A Hong Kong court rejected a government bid Wednesday to suspend the processing of residency applications by foreign maids, after a key ruling last month paved the way for them to settle in the city.

Foreigners can apply to stay in Hong Kong after seven years of uninterrupted residency, gaining access to voting rights, benefits such as public housing and the right to live in the Chinese city without a work visa.

But until the landmark High Court ruling on September 30 in a case brought by Filipina domestic worker Evangeline Banao Vallejos, immigration laws had excluded the city’s 292,000 foreign maids from settling in the territory.

The High Court judged the law unconstitutional in a decision that has sharply divided opinion and prompted a government appeal.

Fearing the ruling would spark a flood of new applications, the government asked the court to allow it to suspend processing foreign maids’ residency claims, via a stay order, until the appeal was complete.

Government counsel David Pannick had argued that the “status quo should be maintained” pending the appeal, a date for which has not been set.

“Our concern is the general implication,” he said, adding that the government did not want to be held in contempt of court for not processing maids’ applications until the appeal.

Justice Johnson Lam rejected his arguments, saying foreign maids could take their cases to court if the immigration authorities refused to accept their applications.

Justice Secretary Wong Yan Lung told reporters after the hearing that the ruling did not “compel the government to process the applications” of anyone other than Vallejos.

“The judge, first of all, agreed with us that the judgment he made on September 30, including also any order that he made today in respect of the applicant, was only applicable to the applicant (Vallejos),” he said.

He said the judge also “indicated” that the government would not be in contempt of court if it continued to refuse to consider residency applications from foreign maids other than Vallejos, pending the outcome of the appeal.

“That is very significant. That was in fact the concern we had when we pursued the application,” he said.

Security Secretary Ambrose S.K. Lee said there had been “some increases” in the number of foreign maids applying for residency, from one a month before the September 30 ruling to 20 on Tuesday.

Despite the High Court decision, foreign maids — like other expats — must still fulfil other criteria before gaining residency, including proving they plan to make Hong Kong their permanent home.

The Vallejos case has prompted debate on equal treatment of foreign maids in Hong Kong, where they are entitled to better working conditions than in other parts of Asia.

They are guaranteed one day off a week, paid sick leave and a minimum wage of HK$3,740 ($480) a month, but rights groups say they still face general discrimination and a lack of legal protection.

A maid’s visa is tied to a specific employer, leaving her in a difficult situation if she wants to change jobs, activists say.

The ruling could have implications for other Asian economies that rely on cheap imported labour for cooking, cleaning and care of the young and elderly, allowing the local women to join the workforce. — AFP

Seventy-six people were injured when a Hong Kong ferry crashed into a mooring pillar on Friday, the city’s marine department said.

Of the injured, nine were in a serious condition and had to be air-lifted to hospital, Patrick Wong, a spokesman for Hong Kong’s Marine Department told AFP.

“At about 5am this morning, a 29-metre-long (95-foot) ferry carrying 140 passengers crashed into a concrete mooring facility by a typhoon shelter shortly after departing Cheung Chau,” Wong said.

“The boat did not sink, but some people were hurt.”

The collision caused “significant casualties onboard”, a government statement said.

The commuter ferry was carrying people from Cheung Chau, a small island off the city’s southern coast, to the main Hong Kong island.

Wong said an investigation into the accident had been launched, adding that visibility at the time was normal.

The cause of the accident was yet to be determined.

“We were all thrown out of our seats when the ferry crashed — people were bleeding all over, from the head, nose and lips,” a passenger told local broadcaster Cable News TV.

“It was very chaotic inside, none of the crew came to help us, we had to help ourselves,” another passenger told the station.

Last year, eight people died in Hong Kong when a vessel collided with a cargo boat in the South China Sea. — AFP

Hong Kong’s iconic cross-harbour swimming race made its return Sunday after a 33-year suspension forced by pollution and heavy traffic on the famous waterway.

The annual race, a tradition dating back to 1906 which in its heyday attracted hundreds of swimmers to the city’s famed Victoria Harbour, was halted in 1978 as water quality deteriorated.

The event was revived this year due to popular demand, with organisers insisting the water had improved.

A total of 1,000 swimmers took part in the 1.8 kilometre (1.1 mile) race amid a carnival atmosphere.

They dashed between Hong Kong island and the Kowloon peninsula on a bright autumn day, with the winning time for the course 20 minutes and 34 seconds.

“It’s a meaningful event. It brings back a lot of memories for old Hong Kong people,” said Ronnie Wong from the Hong Kong Amateur Swimming Association, a three-time champion of the race between 1967 and 1969.

