Hongkonger Darren Lee is hoping to visit Tanzania, a country in East Africa, to attend a wedding. He has never met the bride and groom. One of their fathers, Waziri Msewa, creates art for Lee’s sock company.

Sababu Socks was launched in December. It works with dozens of artists across Africa to design socks. Thirty per cent of the profits go back to the artists themselves. The artists hail from different places across the massive continent, such as Tanzania, Zanzibar, eSwatini, South Africa, and Kenya.

“The stories and connections I’ve built with these artists motivate me to keep going,” 18-year-old Lee said.

Since the Islamic holy month of Ramadan began on March 2, Hong Kong’s Muslim community has been deep in prayer.

On a rainy Saturday in Tsim Sha Tsui, as Kowloon Mosque bustled with worshippers, a group of more than a dozen people stood off to the side, observing silently. They were part of a tour organised by the Foundation for Shared Impact (FSI), a charity that looks to combat societal issues and support ethnically diverse communities in Hong Kong.

The tour sought to educate the group about Ramadan with trips to the mosque and Mirador Mansion, where people could learn more about the city’s ethnic minority small business owners.

Marcus Fung flies down the pitch, arms clasped around a ball, as he attempts to score for his team. Moving left and then right, he dodges opponents who are trying to peel away the flags dangling from his waist.

The 15-year-old Hongkonger is playing flag football, a sport with the same amount of thrill and competition as rugby or American football but a far lower risk of injury.

Marcus is among a growing number of youngsters in the city picking up flag football, which is set to debut as an Olympic sport in the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

Ever since Asha Lo started secondary school, she has been ignoring “optional” tasks – taking fewer tutorial classes, spending less effort on her studies and even skipping an additional section when applying to her dream exchange programme in Thailand.

“I was still lazy ... So I just lost the chance [to go to Thailand],” the 16-year-old said.

Like many other young Hongkongers, Asha describes herself as “lying flat”, a term referring to doing only the bare minimum to get by. A recent survey from the Hong Kong Young Women’s Christian Association found that nearly half of the city’s secondary school students were already lying flat or planning to do so.

Over the past few years, Amina Seyd has struggled to make conversation with some of her mainland Chinese classmates at her Hong Kong school.

The 16-year-old said she had been in the same class as three mainland students for two years, but she still had a “pretty tough time talking to them”.

“We didn’t have much of the same conversations to talk about,” said the student, who is from HHCKLA Buddhist Leung Chik Wai College in Tuen Mun.

But this has changed in recent months. Now, Amina chats with them about the latest mainland trends.

The reason for this is simple: RedNote.

Last year, Claudia Loh joined a debate tournament in Hong Kong, excited to excel with her teammates. But they didn’t do very well – in fact, this marked a significant failure for the teen.

Claudia, who considers herself an “avid debater”, had prepared rigorously for the event with her friends.

“[We were] often staying after school and having meetings online to conduct research,” recalled the 16-year-old from Po Leung Kuk Choi Kai Yau School.

The team had been confident in their performance, but in the end, they were “crushed and devastated” when they did not make the quarter finals.

Whenever Maple Lam visits her childhood home in Sha Tin, she visits a place that holds many important childhood memories.

“When I go back to Hong Kong, I go to the same library that I always went to as a kid,” explained Lam, 43. “The last time I was there, I saw a copy of [my book] in the graphic novel section.”

She has written and illustrated several books aimed at children. Some of her more recent works include the first two books in a graphic novel series called Monkey King and the World of Myths.

Lam loved reading as a child. It was only natural that she would find a way to pass that love on to the new generation.

Lately, it has been easier for Andy Lee to focus on his studies, sleep soundly and manage his schedule.

What is his secret? Since last October, he has been prioritising daily exercise.

Every day, Andy has been running for 30 to 45 minutes and also plays basketball at school. He has seen first-hand the benefits that come with an active lifestyle.

“I feel like my grades ... significantly improved after exercising every day,” said the 16-year-old, who attends Hong Kong International School.

Global superstar Rihanna turned heads when she arrived at the 2015 Met Gala in New York wearing a luxurious, fur-trimmed yellow dress with a long train covered in embroidered flowers.

The theme for that year’s event was “China: Through the Looking Glass”, but Rihanna was one of only a few people who wore a Chinese designer. And it wasn’t just any designer: it was China’s leading couture artist, Guo Pei.

Guo recalled her anxiousness on the night of the Met Gala: “I was under a lot of pressure and jet-lagged, just generally unwell. So, I wanted to get off the red carpet quickly,” she said. “As I was walking out, I caught a glimpse of Rihanna backstage, adjusting the dress. I thought to myself, ‘Please don’t see me, please don’t see me.’”

A man twirls and leaps, wearing a heavy mask nearly twice his height.

The crowd of nearly one hundred people cheers and claps. They are amazed by the dancers of Singo Wiromo performing their carefully crafted routine in Victoria Park.

None of these men and women are professional dancers. But you can’t tell from their intricate moves.

Singo Wiromo is an Indonesian dance group. It comprises around 20 men and women. Most of the women work as domestic helpers, while many of the men are drivers. The group looks to stay connected to their heritage and introduce Hong Kong to traditional Indonesian dance.

About six months ago, Hong Kong-Malaysian karting champion Katrina Ee endured a terrifying crash.

“[The kart] flipped on the track, and I landed on the back of my shoulder, and I broke the bone,” said Katrina, who recently turned 15.

She explained that she had “blacked out” and lost some memory from before the crash, which occurred during a race in the United Kingdom.

“I woke up; I was in the hospital. And then that’s when I actually realised: oh, I was in a crash,” she said.

Hundreds of Hongkongers will trek around the perimeter of Hong Kong Island over the next few weeks in the name of youth mental health.

It’s all part of Weez Walk, an annual fundraising event from The Weez Project and KELY Support Group. It aims to raise awareness about youth mental health and suicide prevention while giving people a chance to “walk and talk” to others about their mental well-being.

