Prologue Journal

HKFP’s best original reporting and features from the past year

• prologu5
• 01/29/202501/29/2025

Hong Kong Free Press

Hong Kong Free Press began 2024 not in its home city, but in Taipei, as voters headed to the polls to elect Taiwan’s next leader. We spoke to young voters about their concerns, and Hongkongers who had moved there in the wake of the 2019 protests and were casting their ballots for the first time. 

Ahead of Lai-Ching-te’s inauguration, we sat down with Taiwan’s outgoing foreign minister Joseph Wu, pro-Beijing figures, and academics to discuss the democratic island’s uncertain future, and later looked back at the Sunflower Movement, 10 years after students stormed the Legislative Yuan to protest economic rapprochement with China. 

Most of our reporting, however, remained focused on issues that impacted Hongkongers. Mental health remained a major concern, particularly among young people, and we explored the ways that mental health professionals and educators were seeking to stem an alarming rise in student suicides. When a man suffering from schizophrenia was shot dead by police at his home, his family told HKFP they could not understand why officers had been so quick to resort to firearms. 

In an effort to gauge public opinion about major political developments – such as the legislation of a new security law, Donald Trump’s re-election as US president, and the opening of an exhibition dedicated to national security – we hit the streets to ask Hongkongers for their opinions. 

We also spoke to social workers – whose field was the subject of a major government overhaul – about the lack of resistance to, or even discussion about, the changes within the sector. The silence was a sign of the times in today’s Hong Kong, they said, but uncharacteristic of the historically outspoken industry. 

A chill fell across the city’s arts sector, too, after venue cancellations and the axing of a major awards ceremony left drama groups wondering where the red lines lay. We were also there for the final day of Mount Zero, a much-loved independent book store that closed its doors in March after being repeatedly inspected by government departments after receiving alleged anonymous complaints. 

Independent publishers told us that a shortage of local writers, both experienced and up-and-coming, posed a challenge to Hong Kong’s literary scene. Zine makers, though, discussed creating a queer community even as a quietness pervaded traditionally LGBTQ spaces. Advocates behind long-running LGBTQ NGOs told us that a lack of funding was squeezing their ability to operate, as once-accessible government coffers were closed. 

Amid Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, we examined how Hongkongers who wanted to express solidarity with Palestinians had found solace in small-scale community organising. 

We explored how changes in Hong Kong’s economic outlook had impacted its service industry, with restaurant owners from across the city weighing in on why business had been so slow to recover since Covid-related curbs were lifted. One suggested that it may have more to do with a post-national security law exodus than simply altered spending habits as Hongkongers headed to mainland China for weekends and holidays.  

In another reversal of fortunes, we followed cross-border “shopping agents” taking advantage of cheap goods in Shenzhen for resale in Hong Kong, and accompanied young Chinese music fans on a screamo pilgrimage to an underground Hong Kong rock club.

We also spoke to Chinese parents who had enlisted as migrant workers under government schemes designed to plug shortages in low-skilled labour sectors to live in the same city as their Hong Kong-born children. 

And in a year that saw journalists and 45 prominent democracy advocates jailed, we spoke to a group of elderly courtgoers sympathetic to the pro-democracy cause who are committed to witnessing cases related to the 2019 protests and national security. 

We heard from women who had been victims of “hidden” sexual violence on Hong Kong’s streets, who shared how speaking about their experiences with others had helped them find solace and a sense of empowerment. While hopeful mothers who had suffered repeated miscarriages discussed how they went in search of more information after being dissatisfied with simply being told to try again by their doctors. 

Development and redevelopment have been high on the government’s agenda, but neither is without impact. We documented residents’ recollections of Tai Hang Sai Estate before they were evicted ahead of construction work, and spent time with fish farmers whose livelihoods are likely to disappear when their ponds are filled in to make way for a controversial technology hub. 

Also facing radical redevelopment is Hong Kong’s historic flower market. Residents told us they were worried that plans to build high-rise buildings would uproot the community, while florists feared about the brunt the construction work would have on their business. 

We sought to explore issues pertinent to the city’s migrant domestic workers, speaking to several whose mental health had suffered as a result of financial and work pressures, and subpar living conditions. We also heard from domestic workers who had been targeted by unlicensed online money lenders, and trapped in a subsequent cycle of debt. 

After the former employer of a domestic worker was sentenced to seven years in jail after being found guilty of raping her, she shared her story with us, expressing gratitude for the city’s justice system even as experts decried the misogyny inherent to rape hearings. 

Increasingly, domestic workers are looking beyond Hong Kong for opportunities they hope will be better paid, with Poland a popular destination. Many, though, have struggled to find their feet after arriving. 

Responding to official requests to “tell a good Hong Kong story,” HKFP reached out to government departments in the hope of producing image-led features about their work, only to be stonewalled by almost every department. 

