennis team and tennis team were all cancelled due to social distancing measures, so I stopped doing exercise during the pandemic,” the 15-year-old adds.
Ashley Wong Wui-yin stopped doing exercise such as tennis due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo courtesy of Ashley Wong Wui-yin)
The Hong Kong student thinks that social distancing measures makes her think that going out is meaningless.
“It is so easy to get lazy and stop taking care of myself. I stopped moving because I had little reason to go out. I just stayed in my room all day watching Netflix, browsing the internet and eating,” she adds.
Wong adds her fear of possible infection and social distancing measures have made her stop exercising in public venues.
“I was worried about germs at public sports facilities, or if water at public swimming pool was dirty. So I dared not go out,” she says.
Wong’s eating habits have also changed for the worse due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I had started eating a lot more takeaway like McDonalds when social distancing rules were in place. I became a lot lazier and did not want to cook my meals,” Wong says.
When social distancing restrictions were in place, Wong started watching Netflix and eating junk food.
Based on a study conducted by the University of Hong Kong which surveyed 1,140 students in 2021, only five per cent of students met the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines on children’s physical activity time, and secondary school students did only 15 minutes of exercise per day.
The WHO recommends at least 60 minutes a day. The study also found that the amount of time spent on physical activities by secondary students dropped by 50 per cent during the pandemic.
The Education Bureau launched the “Active Students, Active People” Campaign (“ASAP” Campaign) in the 2021/22 school year. “Vitality Fitness Walking/Running Challenge”, for example, was held under the campaign to encourage students to walk for at least 30 minutes a day.
Fong Ka-kui, a physical education (PE) teacher at Buddhist Hung Sean Chau Memorial College observes a drop in his students’ physical abilities after resuming in-person lessons.
“Most of their abilities have decreased or not improved. My students did not have the opportunity to exercise outside or attend PE lessons when school was suspended and there were anti-COVID measures in place,” he says.
Fong points out that restrictions such as mandatory mask-wearing also affects his students’ physical abilities.
“The school has stopped all long runs because we think it is dangerous for students to do high intensity exercise with a mask on,” he says.
Fong says it is difficult for students to engage in online PE lessons during the pandemic.
“Some students do not have a lot of space at home. They have a lot of clutter around them. It was not very safe for them to follow along with my workouts. After a while, we stopped having online PE lessons altogether,” he says,
His school has hosted fitness activities to try to get students to stay active and take care of their physical health during the school suspension.
“I taught students how to create an eating and diet plan, how to count and plan out their calories. The school also hosts lunchtime or after school sports exercises for students,” he says.
The Education Bureau launched the “Active Students, Active People” (ASAP) campaign in efforts to encourage students to exercise more. (Photo courtesy of the Education Bureau)
Charlotte Li, an instructor from Pure Yoga recommends people to do outdoor exercise when strict social restrictions are in place.
“People can go out to parks and walk or move around in open space. It is good to get some sunshine and get motivated to move rather than being in a confined space,” she says.
Li stresses that exercise is important not only for students’ physical health, but also their mental health.
”Exercising can be a time in a day where you can really focus on yourself. It can improve your mood. Exercise is also important for flexibility, agility, coordination, and posture. If students do not have exercise, it can affect their ability to carry out simple tasks such as running and walking in the long run,” she says.
Chow Chi-ngan, an assistant lecturer from the department of Sports Science and Physical Education at the Chinese University of Hong Kong warns of the negative impact on physical development amongst students if they do not get enough exercise.
“Lack of exercise will affect our cardio health, muscular strength, body fat ratio, and our neuromuscular fitness levels will also be lowered,” she says.
Chow stresses that the negative impacts are particularly dire on younger children.
“[Students’] bodies are still growing. So the lack of exercise will be detrimental to their fundamental health development. They will be more susceptible to illnesses such as strokes, heart diseases and high cholesterol,” she says.
The university sports science instructor encourages students to turn exercising into a social activity to motivate themselves.
“Exercising is tiring and difficult, so students need to put in effort and discipline. It will be easier for them to do so if they can find an activity they enjoy and make exercising fun. Students can plan an activity to do with their friends which will give them more motivation,” she says.
Chow also urges teachers and parents to exercise with their children.
“Teachers and parents need to create a habit of exercising at school and at home. This will motivate children to exercise together,” she says.
