Latest news with #MAGDALENEFUNG
Straits Times
a day ago
- Lifestyle
- Straits Times
Why is Hong Kong's bamboo scaffolding, scaled by heroes in movies, being phased out?
Bamboo scaffolding is a familiar sight throughout Hong Kong, having evolved into a cultural symbol of the city. ST PHOTOS: MAGDALENE FUNG – I'm walking out for lunch in my Wan Chai neighbourhood one sweaty May afternoon when I notice that the residential building next to my favourite dessert shop has suddenly become encased in bamboo scaffolding and mesh netting. That architectural marvel must have been erected just days ago, as I hadn't noticed it previously. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Straits Times
Hong Kong's iconic bamboo scaffolding – endangered or there to stay?
Workers balance on bamboo scaffolding as they work on the exterior of an office building along Gloucester Road in Wan Chai, Hong Kong, in 2024. ST PHOTO: MAGDALENE FUNG – I'm walking out for lunch in my Wan Chai neighbourhood one sweaty May afternoon when I notice that the residential building next to my favourite dessert shop has suddenly become encased in bamboo scaffolding and mesh netting. That architectural marvel must have been erected just days ago, as I hadn't noticed it previously. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
10-05-2025
- Health
- Straits Times
Space oil drug a growing problem among youths in Hong Kong
Several banners warning against the dangers of space oil in a neighbourhood in Tin Shui Wai, Hong Kong. ST PHOTO: MAGDALENE FUNG 'They thought it was vaping': HK confronts space oil drug problem among the youth – With a tap on their phones, teenagers in Hong Kong are using messaging apps to buy drugs that they inhale by way of vaping. Chris, a 19-year-old vocational student, told The Straits Times: 'At the time, I thought I was just vaping. 'It was only afterwards that I found out it was called 'space oil'.' He was first introduced to space oil by a friend in January 2024. It sparked the beginning of a months-long spiral downwards into drug abuse. 'We'd usually pool our orders and buy a hundred capsules at a time through a dealer on WhatsApp,' said Chris, who wanted to be known only by his first name. His account is one among hundreds of young Hong Kongers who have found themselves hooked on the new recreational drug. The drug's accessibility and affordability appeal to the youth as dealers promote it on social media, communicate through messaging apps and make it easy for cash-strapped students to buy it in small amounts, social workers and experts told ST. In recent months, videos have gone viral online showing teenage abusers copulating in public , passed out on trains and buses or staggering around in a trance while under the influence of the drug. One offender caught on film was only 13. Space oil comes in capsules in a liquid form that can be inhaled through electronic cigarettes. In Singapore, they are more commonly known as kpods. While the drug has no standard formula, it usually contains etomidate – a controlled anaesthetic – and is often mixed with other substances that help users relax or achieve a transient euphoric 'high'. It may also be infused with flavoured and scented glycerin for a more pleasurable sensory effect . Some versions include harder drugs like cannabis or ketamine for a stronger high. As space oil became the city's third-most-abused drug among users aged 21 and younger – after cannabis and cocaine in 2024 – the authorities decided to act. In February, the government listed space oil as a dangerous drug and banned four substances often used to make the narcotic – etomidate and its three chemically similar analogues metomidate, propoxate and isopropoxate. Electronic cigarettes, also known as vaping pens, affixed with empty cartridges that can be used to store the space oil drug. ST PHOTO: MAGDALENE FUNG Those found consuming or in possession of the drugs face up to seven years' jail and a HK$1 million (S$166,900) fine. Traffickers and manufacturers face life in jail and a HK$5 million fine. Side effects of space oil include addiction, tremors, dizziness, memory loss, seizures, blackouts and even death. In 2024, Hong Kong public hospitals treated more than 130 suspected space oil abusers, three of whom died. A quarter of the cases were aged under 18. Users underestimate the effects Soon after his first encounter with space oil in January 2024, Chris found himself vaping the substance several times a week, 'whenever I went out with my friends'. 'I'd get dizzy and wobbly, but would feel very carefree and easily amused. The girls with us would also be less inhibited and allow more physical contact,' he said. But a reality check came quickly for Chris just half a year later, when a friend passed out on the streets after taking space oil. 'I started to think that space oil is quite dangerous ,' he said. 'The frequent vaping also began to feel increasingly meaningless , so I decided to quit.' Space oil abusers tend to underestimate the effects the drug can have on them, said Mr Michael Ng, service supervisor at PS33 Shamshuipo Centre, a drug rehabilitation and counselling services provider run by non-governmental organisation Hong Kong Christian Service. 