Thousands of South Lantau and Tung Chung commuters will likely qualify for the new government public transport subsidy.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced yesterday the government would subsidise long-distance commuters by up to $300 a month.
Commuters who spend above the $400 threshold in month will receive a subsidy of 25% for further costs.
Most South Lantau ferry commuters spend that in just over a week. A passenger taking the fast ferry between Mui Wo and Central Monday to Friday spends $313 a week, or around $1250 monthly.
Commuters travelling via MTR from Tung Chung to most points in Kowloon or Hong Kong Island will also be eligible. An adult taking the MTR five times a week from Tung Chung to Central will pay $224 using Octopus, or approximately $900 a month.
The scheme will cover the fares of MTR, buses, green minibuses, ferries and trams. The government predicts that approximately two million Hong Kong people will qualify for the subsidy.
Lam said she expects the scheme to begin in about a year after Legco provides funding.
Unusually for Lantau, the attacks are being investigated by the Organised Crime and Triad Bureau (OTCB). The squad primarily focuses on Kowloon and the New Territories and rarely takes on any cases in Lantau.
But following the incidents in the early hours of August 24, OCTB officers arrived in Pui O and Shui Hau that morning to take control of the case, suggesting they had information that the attacks were triad-linked.
In both cases, a late model Toyota was backed up to the gate of a home and set alight. The two incidents took place in the two villages, nine kilometres apart, in the space of four minutes.
Police said they found no links between the residents or owners of the two properties and nothing that linked any of them to any criminal activity.
Photo: Aftermath of the Shui Hau arson attack (Oriental Daily)
While one part of the government is determined to build housing in Hong Kong’s country parks, another plans to celebrate it.
The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department has launched a campaign to celebrate country park hiking trails, including those in Lantau.
A Lantau South Country Park hiking trail is one of six sites chosen for the campaign, one of a series of events to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the country parks.
Each of the six hikes will be led by guides who can explain the ecology and history of the parks.
The Lantau hike will run along the Lantau Trail Section 2 from Pak Kung Au to Nam Shan on November 19. Details are available here.
A local business lobby has called on the government to ease restrictions on HK-Macau bridge arrivals to make it easier for them to visit Lantau tourist spots.
Lantau Development Alliance (LaDA) chairman Spenser Au says his group had called on the government to allow tourists coaches to take visitors to Lantau Island attractions, but so far officials had resisted.
He says buses should be allowed into restricted areas to pick up passengers arriving on the 130-ha artificial island next to the airport. If not “there will be a large number of passengers stranded on the island in the future,” HK01reports.
LaDa, which is backed by major developers and Lantau tourism operators, also urges the construction of a pedestrian link between the bridge arrival zone and the new business district north of the airport. It seeks the extension both the MTR and road connections to Tung Chung and a wider use of ferry transport to the airport and around Lantau as well.
Additionally, Au said the arrival of the HK-Macau bridge can make North Lantau a medical tourism destination. He called for the government to establish a pilot medical centre in the bridge landing area.
Under current plans the HZM Bridge landing zone is intended to support 500,000 square metres of space of retail, restaurants and entertainment.
The breaks are falling the right way for talented local singer, songwriter and actor Denquar.
She is heading to London to record her first EP and take a starring role in Aladdin at London Richmond Theatre.
It’s part of a steady progression for the 25-year-old Pui O resident, who has been dividing her time between London and Hong Kong for the past three years.
She is just completing a season at the Island Shangrila and will take up a short engagement at the Grand Hyatt before heading back to London in November, where she’s booked in to play Princess Jasmine in Aladdin alongside British stalwart Christopher Biggins.
Early in the New Year, still in London, she will cut six or seven songs for the EP, including a couple in Mandarin, and release her first single. Among those backing her in the studio will be guitarist Robin Banerjee, who recorded and toured with Amy Winehouse.
Denquar, who grew up in Lantau and trained at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, has a growing following online. This video of her self-penned song, Lousy Signs, has racked up 127,000 views on Facebook in a month.
“It’s a love song about being a shy Hong Kong girl,” said Denquar.
She credits her Thai father as being her first musical inspiration. He ran a jazz bar in Phuket and played blues, rock’n’roll and reggae. He died when she was ten, leaving Denquar – real name Danielle Chupak – to be raised by her British-born mother in South Lantau.
