Life Style

Hell looks quite jolly if it is like the one designed by Ho Sin-tung.Visitors to the Hong Kong artist’s latest exhibition are welcomed by an animated neon sign showing a pair of hands supporting an overspilling bowl, the stream of liquid in the middle resembling the stem of a cocktail glass, and the name Circe glowing invitingly on one side.Beneath it is a five-step display stand for what appears to be cheap tourist tat: fridge magnets, crystal globes, keychains and ashtrays. It would be encouraging if Hell had souvenirs. As the exhibition guide points out, souvenirs only exist when there is a place to go back to.In this Hell you can choose postcards – each printed with the word Hell in a different language – and browse the painted selection of cocktails, not that these look very enticing ...

This is the 63rd instalment in a series on dementia, including the research into its causes and treatment, advice for carers, and stories of hope.My grandmother, who died in her eighties, struggled with a number of significant handicaps.She had macular degeneration – an eye disease – and was almost totally blind at the end of her life; she could not read or watch television.Her mobility was compromised as a result of bad knees, one of which resulted from poor knee surgery. She relied on a walking frame inside the house, and a wheelchair and someone to push her in it outside.Despite these difficulties – and risks for dementia – her cognition remained sharp until she died, and all her memories intact. I have a vivid recollection of her sitting at the kitchen table with a cassette player, rec...

This article contains major spoilers.2/5 starsLead cast: Kim Hye-ja, Son Suk-ku, Han Ji-min, Lee Jung-sunLatest Nielsen rating: 8.35 per centDeeply rooted in melodrama, Korean TV shows like to present broad worlds populated with a characters who, despite their apparent differences, will eventually discover a connection.Leave any two K-drama protagonists on screen together long enough, and chances are they will fall in love or realise that they are related to one another.

The 78th Cannes Film Festival had a bit of everything.Tom Cruise jetted into town for the final Mission: Impossible film. Robert De Niro received an honorary Palme d’Or and spoke out powerfully against the Trump regime. Denzel Washington got snappy with a photographer on the red carpet.But in a year where the stars really did turn out in force, the quality of the films was somewhat mixed, with nothing on the scale of Parasite or Anora that might make it all the way to the Oscars. Still, there was plenty to feast on.These are 10 of the best movies seen at the Cannes festival this year.1. Young MothersSome critics had suggested that the two-time Palme d’Or-winning Dardenne brothers were not the force they once were, with their recent films less convincing than their earlier ones.

You don’t often hear a Hong Kong dance production compared to a blockbuster film’s success on Oscars night, but that was how the Hong Kong Dance Alliance described a near clean sweep of its annual awards by Hong Kong Ballet’s The Butterfly Lovers.“This is astonishing – it feels like Oscars night in the year of Titanic,” said the awards’ co-chairman, and Post dance critic, Natasha Rogai.At the awards ceremony, held at the Fringe Club in Central district on May 19, The Butterfly Lovers won a record six awards: for best large venue production, best choreography, best set and costume design – won by Tim Yip, who earned an Oscar in 2001 for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon – best music for Tian Mi’s score, best female performance for Xuan Cheng, and best ensemble performance.Of the other honours ...

Lead cast: Park Bo-young, Park Jin-youngLatest Nielsen rating: 5.05 per centLooks can be deceiving, and Mi-ji and Mi-rae are counting on it. These are the twin sister protagonists of new Korean drama series Our Unwritten Seoul, both portrayed by Park Bo-young (Melo Movie).These twins are so identical that even their mother cannot tell them apart, but in many other respects they have grown into very different young women, each with their own problems and desires.When they were young, they would switch places if one of the sisters was better suited to a particular task. But when their mother caught them, she cut Mi-ji’s hair to tell them apart once and for all.

Dane Cheng Ting-yat, executive director of the Hong Kong Tourism Board, will step down in October when his contract ends after six years in the role, the Post has learned, while a global recruitment drive to find his successor has been launched.The board posted job advertisements on its website and professional networking platform LinkedIn on Monday to find Cheng’s successor.A source said Cheng would take a break after he finished his second three-year contract.The recruitment ad stated that candidates should have a deep understanding of the tourism industry, both locally and internationally, along with a proven track record of executive leadership in multinational organisations, including profit and loss responsibility.Candidates must have extensive experience in stakeholder engagement, h...

Legal hurdles remain a reason why a proposed regular mechanism on organ donation between Hong Kong and mainland China has yet to materialise since discussions started in 2022, according to a top health official from the country.Wang Haibo, director of the China Organ Transplant Response System (COTRS), told the Post on the sidelines of the Hospital Authority Convention on Tuesday that it would take time to revise laws on the mainland to spur the establishment of the mechanism.“There is a legal hurdle for that,” Wang said. “We have the HIV regulation. We ban [the transfer of] organs across the border.”“Organ, blood and tissue … cannot [be transferred] across the border.”COTRS is a national system which allocates organs for transplants throughout the country.Wang said that the specific law t...

Wellington, long celebrated as New Zealand’s most inclusive city, is witnessing a rise in anti-LGBTQ attacks, leaving many residents feeling unsafe – and some contemplating leaving altogether.The mother of a 19-year-old gay student, who moved to the country’s capital for university, told the Stuff news website that her son faced constant intimidation and was regularly subjected to homophobic slurs on the streets of Wellington.Paradoxically, Wellington was chosen for the son’s studies because of the homophobia he had faced in the small town he previously lived in.An aerial view of Wellington, New Zealand. Photo: AP“We thought it was the safest, most alternative and accepting city, but it’s not,” said the mum, as quoted by Stuff on Monday. “He’s scared walking out in public by himself in Wel...

Malaysia’s home minister has been hit by a wave of public ridicule after his WhatsApp account was hacked, raising questions over the country’s digital protections when its top security official has been targeted by cyber criminals.Mobile phishing scams are rampant in Malaysia, with citizens frequently harassed by calls from fraudsters posing as police, banks or courts to extort money under the guise of criminal probes.The account of Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, head of the Home Ministry – which oversees policing, immigration, border and prisons as well as citizenship registration and censorship of films and books – had been compromised by “irresponsible groups”, his ministry confirmed.It urged the public not to entertain any messages or calls from anyone purporting to be the minister.Saifudd...