Ovolo is the world’s first hotel group to go vegetarian
In October 2020, Ovolo Hotels announced its “Year of the Veg” campaign. All the hotel restaurants went vegetarian for a whole year. Now Ovolo is the first hotel chain to go all veg.
Hong Kong
Hong Kong cracks down on wildlife trafficking
A new bill empowers law enforcement to go beyond prosecuting carriers and mules and instead crack down on the criminal syndicates responsible for illegal wildlife trafficking.
Performing acts of kindness can boost both physical health and happiness, study finds
Researchers at the University of Hong Kong performed a meta-analysis of 201 independent studies, comprising 198,213 total participants, that looked at the connection between prosocial behavior and well-being.
3D-printed terracotta coral tiles deployed around Hong Kong
Coral has declined up to 80% in some areas around Hong Kong such are Double Island and Sai Kung, over the past decade. The new coral tiles will be used in these area to help restore coral population, create new substrate and attract tourism.
UK to open citizenship path to Hong Kongers
Eligible individuals from Hong Kong currently can come to the U.K. for six months without a visa. With the rule change, they will have the right to live and work in the country for five years. After that, they will be allowed to apply for settled status and then again for citizenship.
Critically endangered Hainan gibbons return from brink of extinction
“Even though the numbers are still small, you can see a future for this animal,” said senior conservation officer Philip Lo Yik-fui of Hong Kong-based Kadoorie Conservation China, which was driving efforts to protect the gibbons and expand their habitat.
Scientists invent device to generate electricity from rain
The City University of Hong Kong researchers say that a single rain droplet can briefly generate 140 volts, enough to briefly power 100 small lightbulbs.
Hong Kong voters deliver landslide victory for pro-democracy campaigners
Hong Kong’s voters have delivered an unprecedented landslide for pro-democracy candidates in local elections, in a powerful show of solidarity with the city’s protest movement and rebuke to the government over its handling of the crisis.
Hong Kong to host 2022 Gay Games as LGBT acceptance grows in parts of Asia
The win comes amid growing momentum for the gay rights movement in Asia, with Taiwan’s constitutional court this year declaring that same-sex couples have the right to marry, the region’s first such ruling.
Portugal cedes control of Macau to China, ending European colonization of Asia
Although offered control of Macau as early as the 1960s, the Chinese deemed the time “not yet ripe” and preferred to wait until December 1999 — the very end of the millennium, two years after the Hong Kong handover—to close this chapter of history. Upon the handover of Macau European colonization of Asia ended.