Hong Kong News Hub

Monday, 22 January 2024

74,000 Runners Participate In Hong Kong Marathon, Including Icon Chow Yun-fat

The Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon, the city’s biggest sports event, saw a return to its pre-pandemic levels on Sunday, with a total of 74,000 runners taking part in several races. Kenya’s Seroi Anderson Saitoti and Ethiopia’s Medina Armino were the first to cross the finish line in the men and women’s categories, respectively.

Sun Xiao Yang from Mainland China and Hongkonger Choi Yan Yin emerged the winners in the half marathon, while the Mainland’s Chen Yu Fa and Hong Kong’s Tsang Hiu Tung were the first to complete the 10 km race. The event also doubled as the 19th Asian Marathon Championships, for which India’s Man Singh and Mongolia’s Galbadrakh Khishigsaikhan took home the championship titles.

runners at the hong kong marathon 2024 — The marathon route took runners past several Hong Kong landmarks, such as the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai (© Hong Kong Tourism Board)

The marathon route traversed Kowloon and Hong Kong Island, taking runners from Nathan Road to the finish line in Victoria Park by way of landmarks like Stonecutters and Ting Kau bridges, and Western Harbour Tunnel. The tracks were lined with onlookers who cheered the runners on with by holding up signs and beating drums.

Film star Chow Yun-fat took part in the half marathon and completed the race in a little over 2 hours and 26 minutes. Financial Secretary Paul Chan came second in the 2 km Legends Cup — a route that took runners from the Wan Chai Sports Ground to Victoria Park, and saw participation from other local politicians and business leaders.

chow yun-fat and paul chan at hong kong marathon 2024 — Actor Chow Yun-fat completed the half mnarathon and Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan placed second in the Legends Cup (© DotDotNews, Facebook)

However, the importance of post-run health checks was brought to the fore when a participant in the half marathon collapsed at the Tin Hau MTR station after finishing the race, and passed away at a city hospital. The organisers of the event expressed their condolences at the 30-year-old man’s untimely passing.

Header image credits: Hong Kong Tourism Board

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Sunday, 21 January 2024

Hong Kong Fintech FundPark Secures US$500 Million Funding Facility from Goldman Sachs

by Fintech News Hong Kong
January 22, 2024

FundPark, a fintech startup focusing on trade finance for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), has obtained a US$500 million (HK$3.9 billion) funding facility from Goldman Sachs.

This marks the second funding initiative between FundPark and the investment bank, doubling the initial facility provided in 2022.

Anson Suen Wai-loi

Anson Suen Wai-loi, CEO and co-founder, stated that the increased investment reflects confidence in FundPark’s past performance and ability to utilise the capital efficiently.

The funds will be directed towards providing trade finance solutions to SMEs, a sector often underserved by traditional banking institutions. The Asian Development Bank estimates a global financing gap of US$2.5 trillion (HK$19.5 trillion) for small businesses in this area.

FundPark, founded in 2016, offers trade finance to SMEs by securing loans against their cashflows, inventory, or receivables.

The company is said to have disbursed US$2 billion (HK$15.6 billion) to over 16,500 SMEs, focusing mainly on the cross-border e-commerce sector.

The company uses an AI-driven credit model to assess borrowers, providing financing solutions without traditional collateral like property.

The new funds will support the extension of loans to digital SMEs and enhance FundPark’s technology and data analytics capabilities. The company also plans to expand beyond its current Greater China, Southeast Asia, Europe, and the US markets.

Featured image credit: Edited from Unsplash

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Tough Olympic hurdle | The Standard

Real estate developers building the athletes’ village for the Olympics are struggling to find buyers for the flats once the Games have finished due to a downturn in the property market.

The vast complex in the deprived Saint-Ouen suburb of Paris has been one of the biggest construction sites in Europe over the last four years and is now nearing completion ahead of the start of the Games on July 26.

Many of France’s biggest developers have built residential towers at the village, which will host 10,500 athletes before being converted into private homes, social housing and student accommodation.

Of the 88 apartments put up for private sale by the Icade group in July “around 10” have sold, with prices now being reduced by around 9 percent to EUR6,900 (HK$58,864 ) per square meter.

