The South China Morning Post Co-Presents the 2022 Asia Sustainability Conference With Cyberport Hong Kong

Hong Kong, (10 August 2022) – The Asia Sustainability Conference returns this year as a hybrid conference co-presented by the South China Morning Post and Cyberport Hong Kong, taking place on August 16th and 17th, with in-person and virtual participation from speakers and audience members alike.

The conference counts amongst its stellar lineup of speakers Mr Joseph H. L. Chan, JP Under Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury from the Government of Hong Kong SAR,  Dr. The Hon. Lam Ching-Choi, SBS, JP. Chairman, Council for Sustainable Development Dr. Katinka Weinberger, Chief of Environment and Development Policy Section (EDPS) UNESCAP, Mr. Albert Oung, Executive Council Member & Green Economy Task Force Chair, UNESCAP Sustainability Business Network, Mr. Terence Chow, Head, RBC Wealth Management, Asia, Mr. Peter Yan, CEO of the Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited and Ms. Catherine So, CEO of the South China Morning Post

A full list of the 55 conference’s speakers can be accessed here.

Bringing together business leaders, sustainability practitioners, and policymakers from Hong Kong and across the APAC region to deliberate on key issues, growth opportunities, and urgent priorities in sustainability technology and investing for good, the Asia Sustainability Conference offers premier thought leadership content under the overarching theme of From Principles to Practices: Sustainable Actions for Future Generations, such as:

  • How can Asian investors dive into the blue economy?
  • How corporate can partner with start-ups to steer sustainability forward
  • Can foodtech and agritech put an end to world hunger as global food insecurity worsens?
  • How will Asia’s smart cities manage the environmental impact, urban resilience and financing in the new normal?

The full agenda can be accessed here.

The conference will be emceed by Desmond So, an international television presenter and emcee based in Hong Kong. He is the longest-serving front man of television market leader TVB’s lifestyle and luxury-living show Dolce Vita. Previously, he was also host of a movie- based, entertainment news program on STAR Movies. His programs have reached millions of viewers in Greater China, Southeast Asia, and beyond. Desmond’s corporate experience includes being a private banker at Citi Private Bank and a consultant at CBRE, the world’s largest real estate company.

The Asia Sustainability Conference is supported by Female Entrepreneurs Worldwide, the Hong Kong Green Finance Association, as well as the World Green Organisation, with RBC Wealth Management as the conference’s platinum sponsor and the Chinese University of Hong Kong as the knowledge partner.

ABOUT THE SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST  

The South China Morning Post is a leading global news company that has reported on China and Asia for more than a century. Founded in 1903, SCMP is headquartered in Hong Kong, where it is the city’s newspaper of record, with a growing correspondent staff across Asia and the United States. SCMP’s vision is to “Elevate Thought” and our mission is to “Lead the global conversation about China”. It is the recipient of hundreds of awards for its journalistic excellence, from such prestigious organisations as the World Association of News Publishers and the Online News Association. A digital-first media organisation, SCMP is also home to Goldthread, a content platform with a focus on food, travel and culture in China, and publishes a portfolio of premium lifestyle and fashion titles in Hong Kong including Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Esquire and Harper’s BAZAAR. In 2020, SCMP became the first news organisation in Asia to join the Trust Project, a consortium of top news companies developing global transparency standards for credible journalism.

For further information, please contact:  

pr@scmp.com

SCMP Appoints Catherine So as New CEO

Hong Kong (15 June) – The South China Morning Post, a leading global news company that has reported on China and Asia for more than a century, announced today the appointment of Catherine So as its next Chief Executive Officer, succeeding Gary Liu effective 15 July. As previously announced, Liu will transition into a new role to oversee the development of Artifact Labs, a new blockchain and NFT company created by SCMP.

