As the novel coronavirus swept across the world in the middle of March, Hong Kong experienced a new wave of local infections from a surge of imported cases. Since early February, Eastern Hospital has received a large number of cases from local infection clusters, including the so-called hotpot family and patients who had visited the same Buddhist hall in North Point. Since February, Hong Kong Connection has been documenting the coronavirus battle at Eastern Hospital. How did the medical staff across all levels of the hospital deal with their challenges? Hong Kong Connection has been documenting the coronavirus battle at Eastern Hospital. How did they respond to the sudden crisis brought by the coronavirus?

Despite the fact that in Hong Kong Covid-19 vaccinations are easily accessible and free, the vaccination programme, launched more than three months ago, has resulted in only about 24% of the total population receiving a first dose, with just 17% being fully vaccinated. To boost take-up, the government and the private sector are offering incentives such as lottery tickets, luxury flats, gold, cash, shopping vouchers, and cheaper holidays and flights. Incentives notwithstanding a recent survey by the Faculty of Medicine at the Chinese University shows there’s still considerable vaccine hesitance. Only one in four of those not yet vaccinated are planning to be jabbed in the coming six months. Some are concerned about possible side effects. Others say they have little confidence in government recommendations or the manufacturers of the vaccines. And then there are those who are waiting for a better vaccine to come along. We spoke to Ivan Hung, a co-convenor of the government’s Expert Committee on Clinical Events Assessment, to address some of these concerns. Other than the millions of dollars’ worth of cash and prizes in Covid-19 vaccine incentives offered by the private sector, the government has also been hoping to reduce vaccine hesitancy by relaxing restrictions for the fully vaccinated through introducing “vaccine bubbles” in restaurants, catering business and the tourism sector. Despite some recent exemptions and a little loosening up, Hong Kong has one of the strictest virus quarantine measures. A mandatory 14 to 21-day quarantine is required for people who have travelled outside and returned to Hong Kong, although this is now being reviewed. The tourism industry is struggling and has come up with all manner of new initiatives but they will yield no more than a fraction of earnings in more normal times.

To parents who have experienced pregnancy loss, memory of their child may be limited to a photo of the foetus in its mother’s womb, a tiny footprint it left after its silent arrival to the world, and some strands of its hair. Not only are these parents unable to witness their children’s growth, but any imagined scene of playing with their children and all the pre-birth preparation work become the source of sorrow. In this episode, we accompany Harriet and Steven as they return to Perth, Australia, to visit some volunteers and friends there. Perth is where they lost their son Angel TSANG and realised what death was about. In Hong Kong, mother Soman will tell us about the story of losing her daughter Sze-chau and producing programmes at an online station, in which she exchanges experiences with parents who also suffered pregnancy loss.

There have always been exceptions, but overall, in the history of art, the role of the genders in the arts is clear: man is the artist, woman is the muse. That has often worked to the disadvantage of many accomplished women who have been involved with male artists, among them Camille Claudel, Berthe Morisot, and Françoise Gilot. It is a fate that Chinese painter Xie Jing-lan, also known as Lalan, managed to escape, even after marrying two artists, to become one of the most influential Chinese female artists of the 20th century. Set up by Taka Hirohama in 2010, the Hong Kong Big Band Jazz Federation is a non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting, and providing a platform for, the sound of the big jazz band in Hong Kong. They are taking part in a series of Summer Jazz concerts from 15th to 17th June at the Hong Kong City Hall. Some of the singers performing in those shows came to our studio to tell us more.

Crabs are a subphylum of arthropods, there are more than 6000 species of crab found around the world. In Hong Kong, more than 300 species were found. People may think crabs only lives in oceans, however, different species can live in wide range of habits ranging from the ocean, the sandy beaches to fresh water rivers. Some can even live in woodland and the mountains. How can the crabs adapt to different habitats?

It is said that there is always a reason behind hatred, while love exists without explanations. When a dog with a tumor on the neck was given up by its caretaker, some volunteers tried to rescue it at all costs. Is the dog willing to take their offer? A mother is exhausted taking care of her son diagnosed with a rare disease. She always teases him and says, “let’s break up”. Two youngsters love tricking so much that they would imagine themselves making a back somersault even on a wheelchair. Such an inexplicable passion is a blessing for young people. This episode comprises three works by students from the School of Journalism and Communication at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, telling the love and passion of a few Hong Kong people.

Indigenous - Human Ip (Writer/Illustrator) Human Ip is not a naturalist, but she can tell stories about flora and fauna ceaselessly and vividly at will. Roaming and searching amid the wilderness, the various species indigenous to Hong Kong are what fascinates her most. She has a penchant for describing their beauty in extreme detail with words and illustrations, the way a nature writer would. She focuses on in situ research. Through the exploration of “indigenous” things, she constantly contemplates and asks how people and other species can be interdependent with the environment in the same location for generations. Producer: Pui-ki Lun Quarantined- Cyrus Hui (Choreographer) The most familiar space that one lives in turns out to the be the most unfamiliar performance venue. This realisation first comes about simply out of helplessness. Since the pandemic began, theatres have closed, reopened, and shut again. However, the body says that it really, really wants to keep dancing. Whether one is dancing, watching, outside, or inside, everybody is trapped in a cramped space. There is a yearning not just for fresh air, but also freedom. Although the dancers and audience are “quarantined”, they are brought together at the same time through the screen. Producer: Ka-ho Tse  

