Hong Kong film director Hou Hsiao-hsien won the award for best director at the Asian Film Awards on Sunday for his film “Overheard 3”. The award is a coveted prize in the film industry and is one of the most prestigious prizes in Asia. Hou’s film also won the top award at the Golden Horse Film Festival. In addition, actress Zhao Wei won the best actress award for her performance in the Chinese-Hong Kong film. The ceremony was held at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre in Wan Chai.
The South China Morning Post has won 12 prizes at the Newspaper Society of Hong Kong News Awards 2024, including the top prize for the Best Scoop category. Senior reporter Edith Lin and news editor Jeffie Lam of the City desk secured first place in the Best Scoop category for their reporting on the controversy involving unauthorised structures being added to luxury properties.
The 25th Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon will see record levels of prize money this year, with a total of over HK$100 million for the four Group One races and other races. Title sponsor Standard Chartered has also introduced a special incentive award for permanent Hong Kong residents running the Marathon Challenge category, who will receive HK$10,000 if they cross the finish line under three hours (sub 3) for men or under three hours 30 minutes (sub 3:30) for women.
Despite a slowdown in the global economy, this year’s winner of the HSBC Hong Kong Open tennis tournament will still pick up a cheque for a little over HK$680,125. That’s a 2.8% increase over what Andrey Rublev received for winning the tournament last October.
In a similar vein, the winners of this year’s Hong Kong Arts Development Awards will get a share of HK$3 million in prize money for their work. The awards were announced on Friday by the Hong Kong Arts Council, the organiser of the annual event. The prize money is not meant to replace the government’s regular funding for the arts, which has been cut by 40% this year.
In the same spirit of supporting the local arts scene, the HSBC Hong Kong Art Prize is also now open for nominations. The HK$5 million prize will support a range of projects to promote the development of contemporary visual art in the territory. The prize will be awarded by a jury of leading international artists and curators in June.
The HK$88 million mark six Lunar New Year snowball draw is expected to attract the biggest crowd ever for a lottery drawing in Hong Kong, with nearly half of the total prize pool made up of cash prizes. If no winner is found for the first prize, the unused prize fund will be added to the jackpot, which can climb to about HK$100 million. The jackpot will be reset after each draw, and the winning numbers will be announced at 7 p.m. on February 2, according to a statement by the lottery operator.