So’s appointment marks a new chapter for the Post which will benefit from her extensive media and technology leadership experience, strong track record for corporate transformation and innovation, and success in growing consumer-focused companies. Her background in digitalisation, audience development, and content commercialization make her an ideal leader to oversee SCMP’s next stage of audience and subscriber growth. 

“We are thrilled to have Catherine as our next CEO. She brings exceptional leadership acumen to the company, and she will drive continued business growth with a deep focus on editorial excellence and user experience,” said Joe Tsai, Chairman of the SCMP Board of Directors. 

“We also thank Gary for his dedication and contributions over five-and-a-half years as CEO. He has created a lasting legacy by transforming the Post digitally and culturally, and has empowered the company to further innovate with purpose and passion.”

So joins SCMP from Expedia Group where she was Managing Director of Asia Pacific overseeing its consumer brands in all APAC markets. She was Managing Director of Groupon Hong Kong, and has previously held leadership positions at iProperty Group (now REA Group), Tom Group, News Corporation, and AOL Time Warner. 

Said So, “I am honoured to take on this position and thrilled to lead the South China Morning Post. The need for quality journalism has never been higher in today’s complex and polarised world. As a trusted news media company in Hong Kong and around the world, the Post is well-positioned to shape the global dialogue on Greater China and Asia.” 

“Building on SCMP’s world-class editorial, I will focus on strengthening business fundamentals: growing our global readership base, and expanding commercial opportunities, through both product and technological innovations. I look forward to leading and working with the team to achieve the next phase of transformation and growth at SCMP.”

Said Liu, “SCMP is in great hands with Catherine as our next CEO. The Post will benefit from her deep digital and commercial expertise and her leadership experience. I look forward to SCMP’s continued growth under Catherine’s stewardship.”

 

ABOUT THE SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST  

The South China Morning Post is a leading global news company that has reported on China and Asia for more than a century. Founded in 1903, SCMP is headquartered in Hong Kong, where it is the city’s newspaper of record, with a growing correspondent staff across Asia and the United States. SCMP’s vision is to “Elevate Thought” and our mission is to “Lead the global conversation about China”. It is the recipient of hundreds of awards for its journalistic excellence, from such prestigious organisations as the World Association of News Publishers and the Online News Association. A digital-first media organisation, SCMP is also home to Goldthread, a content platform with a focus on food, travel and culture in China, and publishes a portfolio of premium lifestyle and fashion titles in Hong Kong including Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Esquire and Harper’s BAZAAR. In 2020, SCMP became the first news organisation in Asia to join the Trust Project, a consortium of top news companies developing global transparency standards for credible journalism.

For further information, please contact:  

pr@scmp.com

SCMP celebrates 10th edition of ‘100 Top Tables’ with three new award categories

HONG KONG, 31 March 2022 – The South China Morning Post (SCMP) announced today the launch of its tenth edition of 100 Top Tables, the definitive guide to the best fine dining restaurants in Hong Kong and Macau. 

100 Top Tables continues its annual tradition to recognise the top restaurants and leading chefs for their culinary excellence. As the fine dining guide reaches its tenth-year milestone, this edition has never been more important for the industry as it acknowledges the resilience, bravery and passion of food and beverage businesses who have weathered the storm despite the devastating consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

In an effort to reflect the changing landscape and priorities of diners and restaurateurs, this year’s edition added three new categories to recognise the best sustainable restaurant, wine list and bartender, in addition to the existing awards.

 The winners are:

  • Best Chef – Maxime Gilbert, Écriture
  • Best Service – Chaat
  • Best Ambience – Estro
  • Rising Star – Aven Lau, Bâtard
  • Pastry Chef – Rin Horiuchi, Tirpse
  • Sustainability Hero (NEW), Roganic
  • Best Wine List (NEW) – Amber
  • Best Bartender (NEW) – Lorenzo Antinori, Argo

SCMP CEO Gary Liu, said: “100 Top Tables highlights Hong Kong’s exceptional culinary culture with an annual guide, curated by our editorial panel for connoisseurs of fine cuisine and executive dinners. This 10th edition honours and celebrates Hong Kong’s  F&B industry, which raises international standards of excellence every year, despite the world’s ongoing challenges.

