The Pulse

For a while it looked as if there could a constitutional crisis after a majority of political groups aired their negative reaction to this year’s Budget. However, to no-one’s great surprise, the pro-government parties have now fallen into line, so the ...

People’s uprisings in the Middle East have been spreading across the region. Some are hoping, while others are worried, that they may even reach Asia. There were calls for a “Jasmine Revolution” to begin last weekend in many Chinese cities. No one knew...

Officials from Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Guangzhou, Zhongshan, Zhuhai and Macau have outlined a controversial series of development projects entitled “The Action Plan for the Bay Area of the Pearl River Estuary”. Its aim is, say its proponents, to...

Financial Secretary John Tsang’s Fourth Budget hasn’t exactly been received with glowing praise. He said he saw combating inflation as his main task. But while the Financial Secretary was delivering his speech various organizations outside the Legislat...

Red banners congratulating owners for selling have been hung outside old buildings in many different districts across Hong Kong, after one particular property company has acquired several units for redevelopment.Those who haven’t agreed to sell often f...

Let there be light. But preferably not all night long. We look at the problem of light pollution. For decades, due to the fact that Kai Tak airport was so close to the city, there were strict regulations covering light emitted by billboards, and stipul...

The government is expanding the Work Incentive Transport Subsidy Scheme, already introduced in four city districts, to cover all of Hong Kong. But its own journey to doing that hasn’t been without complications. The objective of the plan is to encourag...

The Greenpeace flagship, the Rainbow Warrior II, is currently in Hong Kong as part of its farewell tour in Asia. The ship, originally a fishing trawler, was bought 22 years ago with compensation money received by the environmental group after the Frenc...

This week, in the wake of reports of another disagreement between a tour guide and mainland tourists, this one physical, there were calls for a new regulatory body to oversee the tourism industry. Some worry that the compensation payment to tourists wi...

According to a report released by CLSA this week, rich mainland Chinese are likely to be major drivers in the consumption of luxury goods, surging from 15% of the global market to 44% this year. That may be good news for Hong Kong retailers, but it’s n...