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South China Morning Post
06-07-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong's outdated licence regime is a barrier to progress
Advertisement From taxi permits to hawker stalls and elderly care homes, the government's restrictive licensing policies betray a paternalistic approach that contradicts its proclaimed support for free-market principles. By capping supply through burdensome licensing requirements, the government disrupts the very markets it claims to foster. Take, for example, Hong Kong's iconic street markets, like the Ladies' Market in Mong Kok and Temple Street in Yau Ma Tei. These popular tourist destinations have not seen any new hawker licences issued since 1972. A report by the Legco Secretariat highlights how strict transfer conditions and the ageing of the licensees is likely to lead to a decline in some hawking activities. Meanwhile, the issuance of taxi plates has been stagnant for more than a decade. When the same entity is responsible for both regulation and licensing, there is little motivation to increase supply, as more licences would simply add to its workload. What began as a legitimate effort to mitigate safety risks and other negative impacts has devolved into bureaucratic inertia. Even if potential applicants meet all requirements, there is little incentive to issue new permits. This mindset leads to a 'better-safe-than-sorry' approach: why lift a decades-old freeze if maintaining the status quo incurs no immediate consequences? Civil servants contemplating the first new hawker licence in half a century are likely to fear the ramifications of public scrutiny and internal criticism, aligning with the Cantonese saying: 'No action means no mistakes.' Temple Street in Yau Ma Tei is one of Hong Kong's top tourist attractions. Photo: Xiaomei Chen This rigidity also stifles innovation. The drawn-out conflict between traditional taxis and Uber -style platforms is a textbook example. Ride-hailing's dynamic pricing and superior responsiveness deliver better services at a lower cost – so long as drivers and customers can transact freely. However, a licensing regime built around a narrowly defined taxonomy of 'taxi' or 'private hire' struggles to adapt to these disruptive innovations. Advertisement Moreover, entrenched licensees can wield disproportionate power, forestalling necessary changes. Taxi plate owners and drivers can organise strikes to block roads, while elderly care providers frequently escape scrutiny even in the face of repeated abuse allegations. In contrast, individual hawkers – many of whom are elderly and struggling to make ends meet – lack the clout to challenge arbitrary enforcement. This creates a system where those with power rarely align with those championing justice.
Arab News
01-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Arab News
Bruce Lee Club closes archive doors citing operating costs
In a statement, the club wrote that the social movement followed by the Covid-19 pandemic had 'severely disrupted' plans for the archive'We anticipated a recovery, yet reality fell short'HONG KONG: Bruce Lee aficionados gathered at a Hong Kong mini-museum dedicated to the legendary martial artist to bid farewell to the site on Tuesday, as operating expenses forced the itinerant archive to close once Bruce Lee Club, which was founded by the Lee family, had put a collection of about 2,000 artefacts, including decades-old magazines and a large sculpture showing the superstar's iconic moves, on display in the bustling Yau Ma Tei neighborhood in 2001. But a rent increase shut the project in years and a move to industrial Kwun Tong later, the club began welcoming visitors to see the collection again just before democracy protests roiled the city, dampening a statement, the club wrote that the social movement followed by the Covid-19 pandemic had 'severely disrupted' plans for the archive.'We anticipated a recovery, yet reality fell short,' it said. 'The accumulated expenses over these six years have compelled us to rethink how to most effectively utilize our resources to sustain the flame of Bruce Lee's spirit.'It added that it will 'explore new ways' to engage with the public, but for now, ahead of what would have been Lee's 85th birthday, it is shutting least temporarily, all the assorted ephemera related to the Hong Kong icon will be boxed up and in San Francisco in 1940, Bruce Lee was raised in British-run Hong Kong and had an early brush with fame as a child actor. He later became one of the first Asian men to achieve Hollywood stardom before his death at the age of the unassuming Kwun Tong archive on Tuesday, visitor and martial arts coach Andy Tong called it a 'great pity' to lose the place.'