“Cuisine is a defining feature of Hong Kong’s heritage, and the diversity of culture and talent represented among this year’s winners showcases the city’s vibrant cosmopolitan atmosphere. We are especially proud of the resilience, adaptability and innovation shown by F&B enterprises, who truly exemplify the Hong Kong spirit.”

Winnie Chung, SCMP’s Editorial Director of Specialist Publications added, “Hong Kong’s vibrant dining scene is a stellar example of Hong Kong’s can-do spirit, versatility and passion. Despite a most difficult few years, Hong Kong food and beverage stalwarts have valiantly fought on through changing restrictions and market conditions to continue making Hong Kong one of the culinary capitals of the world. It is our privilege to honour their efforts and talent.” 

100 Top Tables offers readers with an impartial overview of each restaurant, including information on a restaurant’s cuisine and ambiance. The guide was thoughtfully edited, prioritising the overall dining experience as the primary selection criterion and organised by cuisine: Chinese, Western, French, Italian, Japanese, Steak and Grills, and East/West, along with a separate section for Macau.  

Similar to the past years, this year’s edition captures 100 Hong Kong and 20 Macau-based restaurants, alongside the return of ‘Top Ten bars’ for a second year, making it a much sought-after guide for executives seeking out the best in the city’s dining scene. 

100 Top Tables is available to print subscribers of the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong, and a VIP list of business owners, listed companies, professionals, entrepreneurs and C-suite readers. Display copies are also available at select hotel lounges and recreation clubs. Please click here for more information. 

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ABOUT SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST 

The South China Morning Post is a leading global news company that has reported on China and Asia for more than a century. Founded in 1903, SCMP is headquartered in Hong Kong, where it is the city’s newspaper of record, with a growing correspondent staff across Asia and the United States. SCMP’s vision is to “Elevate Thought” and our mission is to “Lead the global conversation about China”. It is the recipient of hundreds of awards for its journalistic excellence, from such prestigious organisations as the World Association of News Publishers and the Online News Association. A digital-first media organisation, SCMP is also home to Goldthread, a content platform with a focus on food, travel and culture in China, and publishes a portfolio of premium lifestyle and fashion titles in Hong Kong including Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Esquire and Harper’s BAZAAR. In 2020, SCMP became the first news organisation in Asia to join the Trust Project, a consortium of top news companies developing global transparency standards for credible journalism.

For more information, please contact: 

Jabe Lau

jabe.lau@scmp.com 

 

Factsheet: 100 Top Tables 2022 – A definitive guide to executive dining

Quote from Chef Aven Lau, the newly crowned ‘Rising Star’:

“I’m extremely honoured to be named ‘Rising Star’ by the SCMP. This is great motivation for me to strive to be better, everyday.” 

CHINESE

1. Above & Beyond

2. Ah Yat Harbour View Restaurant

3. China Tang

4. Cuisine Cuisine

5. Dong Lai Shun

6. Dynasty 

7. Forum Restaurant 

8.  Hoi King Heen

9. Hung Tong

10. Hutong

11. Imperial Treasure Fine Chinese Cuisine

12. Lung King Heen

13. Man Ho

14. Man Wah

15. Mián

16. Ming Court

17. Mott 32

18. One Harbour Road

19. Rùn

20. Shang Palace

21. Seventh Son Restaurant

22. Summer Palace

23.  T’ang Court

24. The Chairman

25. Tin Lung Heen

26. Wing

27. Xin Rong Ji

28. Yan Toh Heen

29. Yat Tung Heen

30. Ying Jee Club

31. Yong Fu

32. Yuè (Causeway Bay)

33. Yue (Tung Chung)

 