Episode 8 “Latter Life Leisures” Host: Vivian KONG Dave hurt his wrist when he was 50 years old. He was waiting in the hospital for a follow-up consultation when the public address system made the announcement: “LAU Wing-ming who is 50 years old, please go to Room 9.” “Maybe someone has the same name as mine, so the age is revealed for identification. At that moment, it was like God announced to me: You’ve entered your fifties!” Raymond and Alissa also share similar experience of “growing old”. The three seniors and Vivian KONG all laugh heartily. Age gap does not obstruct them from communication and opening their hearts to one another. Dave is 75 years old, Raymond and Alissa are over 60 years old. All three of them are not young anymore, but Vivian is deeply impressed by their active and optimistic characters. The three elderly persons are part-time models, and they love doing exercise and learning new things. These are the secrets for maintaining good physical and mental health in old age. Sometimes, the tricks are just common sense like “mom is a woman”. However, it is always easier said than done. “We need to have targets in every stage of our life.” This is an effective prescription to prevent depression in the elderly and mood disorder. When we reach older age in life, we may be retired, and our children may become grown-ups. We no longer need to put ourselves under the spotlight of workplace and family, so it is time for us to explore a new world for ourselves. Dave, Raymond and Alissa are role models of seniors who are still energetic and charming. Our life is long, and our clothes are thin. Nothing in the world is more intimate to us than our own bodies. In fact, our body is a container which saves our emotions and memories. For the elderly, the most familiar signal from their bodies may be pain. The three seniors follow the teacher to explore their bodies and feel the pain points, because they understand that it is better to listen to their bodies and take good care of themselves instead of escaping from the problems. Although Vivian is younger than the seniors, she has deep feelings about her physical condition. As athletes are more sensitive to the changes in their bodies than the general public, will their have special feelings on “aging”? There may be a fear behind injuries that they dare not to touch. The teacher says, “It is time to learn how to slide down elegantly … ” The elderly learns about balance and fall prevention, while youngsters should also learn to overcome failure. Let us be optimistic, open-minded, curious and active to cosily walk through the final stage of the journey of our life.

Education in Hong Kong went through the transition from elite education to universal education for a few decades during the post-war period. With the massive inflow of population from Mainland China, the Government progressively implemented an expansion programme on primary and secondary schools from the 1950’s to cope with the surging population. However, the number of government and grant schools subsidised by the Government was far behind to catch up with the rate of population growth. A large number of private schools played an exceptionally important role during that period to cope with the pressing issue of severe shortage of school places. Subsequently, the six-year free primary education policy and three-year free junior secondary education policy were implemented in the early 1970’s and late 1970’s respectively. The blueprint for basic education in Hong Kong was established back then. Blend of east and west and diversity have always been the characteristics of Hong Kong. Thus school sponsoring bodies with different religious or political beliefs co-exist, while traditional leftist or patriotic schools have become a unique component in the education system of Hong Kong.

“Getting sold down the river” and “Old Man from San Fran” were used to describe the Cantonese people who travelled overseas to be mine and railroad workers during the late Qing dynasty and early Republic of China period. Taishan’s coastal location and deep-water port makes it a natural gateway to faraway lands, leading successive generations of Taishanese to seek livelihoods away from their ancestral home. Taishan is China’s first overseas Chinese hometown. There are over 1.3 million overseas Chinese of Taishanese descent around the world, a number which exceeds the local population. There is actually a Taishanese village in Hong Kong – San Wai Fuk Hing Lane Village in Yuen Long, which was established more than a century ago. Thomas Yeung grew up there and saw the changes that the village has undergone first-hand. Although the blue brick house that he lived in as a child is now a Western-style villa, he has managed to preserve his clan’s genealogy book which has over 100 years of history. William Chan is Thomas Yeung’s primary school classmate and friend. His grandfather opened the only grocery store in the village – Overseas Chinese Store has borne witness to the changes within the village. Initially solely patronised by villagers, it became the canteen for construction workers when the highway was being built. Nowadays, however, it is much more convenient to go into town, leaving the store deserted. It has also been relocated from the market plaza to an inconspicuous spot next to the Chan family’s ancestral residence. William Chan has persisted with running the store to fulfil his promise to his late father of “continuing to provide a place for neighbourhood residents to get together”. Like many other Taishanese, William Chan and Thomas Yeung have both worked abroad. The former went to Africa when he was 45 to manage a car factory for 17 years, climbing the corporate ladder at the cost of missing his sons’ childhoods. Meanwhile, the latter worked in Europe for a few years before returning to Hong Kong as he was unable to adapt to the local life. They both say that the Taishanese of today do not necessarily have to work abroad, because there are many opportunities for development in Hong Kong and the mainland, offering them a plethora of options. Regardless of this, the Taishanese people’s sentimental ties to their hometown remains unchanged. The number of fortified towers which stand in the city are a testament to this. The overseas Chinese remitted money back to their ancestral home, contributing to its prosperity. Subsequently, the residents built fortified towers to protect their home from thieves. The two men are now leading semi-retired lives and go back to their ancestral home when they are free to drive their cares away. Returning to one’s place of origin is not just a habit of the elderly. Thirty-something Kenny used to go to his mother’s hometown (Zhongshan) with her to visit relatives as a child, and always thought that this was his ancestral home. It was not until he was in his 20s that he learnt that his roots originate in Taishan. His wife and mother-in-law (both of Shundenese descent), as well as his mother, all have their own ancestral residences, but why does he not? Consequently, he joined Hong Kong Federation of Tai Shan Association in hopes of finding his ancestral home. His family has lived in Hong Kong since his grandfather’s generation, with both Kenny and his father being born here. As his father lost interest in searching for his roots long ago, Kenny is tackling the task on his own. In a cruel twist of fate, he discovers that his grandfather had been using a fake name, making his already difficult search an even greater challenge. Will he be able to find his roots in the end? Everyone has an ancestral home. Whether it has withstood the ages or vanished without a trace, the search for it serves as a cure for homesickness.