“The big antidotes to mental health issues are deemed to be talk therapy – not necessarily just with professionals, but also with your friends and colleagues – being out in nature, and exercise, so we try to incorporate all those elements into one,” said 63-year-old Tony Bruno, the founder of Weez Walk.

Twin piano prodigies face the greatest challenge of their lives when they are hit with a disease that weakens their hands – and threatens their chances at a prestigious music university.

Released in November, the French film Prodigieuses is based on a true story. Camille Razat and Melanie Robert portray the twins, Claire and Jeanne respectively, as they search for a way to continue their passion for playing the piano.

The two actors visited Hong Kong in December for the Hong Kong French Film Festival, where they spoke to Young Post about this recent project.

“If it were not a real story ... maybe I would not have understood the importance of that disease and the impact that it had on their lives,” said Robert, 31.

Hong Kong’s technology chief has stressed the importance of preparing students amid an evolving technological landscape shaped by the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI).

Speaking to more than 300 head teachers and industry leaders at the third annual Hong Kong Principals’ Forum on Tuesday, Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry Sun Dong emphasised the need to improve tech literacy to equip students for the future.

This was the first year that primary school principals were invited to the forum – previous editions included only those from secondary schools – signalling the importance of early exposure to technology in education.

When Lorraine Wong Lok-ching was 13, she considered having a boyfriend or girlfriend through a chatbot powered by artificial intelligence (AI).

“I wanted someone to talk to romantically,” she said.

“After maturing more, I realised [it] was stupid,” added Lorraine, who is now 16.

The teen started using chatbots on Character.AI – a popular AI chatbot service – around the age of 12. While the website offers a variety of personalised chatbots that pretend to be celebrities, historical figures and fictional characters, Lorraine mostly talks to those mimicking Marvel’s Deadpool or Call of Duty characters.

When Hongkonger Amanda Lam Wing-shan was young, she was “obsessed” with toning her abdominal muscles to perfection. Her workout inspiration? Runway models.

Ten years later, the 27-year-old’s ideas have changed.

She has rejected the drive to be skinny and small, instead embracing strength and the power of weightlifting.

Lam now competes as a professional bodybuilder and runs her own gym, Pump Personal Training, with her partner.

She said society also needed to rethink some of the ways it saw women and their bodies.

In a sea of middle-aged Cantonese opera actors, 31-year-old Thompson Vong Seng-pan is still a newbie – even after two decades of learning this art.

But he understands why younger generations struggle to resonate with this centuries-old craft.

“Teenagers [find] Cantonese opera dull because it’s really long, and they sing traditional songs that they do not really understand,” Vong said through a translator.

That’s why Vong and his troupe, the Hong Kong Cantonese Opera Troupe, are working to make the art more approachable for young people.

Twenty Hong Kong secondary school students have won top honours at the Student of the Year Awards, with a pupil from the Diocesan Girls’ School (DGS) scooping the grand prize for her all-around achievements and contributions to society.

Hundreds of students, teachers and families gathered at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on Saturday for the ceremony, organised by the South China Morning Post and supported by the Education Bureau.

The event, held under the theme “Empowering Collective Impact”, celebrated the remarkable achievements and contributions of Hong Kong’s most outstanding secondary school students.

Taking a business idea and turning it into reality is undoubtedly daunting. It’s why 25-year-old entrepreneur Mahum Shaikh was grateful to receive some much-needed guidance to kick-start her business.

At the start of the school year in 2022, Shaikh, who was studying linguistics and language applications at City University of Hong Kong, was itching to start her own company.

After an internship with a marketing agency, she knew she wanted to work with Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs). KOLs are social media users who influence the public about different services, products, and topics.

Imagine working from 7am to 11pm, six days a week, without the freedom to go wherever you want. For Remilyn Joaquin Baviera, this is her reality as a domestic worker in Hong Kong.

Baviera, who has lived in Hong Kong since 2020, aims to socialise on her Sundays off. Recently, she has been attending events hosted by Second Home, a project using art to illuminate the experiences of migrant workers in the city and helping them connect with locals.

“If you have an avenue to at least express yourself or [find] creativity ... somehow, that path will lead you towards what’s best,” said Baviera, who studied fine arts in advertising at Bulacan State University in the Philippines.

On a cloudy Sunday afternoon, 15 women take turns sharing not only poetry but also laughter and tears.

While of different ages and backgrounds, all of the participants know the hardships of being a domestic helper in Hong Kong.

The poetry workshop held last month was part of a six-part series called “The Writer’s Toolbox 3.0”, an initiative from Migrant Writers of Hong Kong.

Instructors led workshops on topics such as writing through annotating, writing with images and gifting poetry to loved ones.

Bright lights flooded the stage as the judges announced the winner of the 2024 Redress Design Award: Hongkonger Tiger Chung.

Chung’s fashion design dream began as a child with do-it-yourself activities and crafts. Two decades later, they became the first Hongkonger to win this award with clothes made of discarded towels, curtains, socks, and even a sofa.

Redress, an environmental NGO based in Hong Kong, launched the challenge, now in its 14th cycle, to educate and inspire young designers to adopt more sustainable practices.

Ten finalists, including Chung, were selected from the hundreds of applications worldwide. The finalists travelled to Vietnam in August to complete a group challenge – which Chung’s team won – and then later to Hong Kong for another challenge.

Oyster shells are bulky and plain, but the treasures they hold go beyond their tasty meat and beautiful pearls. One company in Hong Kong is turning them into materials for constructing buildings.

Green Island Cement said in a press conference in August that oyster shells are perfect for making cement because they are 91 per cent limestone – a key ingredient that requires a carbon-intensive process to mine. The company showcased their upcycling project that turns restaurants’ discarded oyster shells into building materials.

They aim to reduce the waste heading to landfills, while also alleviating the huge demand for cement.

