HKFP Monitor August 16, 2025: Will Whampoa residents welcome a new music venue? And academic integrity row rolls on

HKFP

19 hours ago

Welcome back to HKFP Monitor. This week: Live Nation unveils plans for a new mid-sized music venue amid a shortage of small performance spaces. An academic integrity row over an award-winning student project deepens. Press freedom group RSF faces attacks from Beijing-backed media over its call to free Jimmy Lai. And LegCo's summer break gets a dose of gossip after an opened condom package is found in a restroom inside the building complex.
SHIP-SHAPED NEW MUSIC VENUE
Music fans in Hong Kong may have reason to celebrate: US-based entertainment giant Live Nation, which brought Coldplay to the city earlier this year, will open a new 'state-of-the-art' live entertainment venue at The Whampoa in Kowloon.
The venue, named TIDES, will span the 1/F and U1/F of the ship-shaped building and host up to 1,500 people. Live Nation says it will be Hong Kong's 'only mid-sized venue with fully integrated production capabilities and touring-grade infrastructure.' It is slated to open in the fourth quarter of this year, with a target of 250 events annually.
While the opening may ease the city's shortage of small and mid-sized music venues, some netizens have voiced concerns about potential noise and crowds in the otherwise quiet neighbourhood.
The move comes as the government pushes to grow Hong Kong's 'concert economy.' Culture minister Rosanna Law said in January that large-scale pop concerts drew 4.3 million spectators between 2023 and 2024, generating HK$3.7 billion in spending and adding HK$2.2 billion to the economy.
Can TIDES fill the gap left by the closure of Music Zone at KITEC last year? The loss of the medium-sized Kowloon Bay venue due to a redevelopment plan was a blow to independent gig organisers, many of whom have since struggled to find affordable spaces.
Local promoter Leung of Neonlit told HKFP in April 2024 that some organisers may now gravitate toward stadium-filling acts, while those specialising in mid-sized gigs could face a 'hiatus' without suitable venues.
Small livehouses have long faced challenges in Hong Kong. Hidden Agenda, a popular indie spot, was raided by authorities in 2017 before rebranding as This Town Needs, which closed in 2020. The team has since staged events at venues like MacPherson Stadium and PORTAL.
Covid-era travel restrictions gave the local gig scene an unexpected boost, despite public gathering restrictions, as audiences sought homegrown entertainment. Demand for small to mid-sized venues has persisted – and with more overseas acts returning post-pandemic, promoters are racing to meet it.
ACADEMIC INTERITY CONTROVERSY
An academic integrity controversy involving a local secondary school student and an award-winning AI-powered piece of software has continued to unfold.
Student Clarisse Poon has been accused of academic dishonesty after her science project, MediSafe, was alleged to have been developed by a US-based AI company rather than by herself.
The app, designed to detect potential prescription errors, also drew criticism over possible privacy violations after Poon said she tested it using data from at least 100 patients.
The allegations first surfaced in June in a LinkedIn post by Hailey Cheng. Although Cheng did not name Poon, the student responded on the same platform, calling the claims 'humiliating.' The response was later deleted.
The controversy soon spread online, with Cheng reiterating her claims on Threads. Public attention also turned to Poon's family background, with some questioning whether her father – renowned liver disease specialist Ronnie Poon – had provided patient data for the project. He told Ming Pao in June that the app used only simulated patient data.
Calls mounted for a government investigation, as MediSafe had won multiple awards at the Hong Kong ICT Awards 2024, organised by Hong Kong Education City Limited and backed by the government's Digital Policy Office. The organisers told local media on Wednesday they were still gathering information and following up on the case.
Earlier this month, the US company involved — AI Health Studio — broke its silence. Founder Ahmed Jemaa said the project was commissioned by Poon's mother. While the student may have provided the initial idea, Jemaa said his team built the software 'from scratch' and were never told it would be entered into academic competitions.
The controversy may escalate as Cheng said on Friday that she met with lawmakers to discuss the incident. She called on the public to focus on the award organiser's response, instead of the family's personal background.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) came under fire from Beijing-backed media this week after calling for the release of pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai, whose trial was set to resume following a five-month break.
RSF's Director of Advocacy and Assistance, Antoine Bernard, said Lai had faced 'inhumane conditions' in detention, reflecting authorities' efforts to 'silence' a prominent press freedom advocate.
The Hong Kong government condemned the criticism as 'slanderous,' accusing external forces and 'anti-China media' of distorting the truth and discrediting the judiciary.
State-backed outlets Ta Kung Pao and Wen Wei Po attacked RSF, calling it a 'vanguard of anti-China forces' and alleging it serves as a tool of the US, citing previous funding from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).
Ta Kung Pao also accused the group of using its annual Press Freedom Index report to 'vilify' Hong Kong. This year, the city tumbled five places, entering the 'red zone' – meaning a 'very serious' situation – for the first time, alongside China.
RSF responded, saying it was 'pro-press freedom, not anti-China,' and accused Beijing-backed media of trying to distract the public from Lai's 'arbitrary detention.'
'This is not about being 'pro' or 'anti' China, but about supporting free, pluralistic, and independent media,' Bernard said.
LOCAL MEDIA MONITOR
Hong Kong's 'patriots-only' legislature may be on summer break, but chatter in political circles heated up this week after a photo of an opened condom packet found in an accessible toilet inside the Legislative Council complex began circulating among lawmakers.
Local media reported the torn packet was discovered in the toilet bowl of a 14th-floor restroom – the floor housing offices of the self-styled 'C15+' group, which includes Doreen Kong, Chu Kwok-keung, and Gary Zhang.
The lawmakers asked the LegCo Secretariat to check surveillance footage, but it showed no more than one person using the restroom at a time. Hong Kong Economic Times said only a lawmaker's assistant had entered during the relevant period and later received a 'warm reminder.'
The Secretariat told Ming Pao there was no suspicious activity and the case was closed, though some lawmakers reportedly suspect more political gossip could surface ahead of December's 'all-patriots' legislative election.
After a five-month pause, Jimmy Lai's closely watched national security trial was set to resume this week with closing arguments from both the prosecution and defence.
But Thursday's session was called off due to a black rainstorm warning, and Friday's hearing was postponed again after his lawyer said the 77-year-old media tycoon was experiencing a heart-related medical issue.
'Time is running out,' Lai's son, Sebastien, told Nikkei Asia, adding that 'something bad could happen at any time' because of his father's age.
Lai, the founder of the now-shuttered Apple Daily, has been behind bars since December 2020. His trial – focused on charges of foreign collusion and sedition -began in December 2023 and has now run for over 140 days, making it the longest national security case in Hong Kong so far.