All of us at bc magazine would like to wish you a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous 2024!
image: HK Tourism
Category: Love Hong Kong
Hong Kong Refugee Week 2023
The theme for the second Hong Kong Refugee Week, 19-25 June, is compassion and throughout June different NGOs, independent projects and refugee artists celebrate what compassion looks like in action through a program of arts, cultural and educational events.
Refugee Week, an annual open-source festival each June, celebrates the contributions, creativity, and resilience of refugees and people seeking asylum. Founded in 1998 it’s held every year around World Refugee Day (20 June).
Refugee Week’s vision is for refugees and asylum seekers to be able to live safely within inclusive and resilient communities, where they can continue to make a valuable contribution.
Refugee Week Hong Kong 2023 participating organisations include Grassroots Future, The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Hong Kong (UNHCR HK), Justice Centre Hong Kong, Hope, RUN Hong Kong, Youth Global Network.
Refugee Week
Date: 19-25 June, 2023
Venue: Various
More info: @refugeeweekHK
Aston Villa Win 2023 Soccer Sevens
Aston Villa secured a record-extending seventh HKFC Soccer Sevens title on Sunday as the Premier League outfit defeated Hong Kong’s Tai Po FC 3-0 at a packed Hong Kong Football Club to claim the trophy for the first time since 2016.
Omari Kellyman scored twice in the first half before Lee Ka-ho’s red card for a foul on the 17-year-old left Tai Po short-handed, with Frankie Ealing hitting his side’s third ahead of Luizinho’s late sending-off, which saw the Hong Kong side finish the game with five players.
“At the start of the tournament we had a disappointing result against Tai Po, so to bounce back and win all the games after that hasn’t been an easy thing to do,” said Kellyman, who ended as the tournament’s leading scorer with five goals.
“But we did it and I’m proud of the boys. It’s been a great experience. The tournament has been all about experience and to come out here and play the game I love has been great.
“The physical side of the game, the heat is very different from England. Coming out here, you’ve got to run the hard yards and do everything to the best of your ability. It’s been great.”
Tai Po had pulled off a surprise 1-0 win over Villa in the group meeting between the teams on Saturday but there was to be no repeat of that result as the Premier League side raced into an early lead.
Kellyman gave Villa the perfect start when he bent the opener into the top corner with less than two minutes on the clock and, five minutes later, he doubled the advantage with another strike from outside the area, steering a low left-foot shot beyond Tse Ka Wing.
Lee’s clumsy attempt to halt Kellyman in the ninth minute saw him receive a direct red card and Villa exploited their advantage, with Ealing netting his side’s third from close range after a miss-hit attempted clearance by Tse.
Luizinho received a second yellow card seven minutes into the second half to leave Tai Po with only five players and effectively ensure Villa were crowned champions once again.
Earlier in the day, defending champions Newcastle United crashed out in the quarter-finals, losing 2-0 to Aston Villa, who took on Kitchee in the last four after the Hong Kong Premier League champions had seen off Queens Park Rangers.
Tai Po, meanwhile, notched up a 1-0 win over Leicester City to set up a semi-final meeting with Brighton & Hove Albion following their 1-0 win over fellow Premier League club Fulham.
The Hong Kong Premier League outfit eliminated Brighton & Hove Albion in a penalty shoot-out as Villa beat Kitchee to set-up the decider, with the English club ultimately emerging victorious.
In the Masters Event, defending champions Wallsend Boys Club retained the title with a 2-1 sudden-death extra-time win over 2018 winners Ampcontrol Discovery Bay in the final, with Kim Dong-jin netting the winner.
Wallsend had seen off Rio Cricket Association Athletic to advance to the final for the second tournament in a row while Ampcontrol Discovery Bay defeated Hong Kong Football Club Masters to progress to the decider.
This year’s HKFC Soccer Sevens was the first since 2019 after the event was forced to take a three-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The 2023 HKFC Soccer Sevens has been a resounding success and I would like to thank all of our sponsors, the teams, Hong Kong Football Club members, and the fans who turned out in fantastic numbers to support this very special event,” said Hong Kong Football Club Chairman Neil Jensen. “We hope through future editions we can continue to showcase the positive qualities of our unique city and its love for this remarkable game.”