CONTEMPORARY

1. Andō

2. Aqua

3. Arcane

4. Aulis

5. Bo Innovation

6. Chaat

7. 181 at Fortnum & Mason

8. Haku

9. Hansik Goo

10. Hugo’s

11. Mono

12. New Punjab Club

13. Roganic Hong Kong

14. Sevva

15. Ta Vie

16. Takumi by Daisuke Mori

17. Tate Dining Room

18. The Verandah

19. Vea Restaurant

20. Whey

21. Whisk

 

FRENCH

1. Amber

2.  Arbor

3.Bâtard

4. Caprice

5. Écriture

6. Épure

7. Gaddi’s

8. L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon

9. L’Envol

10. Le Bec Fin

11. Odyssée

12. Restaurant Petrus

13. Tirpse

   

 

ITALIAN

1. 81/2 Otto e Mezzo Bombana

2. Angelini

3. Castellana Restaurant

4. Estro

5. Giacomo

6. Gradini Ristorante E Bar Italiano

7. Grissini

8. Nicholini’s

9. Octavium Italian Restaurant

10. Sabatini Ristorante Italiano

11. Theo Mistral by Theo Randall

12. Tosca di Angelo

 

JAPANESE

1. Ippoh Tempura Restaurant

2. Kushiro

3. Masa Hong Kong

4. Nadaman

5. Ryota Kappou Modern

6. Shikigiku Japanese Restaurant

7. Shikon by Yoshitake

8. Sushi Ikkon

9. Sushi Saito

10. Sushi Wadatsumi

11. Sushi Yonjugo

12. Sushiyoshi

13. Zuicho

   

 

STEAK AND GRILLS 

1. Alto Bar & Grill

2. Grand Hyatt Steakhouse

3. Harbourside Grill

4. Henry

5. Mandarin Grill + Bar

6. Morton’s The Steakhouse

7. Prohibition Grill house & Cocktail bar

8.Rex Wine & Grill

 

 

MACAU

1. 8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo Bombana

2. Alain Ducasse at Morpheus

3. Feng Wei Ju

4. Golden Flower

5. Imperial Court

6. Jade Dragon

7. Lai Heen

8. Mizumi

9. Pearl Dragon

10. Robuchon au Dôme

11. Sichuan Moon

12. The 8 Restaurant

13. The Kitchen

14. The Huaiyang Garden

15. The Manor

16. Vida Rica

17. Wing Lei

18. Yamazato Restaurant

19. Yí

20. Zi Yat Heen

 

 

TOP 10 BARS 

1. OO1

2. Argo

3. The Aubrey

4. Bar De Luxe

5. Caprice Bar

6. Coa

7. DarkSide

8. Mizunara: The Library

9. Penicillin

10. Quinary

   

SCMP brings Hong Kong Star Ferry Pier to life in the metaverse

Hong Kong, 8 March 2022 – The South China Morning Post announced today the public launch of its inaugural metaverse experience bringing the Hong Kong Star Ferry’s past and present to life as part of The Sandbox’s Alpha Season 2. 

The Post becomes the first media company and organisation in Hong Kong to launch its metaverse offering with The Sandbox. Members of the public can sign up for a unique and compelling interactive digital experience on the metaverse till March 30. 

In the metaverse, locations of historical interest can become universally accessible, and SCMP’s partnership with The Sandbox created a distinct virtual world where players can build, own, monetise, and explore. One of the unique metaverse experiences around the Star Ferry is the ability to teleport back in time to learn about the landmark’s colourful history by completing various quests along the way*.

Said SCMP CEO Gary Liu, “The metaverse is a digital world where real-world concepts of value and scarcity can provably exist. SCMP’s 118 years of reporting and extensive library of photographs gave us the opportunity to breathe new life into historical locations in the metaverse. This serves as a bridge to connect with a new generation of readers and digital natives and we look forward to working closely with our partners to continue serving our audience. 

