70 m. ago US safety agency investigators to assist Hong Kong with fatal plane crash probe

A United States’ transport safety agency is deploying five investigators to Hong Kong to assist with the city’s probe into the cargo plane crash that killed two security workers, while the four aircrew involved have met with local authorities. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), an independent US government agency responsible for investigating civil transport accidents, said on social media that it would send its team to Hong Kong to assist with the probe into the plane crash. “The...

Events

47 h. ago Hong Kong’s social work, construction sectors hit as jobless rate rises to 3.9%

Hong Kong’s jobless rate rose to 3.9 per cent between July and September, with higher unemployment in social work and construction, authorities said. Preliminary data released by the Census and Statistics Department on Monday showed the unemployment rate rose by 0.2 percentage points over the preceding three-month period. This marks the highest rate since the three-month period between July and September 2022, when it was 4 per cent. Unemployment in the food and beverage sector remained...

Society

3 d. ago 45 Hong Kong organisations join Greater Bay Area social welfare initiative

More than 120 organisations from Hong Kong, Guangdong and Macau have teamed up on as many as 101 social welfare projects in a bid to foster greater ties within the Greater Bay Area. On Saturday, 45 Hong Kong organisations and 82 counterparts from Guangdong province and Macau signed memorandums of understanding for projects covering areas such as elderly care, mental health, youth and family services and support for people with disabilities. Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han said...

Politics

1 week ago Hong Kong authorities vow to improve respite services after ombudsman’s probe

Hong Kong social welfare authorities have pledged to improve their care home respite services, demanding that operators remove unnecessary background and medical checks while vowing to issue warnings to those who fail to rectify the situation. The remarks from Social Welfare Department assistant director David Ng Wai-lung came on Friday, a day after the city’s ombudsman found some of the 46 facilities it investigated were unduly selective when admitting applicants for respite services and were...

Politics

1 week ago Hong Kong ombudsman slams bad ‘attitude’, resource use of care homes after probe

Hong Kong social welfare authorities should strengthen supervision of care homes and review their resource allocation, the ombudsman has urged, after its investigation found some facilities were unduly selective when admitting applicants and were underused or even completely unused. The Office of the Ombudsman on Thursday also criticised the “lukewarm attitude” of the institutions in providing help and information, adding that the overall utilisation rate of services was persistently low and...

Politics

2 w. ago Hong Kong to study reviving public housing sale scheme for tenants

Hong Kong will launch a study next year to assess whether to bring back a scheme that helps current public housing tenants buy their rental flats, with polls covering tenants and families on the waiting list. Officials faced mounting calls for relaunching the Tenants Purchase Scheme at a Legislative Council housing panel meeting on Monday, with some legislators saying the move could help boost social stability by raising Hong Kong’s home ownership rate. Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho Wing-yin...

Politics

3 w. ago Hong Kong’s John Lee cites lack of consensus in shelving waste

A lack of social consensus has led the government to shelve a pay-as-you-throw scheme indefinitely, Hong Kong’s leader has said, while stressing that his administration “will not stop” its commitment to reducing waste. Commenting for the first time on the indefinite suspension of the waste-charging scheme, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said on Tuesday that the implementation of any policies required thorough consideration, taking into account the level of social acceptance and consensus. “The...

Politics