When Josie Tang Tsz-kwan was 12 years old, a stranger said she was to blame for her short stature and the difficulties that came with it.

Josie, now 17, said she was “shocked” by the interaction, but unfortunately, ignorant comments are common for her.

She was born with achondroplasia, the most common form of short-limbed dwarfism. Those with this condition typically have an average-sized torso but shorter legs and arms.

After graduating from secondary school, Nipurna KC Chetri periodically had to fend off questions about when she would be getting married.

“Coming from a minority background, a lot of people assume that after high school, we go straight to work, or we just get married and then become housewives,” said the 25-year-old Hong Kong-born Nepali.

Noor Tayyab, 19, said she felt the same pressure of stereotypes as a Hong Kong-born Pakistani.

“There’s always the problem of stereotypes and discrimination,” Tayyab said. “People ... [or] some teachers ... assume that because you’re an ethnic minority, there’s no way you’ll do good in your [schooling].”

Lou Yuxin has a new piece of decor to brighten up her home: a gold medal from the 45th Chess Olympiad.

At 12 years old, Yuxin was the youngest member of the Hong Kong women’s chess team, which made history by winning the city’s first-ever Chess Olympiad championship in September. They beat 34 teams to claim victory.

Yuxin, who was born in Hong Kong and now lives in Hangzhou, also achieved a title at the tournament: Woman Candidate Master – the International Chess Federation’s fourth-ranking title for female players.

Chan Yui-lam burst into tears as she stepped onto the podium at the Paris Paralympic Games in August.

At 20 years old, Chan received a silver medal in the women’s S14 100-metre butterfly event. The Hongkonger proudly held up her medal and Eiffel Tower plush toy, tears brimming in her eyes.

“Stepping on the podium has fulfilled my dream ... I’m so honoured,” said Chan, a full-time athlete who recently celebrated her 21st birthday.

“It is so rare [to get a medal], and the preparation process for the Paralympics was very hard, and I really didn’t expect to achieve this.”

Despite scoring well in her entrance exams, Sakshi Vasudev was shocked to find she had not received a university offer in the first round of admissions.

“My teachers were surprised. Everyone was surprised,” said Vasudev, now 23.

She later accepted a spot in the second round, although it felt like a major setback.

Vasudev now works at top four global accounting firm PwC, which is considered a prestigious employer among many Hongkongers.

She said the job was not only the result of hard work but also the help of the Empower programme run by the Amber Foundation, an NGO that supports underserved communities in Hong Kong and South Asia.

After a weekend of riding the waves, Hong Kong windsurfers Choy Wing-tung and Hung King were overjoyed when they were crowned winners at the iQFOil Asian Championships 2024 in Shenzhen in November.

The athletes, both 18 years old, came out on top of the Under 19 Women’s and Men’s categories, respectively, beating others from around the region.

It’s the result of a lot of training and hard work, King said. “There are many tactics and strategies that I have to plan before and during the race; there might be something unpredictable that you have to face and overcome.”

October was Dwarfism Awareness Month, a time dedicated to spreading awareness about the condition. How much do you know about dwarfism? Young Post spoke to medical experts and people from the community to learn more. Check out our explainer of things you should know!

What is dwarfism?

Dwarfism describes people with a height of four feet 10 inches (127cm) or less. It is considered a disability. The preferred term for someone with dwarfism is a “little person”.

“There are actually more than 400 [types of] dwarfism,” explained Dr Sarah Poon, a paediatrician in Hong Kong.

Tsim Sha Tsui is known for its busy crowds, delicious food, and beautiful harbour view. Its history as a hub for Hong Kong’s storied suit tailor shops goes beyond that.

Many of these shops are family-run and have been passed down through the generations. While many Hong Kong-based tailors can trace their roots to Shanghai’s boom as a centre for fashion in the 1920s, a significant number come from the Indian subcontinent, establishing their businesses in the city in the 1950s and 1960s.

Young Post spoke to two family-owned shops – Raja Fashions and Bobby’s Fashions – to learn more about their history.

Ocean Chow always knew her dream would come true. The 15-year-old violinist from Hong Kong had long wanted to play at the famous Rockport Concert Hall in the US state of Massachusetts.

After a lot of hard work, her dream became reality last month.

“Rockport [Concert Hall] has been a venue that I’ve dreamed of playing in since I was really little,” the musician explained. “You can play with the ocean as a background.”

The venue opened more than 40 years ago. It has showcased artists such as American classical pianist Russell Sherman, jazz musician Dave Brubeck, and violinist Midori. Now, Ocean’s name is on that list, too.

Hongkonger Vriko Kwok broke down in tears on her fourth day of Lululemon’s ultra-marathon, Further, where she was aiming to run 300km in six days. Every part of her body was screaming.

She sat in a rest station sobbing and trying to cope with the pain as she told her teammate that she felt “awful”. Seeing her distress, seven of the nine other women in the ultra-marathon dropped their daily goals to accompany Kwok as she worked to hit the 160km marker.

In the end, the 32-year-old ran 303.31km in the ultra-marathon, which was held in March in the US state of California. Just one year prior, she had not even been able to run 1km continuously.

Although Asia remains a “substantial” source of international students in the United Kingdom, this could be affected by regional demographic issues and worldwide economic uncertainty, a representative from the British Council has said.

“Asia [including Australia and New Zealand] still accounts for a substantial 30 per cent of all international students studying in the UK and remains a priority region,” the British Council’s regional research analyst, Sonia Wong, said during the organisation’s second annual East Asia Education Week early this month.

The event, hosted at the University of Hong Kong, saw 250 attendees from 12 countries and territories, including alumni who studied in the UK as well as education agents. It discussed the trends affecting students in Asia who want to study in the United Kingdom.