“A lot of people have been asking me when we can hold the race again,” he said, adding that the association had to turn down nearly 500 applications as the field was capped.

Environmental groups had warned before the race that there were still high levels of harmful bacteria including E.coli in the famous harbour.

Some swimmers were worried about the water but others were convinced that as long as they did not swallow too much it would not be a problem.

“I’m not worried about the quality of the water because it’s more or less the same as swimming in the sea in other places,” said office worker Chung Soo-kheng.

But secondary school student Chu Kai-shing said: “I feel that the water is a little bit dirty, it should be improved. The water is a little bit smelly.”

Wong said that fluctuating water quality had improved in recent days in the eastern part of the harbour where the race is held, and that it was safe for the event to go ahead.

And he said the association was considering opening the race to foreigners from next year, after drawing a big field of entries from swimmers young and old, plus a smattering of expatriates.

“Once we open the entry to international participants, this will become a tourist attraction,” he said.

Other swimmers were concentrating less on pollution, and more on the majesty of their surroundings with towering skyscrapers on either shore and waters warm enough not to wear a wetsuit.

“It is very special to swim in the Victoria Harbour. I didn?t participate in the cross harbour competition last time 33 years ago, so this time I feel very happy,” said firefighter Li Chun-tung.

Pollution — air quality in particular — is a major issue in Hong Kong, and critics say that as well as posing a health threat to its seven million population, dirty air is also driving away talented professionals. — AFP

A Hong Kong design student whose sombre tribute to Steve Jobs became an overnight Internet sensation denied Tuesday that he had copied another artist’s work.

Jonathan Mak’s design, which featured the late Apple founder’s silhouette incorporated into the bite of a white Apple logo on a black background, went viral online after Jobs died at the age of 56 last week.

But the 19-year-old student has been forced to fend off allegations of plagiarism after web users pointed out that a similar logo was first created by a UK-based designer, known as Raid71 online.

“I did my best to ensure that the idea hadn’t been done before by searching for terms such as ‘Apple, Steve Jobs, logo, silhouette’ before I came out with the design,” the second-year student told AFP.

He said he was not aware of Raid71’s work until he was told by readers of his blog.

“I don’t dispute he came out with the design before me, but we arrived at the same design independently,” he said.

The two logo-tributes have different dimensions and the UK designer used a black Apple logo instead of a white one.

Mak was inundated with tens of thousands of emails, blog comments and job offers after he published his design on the web. — AFP

Apple threw open the doors to its first store in Hong Kong, its latest push to tap the booming China market, as shoppers were greeted with boisterous chanting and high-fives from staff.

The minimalist store spread over two floors in one of Hong Kong’s most upmarket shopping malls is Apple’s sixth outlet in China, launching just a day after the doors opened on another new branch in Shanghai.

Apple’s second quarter revenue in greater China — which includes Hong Kong and Taiwan — reached $3.8 billion, a six-fold rise on the same period a year earlier, making the region a key driver of the company’s record results.

Die-hard fans in China, which has the world’s largest online population with 485 million users, have been known to line up for days to get their hands on the latest Apple products.

A queue of more than a thousand people snaked along an overpass near Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour, with some people waiting from Friday afternoon to be among the first inside on Saturday.

Employees handing out free t-shirts chanted “Apple, Apple” and high-fived shoppers as they made their way up a spiral staircase set against a window showcasing the city’s skyline.

“We’ve waited a long time for Apple to come to Hong Kong,” postal worker Tony Cho, 24, told AFP as he checked out a sleek MacBook Air laptop.

“It’s a very exciting atmosphere.”

Previously, Apple products were available in Hong Kong through registered dealers and online, but the opening Saturday marked the first branded Apple store in the southern Chinese territory.

Trish Peck was among those who waited eagerly to take a peek at the shopping-mad city’s newest retail phenomenon.

“Hong Kong really knows how to tap the consumer slant,” she said.

“We haven’t quite hit the China consumer level yet. For us, it’s about education (for the kids)… but there is a certain cachet with the brand.”

China’s craze for all things Apple has led to widespread cloning of iPhones and iPads, and in July an American blogger uncovered fake Apple stores in the southwestern city of Kunming.

The shop was so convincing even the staff — who wore Apple’s trademark blue T-shirts with name badges around their necks — thought they worked for the company.

Two other rip-off Apple shops were nearby, one of them sporting a sign reading “Apple Stoer”. — AFP