Soccer Sevens
Date: 26-28 May, 2023
Venue: HK Football Club
Tickets: $200 (Weekend pass), $120 (Day ticket), Free (Friday night)
More info:
22 May (Fri): 6 – 9pm; exhibition youth matches start at 4.30pm
23 May (Sat): 9am – 7.40pm
24 May (Sun): 8:30am – 6pm
images: HK Soccer Sevens
Soccer Sevens Return
Defending back-to-back champions Newcastle United and six-time winners Aston Villa headline the Premier League clubs competing at this weekend’s Soccer Sevens, which returns for the first time in four years.
This year’s Soccer Sevens is the 21st edition of the competition, first held in 1999, and runs from 26-28 May featuring 26 teams across a main event and masters tournaments at Hong Kong Football Club.
Sixteen teams will compete in the main competition, with Aston Villa looking to win a record-extending seventh title and their first since 2016, while Newcastle will be aiming to become the first club to win the trophy at three consecutive events.
“We are delighted to be returning to the HKFC Soccer Sevens,” Mark Harrison, Aston Villa’s academy manager, said. “We are looking forward to defending our record at the tournament and our players and staff are excited to come and experience all that the tournament has to offer.”
Other clubs coming to take part include Leicester City, who have won the event twice, as well as Brighton & Hove Albion and Fulham.
They will be joined by Scottish giants Rangers as well as a Hong Kong Football Association representative side, while domestic champions Kitchee and WoFoo Tai Po will fly the flag for the city’s top flight.
In the master’s tournament, the Citi All Stars will take on defending champions Wallsend Boys Club in a 10-team event that will also boast sides representing the Portuguese Football Association and the Professional Footballers’ Association.
Neil Jensen, the HKFC chairman, said the club was “absolutely thrilled” to bring the Soccer Sevens back to the city “The last three years have been challenging for everyone, but the love of football runs deep in Hong Kong and we are looking forward to seeing some of the finest young talent in the global game back on the pitch at Hong Kong Football Club.”
Match schedule here
Soccer Sevens
Date: 26-28 May, 2023
Venue: HK Football Club
Tickets: $200 (Weekend pass), $120 (Day ticket), Free (Friday night)
More info:
22 May (Fri): 6 – 9pm; exhibition youth matches start at 4.30pm
23 May (Sat): 9am – 7.40pm
24 May (Sun): 8:30am – 6pm
Hong Kong’s Women’s Ice Hockey Team Win Gold!
Hong Kong’s women’s ice hockey team made history this weekend by winning gold for the first time at the 2023 IIHF Women´s World Championship Division III Group A in Brasov, Romania.
Hong Kong, with seven debutants in their squad and the only non-European team in the six-team competition, defeated Estonia 3-0 in their final group match, securing 13 points with 4 wins out of 5 games.
The victory completed a successful four-week medal spree on European ice for the Hong Kong hockey program in World Championship play. In March, the men´s national team finished third to win its first medal in Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina. One month on and in wintry surroundings at the foot of the Southern Carpathians, the women´s team continued to write hockey history in Romania. A common denominator for both successful national teams, Russian head coach Nikita Smirnov.
“The last time I worked with the women´s team was at the 2020 World Championship Division III in Sofia, Bulgaria. Now three years later we have a different team with a lot of new players. With players coming from North America and Asia we met in Europe and just had a couple of practices before our first game,” said Smirnov.
Having comfortably beaten Bulgaria 6-2 in their opener, Hong Kong´s key win came against Ukraine. Head coach Smirnov opted to give 15-year-old debutant Keira Mok a start as netminder. It turned out to be a masterstroke with on-song Mok selected as the top goalkeeper of the tournament by the directorate. With the Ukrainians dominating proceedings and outshooting Hong Kong 31-10 during the first 40 minutes of play – it was Mok´s inspiring goaltending that kept Hong Kong in the game.
As the third period wore on, Hong Kong worked themselves into the game. Estelle Ip broke the deadlock for Hong Kong at 46:23 on an assist by Renee Ng. With Ukraine relentlessly charging ahead in their hunt for an equalizing goal, debutant Iris Li poached to double Hong Kong´s lead just over four minutes later. Polina Telehina then pulled one back for Ukraine with 6:37 left to play. In a last desperate attempt, Ukraine yanked goalie Viktoria Tkachenko with 50 seconds to go. Hong Kong held on for a massive confidence-boosting win!
“Ukraine is a strong team but I was impressed with our team who worked very hard and played well. With our new generation, it was hard to know before the tournament what to expect. But our ambition has been to win each game,” said Smirnov.
