Hongkongers seeking information, like-minded friends or simply to vent their spleen are catered to in abundance online. David Wilson compiles a list of the top 20 local websites. Illustration by Steve Yau. Jun 08, 2008  South China Morning Post In keeping with the buzz on its streets, Hong Kong has a humming presence on the…

It’s one of many oddities about the world’s freest economy that taxi drivers here would be breaking the law if they offered discounts to passengers.  However, if passengers ask for a discount, taxi drivers can agree – and of course everyone knows who to call to ask for a discount.  Other taxi drivers are not…

These were the government’s proposals on labelling (the full document is here): c) Requirements on Labelling Format 12. There is no standard format for expression of energy and nutrient value in the food labels among different jurisdictions (see Annex 1). For some countries, energy value could be expressed in kilocalorie and for others, in kilojoule.…

The new rules about Trans fatty acids state: The word or words “Free” or “不含”, “Zero” or “零”, “No” or “無” or “Without” or “沒有”or any other word or words of similar meaning or symbol denoting a similar meaning [are allowed if]:  (a) The food is solid food and contains— (i) not more than 0.3…

I was amused by this website, which is supposed to let you Make up Your Mind about McDonalds (UK). They have a “question and answer” section.  Which sounds like a great idea, until you notice that they appear to employ a team of robots to answer the questions.  For example, almost all the questions about…

Helpful caption from the BBC website, for anyone wondering if JK Rowling might have suddenly grown a beard:  

Anyone who has lived in Hong Kong for very long will be familiar with the problem of favourite products disappearing from supermarket shelves.  Sometimes they are back a few weeks later, sometimes they are gone permanently. A few weeks ago there was the great “Egg Nog” scandal, when Nestle Dairy Farm decided not to bother…

After the deaths of two young children from influenza in Hong Kong at the start of this month, the government instructed all primary schools and kindergartens to close.  An over-reaction, obviously, but it was only a few days till most schools started their Easter holidays, so it didn’t do much harm.   Since then there has…

No scaremongering in the SCMP today (Flu fight recalls dark days of Sars), oh no: Health authorities announced a string of contingency measures yesterday to combat flu that recalled action taken during the Sars emergency five years ago. The measures, including shortened visiting hours in public hospitals, daily announcements of outbreaks and a public-education campaign,…

Nothing to add really…