'Until space oil was banned in February, users didn't even see it as a drug; they thought it was just vaping,' Mr Ng said. But the problem is now so severe that where once PS33 rarely saw any drug abusers aged under 18, they now handle 'as many as 30 such cases of young people who abuse only space oil'. The government's drug abuse registry had 300 documented space oil abusers at the end of 2024, three in four of them aged under 21. The actual number is likely to be much higher. (From left) Service supervisor Michael Ng, assistant supervisor Claudia Ng and social worker Kanas Kwok at NGO Hong Kong Christian Service's drug rehabilitation and counselling centre PS33 in Sham Shui Po. ST PHOTO: MAGDALENE FUNG People abuse the narcotic for various reasons, Mr Ng said. For some, the transient euphoria helps them feel less self-conscious. Others use it to cope with emotional problems. Still others see it as a cheaper, milder alternative to harder drugs like cocaine, that they may be trying to wean themselves from . 'It was the 'feel' that most attracted me to keep using space oil.; I could let myself go, space out and fall straight asleep,' said one 13-year-old rehabilitated user who wanted to be known only as Ah Tung. The secondary school student, who first tried the drug in August, would quickly go on to consume 'two or three capsules of space oil a week', which she would get from a 'friend' on Instagram or WhatsApp for HK$1,000. 'I would either borrow the money from friends or steal it from my mum,' Ah Tung said. Messaging apps abused as sales channels Space oil dealers exploit popular messaging apps like Instagram, Telegram and WhatsApp, making it easy for youth to access these drugs, according to cyber-security expert Ronald Pong. WeChat and Alipay's e-payment systems have become channels for transactions, especially via the virtual red packet feature used for small payments, he said. ST's search on Instagram uncovered several user accounts blatantly advertising the sale of space oil in Cantonese. 'Youngsters are referred by their friends to dealers on all these apps,' said Mr Pong , chief executive of computer security service Nexusguard Consulting, who has looked into the online sale of space oil as part of his investigations into illicit e-payments. Buyers and sellers usually chat on Telegram, where they are anonymous to one another, he told ST. Buyers deemed genuine are redirected to a middleman, who provides a QR code for them to secure orders by transferring cash of not more than HK$1,000 each time using WeChat Pay or AliPay's red packet function. 'The money leads to an underground bank run by syndicates that open e-banking accounts by renting, buying or stealing people's information,' Mr Pong said. Once payment is verified, the dealer dispatches a handler to deliver the drugs to the buyer within one or two hours. While the drugs are physically in Hong Kong, the sellers operate in Shenzhen or other mainland Chinese cities. 'There is a whole industry behind it that is very organised,' he said. 'They start small, offering youngsters these cheaper, 'safer' drugs as starter products, before encouraging them to upgrade to costlier, more harmful and addictive substances like ketamine or cocaine . 'Once they're hooked, these youth are often then initiated into a life of more crime to keep up their drug habit ,' he added. Space oil central? One area in Hong Kong that has recently found itself under the spotlight is Tin Shui Wai township in the north-western New Territories, where several viral videos of space oil users were filmed . The incidents have led the authorities to post banners warning of the dangers of the drug across the city, and particularly around Tin Shui Wai. 'Space oil is a drug; it will not take you to space,' read one such banner in Cantonese at a light-rail train stop in the area. While space oil abuse is a citywide problem, the issue may seem more visible in Tin Shui Wai, as it is home to many low-income cross-border families who live in cramped public housing flats scattered across the town , Mr Pong explained. 'Many of the youth in Tin Shui Wai are children of new immigrants from the mainland,' he said. 'Their working-class parents have no time for them, they're left alone to their own devices after school, and are hence particularly susceptible to falling into bad company.' So far, efforts to tackle the problem show promise. An Instagram post blatantly advertising the sale of the space oil drug in Cantonese. PHOTO: SPACE_VAPE589/INSTAGRAM A government spokesman told ST that anti-space oil drug campaigns were held in schools in February. The police have since January also stepped up patrols using etomidate rapid test kits and enhanced intelligence-led anti-online drug trafficking operations. Since the ban took effect in mid-February, the authorities had, as at early April, arrested 196 people and seized space oil drug items with a market value totalling approximately HK$3.2 million, the spokesman said. Tackling the space oil problem among the youth needs to go beyond the superficial, PS33 social worker Kanas Kwok said. Social workers work closely with their cases to address the root reason that drove them towards drugs. 'It requires a lot of dialogue,' Ms Kwok told ST. 'To kick the drug habit, the space oil abusers must first feel that they themselves want the change , then the rehabilitation process will be more effective .' Thirteen-year-old Ah Tung said she quit space oil after being 'scolded and beaten by my parents'. She added: 'But it was also because I didn't want to end up becoming a drug addict, or find myself viral online for being caught intoxicated on video like many others have .' Magdalene Fung is The Straits Times' Hong Kong correspondent. She is a Singaporean who has spent about a decade living and working in Hong Kong. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