On March 1, 2023, Hong Kong lifted its Covid-19 mask mandate, which had been in place for around two and a half years. That same day, writer and psychotherapist Kate Whitehead ran into the publisher for Hong Kong University Press, who asked if she had any ideas for a psychology book. Her mind immediately jumped to a book about how the pandemic affected the city.

Whitehead’s book Pandemic Minds: Covid-19 and Mental Health in Hong Kong was released on May 10. It documents Hongkongers’ experiences during the pandemic – Whitehead conducted 40 in-depth interviews with people from all walks of life, including children, the elderly, individuals of different wealth statuses, mothers, doctors, and pilots – and gives tips on mental well-being.

A group of 16 Hong Kong students and family members stepped off the high-speed train in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where they were welcomed with a long weekend of delicious food, beautiful sights and fascinating tours as part of a fully-funded cultural immersion learning experience.

Swarup Gurung and Mahisma Gurung participated in the trip. It was the first time both students had visited mainland China, and it was full of surprises.

Mahisma, 14, gushed about visiting Wuhan’s iconic Yellow Crane Tower, while Swarup, 11, said he loved trying the different foods – which he found surprisingly spicy. The group also visited the Bridge Museum, prepared herbal medicine, and rode in electric cars.

Youth from Hong Kong and Macau celebrated Earth Day – and connected to their heritage – by shining a light on the threat of climate change in Southeast Asia.

More than 60 people, many with connections to the Philippines and Indonesia, crowded into Eaton HK in Jordan over two weekends last month for various climate change events. The first weekend featured workshops organised by National Geographic Explorers and The Philippine Youth Atlas, a group that empowers indigenous youth to use culture, art, and literature to highlight the need for climate solutions.

The theme of the event, “Island Constellations”, highlighted how coastal and island communities face the brunt of repercussions from climate change yet also offer some of the most “tangible and digestible solutions,” said Youth Atlas member Tasha Tanjutco.

Bright lights and delicious smells greeted young Sonia Leung as she walked through the bustling streets of Taipei as a 15-year-old runaway.

Leung had recently fled Hong Kong after moving there from mainland China just a few years earlier. The teen was fed up with the bullying she experienced and the loneliness of dealing with trauma. She was ready to start anew in Taiwan.

The 49-year-old author, who lives in Hong Kong, reflected on her tumultuous childhood in her memoir The Girl Who Dreamed: A Hong Kong Memoir of Triumph Against the Odds. Published in March, the book sheds light on the harsh reality of life for many immigrants in the city.

Lights dimmed, bathing Shousan Theatre in darkness as an audience of 300 – many of whom were students in their uniforms – hushed in anticipation.

Those who bought tickets to see the Young Friends Special – part of the annual Hong Kong Arts Festival – were in for a twist on traditional theatre.

All Things at Once, the play performed last month, featured six young Hongkongers portraying a tight-knit group of friends. The performers held a mobile phone or tablet to film each other and themselves. Each video feed was projected onto the stage’s backdrop, giving the audience real-time perspectives from each actor.

They used their devices the way many people do in everyday life – applying filters and talking to the camera as they goofed around on stage or traversed heavier topics of conversation.

Trams rumbling along the tracks, a man pushing a cart along a side street, a worker sweeping leaves on the pavement – while some might consider these to be mundane moments in Hong Kong, videographer Jazzie Sillona uses these everyday subjects as inspiration for his viral videos, to the delight of people worldwide.

“I get a lot of DMs from people expressing their good memories of Hong Kong and how nostalgic it is for them,” said Sillona. “Sometimes they even say, ‘I cried over your videos.’”

“I get messages from people saying that one of the reasons they moved back to Hong Kong was because my videos [reminded them of] the magic ... like they fell in love again ... and that’s really touching.”

Fashion designer Eddie Lau Pui-kei fondly recalled styling the late Cantopop icon Anita Mui for the first time.

A white top, black leather pants and a large shawl were tailored to highlight Mui’s youthfulness and represent Hong Kong’s style at the 1983 Tokyo Music Festival. But Lau chose one more item to make a lasting impression on the Japanese audience: Cartier’s Love Me rings, which were all the rage in the 80s.

He remembered telling her: “Wear them on the hand that holds the microphone because there will be close-up [shots] ... The Japanese will think you have taste.”

Navigating school and planning for a career can be daunting for most young Hongkongers. But those with disabilities face additional barriers that make these endeavours even more challenging.

That is what Faride Shroff is trying to address through SENsational Foundation, which she founded in 2013 after working for over two decades as a teacher for students with special educational needs.

The NGO educates the public about the issues that people with disabilities face, and it has served hundreds of clients through programmes for counselling, mentoring, life skills and self-advocacy.

Madonna of the East. Daughter of Hong Kong. Cantopop diva. These are some of the first things people think of when they hear the name Anita Mui.

Two decades after her death from cervical cancer at age 40, the Hong Kong singer and actress is still remembered fondly.

To commemorate the legendary diva, the Hong Kong Heritage Museum has “Timeless Diva: Anita Mui,” an exhibit showcasing Mui’s albums, posters and, most impressively, some of her stage costumes. The exhibit launched on December 24, less than a week before the 20th anniversary of her death, and it will be open until September 2.

From epic martial arts battles to intricate military strategy, Hongkongers have long been enthralled by the lore and magic of the Condor Trilogy by Louis Cha Leung-yung, better known by his pen name Jin Yong.

More than 60 years after the release of the first novel, its world of adventure and shocking twists was introduced to a global audience in 2020, thanks, in part, to Hongkonger Gigi Chang Ching, who helped translate the stories into English.

Though she is now immersed in literature as an adult, Chang, 40, admitted that she gravitated to her screens during her youth. She initially encountered the captivating narrative of Condor Heroes through televised adaptations.

In mainland China, speed skater Sidney Chu is known for going viral as Hong Kong’s “handsome” flag bearer at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

But before his rise to social media stardom, Chu built a reputation as Hong Kong’s best speed skater.