“The South China Morning Post team is leading the way as a mainstream media into the Metaverse. Through their collaboration with a local metaverse builder studio – Index Game – they have produced a very compelling and culturally rich experience in The Sandbox Alpha Season 2 that will take players through history & time of Hong Kong Central Pier” said Sebastien Borget, COO & Co-Founder of The Sandbox.

SCMP’s collaboration with The Sandbox, a leading decentralised gaming virtual world owned by Animoca Brands, aims to create a unique experience focused on its home city of Hong Kong. 

Through this metaverse experience, participants will be able to relive iconic moments in the city from the 1980s and the present through SCMP’s contemporaneous reporting on the Hong Kong Star Ferry. They can also learn firsthand about the complexities of an international city at the crossroads of East and West.

To visit the Hong Kong Star Ferry Pier experience, go to The Sandbox website and sign up for a user account.

ABOUT SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST 

The South China Morning Post is a leading global news company that has reported on China and Asia for more than a century. Founded in 1903, SCMP is headquartered in Hong Kong, where it is the city’s newspaper of record, with a growing correspondent staff across Asia and the United States. SCMP’s vision is to “Elevate Thought” and our mission is to “Lead the global conversation about China”. It is the recipient of hundreds of awards for its journalistic excellence, from such prestigious organisations as the World Association of News Publishers and the Online News Association. A digital-first media organisation, SCMP is also home to Goldthread, a content platform with a focus on food, travel and culture in China, and publishes a portfolio of premium lifestyle and fashion titles in Hong Kong including Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Esquire and Harper’s BAZAAR. In 2020, SCMP became the first news organisation in Asia to join the Trust Project, a consortium of top news companies developing global transparency standards for credible journalism.

ABOUT THE SANDBOX ALPHA SEASON TWO

The Sandbox Alpha Season 2 will run during the month of March with the grand opening on March 3 at 3PM UTC. During this event, users will have the chance to explore a whopping 35+ experiences. This includes 18 upgraded experiences first seen in Season 1 that will showcase cool redesigns and epic quests for Season 2. Sandbox has added 5 new original experiences, 4 new Game Maker Fund-supported experiences, 3 new IP experiences, a new transportation HUB — plus some crazy Game Jam experiences. Furthermore, 100% of the experiences will be open to everyone this time! Users without a S2 Alpha Pass will also be able to play all 35+ experiences included in Alpha Season 2.

For further information, please contact: 

Stef Lo
stef.lo@scmp.com

Elgen Kua
elgen.kua@scmp.com 

 

FACTSHEET: About SCMP Hong Kong Star Ferry Pier on The Sandbox

Hong Kong owes its prosperity and status as one of the world’s great cities to its harbour. SCMP will bringing you onto the shores of Victoria Harbour and recreate Hong Kong’s historic Star Ferry Pier.

Star Ferry, one of Hong Kong’s oldest forms of transportation, dates back to 1888, and the Sandbox experience will feature a portal that will teleport players between present day and moments in the past in order to learn about the history of the ferry pier.

Players can run amongst the world’s most imposing skyline and interact with characters to understand the history of the city. Participants will be invited to complete various quests to appreciate the colorful history of this place, such as ‘talking’ to one of the Star Ferry’s longest-serving employees to learn how Victoria Harbour has changed over the years; taking a ride on the ferry, and exploring to take a closer look at its iconic double-ended design.

Please refer to this video for a tour of the Hong Kong Star Ferry Pier in the metaverse: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CWf8Z3SsXSFmheaMH2-SJw4GikHdPg2q/view?usp=sharing

Highlighted quests featured:

  • 00.20: Quest to rescue the cross-harbor swimming champion who was trapped in the middle of the harbour.
  • 00.44: Players teleport back to the 1980s to explore the Edinburgh Place Ferry Pier and Queen’s pier.
  • 01.00: Quest to help a stranger navigate their car amidst the taxi protest in the 80s
  • 01.23: Throughout the experience, players can unlock SCMP photos, articles, and infographics by completing the quests in the Hong Kong Star Ferry Pier experience.