GE2025: No crowds, short waiting times as overseas Singaporeans cast their ballots
Singaporeans living abroad headed to the polls on May 3 to cast their vote in the 2025 General Election at the nation's overseas polling stations. ST PHOTOS: WALTER SIM, MAGDALENE FUNG Follow our live coverage. HONG KONG/TOKYO/SHENZHEN/NEW YORK – Back home in Singapore, Mr Julian Chang, 24, used to pay little attention to politics, calling himself 'apolitical'. But since coming to Tokyo as an exchange student a month ago, he has been gripped by election fever, even though he has had to watch election rallies online instead of attending in person. 'I didn't imagine I'd feel so patriotic in my first voting experience because, honestly, I'm quite apolitical at home and I don't really care. But coming here, I realise that I do,' said Mr Chang, a Singapore Management University accountancy undergraduate who is on an exchange programme at Keio University and registered to vote in Hougang SMC. On May 3, he turned up at the Singapore Embassy in Tokyo at around 8am local time. There was a slight buzz of activity outside the building – located on a hill in the Azabujuban district – when voting opened, with people mingling outside its gates. Many had come to vote early before proceeding with their plans for the Golden Week holidays, which run from April 29 to May 6. Finance professional Annabelle Kan, 33, was also at the embassy in Tokyo early to cast her ballot hours before she was to fly to Okinawa on holiday with her family members. While she has lived abroad for about 10 years, it was her first time voting overseas. 'It is a chance to really consider and think about issues that affect my family back home, even though I'm overseas,' the Mountbatten SMC voter said. Singaporeans living abroad headed to the polls on May 3 – encountering no crowds and short waiting times – to cast their vote in the 2025 General Election at the nation's overseas polling stations. In Hong Kong, a short queue of about a dozen people had formed at the ground floor lift lobby of the Admiralty Centre office building housing the Singapore consulate by 7.50am, ahead of voting opening at 8am. Among the first few in line was banker Christine Foo, who was voting from Hong Kong for the first time after relocating to the city for work in August 2024. 'I came at this hour because I'm an early riser,' Ms Foo, 55, told The Straits Times after she had cast her ballot. 'The voting process was very smooth; there was no crowd, and I was done in less than five minutes.' Banker Christine Foo was among the first few in line to vote at Singapore's Consulate-General in Hong Kong. ST PHOTO: MAGDALENE FUNG Ms Foo, who is registered to vote in the Holland-Bukit Timah GRC, said that as a 'true blue Singaporean and a former grassroots leader', she felt privileged to be able to vote. 'I believe that one should ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for it first,' said the banker, who added that she respects diversity and hopes for peace and stability for the people of Singapore. This general election is the first electoral test for Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, who took over from Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong and was sworn in on May 15 , 2024. Voting is compulsory for Singaporeans aged at least 21. Of the 2.75 million Singaporeans eligible to vote in this election, 18,389 were registered as overseas voters, according to the Elections Department (ELD). Among them, 8,630 have registered to vote in person while 9,759 registered to vote by post. The 1,152 registered overseas voters in the Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC will not participate in the ballot as the constituency's PAP team won in a walkover. Of the 33 electoral divisions, Tanjong Pagar GRC has the most overseas voters at 1,703, while Sembawang West SMC has the fewest at just 81. Singapore has overseas polling stations in the following 10 cities where there is a significant number of Singaporeans: Beijing, Canberra, Dubai, Hong Kong, London, New York, San Francisco, Shanghai, Tokyo and Washington DC. Research manager Ian Tan , who was voting from Hong Kong for the third time, said that while there was a short queue when he arrived at the consulate slightly before 11am, he took barely 10 minutes to complete the voting process. Voter Ian Tan at Admiralty Centre, which houses Singapore's Consulate-General in Hong Kong, on May 3. ST PHOTO: MAGDALENE FUNG He also said that he followed the election campaign closely every day primarily through mainstream media outlets like ST, social media platforms like YouTube, and the views of key opinion leaders online. 'What motivates me to vote even though I'm overseas, is to share with my children what elections are and why it matters for us to exercise our voting rights ,' Mr Tan, 39, a father of two young children aged six and six months, respectively , said. 'I am lucky that Singapore's consulate in Hong Kong is just a short MTR (train) ride away for me,' he added. Over in Shanghai, seasoned overseas voter Jason Ong arrived at the Singapore consulate shortly after doors opened at 8am to cast his ballot. The 45-year-old, who runs a cross-border advisory business and has lived abroad for the past 24 years, said that voting is a reminder that 'you're still a part of this small, vibrant nation'. 