Tripperhead Gazette

TG Thursday September 17th, 2026

Aaron Busch — Thu, 17 Sep 2026 12:00:22 GMT

• The 2025 Policy Address on Wednesday put in new steps to arrest the plummeting birth rate in Hong Kong.

New measures include:

upping IVF spots to 1,900 within 3 years
new baby bonuses; no change for 1st born ($20k - extended for another 3 years), but every baby after that will receive $30k
standard annual tax allowance for a second or subsequent child wil…

TG Wednesday September 16th, 2026

Aaron Busch — Wed, 16 Sep 2026 12:01:05 GMT

• Wednesday saw Chief Executive announce his 2026 Policy Address, and included in it was Hong Kong’s 1st Five-Year Plan.

To read the 5YP cliff notes, click the pic below.

Now of course you’re here reading this so you didn’t have to sit through the almost three hour speech. However… how does one even try to fit all that into a little ol’ Substack?

The 5YP was eight press releases long.

And the policy address was THIRTEEN press releases long.

So here’s what you get (sorry, you’ll have to do the heavy reading as well):

SCMP LIVE BLOG (free to read)

HKFP 5YP article

The Standard articles on PA

AP News’ 5YP article

Want to watch the whole thing? Click here.

Over the next week the big news stories from the address will be added to the TG.

• In non-Policy Address news, former Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa will receive a state funeral this weekend.

• The state funeral has seen Sunday’s race meet cancelled.

• An unidentified gas leak at Princess Margaret Hospital in Kwai Chung saw 100 staff and visitors evacuated on Wednesday morning.

TG Tuesday September 15th, 2026

Aaron Busch — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 12:00:10 GMT

• Chief Executive John Lee fronted the media on Tuesday and explained that he has demanded a detailed investigation into the elevator snafu at Queen Mary Hospital.

From SCMP: “Lee’s comments came a month after defective work at the hospital – the largest on Hong Kong Island – came under scrutiny, with 24 of the 28 lifts in its new 34-storey clinical block deemed unfit for use.”

This and other some other underwhelming construction efforts in Hong Kong are covered in Joel Chan’s latest blog.

• CE Lee was also talking up his upcoming Policy Address on Wednesday, where for some reason unbeknownst to me, people are infatuated with the colour of the Address booklet each year.

If you are one of those people, you’re in luck!

Now Lee’s Policy Address, which will include the new 1st Five-Year Plan, is going to go on for a VERY long time. Gone are the days where I have time to live blog these things on the socials. But luckily I have a Substack where I can give everyone the cliffnotes! Check out the Wednesday TG for all the news.

• Hong Kong welcomed 5.4 million visitors in August, a post-pandemic monthly high, even with a massive dip in short haul tourists.

• HK crypto exchange CoinEx is pulling the plug.

• The rush for student accommodation in Hong Kong has seen Singapore’s CapitaLand buy a 550-room hotel in Sheung Wan.

TG Monday September 14th, 2026

Aaron Busch — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 12:00:24 GMT

• The Security Bureau has urged people in Hong Kong to check their credit card charges, after more than 700 people over the weekend reported that their cards had been used to order the new iPhone.

Total losses stood at almost $15 million from those who had reported the theft. The actual total will likely be much higher.

Apple HK came out on Monday stating…

TG(IF) September 11th, 2026

Aaron Busch — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 08:43:12 GMT

• Three organisers of the now-defunct June 4th vigil have been sentenced to between 62 and 87 months in jail for inciting subversion.

TG Thursday September 10th, 2026

Aaron Busch — Thu, 10 Sep 2026 12:00:05 GMT

• Former reporter for the WSJ and chair of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, Selina Cheng, has won (and lost) her court case against Dow Jones Publishing.

TG Wednesday September 9th, 2026

Aaron Busch — Wed, 09 Sep 2026 12:01:31 GMT

• Hong Kong’s first post-handover Chief Executive, Tung Chee-Hwa, passed away on Tuesday aged 89.

Tung was CE from 1997 to 2005. He was Hong Kong’s longest serving CE, even after resigning 2 years before his 2nd term expired, citing “health problems”. He lived for another 21.5 years.