Now, the 25-year-old is not just seeking individual success.

“I always thought if I ever make the Olympics, my goal is to make sure that the next generation doesn’t have to put in as much work as I had to,” he said.

What comes to mind when you think of ballet? Many of us might envision a group of beautiful women dancing, complete with graceful, feminine movements, tutus and, of course, lots of pink.

But Lemuel Ma and Wesley Matsuharu Lai, two teen dancers in the Hong Kong Ballet’s Classical Training Programme, know that boys also have a place in ballet.

Lemuel and Wesley, both 14, are the only male dancers in the Level Seven class, where they practise upwards of seven hours a week. Just being accepted into the elite training programme proves their hard work and talent.

When a team of rescuers made a daring entry into a desolate Mong Kok residence in 2020, they found a trembling, emaciated dog who had been abandoned there without food or water.

The Belgian Malinois was soon taken under the care of a team member from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA). They named her Wu Tsui and nurtured her back to health in their centre.

The eight-year-old still carries scars of her past abuse: she remains scared of motorcycles and stick-shaped objects; she vigilantly guards her food and resources out of fear that these could be taken from her at any moment.

When university student Sasha Stepanova did a simple school assignment in 2021, she did not imagine it would evolve into something beyond just a class project.

A dedicated vegan, the fourth-year journalism and marketing student at the University of Hong Kong was tasked with reviewing a local restaurant for her reporting and writing class. She chose Po Lin Yuen Vegetarian Food in Sai Ying Pun and paid HK$233 for a mock meat platter, sweet and sour pork, spicy aubergine and seafood casserole. Though she had mixed feelings about the meal, she was overjoyed when she received an excellent grade on the assignment.

“Good grades motivate me, so I [thought], ‘Boy, I’m kind of good at this,’” the 22-year-old recalled. Her marks, encouragement from her friends, and love of media inspired her to start an Instagram page.

When the emcee of the World of Dance Hong Kong (WODHK) announced that Yooki Crew had won first place in the Junior Team Division, many of the team members burst into tears and embraced each other.

As thousands of onlookers clapped and cheered them on, the 13 dancers on the all-girl team, aged 10 to 14 years old, ran to the stage to accept their prize at Southorn Stadium in Wan Chai on March 9.

Not only did the win come with a trophy and HK$10,000, but the young dancers also qualified for the World of Dance Finals in Los Angeles, where they will compete against the world’s best junior teams. The team plans to use the prize money to help fund the overseas trip.

Hong Kong’s education minister has urged teachers to remain cautious over the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into classrooms while acknowledging its transformative potential in revolutionising students’ learning.

Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin was addressing the Principals’ Forum on Tuesday, when more than 200 school heads and teachers gathered to discuss the opportunities and challenges AI presented.

Choi acknowledged the tool’s power in reshaping education but also expressed her concerns over the potential for plagiarism and a decline in critical thinking skills.

Robotic teachers, virtual assistants, and personalised learning tools. This is what 17-year-old Ingrid Chan dreams will one day transform classrooms across Hong Kong.

Chan, a student at the German Swiss International School (GSIS), had always regarded ChatGPT as the face of artificial intelligence (AI) and deemed it the most “important” AI tool in the classroom.

After joining the discussion at the annual Principals’ Forum hosted by the South China Morning Post, Chan said she began to recognise AI’s endless possibilities.

Shai Reshef, founder and president of The University of the People (UoPeople) in the United States, woke up one morning to a series of missed calls from Hong Kong.

Only when he checked his email did Reshef realise he had won the prestigious Yidan Prize for Education Development, honouring his hard work and vision in founding his non-profit, tuition-free online university in 2009.

His pioneering institution aims to revolutionise learning by making higher education accessible to everyone worldwide, regardless of finances or personal circumstances. The accredited university is staffed by thousands of volunteers and offers bachelor’s and master’s degrees in fields such as business, health science, computer science, and education.

In the past seven months, Charlotte Leung See-lok has grown closer to her community, thanks to her efforts volunteering with Happy Ageing in Peng Chau, a project which assists elderly residents on the island.

“I decided to volunteer ... because for the last 15 years, I felt like I wasn’t very included in my community,” the 16-year-old said. “I felt like this was a good way to start developing some interpersonal relationships with the community around me.”

Launched in 2019, the programme recruits volunteers – some as young as primary school pupils – to help the island’s elderly residents with daily tasks and encourage them to join social activities, said project manager Derek Tam Kin-chung.

From the outside, it may look like Amy Chua has it all: she is a successful author and a professor at the prestigious Yale Law School, and she has travelled the world to speak at conferences and book tours.

But her path has not always been easy. Growing up in the US as a child of immigrants, Chua often felt excluded by her peers – when she lived in the state of Illinois, she remembered being “the only Chinese kid in the entire school”.

On a recent visit to Hong Kong, the 61-year-old author – known for her polarising bestselling memoir about tough lessons learned in parenting, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother – told Young Post about how she drew strength from being an outsider.

Swedish athlete Matilda Söderlund spends much of her life suspended dozens of metres in the air – all in a day’s work for a professional climber.

Söderlund got her first taste of Hong Kong’s climbing scene this winter when she scaled several outdoor routes and visited climbing gyms across the city. Her time in Hong Kong was coupled with a screening of her new short documentary Niemesis at the Eaton Hotel in Jordan earlier this month. The film details her 2023 journey to conquer the 28-metre rock of the same name in one of Sweden’s most difficult sport climbing routes.

It was one of the most arduous climbs Söderlund had ever faced. “I thought it would be a fairly quick thing, and it turned out to be my longest project ever,” the 31-year-old reflected.

When visiting Hong Kong, tourists usually picture the vast skyscrapers of Central or Mong Kok’s neon lights and hearty street food.

However, David Sutton – a British photographer and writer who has lived in the city for nearly four decades – wanted to shed light on an often overlooked part of the city: the New Territories.