'It allows you to anchor yourself a little bit to Singapore, given that you're actually away from the country, away from friends and relatives, and away from a lot of the action,' said Mr Ong, who is registered to vote in the East Coast GRC. Also at the ballot box was fellow East Coast GRC voter Catherine Thai, 52, who made sure to stay in Shanghai during China's ongoing May Day holidays just so she could cast her vote in person. 'I physically want to be present,' the chief operating officer of an import-export firm said, as doing so makes her 'really feel that I belong to the country'. Ms Catherine Thai (far right) and friends after voting at the Singapore Consulate-General in Shanghai on May 3. PHOTO: COURTESY OF CATHERINE THAI She has lived in the Chinese financial hub since 2015. Ms Thai made an occasion of heading to the polls, arranging to meet up with friends at the consulate before heading to lunch at Singapore restaurant Jumbo Seafood. On the menu was a large pot of fish head curry with a side of prata, which the eatery 'promoted just for this voting day'. After polls close, the ballot boxes will have 10 days to return to Singapore before the votes are tabulated and added to the final count. However, the Returning Officer can extend this by another seven days if the total number of overseas voters entitled to vote at the election is material to the election outcome, and he is satisfied that more time is needed for the overseas votes to reach Singapore. Due to time differences, voting in Dubai, London and the three cities in the US – Washington, New York and San Francisco – took place a day ahead on May 2 as overseas polls must not close later than the close of polls in Singapore. Of the 10 polling stations set up at Singapore's embassies, high commissions and consulates abroad, London and Hong Kong have the highest number of registered overseas voters – 2,470 and 1,318 respectively. Investment consultant Joanne Tan , 27, who travelled an hour by train from Wimbledon to the Singapore High Commission in London's Belgravia area to cast her ballot, said she was 'in and out of the building within 10 minutes'. 'The voting process was very efficient and organised,' said Ms Tan, who is registered to vote in the East Coast GRC . She also noted: ' Young voters need to read widely about the growing challenges that will affect all of us.' Investment consultant Joanne Tan, 27, travelled an hour by train to the Singapore High Commission in London's Belgravia area to cast her ballot on May 2. PHOTO: COURTESY OF JOANNE TAN In New York, Ms Debbie Soon, 36, an entrepreneur and author, took a three-hour flight from Miami to exercise her citizen's privilege. 'Even though I don't live in Singapore, my family and friends are still there, and I visit once or twice a year. I am very passionate about all things Singapore,' said Ms Soon, who co-founded a social marketplace focused on art with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's sister Randi Zuckerberg. An ELD spokesperson told ST that a turnout of 1,743 voters was expected across the three overseas polling stations in the US. Singaporeans queuing to verify their identities and receive the ballot paper ahead of casting their votes at the Singapore mission in New York. ST PHOTO: BHAGYASHREE GAREKAR In the 2020 general election, 4,794 registered overseas electors – or 72.97 per cent of them – turned up at their designated overseas polling stations to cast their votes. Singaporeans returned the PAP to government, handing it 83 of the 93 seats. The overseas votes in 2020 largely followed patterns similar to citizens who voted locally. A few exceptions were seen in a number of hotly contested constituencies, where overseas voters supported the team that lost eventually. The results of the July 10, 2020, election were already decided before the overseas votes were counted, as the margins of victory for all 31 constituencies were greater than the total number of overseas registered voters for each constituency. The PAP's national vote share fell by one-hundredth of a percentage point, from 61.24 per cent before accounting for overseas voters, to 61.23 per cent. Voting through the post was introduced in the 2023 presidential election to make it easier for Singaporeans living overseas to cast their ballot. However, only three in five of the ballot votes received that election were allowed for counting, as 918 out of 2,263 of the return envelopes that year were found torn, unsealed or opened, or had absent, faint, illegible or late postmarks, according to the ELD. Casting her vote from abroad for the first time, 30-year-old digital solutions manager Teh Xia Yin exercised her civic duty via postal ballot from Paris. A registered voter in the Pasir Ris-Changi GRC, Ms Teh said that she approached the electoral decision with a broad and considered perspective . Magdalene Fung is The Straits Times' Hong Kong correspondent. She is a Singaporean who has spent about a decade living and working in Hong Kong. Walter Sim is Japan correspondent at The Straits Times. Based in Tokyo, he writes about political, economic and socio-cultural issues. Joyce ZK Lim is The Straits Times' China correspondent, based in Shenzhen. Bhagyashree Garekar is The Straits Times' US bureau chief. Her previous key roles were as the newspaper's foreign editor (2020-2023) and as its US correspondent during the Bush and Obama administrations. Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.