(Lee) helped build the image of the Chinese and overseas Chinese in the Western world,' Tong, 46, the superstar is widely beloved and celebrated in the city, with frequent retrospectives and exhibitions staged, fans have struggled to ensure organized and systematic 2004, petitioners successfully managed to get a bronze statue of Lee installed on Hong Kong's famed harborfront, but a campaign to revitalize his former residence failed to spare it from demolition in Lee Club's chairman W Wong said the Hong Kong government lacks long-term and continuous planning for preserving Lee's he added the Club 'will never give up' their dedication to championing Lee's spirit.'Although Bruce has passed away, his spirit continues to inspire people of all kinds,' Lee's 76-year-old brother Robert Lee told AFP.'I believe, rather than hope, the spirit of Bruce Lee will forever remain here (in Hong Kong).'Bruce Lee aficionados gathered at a Hong Kong mini-museum dedicated to the legendary martial artist to bid farewell to the site on Tuesday, as operating expenses forced the itinerant archive to close once again. (AFP/File)
Malay Mail
29-06-2025
- Malay Mail
Drunk passenger nabbed for knifing Hong Kong taxi driver after being woken at stop
HONG KONG, June 29 — A taxi driver was left injured after a drunk passenger allegedly lashed out with a knife for waking him at the end of a ride in Tai Kok Tsui, Hong Kong early this morning. Police told South China Morning Post they were alerted to the incident at 5.58am, after the 35-year-old driver was reportedly attacked when his cab reached the junction of Kok Cheung Street and Tai Tsuen Street. The passenger, a 31-year-old man surnamed Chong, had dozed off in the taxi during a journey from Yau Ma Tei. When the driver tried to wake him, Chong allegedly pulled a knife from his trousers and began swinging it. The cabby sustained a small cut to one of his fingers. Chong then fled towards nearby Li Tak Street, but the driver pursued him on foot and called the police. Officers equipped with helmets and tactical vests launched a search of the surrounding area. They eventually found the suspect in a hotel on Li Tak Street, roughly 200m from the scene of the altercation. A 40cm butcher knife was recovered from the hotel room. Police said Chong appeared to be heavily intoxicated at the time of his arrest. Both he and the taxi driver were taken to Kwong Wah Hospital in Yau Ma Tei for treatment. Chong has been arrested on suspicion of wounding. The case is being investigated by the Mong Kok district crime unit.
South China Morning Post
22-06-2025
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong police probe theft of HK$3,000 of Labubu figures from claw machine shop
Hong Kong police are investigating the theft of reportedly about HK$3,000 (US$382) worth of Labubu figures, a brand by a local designer that has taken the world by storm, from a claw machine store. The force said on Saturday evening that the incident was reported by a claw machine shop owner surnamed Wong, who was based in Yau Ma Tei district. Wong told police that when he stopped by his shop at around 6.30pm, he found that one of the machines had been damaged and some of the merchandise inside had been stolen. Police arrived at the scene soon after and confirmed that about HK$3,000 worth of merchandise had been stolen. The case has been classified as a theft. Images shared online show the claw machine was stocked with Labubu figurines – a type of doll manufactured by Beijing-based Pop Mart that has recently taken the world by storm. Each Labubu doll in the machine was reportedly valued at around HK$200 to HK$250 (US$25 to US$32), with one model fetching as high as HK$800. It is understood that the door to the claw machine had been pried open.
South China Morning Post
17-06-2025
- Health
- South China Morning Post
Puppy's death sparks calls for Hong Kong to quickly tighten animal cruelty laws
Hong Kong must tighten animal cruelty laws to prevent more dogs from being mutilated and dying while consumer demand for cropped tails and ears in pets makes such practices difficult to phase out, experts have said. The calls for urgent amendments to the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance on Monday followed the death last week of a two-month-old female Doberman puppy from infections caused by ear cropping. The puppy was found abandoned in Cherry Street Park near Yau Ma Tei with 8cm (3 inch) incisions in its ears, which had been poorly stitched and glued to a paper cup to keep them upright. Mark Mak Chi-ho, founder of the non-profit-making Veterinary Services Society, said ear clipping and tail docking were still very common in Hong Kong. Historically, ear cropping was done in some working dog breeds to prevent injury. But nowadays, owners subjected Dobermans, which have naturally floppy ears, to ear cropping for aesthetic purposes, Mak said.