Last September, Sutton published Exploring Hong Kong’s New Territories, a guide to the largest of the city’s three main regions. Accompanied by stunning photos taken by Sutton, the book details the area’s lesser-known history and destinations.

Seniors in Hong Kong are proving that age is just a number when it comes to competitive dancing.

Many dance partners in their 40s, 50s and 60s regularly join competitions hosted by the DanceSport Association of Hong Kong, such as last month’s Asian Senior DanceSport Championship.

For some of these older couples, like Kevin Lau Kai-bun and Crystal Hung Hung-yu, picking up dance has helped them stay active.

“It’s really energetic, and actually, it’s cardio,” said Lau, aged 42. “Once we do five dances, we are all exhausted you can see. So it’s ... good for our health.”

Japan dominated this weekend’s WDSF Breaking for Gold World Series in Hong Kong, as the country’s dancers claimed first and third place in both the male and female categories.

At the two-day event in Queen Elizabeth Stadium, 77 B-boys and 58 B-girls danced for their last shot at reaching the Olympic Qualifier Series.

B-boy Issin, whose real name is Isshin Hishkawa, rose to the top, defeating Wing of South Korea in the final. In the men’s bronze medal battle, Chinese Taipei’s Quake was defeated by Japan’s Hiro10, who took third place even after sustaining a leg injury during warm-ups.

Five-year-old Felicity Leung Wai-yuet may look like any other Kindergarten Three student, but put her in a skatepark, and she will zip down ramps, traverse bowls, and soar through the sky.

Despite her young age, Felicity has been skateboarding for nearly a year and a half, and last year placed first for her age group in an overseas competition.

Felicity was introduced to skateboarding by her parents, David and Nikita Leung, who wanted to encourage their daughter to take up a sport and decided on skateboarding because it was “not very common”. When Felicity’s fourth birthday rolled around, they gifted her a trial lesson.

Fitness fanatics and bodybuilders will get the chance to train alongside professional bodybuilder, fitness model and contestant on Netflix’s Physical 100 Song Ah-reum this month, as she visits Hong Kong for a Bikini prep course and seminar.

In a two-day event hosted by PUMP Personal Training in Sheung Wan, Song Ah-reum and Choi Young-jun, head coach of Wannabez, a leading coaching team in Asia’s bodybuilding industry, will work with athletes interested in Bikini, a subcategory for bodybuilding competitions.

The Frenchman coaching four of Hong Kong’s break dancers competing in next month’s Asian Games expects it to take a physical and mental toll.

Four athletes, two B-Boys and two B-Girls, will represent the city at the multi-sport event in Hangzhou, taking on the region’s best in one-on-one battles.

The four breakers got some intensive training last week from French choreographer and dancer Mathias Rassin, who goes by B-Boy Thias. Over the course of the five days, Rassin focused on musicality, building unique, individualised performances and “rocking more” with the music.

Chinese fans have showed their support for Philadelphia 76ers superstar James Harden after he told local media the team’s president Daryl Morey was “a liar”.

The 10-time NBA All-Star was in Beijing for an Adidas-sponsored event, as part of a promotional tour of the country that also took in a stop in Shanghai where he hosted a fan event and launched his personal brand of wine in the country.

In a video that went viral on China’s Twitter-like social media platform Weibo, Harden said he would refuse to play for the team as long as Morey remained in charge.

James Harden was shocked after his Chinese fans bought 10,000 bottles of his personal brand of wine in just 10 seconds, as fellow NBA superstar Andre Iguadola praised him for a “great move” criticising Daryl Morey during a promotional tour of the country.

The 33-year-old American Harden recently joined a live stream on social media with local influencer Xiao Yang, who wanted to show the Philadelphia 76ers guard how quickly they could sell out his new product.

Harden launched his own “J-Harden Wines” brand in 2022, to “bring excitement to the industry and turn some heads” with some eye-catching colours and a picture of himself on the prosecco, sauvignon and red wine bottles.

Avid football fans are not the only ones enjoying the Fifa Women’s World Cup celebrations.

With many sports bars across Hong Kong Island showing the tournament on big screens, an influx of customers on match days has caught some businesses unawares.

And England’s final against Spain on Sunday, when both sides will be chasing their first World Cup win, promises to be another big occasion.

“To be honest, I wasn’t expecting such a big crowd,” Ren Catanghal at The Globe in Central told the Post. “But we definitely had more people when the [World Cup] games were playing.”

Bodybuilder, coach, wife, mother, Olympian. These are just some of the words to describe South Korean celebrity and professional athlete Song Ah-reum.

A professional bodybuilder for five years, Song is a model of peak fitness in South Korea. Consistently placing in both domestic and international bodybuilding competitions, she has made a name for herself not only in the athletic realm but in popular culture, staring in the Netflix show Physical 100.

She grew her presence in Hong Kong this past week with a two-day event and posing seminar at PUMP Personal Training, in Sheung Wan. She worked alongside her own coaching team Wannabez to prepare local bodybuilders for bikini competitions, a subcategory of women’s bodybuilding.

More than three years after basketball legend Kobe Bryant’s death, fans in China honoured him on what would have been his 45th birthday – as well as “Kobe Day”, which is remembered in his honour.

The Los Angeles Lakers icon died with his daughter Gianna in a helicopter crash near Calabasas, California in January 2020.

His death was the most-searched topic on the Chinese social media platform Weibo that day, racking up over 3 billion views.

Chinese tennis fans will be treated to watching some of the biggest stars in the game when the China Open finally returns to Beijing next month after four years away.

Organisers announced the men’s singles line-up on Thursday, which features nine of the world’s top 10-ranked players, including Wimbledon and US Open champion Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev, Holger Rune, and Stefanos Tsitsipas.

The only exception is world No 1 Novak Djokovic – a six time champion at the China Open, which kicks off on September 26 at the National Tennis Center in the Chinese capital, and wraps up on October 8.