She attended Pui O public school and YMCA College in Tung Chung, where career counsellors did their best to discourage her from music.
As it happened, just as she graduated the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts was opening a musical theatre programme. She studied acting, singing and dancing intensively for a year and then at 18 landed a role as vocalist in a Disneyland stage show. After two years in the MOuse House, she took a turn singing jazz in the evening at the Grand Hyatt.
She then headed to London and passed an audition for the Royal Academy musical theatre course. But, unable to afford the hefty foreign student fees, she followed the time-honoured path, supporting herself as a waitress while honing her craft with other performers in the evenings.
She didn’t get a gig for 18 months – “it was too competitive” – but eventually found an agent who helped train her voice and performance, and the gigs started to come, both in London and Hong Kong.
She also started writing songs, like Lousy Signs.
But she relishes the comfort of her Lantau home and regularly performs here.
“Growing up here was amazing. I had so much freedom as a child. So many outdoor things – waterfalls, beaches.
“It’s nice to have access to all of this. It’s safe and familiar. If I am in trouble, I know someone.”
At a glance
Upcoming gigs
Oct 15: The Water Buffalo, Pui O, 8pm
Oct 21: Hemingways, Discovery Bay, 9pm
Oct 26-Nov 25: Grand Hyatt 9pm-12:45am Monday-Saturday
In the first incident at around fire brigade was called after receiving a report at around 3:30pm that the office entrance was on fire.
Another attempt to light the door was made at 5:15. Police went to the scene and seized newspapers and a beer can.
The office, which was unattended because of the public holiday. suffered minor damage.
CCTV had shown a person loitering around the doorway at around 3:15 to 3:30 and had set alight a black plastic bag in the doorway.
Police later arrested a Thai national in Tung Chung. A spokesman said she has a history of mental issues and suicide attempts and has been sent to Princess Margaret Hospital psychiatric assessment.
Anyone who has information on the case is urged to contact the Lantau Criminal Investigation Team at 3661-1941 or 3661-1940.
Tang has been a District Councillor since 2008. He was Legco functional constituency member on behalf of the pro-Beijing Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions from 2012-2016.
Online voting is now open for ‘The Amazing Bovid of Lantau’ photo competition.
Cattle and buffalo lovers can go here to cast their votes on the 89 photos entered into the contest. Voting closes at midnight on Saturday, Oct 7.
The 20 photos that receive the most Facebook Likes, Reactions, Comments or Shares will win the first round of the contest to enter the second round for the five Judges’ Choice Award categories and the three Artistic Award categories.
A final round of voting will determine the Champion.
Voters who take part in the poll will have a chance to win a gift from handmade cosmetics firm LUSH HK.
The judging panel, chaired by environmental photographer Martin Williams, along with cultural photographer Ducky Tse Chi Tak and Lantau News Editor Robert Clark.
Hong Kong’s major banks have turned a deaf ear to a call for the establishment of branches in Tung Chung.
Islands District Councillor Holden Chow has complained that none of the big three banks – HSBC, Bank of China Hong Kong (BoCHK) and Standard Chartered – has a branch in Tung Chung.
He points out that with the area’s population forecast to triple in the coming years, and with the continued rise in tourist numbers, there was an urgent need to provide banking services to the community.
In a written question at to the District Council he called on the financial regulator, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority to press the three banks on the issue.
However, in their responses the banks have confirmed they have no plans to introduce local banking services.
HSBC, which has branches at Discovery Bay, Cathay City, Mui Wo and at both airport terminal buildings, said it reviews its branch network “from time to time” but it is currently not considering one in Tung Chung.
BoCHK and Standard Chartered both said they had noted Chow’s suggestion but would not be taking action.
“Your view has been noted and will used as a reference for the Bank to optimise and adjust branch deployments in due course,” BoCHK said.
Mui Wo Rural Committee has erected this military-themed billboard to celebrate the October 1 holiday.
It announces an evening’s entertainment, though it doesn’t say when or where.
Translation: “Evening event to warmly celebrate the 68th anniversary of the establishment of the People’s Republic of China National Day. Organiser: Mui Wo Rural Committee. Sponsor: Islands District Council”
Lantau Confidential 