However, we were able to report some feel-good stories in 2024, including features about farmers returning lost rice varieties to the land, a running club largely made up of current and former street sleepers, a cafe that employs people who have been diagnosed with learning disabilities, and a Hongkonger who has treated almost 200 strangers to dinner.

Explanatory reporting

We continued our monthly explainers on the impact of Beijing’s national security law on the city, and looked in-depth at the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, better known as Article 23, as it was fast-tracked through the opposition-free legislature, exploring how the 2024 law differed from one put forth in 2002. After it passed into law, we examined the new legislation, and produced a timeline of its passage, and six months after it was enacted we took a look at those who had been targeted. 

Several of our explainers stemmed from court rulings, including the appeal that saw protest anthem Glory to Hong Kong banned, exploring why judges had reached that ruling. We also explored judgements handed down in landmark cases such as the one involving Stand News and its top editors, asking why the independent media outlet had been ruled a “tool” used to smear Beijing. 

When 14 pro-democracy figures were found guilty of conspiring to commit subversion, we looked at the judges’ reasons for reaching that verdict. And when they were among 45 jailed for the charge, we checked out who they were.  

After several foreign judges announced their departure from Hong Kong’s top court, we explored what their function was, and when three men were arrested in the UK on spying charges, we looked at their links to the city’s trade mission in London. 

As 2024 marked a decade since the Umbrella Movement, we asked where its leaders were now, while also exploring the role of the embattled Hong Kong Journalists Association after it faced criticism from the Hong Kong security chief. Amid a string of people being denied entry to Hong Kong, we examined who has been barred from the city, and sought to answer the often-asked question: why is TikTok banned in Hong Kong? 

With environmental issues increasingly in the news, particularly after the government scrapped a long-debated waste tax designed to reduce the amount of rubbish sent to landfills, we looked at the size of Hong Kong’s waste problem. And as 2024 officially became the city’s hottest ever, we explored how much Hong Kong has heated up since records began. 

Interviews

In 2024, we spoke to Hong Kong filmmakers Chan Cheuk-sze and Kathy Wong fresh off the back of their Golden Horse Awards win about how the city’s once colourful political scene had taken on a muted and monotone hue in recent years. Additionally, Oscar-nominated director S. Leo Chiang shared his perspective on Taiwan’s complex geopolitical position and cultural identity and how Hong Kong had become a cautionary tale for Taiwanese. 

Innocent Mutanga, who fled political persecution in Zimbabwe, told us about his journey of adaptation as he fought for, and gained, asylum in Hong Kong, where he now runs an NGO with the goal of “rebranding blackness” in Asia, fostering exchanges between different ethnic groups, and promoting dignity and self-love within the city’s African community. 

We also spent time with writer Sa’diyya Nesar, who has sought to reframe how people understand disability through her storytelling. Creativity was also central to our four-part series of interviews with zine artists and archivists: Sam Chao, Charis Poon, Kaitlin Chan, and Forrest Lau.  

Beekeeper and co-founder of conservation group Beetales Harry Wong spoke to us about his efforts to rehabilitate bees and their reputation, while conservationist and researcher Astrid Andersson discussed the city’s introduced population of critically endangered yellow-crested cockatoos – where they came from, how they survive in the urban jungle, and the threats the species now face. 

Andersson was one of several guests on our HKFP Yum Cha podcast series. Others included neon artist Chankalun, photographer Xyza Cruz Bacani, and social impact storytellers Hong Kong Shifts.

Outgoing European Union envoy to the city Thomas Gnocchi also shared his thoughts on Hong Kong ahead of his departure, saying he believed that authorities’ focus on national security raised questions about the long-term attractiveness of the city as a hub for international business. 

Scoops

June 2024 marked the fifth anniversary of the beginning of months-long protests and unrest sparked by an amendment to Hong Kong’s extradition bill. The impact of those demonstrations was still being felt by many who participated, and we spoke exclusively to two Hongkongers whose bank accounts had been inexplicably cancelled while they were detained over their involvement in the protests. 

In another exclusive, we heard from two protesters jailed for rioting in a shopping mall in July 2019, who were years later ordered to pay up to HK$1.7 million in damages to cover the injury-related costs of two police officers. 

We also revealed that Beijing had told Hong Kong-based consular officials they needed to seek approval from Chinese authorities 10 days in advance of business trips to the Greater Bay Area – including Macau and cities in Guangdong – a development one consulate employee said raised concerns. 

To investigate four Hong Kong-registered firms links to illegal deforestation of the Amazon rainforest, we partnered with independent non-profit organisation Repórter Brasil, and discovered that if major meat import markets such as China and Hong Kong were to restrict trade to slaughterhouses with more transparent supply chains, it could have a major impact on the sustainability of the Brazilian meat sector.

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https://hongkongfp.com/2025/01/29/hkfps-best-original-reporting-and-features-from-the-past-year/