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Tung Chee-hwa (far left) opens ballot boxes in Causeway Bay Counting Centre on November 28, 1999. Photo: K. Y. Cheng
Hong Kong politics

On This Day | Hong Kong’s first post-handover district-level elections – SCMP archive

On this day 25 years ago, Hong Kong held its first district-level election after the city’s handover from Britain to China.

Old Hong Kong

That time Hong Kong almost caught its first live telecast from Apollo 12

Disney

On This Day | Hong Kong inks deal to build Disney theme park in 1999 – SCMP archive

Hong Kong International Airport

On This Day | Hong Kong outlines plans for new international airport – from the SCMP archive

35 years ago, Hong Kong saw the beginning stages of what will become its international airport in Chek Lap Kok.

Aerial view of the Hong Kong International Airport in Chek Lap Kok in June 1998. Photo: Foster + Partners
SCMP

When former Canadian PM Pierre Trudeau made a pioneering trip to China

In 1973, Trudeau became the second Western leader to visit China in a month – then went on a whirlwind personal visit to Hong Kong with his wife and son, current Canadian PM Justin Trudeau.

Hong Kong

Was Wah Fu Estate the first self-sustaining housing complex in Hong Kong?

The estate in Pok Fu Lam was valued at HK$3.8 million when it was announced in 1965, comprising a restaurant, department store, bowling alley and community hall

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MTR Corporation

On This Day | ‘Chaos and kinks’ as Hong Kong’s MTR opens to public in 1979 – SCMP archive

Running from Shek Kip Mei to Kwun Tong station, the MTR map’s green-coloured railway line opened to the public 45 years ago.

The Shek Kip Mei Station crowded with passengers. The MTR Corporation’s Kwun Tong line, from Shek Kip Mei to Kwun Tong station, was opened on October 1, 1979. Photo: Yau Tin-kwai
China-UK relations

On This Day | Historic pact over future of Hong Kong gets first signing – from SCMP archive

Four decades ago, Britain and China initialled a draft of the joint declaration on Hong Kong’s future status.

Serena Williams

That time Serena Williams was an hour late after a Hong Kong shopping spree

‘I can’t stay long enough,’ the American tennis superstar once said on her 3rd visit to Hong Kong, adding, ‘The people are very nice and welcoming and I feel it is a very warm place to be’

Crime in Hong Kong

Highly embarrassing: that time the police commissioner’s Peak residence was robbed

In 1990, a duo of robbers threatened commissioner Li Kwan-ha’s wife and tied up their maid before fleeing the couple’s luxury home atop The Peak with HK$50,000 in Rolex watches, jewellery and cash

Hong Kong Police Commissioner Li Kwan-ha talks to reporters after his residence at Magazine Gap Road was robbed by two men in September 1990. Photo: SCMP Archive
SCMP

Then & Now | Behold PostMag, the latest evolution of SCMP’s weekend supplement

Change is nothing new here – launched back in 1989, the Post’s iconic Sunday magazine has morphed again and again to meet the needs of an evolving readership.

The cover of the September 22 relaunch issue of SCMP’s new-look PostMag. Photo: PostMag
History

Then & Now | Columnist Jason Wordie on 25 years of writing for the Post

No, he isn’t told what to write about, says Wordie, in answer to the most common question he gets, as he looks back on a quarter century documenting the region’s huge changes

Hong Kong weather

On This Day | Typhoon York kills 2, injures hundreds in Hong Kong in 1999 – SCMP archive

The ‘erratic behaviour’ of the strongest typhoon to hit Hong Kong in 16 years catches forecasters by surprise

David Tang

‘Foreign Tiger not so powerful as local worm’: how Shanghai Tang was born

When cigar importer David Tang raised US$20 million to birth a global brand from Hong Kong’s Pedder Building

The Shanghai Tang Mansion on Hong Kong’s Duddell Street, Central, pictured in 2012. Photo: SCMP Archive
Greater Bay Area

Troubled waters: when the Post dove into deadly cross-border abductions from Hong Kong