Paris prices are around 10,000 euros per sqm.

“Market conditions are a bit tricky at the moment with the rise in interest rates,” Thibault Angles, head of the programme at Icade, said.

Competitor Vinci says it has sold under half of its apartments that are currently up for sale, with around 100 still on the market.

Thomas Lefebvre, of online real estate websites SeLoger and Meilleurs Agents, said sales of new homes had fallen by 30 percent over the last year.

“The market has turned very quickly, quite abruptly,” he said. “We’ve gone from interest rates of 1.0 percent in January 2022 to 4.0 percent today. The number of buyers has fallen considerably.”

The lackluster sales at the village reflect this wider downturn in the Paris property market where prices fell by 2.4 percent last year, according to the country’s biggest real estate agency, Century 21.

It expects prices nationwide to fall by 5 to 10 percent this year.

“Some developers decided to test the market for their [Olympics] apartments well in advance, others will probably wait,” a source at a company working on Olympics infrastructure said.

“Obviously they were expecting different market conditions a few years ago.”

Central banks across the West have hiked their rates over the last 18 months to bring down inflation sparked by the war in Ukraine, leading banks to rein in their lending.

The lack of buyers at the village will have no impact on the Games themselves or the budget, but the 3,000-apartment complex is a key part of the intended legacy of the event.

Most of the new infrastucture for the Games and the village were deliberately placed in the Seine-Saint-Denis area northeast of Paris with a view to regenerating the most deprived area of France.

Part of the challenge is drawing middle-class families to an area long associated with rundown housing estates and high crime.

“They haven’t put them on sale too early, they put them on sale with prices that were too high,” Selim Mouhoubi, who runs the local Stephane Plaza real estate agency in Saint-Ouen, said.

“It’s always a question of price.”

He thinks prices will have to fall another 5 to 10 percent.

Developers insist there is no need to panic and they have time on their side.

After the end of the Olympics and Paralympics on September 8, the apartments will need to be modified and fitted out under work that is expected to take another year.

“The only problem at the moment is the context. It’s not a bad move to invest in this area,” added Mouhoubi, who said the investments in new transport and schools made it one of the most promising neighborhoods in the whole Paris area.

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Crystal Skin Dim Sum Wrapper 水晶皮製作

點心,Crystal Skin, Dim Sum, Wrapper, chinese, cantonese, Recipe,水晶皮,製作, crystal skin wrapper, crystal skin dough

Have you ever had Dim Sum 點心? You know, that Cantonese teahouse tradition where tea is paired with tiny delectable dishes or steamers of sweet or savory treats. Sooo goood! And in the midst of these delectable treats have you ever had those dumplings where the skin was transparent enough to see through to the inside filling? So amazing amirite?!

Well these thin transparent wrappers are known as Crystal Skin Wrappers, 水晶皮. So delicate these wrappers: thin enough to see through yet strong enough to pleat and hold the shape of the dumplings with ease. Check out the beautiful Har Gow 蝦餃 shrimp dumplings (photo above) that we made with this crystal skin!

Tricky wrappers to make but we managed through much trial and error to get it just right. Check out how to make the most excellent Crystal Skin Dim Sum Wrappers 水晶皮, both thin enough to see through and yet pliable and easy enough to work with to make and hold the pleats necessary for these fancy dim sum dumpling shapes.

For this crystal skin wrapper we need tang flour 澄粉 (which is also known as wheat starch) and potato starch 土豆澱粉. Note that potato starch is also often just loosely translated as 生粉 in which case you need to check the actual ingredients to confirm if it actually uses potato starch.

It’s important to note that some crystal skin recipes use alternatives like tapioca starch or cornstarch. Don’t know if these work. I think they might but haven’t tried. But potato starch does for sure. And don’t substitute sweet potato starch, that’s different.

I got tang flour at my local wet market (ask the noodle guy) and I’ve recently seen it pop up in some supermarkets. Potato starch we can always get at the Japanese grocery store.

An interesting part of the process of making this crystal skin is that the tang flour/potato starch mixture is scalded with boiling hot water. This creates a gelatinous texture to the dough.