China’s men swept into the quarter-finals of the ITTF Asian Table Tennis Championships on Monday, brushing aside Hong Kong in the round of 16.

Having already dispatched Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Pakistan in the group stage, the Ma Long-led side had little trouble against Hong Kong, and racked up their fourth 3-0 win of the tournament.

Hong Kong came into the encounter on the back of 3-0 victories against Mongolia and Sri Lanka, but could not win a game against their more illustrious opponents. They next face Thailand in the ninth place play-off, while China go up against Japan in the quarter-finals.

China’s women conquered the team event at the ITTF Asian Table Tennis Championships, sweeping past hosts South Korea in the final on Tuesday.

The dominant trio of Sun Yingsha, Chen Meng and Wang Yidi took the title without losing any of the matches they played at the tournament in Pyeongchang.

Victory against Japan early on Tuesday sent the talented team into a final against opponents who got the better of Hong Kong in the semi-finals.

Members of Morocco’s national football team took a break from practice on Sunday to donate blood to help victims of the country’s deadly earthquake.

A 6.8 magnitude quake that struck southwest of the Moroccan city Marrakech, had claimed the lives of at least 2,012 people, and the Interior Ministry said at least another 2,059 were injured, 1,404 of whom were in critical condition.

The quake was the strongest to hit the country in 120 years.

Chinese basketball fans flocked to Xiamen airport on Sunday to catch a glimpse of the NBA’s Kyrie Irving on his first trip to China since 2017.

The Dallas Mavericks guard flew into the Fujian province for a promotional tour with sports apparel brand Anta, one of whose head corporate offices is based in the city.

A video circulating on Chinese social media showed Irving fighting his way through a packed mob chanting his name.

A South Korean judo athlete’s Asian Games dream came crashing down when she was disqualified from a semi-final match after slapping her opponent in the face.

The 27-year-old Lee Hye-kyeong was up against Kazakhstan’s Abiba Abuzhakynova in the women’s 48kg tournament, after defeating Qurbonzoda Madina of Tajikistan in the round of 16, and Mongolia’s Bavuudorj Baasankhuu in the quarterfinals.

With the score still 0-0, and just two minutes into the match, Lee was seen slapping Abuzhakynova across the face. The Kazakhstani turned away at first and then fell to the ground clutching her face and beating the ground in pain.

The 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou has finally begun, with the first official day of competition yielding thrills aplenty. But let us pause to appreciate one of the key elements, revealed at Saturday’s opening ceremony: who’s wearing what.

We’ve spotted some countries or territories we’d like to bow down to – along with some who might have benefited from a fashion intervention.

Each to their own, of course. Fashion is all about opinions.

South Korea was caught up in another embarrassing controversy at the Asian Games on Monday with men’s tennis player Kwon Soon-woo smashing his racquet to pieces after an unexpected loss in the second round.

When Thailand’s Samrej Kasidit served the final blow, sealing a 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 win in Hangzhou, Kwon – ranked more than 500 places higher than his opponent at No 112 – slammed his racquet against the ground repeatedly.

The 25-year-old then walked toward the sidelines and continued smashing his racquet against the legs of his changeover chair.

Skateboarding prodigy Mazel Alegado of the Philippines, who turned nine years old in March, is thought to be the youngest competitor at the Asian Games.

Not only did she make it to the Games, but Alegado flew through the qualifying heat of the “women’s” park to make it to the final, where she came seventh with a score of 56.96.

She could be one to watch at next year’s Olympics – after all, Paris is her middle name. By then, she may be an experienced campaigner and feel the next generation snapping at her heels.

Chinese fans reacted angrily on social media to a third unsavoury Asian Games incident featuring South Korean athletes, after an aggressive end to the taekwondo mixed team final.

Tensions soared in the gold medal match on September 25, with a post on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like platform, saying Chinese athletes were “provoked three times” by their opponents.

The accompanying video went viral on Thursday. It showed a South Korean athlete seemingly egging on his Chinese opponent and indicating he approach him.

Amid the fierce competition and decades-old rivalries at the Hangzhou Asian Games, there have been some fleeting moments of kindness and heartwarming support.

With a few days still left to go, the 19th Asiad has already seen plenty of tears and angry outbursts.

From judo slaps, tennis rackets being smashed, taekwondo argy-bargy, and the North Korean men’s football team attacking the referee, tensions have clearly been high for some athletes.

When Hong Kong’s highest ranked breakdancer B-Boy C Plus steps onto the dance floor to compete, he always stares into the spotlight to absorb the energy from the spectators and dancers around him.

On Friday he will be doing that on his biggest stage so far, as his sport makes its Asian Games debut in Hangzhou.

“When I watch the spotlight, I can relax more and feel it, just be myself and the whole world is calm,” said C Plus, whose real name is Sze Ka-yam.

Breaking is about to make its debut at one of the biggest global sporting competitions. With dozens of breakers heading to Hangzhou to compete for gold along with a shot at qualifying for the Paris Olympics, stakes are high for these athletes, many of whom are entering the most important competition in their careers thus far.

Breaking is a relatively new, niche sport, warranting a deep dive into its culture and unique nuances.

Diving prodigy Quan Hongchan of China is an Olympic gold medallist and now an Asian Games gold medallist, but, as Chinese netizens love to point out, she is also still an adorable kid.

It wasn’t her gold medal performance for the women’s synchronised 10m platform that enamoured the audience nor was it her second gold from the individual women’s 10m platform – those victories were almost a given.

Rather, she won over hearts with her quirky anecdotes, namely involving her many, many turtle toys.

Asian Games breaking silver medallists Kim Hong-yul and Ami Yuasa went one better in Paris on Saturday, taking their respective titles at the Red Bull BC One event in the French capital.

