News in a Nutshell - Feb 10

No time to read the news this week? No worries, we’ve got you covered. Just one minute with the Localiiz news roundup and you’ll have all you need to appear up-to-the-minute and worldly-wise when out and about this weekend (well, almost).

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No time to read the news this week? No worries, we’ve got you covered. Just one minute with the Localiiz news roundup and you’ll have all you need to appear up-to-the-minute and worldly-wise when out and about this weekend (well, almost).

Tsang's our Man

The exhausting saga of finding Hong Kong's new chief executive continued to deliver soap opera levels of drama this week as John Tsang Chun-wah, aka "Uncle Potato Chips", emerged as the most popular candidate in Hong Kong’s leadership race (pictured right - about to go into beast mode with a baseball). This widens the gap with arch-rival Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor by more than 14 percentage points, according to a survey commissioned by the South China Morning Post. Although the general consensus is that Lam will still win. Because Beijing.

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

Legislator Leung Kwok-hung (better known as "Long Hair") caught many by surprise this week by throwing his hat in the ring for the chief executive position. Long Hair is something of a long-suffering activist in the city as well as a radical law-maker - traits that have made him popular with a vocal group in the city who crave socio-political change, but decidedly unpopular with the communist party in Beijing. Let's be honest, if there's five things Beijing hates it's activism, radicalism, being vocal, socio-political change, and long hair. Although he hasn't officially joined the race, he says he will if he gets 37,790 votes from the public - one percent of the city's registered voters.

A Bridge too Far

Hong Kong will have to pay more than the budgeted $117 billion for the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge project due to cost overruns on the main bridge. The main bridge is in mainland waters, but the cost of its construction is to be shared by Hong Kong, Zhuhai, and Macau. The mega project's Hong Kong section, whose construction began in 2011, is at least 12 months behind the original target of completion by the end of 2016. The additional cost of the main section has not been revealed (surprise, surprise). It's all very reminiscent of the MTR Corporation being bailed out by taxpayers for the cost overrun of the long-delayed, high-speed rail link to the mainland just over a year ago, which ended up setting back Hong Kongers an extra $19.6 billion.

Fair Play

Taxi fares will rise by $2 from April, after the adjustment was approved by the Executive Council. This will apply to urban, New Territories, and Lantau taxi fares. Passengers hiring urban taxis will pay $24 for the first two kilometers, while New Territories taxis will charge $20.50. Lantau taxis will charge $19. The fee for baggage will also rise to $6 per item, from the current $5.

Not so Super

Hong Kong supermarket City’super has defended its selling of individually packaged strawberries - at $168 each(!) - and explained that they are being sold as Valentine’s Day gifts (for idiots). Because a single strawberry is at the top of everyone's wish list this February 14.

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Need something more to read? Visit our homepage for links to great stories on getting the most out of living in Hong Kong!

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