This scalding, according to most recipes we tried, was the key to this wrapper. But even with the scalding our wrappers were coming out hard to work with and with end result of a thick and chewy mouthfeel.

However, finally we had a breakthrough!! It turns out that you scald all the tang flour and only a portion of the potato starch! This is the key!

Mix up flour/partial portion of starch/hot water as quickly and thoroughly as you can. As you can see mine came out kinda lumpy and very sticky. There also were still tiny lumps of uncooked flour dotted through. Maybe I didn’t stir fast enough? Not sure but it didn’t affect the final result that I could see.

The scalded flour is then covered and rested for a bit.

This step of holding back a portion of the starch until after the scalding changed the game for us! It made what had before been a most difficult and persnickety dough just so easy to work with.

The rest of the potato starch is then kneaded into the hot dough. It will seems kinda impossible at first to knead it all in but just keep at it. The dough will eventually soak in all that dry starch and form a smooth, non-sticky, pliable white dough. Cover it and let it rest again for a bit.

Your smooth and silky crystal skin dough is done and ready to wrap some gorgeous dim sum dumplings. Made with our method, the dough is so easy to roll out, shape and pleat. And importantly, when steamed, your dumplings will have a thin translucent skin that allows the flavor and texture of the filling to stand out.

What next with the dough? Well, to make it easy to portion out the dough use your hands to roll the dough out into logs. Start with your hands in the middle and roll out towards the sides until your roll is 3/4″ in diameter. From this log you can easily weigh out and cut out portions for the wrapper.

It’s important to weigh out the portions to keep the dumpling sizes the same. While working cover the rest of the dough with cling wrap to keep it moist.

The crystal skin wrapper is traditionally made using the side of a cleaver. That’s right I said a cleaver! The chefs make it look so easy, just a press of the cleaver and a beautifully thin wrapper is made. Chef’s version of sleight of hand!

I, apparently, have no cleaver magic, try that I might. So I did it my way with a regular ‘ol rolling pin and my secret weapon, a thin silicon mat. Silicon mats are so awesome!

The mat makes it easy to roll out super thin which makes your wrapper look so professional. The reason is because the wrapper will stick to the silicon mat as you roll it out. And when done rolling you can also still peel that incredible thinness off the silicon no problem.

The rolled out wrapper should be so thin that you can just start to see through it. That’s good and means that you’re going to get a lovely see thru skin to show off your delicious filling. Check out our video below to see the in-depth details of rolling and wrapping a crystal skin dumpling.

Please enjoy our crystal skin 水晶皮 recipe. If you’re like us and have already tried multiple recipes to only end with so-so results after a lot of effort, we hope that this easy and smooth crystal skin recipe will make it up to you!

Try out this delicate crystal skin wrapper with our yummilicious Har Gow Shrimp Dumpling recipe. We’ll post more dim sum dumplings using this translucent crystal skin soon so stayed tuned!

Crystal Skin Wrapper Recipe 水晶皮製作
(makes 20 wrappers) Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 0 mins

Ingredients:

Dough wrapper:

Directions:

Scald the flour: Mix all the tang flour, 1/4 of the potato starch and lard in a bowl. Add the boiling hot water into the mixture, stirring as you do. Try to stir everything together as quickly as you can. The mixture will get really sticky but just go at it. Cover and let it rest for 4 mins.

Knead in starch: Add the rest of the starch to a working surface and knead that starch into the hot dough. It will take a couple of minutes but all the starch will be absorbed by the dough. The dough will become smooth and not sticky. Cover and let the dough rest 5 mins.

Roll dough to logs: Weigh and slice the dough in half and then roll out to 3/4 inch diameter logs. To roll out start in the middle with the palms of both hands and roll outwards towards two sides. The log will gradually lengthen to desired length.

Weigh out portions: Slice each log to 10 equal portions, weighing 10g each, for a total of 20 portions.

Roll out wrappers: Covering the rest of the portions to keep them moist, roll one portion into a ball. Flatten onto a silicon mat and roll out to a 3 1/4 inch diameter wrapper. This size is appropriate for most dim sum dumplings. Use right away to wrap dumplings.

Enjoy some dim sum dumpling love!