After dispatching Romania 3-1, Hong Kong headed into their penultimate game against Lithuania. Tracy Wong had put Hong Kong 4-1 ahead at 48:38. Then followed a remarkable fightback by Lithuania. With the Lithuanians tying the game with 4:25 left of the third period, Renee Ng became the only Hong Konger netting in the ensuing penalty shootout loss.
But all was not lost for Hong Kong. Heading into the final round of games twists were still left in this tale. Following a nervy 3-0 final day win against Estonia, the players of Hong Kong then moved up to the stands of Brasov´s Olympic Ice Rink. In the ensuing nail-biting encounter, they looked on as Ukraine stepped up to edge Lithuania 2-1 and play their part in Hong Kong´s historical gold.
Hong Kong moves up to 2024 IIHF Women´s World Championship Division II Group B.
Revisiting the Glory Days – The Legacy of Leslie and Anita
To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the passing of superstars Leslie Cheung and Anita Mui the Hong Kong Film Archive (HKFA) will present a twenty-film retrospective entitled Revisiting the Glory Days – The Legacy of Leslie and Anita from April to December The programme is also part of the first Hong Kong Pop Culture Festival.
The opening programme (also the opening programme of the Hong Kong Pop Culture Festival 2023) on 22 April is When Leslie & Anita Meet Hei & Gin at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Grand Theatre when Gin Lee will perform four theme songs from the films of Cheung and Mui ahead of a screening of Who’s the Woman, Who’s the Man (1996) – the last feature film co-starring the two superstars.
The following night, 23 April, the 4K restored version of Rouge (1988), another film co-starred by Cheung and Mui, will screen at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Grand Theatre. The remaining films will be screened from 29 April to 30 December at HKFA Cinema.
Cheung was a talented and versatile actor who brought various types of characters to life… Whether it be the unrestrained playboy in Days of Being Wild (1990), the fierce yet gentle undercover cop in Moonlight Express (1999), the highly skilful thief in Once a Thief (1991), the ingenuous scholar in A Chinese Ghost Story (1987) or the cunning rascal in Long and Winding Road (1994).
Mui starred in many roles…. as the psychologically conflicted Gu Manlu in Eighteen Springs (1997), the top-class etiquette coach in The Greatest Lover (1988), the tough woman facing a marital crisis in Midnight Fly (2001), the heroine who personifies both strength and gentleness in The Heroic Trio (1993), the legendary spy in Kawashima Yoshiko (1990), to cross-dressing as the incompetent and skirt-chasing king in Wu Yen (2001).
As well as being actors Cheung and Mui were massive pop stars. The film Behind the Yellow Line (1984) marked their first acting collaboration and its theme song, sad but charming, was the first film duet by the two superstars. Mui took the role of a pop diva in the song and dance film The Musical Singer (1985). In For Your Heart Only (1985), Cheung’s hit songs intertwine closely with and drive the plots of the film. The theme song sung by him in He’s a Woman, She’s a Man (1994) became a Hong Kong pop classic. Cheung applied his artistic flair through directing, editing and scoring for the final sequence of Viva Erotica (1996).
The duo’s later films are also part of the programme, including Inner Senses (2002), about the dark side of human nature with Cheung’s powerful performance in expressing inner struggle and despair. In Mui’s July Rhapsody (2002), she delicately depicts how a middle-aged woman faces obstacles and melancholy in her natural performance.
Some screenings will be accompanied by pre-/post-screening talks hosted by Stanley Kwan, Joyce Yang, Gordon Chan, Chan Hing-kai, Janice Chow, Sam Ho, Clifton Ko Chi-sum, Dr Charles Cheung, Teddy Robin, Johnny Wang, Thomas Shin, Dr Ng Chun-hung, Shu Kei, Poon Hang-sang, Dr Angela Law, Eric Tsang and Matthew Cheng.
Apart from Viva Erotica which has no subtitles, all the other films have Chinese and English subtitles. Tickets are $85 for When Leslie & Anita Meet Hei & Gin and $45 for other screenings.
Hong Kong Dragon Boat Carnival Returns
After a four-year covid enforced break, the Tourism Board have announced that the Hong Kong International Dragon Boat Races will return to Victoria Harbor on 24-25 June.
Online registration for dragon boat teams will be open from 10am on 20 March on the Hong Kong China Dragon Boat Association website.
Dragon Boat Carnival
Date: 24-25 June, 2023
Venue: Off Tsim Sha Tsui East Promenade
Tickets: Free
images: HK Tourism Board
Happy New Year!
All of us at bc magazine would like to wish you a Happy, Healthy, Prosperous and hopefully mask-free 2023!
image: HK Tourism