"I don’t know anybody!"

It’s a common cry from newly arrived expats. If you have no friends in town, and it’s hard to meet the neighbors, then one way out of isolation is to join a club of somesort.
There are hundreds of associations covering all sorts of interests – professional groups, hobby clubs, national associations for people with shared home countries, chambers of commerce, networking groups – and then there are charitable organizations which need volunteers.

Any expat who is posted to Hong Kong by his employer needs to be aware of his or her tax liabilities. Income taxation is known here as Salaries Tax, and is levied by the Inland Revenue Department (IRD).

This tax is imposed on ‘all income arising in or derived from Hong Kong from an office or employment or any pension,’ in the words of the IRD.

"It isn’t about being or not being dead. It’s about what you leave behind."

Critically acclaimed Broadway play The Pillowman, written by Academy-Award-winning writer and director Martin McDonagh makes its Hong Kong debut at the Fringe Club from March 26 to 29. Set in an unnamed totalitarian state, The Pillowman revolves around the interrogation of the writer Katurian, whose gruesome stories bear uncanny resemblances to a series of child murders.

Simple questioning quickly develops into a complex web of lies that engulfs Katurian, his brother, and the two detectives assigned to the case. A fervent, unflinching examination of the nature and purpose of art, the play raises questions about the relationships between fear and obedience, family fidelity, and the things we leave behind.

Fringe Club.
2 Lower Albert Road Central,
(852) 2521 7251

Tickets from HKTicketing.Com

1. Chapatti & Chutney Evening Then, on Tuesday 4th March, 6:30-8:30pm, Indian writers including David Davidar, Priya Basil and Manreet Sodhi Someshwar will be meeting the public at Bookazine, 2/F, Oterprise Square, 26 Nathan Road, TST, Kowloon. Free admission, Indian snacks and drinks provided by Tandoor.

2. Love & Lust The Hong Kong Writers’ Circle are launching their latest collection of short stories. Love & Lust includes a contribution by Muhammad Cohen, author of Hong Kong On Air. 7:00pm, 10th March, Fringe Club, Central. $120 gets you a drink, snacks, and a copy of the naughty book.

Contact Pete Spurrier at Blacksmith Books for more information - mail@blacksmithbooks.com

The flagfall fare is scheduled to go up by a dollar starting midnight, Feb 28th 2008.

This is the first increase since 1998 (press release attached)

On the southern end of Hong Kong Island past Repulse Bay lies Stanley; a peaceful village-like area (formerly a fishing port) surrounded by greenery and nearby beaches, making it feel delightfully far from the hectic Hong Kong city life.

Besides being a definite stop for visitors to Hong Kong in search of bargains, Stanley is a beautiful place that encompasses Hong Kong’s history and culture with an added Western touch, making it irresistible to many expats…

Getting Around

Because Hong Kong’s main city is very compact, you’ll find getting around is quick and easy. There’s plenty of public transport, including trams, buses, taxis, ferries, and the local subway or underground rail system, the MTR. In just minutes, you can zip between Central, Wanchai, Causeway Bay and Tsim Sha Tsui.

Distances are so short, you can even walk between several places – though at times you have to negotiate rather convoluted routes forced on you by pedestrian unfriendly planners.

Chinese festivals; Hong Kong seems to have so many of them, and yet you’ve never really understood what everyone’s actually celebrating and why.

Apart from giving you those precious extra days off work for you to sleep in, there are actually some very interesting backgrounds and unusual customs that make up Hong Kong’s festivals.

Hong Kong has a sub-tropical climate, dominated by the long, hot, humid summer. Though the absolute temperature is not extremely high - with the observatory recording a maximum of 36C - it feels far worse because of the humidity. And things aren’t helped by the fact that it barely cools down at night: even by dawn, it may still be 28C.

The heat and humidity can make Hong Kong in summer less comfortable than even several coastal places nearer the equator. I’ve been to a couple of resorts where I’ve sat under palm trees, enjoying balmy temperatures and wishing Hong Kong could be so comfortable.