TG Tuesday September 8th, 2026

Aaron Busch — Tue, 08 Sep 2026 12:00:18 GMT

• 69-year-old Ng Kai-on, proprietor of Carol Engineering Limited, pleaded guilty to five charges in court on Monday – two of conspiracy for a public servant to accept advantages, two of offering advantages to an agent and one of conspiracy to offer an advantage to an agent - in relation to an anti-corruption investigation at HKIA’s 3 Runway project.

TG Monday September 7th, 2026

Aaron Busch — Mon, 07 Sep 2026 12:00:17 GMT

• An art installation at the the new Terminal 2 departure hall at HKIA malfunctioned on Saturday, leaving the hanging structure swaying until repair crews could stabilise it.

Video via Threads.

TG Thursday September 3rd, 2026

Aaron Busch — Thu, 03 Sep 2026 12:00:16 GMT

• CNBC are shuttering their Hong Kong bureau, and along with it, a heap of Asia-based shows.

Via Bloomberg:
7am-10am: Squawk Box Asia (now just Singapore, not co-anchored in Hong Kong)

10am-11am: The China Connection from HK (AXED)

11am-12pm: Inside India (AXED)

TG Wednesday September 2nd, 2026

Aaron Busch — Wed, 02 Sep 2026 12:00:35 GMT

• Joshua Wong fronted court on Wednesday, charged with conspiracy to collude with foreign forces, and pleaded guilty.

Wong now faces anywhere between 3 (extra) years or life in prison. He was due to get out of prison on his current sentence next year.

Click the pic below to read the HKFP article.

You can also read the AP News article by clicking below.

TG Tuesday September 1st, 2026

Aaron Busch — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 12:04:21 GMT

• The long running feud between HKIS and its co-founding church has come to an end, with the school agreeing to buy out the church’s stake, and the church to no longer have a say in the school’s running.

You can read LCMS’ take on the court result below (if you have a copy of the HKIS version, you can email it to me Tripperhead Gazette)

Lcms

40.2KB ∙ PDF file

Download

TG Monday August 31st, 2026

Aaron Busch — Mon, 31 Aug 2026 12:00:13 GMT

• Scams on Whatsapp are on the rise, with police warning about hijacking of accounts.

You can listen to Chief Inspector Alvin Wong, who spoke with RTHK on Monday, below.

TG Tuesday August 11th, 2026

Aaron Busch — Tue, 11 Aug 2026 12:00:59 GMT

• With the furore over the Heat Stress at Work Warning failing to abate, the Labour Department took to local radio on Tuesday to suggest changes might be made.

TG Monday August 10th, 2026

Aaron Busch — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 12:00:21 GMT

• In Hong Kong, when it rains it pours, and when it doesn’t, we break all-time heat records.

Sunday August 9th, 2026 was the hottest day ever recorded at the Hong Kong Observatory in TST, beating the previous record of 36.6°C in 2017.

TG(IF) August 7th, 2026

Aaron Busch — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 12:00:54 GMT

• While the report was written in May, the final investigation report into the Tai Po fire has been released to the public.

“Most probably: A glowing source, such as a lit cigarette end, ignited combustible materials, such as carton paper boxes, at the scene.”

TG Thursday August 6th, 2026

Aaron Busch — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 12:00:11 GMT

• Like the banks and airlines, utility CLP has posted a bumper H1 2026.

TG Wednesday August 5th, 2026

Aaron Busch — Wed, 05 Aug 2026 12:00:31 GMT

• CX had a bumper H1 2026, perhaps due to rather than, the Iran war.

TG Tuesday August 4th, 2026

Aaron Busch — Tue, 04 Aug 2026 12:00:23 GMT

• Much like SCB, HSBC had a bumper H1 2026.

And by bumper I mean 4 times larger.

TG Monday August 3rd, 2026

Aaron Busch — Mon, 03 Aug 2026 12:00:21 GMT

• Tragedy struck the 2026 Summer Triathlon Challenge on Sunday, with one of the competitors going missing on the swim leg.

The 59-year-old man was located more than 6 hours after the event started, and was pronounced dead at hospital. The race was held under an Amber Rainstorm.