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Hong Kong Delays Waste-Charging Scheme For Residents To August 1

Hong Kong authorities announced that it will kick off its waste-charging scheme for residents on August 1, pushing back the start date of the initiative by four months to give the public time to understand how it will work. However, the programme will apply to government departments from April 1, which will conduct pilot tests that will serve as demonstrations for the public.

Speaking at a press briefing on Friday, Secretary for Environment and Ecology, Tse Chin-wan, said, “Many people expressed their concern to me, that the general public do not understand how waste-charging will be implemented. I believe that it is just a responsible act for us to put more time into the education so that when we implement waste-charging, it will be implemented successfully and smoothly,” said Tse.

Hong Kong Secretary for Environment and Ecology, Tse Chin-wan, explains the delay of the Municipal Solid Waste Charging scheme.

Under the Municipal Solid Waste Charging scheme, Hongkongers will need to use prepaid, government-approved trash bags to dispose of their garbage, and must pay HK$0.11 for each litre of garbage they get rid of. The bags will come in nine different sizes, ranging from 3 litres to 100 litres in capacity, and each one will cost anything from HK$0.30 to HK$11.

The bags will be available at supermarkets, convenience stores, and pharmacies, and retailers can even sell them to customers to double as carry bags before they use them to dispose of their trash later. Residents who wish to get rid of big items that do not fit into these authorised bags must stick a special label on them, priced at HK$11, and take them to specific collection points for disposal.

hong kong government workers talking to a resident about the waste-charging scheme — The government will use the next four months to generate awareness about the waste-charging initiative among residents of the city (© GovHK)

The government hopes that the waste-charging scheme will reduce the amount of rubbish that makes its way to the city’s landfills, which as of 2021 was 1.53 kg/person in Hong Kong. Authorities will fine anyone who fails to use these designated bags and labels HK$1,500, while those who use public waste bins to get rid of their trash must pay a penalty of HK$3,000.

Hong Kong authorities have introduced several measures to cut down the negative impact of waste and plastic on the environment — most notably by charging customers for plastic bags they use at stores or to make online purchases, and doubling the fines for littering. The next big move will come on April 22, 2024, when the ban on single-use plastics at restaurants and hotels comes into effect.

Header image credits: Johny Ho via Flickr

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No magic formula to change habits: Tse Chin-wan

Environment Secretary Tse Chin-wan on Monday said there’s no magic formula to change people’s habits on waste disposal, adding that officials will take the lead in testing out a new charging scheme in government buildings from April.

The government earlier postponed a pay-as-you-throw scheme to August followed public concern about how it will work.

Speaking on an RTHK programme, Tse said it can take years to make a difference.

“In many places, it takes a long time to change people’s habits. There’s no such thing as a magical day where we press a button and change society. It normally takes three to five years for society to change,” he said.

“Although it takes more time, I think it’s easier for us to change people’s habits and establish a culture.”

The minister also brushed aside online comments that the designated rubbish bags people will have to buy are easily torn, saying they have passed all tests of relevant standards.

Meanwhile, Yau Wing-kwong, founder of the Environmental Association, said it was reasonable for the government to delay the scheme to allow the public more time to prepare.

“We have seen a massive increase in recycling. People are clearing up what they don’t need in their home and they take it to recycling. So I think this is a good thing that happened. People realise that waste charging is really coming and are responding to it. And I think gradually they will get used to the waste charging scheme,” he told RTHK’s Hong Kong Today programme.

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Return to the great space show

The China Manned Space Exhibition reached new heights yesterday when the 150,000th visitor arrived.

Support for the exhibition, being staged at the Science Museum and the Museum of History to showcase the history and achievements of manned space development, saw the 150,000th visitor being handed an exhibition poster and a gift pack.

The visitor was among Chongqing visitors from the Liu and Wang families. The families also visited the exhibition at the National Museum in Beijing last July.

The leader of the Liu family expressed his delight to once again see the return of the Shenzhou manned spacecraft in person. Apart from the Shenzhou spacecraft capsule the exhibition features the chronicles of China’s manned space development, an intra-vehicular space suit, a model of the space station, various carrier rocket models and spacecraft and a lunar lander.

The exhibition will run until February 18. Admission is free.

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