In September and October 1970, the Post reported on abductions from the Deep Bay oyster beds and the ensuing investigation and arrests in mainland China

The oyster fishery in Deep Bay as seen in 2023. Back in 1970 this peaceful setting was the scene for the abduction of eight men, three of whom were later murdered. Photo: SCMP
Hong Kong

Heated argument: 1 dead and 2 injured as a barbecue boils over

Remembering the night when groups of picnickers fought with forks to the deadly end

Hong Kong sports

On This Day | Hong Kong athletes wins city’s second-ever Olympic medal in 2004 – SCMP archive

Two decades ago, table tennis players Ko Lai-chak and Li Ching win silver in Athens and receive a heroes’ welcome upon their return to Hong Kong.

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Crime in Hong Kong

The great escape: when 3 prisoners broke out of a Hong Kong jail

After 2 months of planning their escape from Chi Ma Wan open prison, the prisoners were recaptured within a couple of days

In August 1970, three escaped foreign prisoners were recaptured after just two days on the lam. Photo: SCMP Archive
Hong Kong transport

On This Day | Hong Kong MTR’s Eastern Harbour Crossing opens in 1989 – SCMP archive

On this day 35 years ago, the Eastern Harbour Crossing linking Quarry Bay to Kowloon East was opened to the public.

Bruce Lee

Why did Bruce Lee’s widow auction off his private possessions?

When Linda Lee put 150 personal items belonging to the late Hong Kong icon up for auction, for ‘people who might find great value in it’

Old Hong Kong

How a triple murder in 1958 led to the attacker’s hanging in Hong Kong

Three men were chopped to death while sleeping in the street, but their assailant was caught within days and hung for the crime later in the year

A police officer outside the grocery store where two brothers and their cousin were murdered in 1958. Photo: SCMP Archive
Old Hong Kong

On This Day | A visual tour of Hong Kong’s iconic ‘ding ding’ trams through the decades

On the 120th anniversary of the day Hong Kong Tramways began operation, we take a look at the iconic vehicles that trundle through the city’s streets.

Affectionately known as “ding dings”, the trams are one of the earliest forms of public transport in Hong Kong, with a history stretching back 119 years. Photo: Ricky Chung
Accidents and personal safety

When 6 Hong Kong construction workers died after a lift cable snapped

The tragic accident happened at Telford Gardens, then under construction, when the workers took the lift rated for 20 people up to the roof and the motor malfunctioned, causing the cable to snap

Accidents and personal safety

On This Day | Landslip in Hong Kong’s Kennedy Town kills 3 people in 1994 – SCMP archive

On this day 30 years ago, heavy rain washed away a slope in Hong Kong, killing three people and forcing 2,000 families to evacuate.

History

When a Hongkonger was accused of dealing more opium than the global medical supply

In 1958, an Indian merchant appeared in court accused of possessing nearly 500kg of opium – enough to make more than 45kg of heroin

The harvesting of raw opium on a poppy field. In 1958, a Hongkonger was accused of dealing more opium than the global medical supply. Photo: Shutterstock
Crime in Hong Kong

When an armed robber killed two security guards in Hong Kong jewellery raid

Two security guards were shot and killed in a struggle during an armed robbery at a jewellery store in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong, in 1983.

Police investigate at the King Fook Gold and Jewellery Company in Nathan Road in Tsim Sha Shui, Hong Kong, in 1983, after a robbery in which two security guards were killed. Photo: SCMP
Crime

When a death sentence was upheld for murder of Hong Kong triad leader’s boy

In 1988, a man killed the son of a triad leader in Hong Kong because he hated his father. A year later, he was convicted for the murder and sentenced to death. He lost his appeal to overturn it in 1990.

HSBC

‘Lazy cow’: HSBC executive sued dance instructors for fees after 2004 insult

When a dance instructor insulted his pupil, wealthy bank executive Mimi Wong, in public in 2004, she took him and his partner to court to demand the return of US$8 million in prepaid fees.

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From our archives
How the South China Morning Post covered occasions, news, happenings and events big and small since its founding in 1903
last updated:
9 September, 2024
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