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Exploring forgotten corners of HK where nature is winning…
Hong Kong Free Press is a new, upcoming English-language news source for the city. Free-of-charge, not-for-profit and completely independent, HKFP is set to launch at the end of June.
On Monday, the Hong Kong Free Press website was targeted in a distributed denial of service (DDoS) cyber-attack.
It was a significant attack appearing to originate in Amsterdam, but we are unable to tell who was behind it or where it came from. Our website was down for half-a-day. Behind the preview page at hongkongfp.com, we are busy polishing the site design and will begin building content from this Friday.
“It is curious as to why Hong Kong Free Press would be attacked, as we have yet to launch the site and have said that we intend to be as impartial as possible, welcoming voices from all sides of the political debate. Crude cyber-attacks will not hinder our launch and we now have a top team of experts on board to ensure we’re well-prepared,” said HKFP co-director Tom Grundy.
The team from HK URBEX explore an abandoned movie studio – once the world’s largest.
Hong Kong Free Press has broken records to achieve its initial crowd-funding goal within 48 hours. Today, HKFP surpassed the HK$200,000 mark. FringeBacker.com report that this is the fastest they have seen a campaign reach their target.
This original target was set to sustain HKFP throughout the two-month start-up period with minimal staff. Further contributions will strengthen its independence, help HKFP to kick-off stronger and will bolster its capacity to provide a much-needed credible news source for Hong Kong.
The crowd-funding campaign will continue until June 8th. Every HK$50,000 provides the basics for HKFP to survive for an extra month, support an extra reporter and build audience in order to become self-sustaining.
“This groundswell of grassroots support proves there is a great appetite for an alternative news source in Hong Kong,” said co-director Tom Grundy.
Today, we are launching a crowd-funding campaign for Hong Kong Free Press – a new progressive, not-for-profit, independent news source for the city.
Please see our preview page for more information: hongkongFP.com
Hong Kong Free Press is a new, English language news source seeking to unite critical voices and provide quality analysis and credible reporting on local and national affairs. Free and independent, HKFP arrives amid rising concerns over declining press freedom in Hong Kong and during an important time in the city’s constitutional development.
Launching in June, 2015, HKFP strives to bridge the gap between Chinese and English reporting while providing a platform to raise global understanding of Hong Kong and China issues.
A campaign has been launched to protest the City University of Hong Kong’s decision to close its acclaimed MFA Programme in Creative Writing.
Over two dozen internationally recognised authors from around the world, including US Pulitzer Prize winners Junot Díaz, Rae Armantrout, and Robert Olen Butler, have signed a letter to the President, Provost, and Chairman of the Council of the university decrying the sudden decision. The only reason given for the closure was that “the programme has only been able to enrol a small number of students every year.”
A Facebook campaign, a ‘Faces of CityU MFA’ Tumblr campaign and website have also been launched.
The MFA Programme, established only five years ago by Hong Kong-based novelist Xu Xi, has brought distinguished writers (including letter’s signatories) to the university’s Kowloon Tong campus, and has already resulted in six books and hundreds of published poems, essays, and short stories by MFA graduates and current students.
Guest Post: Hong Kong’s role in the multibillion-dollar trade in threatened animals and plants warrants immediate government action.
Hong Kong is a major hub for the wildlife trade and its free trade status is driving species to extinction, a meeting of 17 NGOs, experts and academics said yesterday.
via Alex Hofford
“Hong Kong places minimal restrictions on international trade, but we nonetheless have an ethical responsibility to make sure we are not facilitating the disappearance of species globally,” said Dr. Yvonne Sadovy, professor of biological sciences at The University of Hong Kong. The organizations met at the university to discuss the urgent challenges presented by the wildlife trade, which is the fourth-largest illegal trade in the world, according to TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network.
The top three, narcotics, counterfeiting and human trafficking, have beenntaken seriously by the Hong Kong government, according to Amanda Whitfort, a professor of law at HKU. “Hong Kong government has only scratched the surface of regulating the wildlife trade,” she said. “The scale and variety of species involved is staggering.
In September, 1983, a Cypriot freighter called ‘City of Lobito’ beached on Cheung Chau island after being washed ashore by Typhoon Ellen. The 6000-tonne cargo ship narrowly avoided smashing into newly built beachside apartments (by just 30 metres).
via uwants.com
Islanders took care of the 21 Filipino crew members until they were repatriated. The shipping company went bankrupt.
via uwants.com
The ‘2017 Make It Happen‘ campaign bus received a less-than-enthusiastic welcome as it sped around Hong Kong this weekend. The event was part of a wider push to promote the government’s restrictive electoral reform package, which is in-keeping with the proposal handed down last August by Beijing.
The government’s own press handout picture, featuring an ecstatic Carrie Lam rallying non-existent supporters, sparked an inevitable Mystery Bus Tour Photoshop battle.
Via GovHK
via Owen Chiang
Via HK URBEX: ‘Miles to Go’ is set in a bleak depopulated Hong Kong, long abandoned by its former inhabitants. The film follows a courier who traverses the barren cityscape to deliver a special package to a mysterious individual…from another time.