For Kim, who competes as B-Boy Hong 10, it completed a ha-trick of titles stretching back to 2006, while Yuasa, who’s breaking name is B-Girl Ami, won for the second time.

The pair took their crowns in front of 8,000 fans in Roland-Gorros, a venue more used to hosting the likes of tennis grand slam winners Novak Djokovic and Iga Swiatek.

China’s women’s national basketball team showed the men how it’s done once again, beating Japan in Thursday night’s final and defending their Asian Games title.

The men threw away a lead against the Philippines and lost a nail-biting semi-final on Wednesday night, breaking the hearts of a basketball-obsessed home nation.

To make matters worse, they cancelled their post-match grilling by the media before NBA legend and Chinese Basketball Association president Yao Ming apologised and brought the head coach and captain back.

China’s Qin Haiyang and Kaylee McKeown of Australia have been named male and female swimmers of the year after dominating their respective disciplines in the pool.

World Aquatics honoured the pair at a ceremony in Budapest, where Qin had been nominated alongside France’s Leon Marchand and Ahmed Hafnaoui of Tunisia, while McKeown was up against Mollie O’Callaghan of Australia and Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom.

The event followed the completion of the last World Cup leg of a season during which Qin won the men’s 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke races in Berlin, Athens and Budapest.

Chinese football fans are at a loss amid more confusion and uncertainty surrounding Lionel Messi’s trip to China with Inter Miami, just six days before the team’s supposed arrival.

Miami, who had been scheduled to play two friendlies against Chinese Super League sides Qingdao Hainiu and Chengdu Rongcheng on November 5 and 8, are now set to play only one match.

The US club were on track to play Chengdu at the 60,000-capacity Phoenix Hill Sports Park, but organisers announced an ambiguous cancellation of the match between Miami and Chengdu.

Hong Kong’s table tennis players and wheelchair fencers led the city to a successful final day of the Asian Para Games in Hangzhou by contributing a gold and two bronze medals on Saturday.

Women’s doubles pair Ng Mui-wui and Wong Ting-ting defeated Japan in the table tennis class WD22 final, bringing the city’s gold-medal count to eight.

In a nail-biter final, the Hong Kong duo traded control with Japanese pair Kanami Furukawa and Maki Ito to pull off a 3-2 (11-5, 10-12, 10-12, 13-11, 11-7) win.

The Los Angeles Clippers have finalised a deal with the Philadelphia 76ers to acquire James Harden, four months after the star guard had requested a trade.

Several news outlets reported on Tuesday that the deal to acquire Harden was almost complete.

The 76ers were expected to get Marcus Morris, Nic Batum, Robert Covington, Kenyon Martin Jnr and draft picks. PJ Tucker and Filip Petrušev are also part of the deal and will go to LA, with Philadelphia reportedly waiving Danny Green to free up a roster spot to complete the deal.

China’s men and women have both qualified for the 3x3 basketball competition at next year’s Paris Olympics.

Although qualifying is far from over, the nation’s teams have reached November ranked in the top three in the world, which gains them automatic entry.

On the men’s side, Serbia topped the list, followed by the United States and China, while in the women’s rankings, China were top, with the US and France next in line.

Hundreds of spectators watched on during the two-day Hong Kong Breaking Team Qualifier finals, as the city’s top B-Boys needed a tiebreaker to separate them and a women’s finalist forfeited a shot at victory because of a knee injury.

Olympian City Mall transformed to accommodate the finals on Saturday and Sunday. Among the 16 contestants who reached the final day of competition – eight men and eight women – four were competing fresh from dancing in the Asian Games.

Lionel Messi is expanding his influence to the world of virtual sports as the new co-owner of KRU Esports.

The World Cup winner will work alongside CEO Sergio Aguero, who founded the organisation in 2020 and developed a dedicated esports fan base in Latin America.

Before the official announcement, there had been suggestions Aguero would step down as the organisation’s owner. Instead the former Manchester City player released a video saying he was “no longer the owner of KRU because now, we are two”.

Two Japanese Olympians have brought their skateboards and their skills to Hong Kong this weekend, as they look to boost the sport’s profile across the region.

Joined by compatriot and rising star Yumeka Oda, the trio will take part at a two-day event in Causeway Bay, where they will showcase the tricks that have catapulted them to the top of the sport.

With the Paris Olympics getting ever closer, the trio are all working towards qualification, but said the third edition of Hong Kong’s Skateboard Fest at Lee Gardens was more about “having fun” and connecting with local athletes.

Japan swept first place for both men and women in swimming’s New World Harbour Race, while Hong Kong clinched a spot on the women’s podium with Asian Games athlete Nip Tsz-yin finishing third.

Crowds in the hundreds gathered in cool, damp conditions early on Sunday morning to watch the start at Wan Chai ferry pier and the finish at Avenue of Stars in Tsim Sha Tsui.

After having reduced the field to 1,500 last year because of Covid-19 regulations, this year organisers raised the entrant quota to 4,000 but some swimmers missed out because of failed or cancelled swimming tests.

Chinese snowboarder Su Yiming has hit the slopes again after a year away from the sport, and said winning gold at the Beijing Winter Olympics left him “confused”.

The teenager won two medals, gold in big air and silver in slopestyle, at last year’s Games, but said the experience left him feeling mentally and physically drained.

Now refreshed after what coach Yasuhiro Sato called “burnout syndrome”, Su is eyeing a return to the slopes for the coming World Cup season.

China ended the Beijing leg of the ISU World Cup Speed Skating on the podium, with Ning Zhongyan taking bronze in the men’s 1,000m race on Sunday.

Ning crossed the finish line in one minute, 09.03 seconds, less than a second behind three-time Olympic champion Kjeld Nuis of the Netherlands, and trailing second-place finisher Havard Holmefjord Lorentzen of Norway by 0.04 seconds.

Third place was an improvement for Ning, who finished fifth in the same event when he made his debut at the Beijing Olympic Games in 2022.