Please click here for other visual assets.

SCMP ring in new lunar year with ‘Year of the Tiger: Same Routine, New Stripes’ online auction by political cartoonist Harry Harrison

HONG KONG, 14 February 2022 – The South China Morning Post (SCMP) announced today the release of ‘Year of the Tiger: Same Routine, New Stripes’, a limited series of illustrations by award winning political cartoonist Harry Harrison via an online auction starting on 24 February, 1100hrs (HKT).

The auction features a selection of six one-of-a-kind framed illustrations by Harrison, a longtime contributor to the Post. Regarded as one of Hong Kong’s top political cartoonists for over 20 years, his drawings perfectly depict all the foibles, quirks and contradictions of life in the city grappling with the Covid pandemic as the city heralds the Year of the Tiger in 2022. 

With the use of a pen and watercolours, Harrison not only captures the tone of the new normal after Covid, but also skillfully conveys a satirical take on the existential sentiment and cultural paradox of living in Hong Kong during the pandemic.

“The collection is largely inspired by observing how the covid pandemic reveals Hong Kong’s stripes as the city turns the page in 2022. The Year of the Tiger offers a fresh take on how we have been living under the pandemic and I hope the series brings some much-needed humour and levity to those who appreciate my cartoons,” said Harrison.

The six pieces, namely ‘Skin Deep’, ‘The Poisoned Chalice’, ‘The Covid Treadmill’, ‘The Negative Test’, ‘Hysteria’, and ‘No Exemption’, will be auctioned online at SCMP Shop on 24 February starting from 11:00am (HKT). The minimum starting bid for each piece is HK$2,022 with bid increments of HK$200. 

Harrison drew his first cover cartoon for the Post a week after the handover in 1997 and since 2001, his work appears every day in ‘Harry’s View’.  His art has delighted the Post’s daily readers for over two decades with its signature style and skillful comic rendering of current events.

Interested parties can visit here for more information. 

 

ABOUT SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST 

The South China Morning Post is a leading global news company that has reported on China and Asia for more than a century. Founded in 1903, SCMP is headquartered in Hong Kong, where it is the city’s newspaper of record, with a growing correspondent staff across Asia and the United States. SCMP’s vision is to “Elevate Thought” and our mission is to “Lead the global conversation about China”. It is the recipient of hundreds of awards for its journalistic excellence, from such prestigious organisations as the World Association of News Publishers and the Online News Association. A digital-first media organisation, SCMP is also home to Goldthread, a content platform with a focus on food, travel and culture in China, and publishes a portfolio of premium lifestyle and fashion titles in Hong Kong including Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Esquire and Harper’s BAZAAR. In 2020, SCMP became the first news organisation in Asia to join the Trust Project, a consortium of top news companies developing global transparency standards for credible journalism.

About Harry Harrison 

Harry Harrison was born in Britain in 1961, but is every bit a Hongkonger after 27 years here. He met the love of his life, Helena, while backpacking through the city in 1990. Four years later, the couple came back, settled down and had two children – Charlie and Lucy. It was also in Hong Kong where he found his calling as a political cartoonist for the Post. He drew his first cover cartoon for the Post a week after the handover in 1997 and since 2001, his work appears as the daily Harry’s View cartoon every day of the week. For more than two decades, his art has been a staple that Post readers have come to admire and appreciate, with its signature wry humour that entertains, informs and even educates. He has won many awards and his work has been widely published and recognised overseas, while he has also found fame as an illustrator of children’s books. 

For more information, please contact: 

Jabe Lau

jabe.lau@scmp.com 

 

Harper’s BAZAAR hosts inaugural ‘BAZAAR At Work Summit’ and presents the Visionary Women Awards in Hong Kong

22 November 2021 (HONG KONG) ​Harper’s BAZAAR hosted Asia’s inaugural ‘BAZAAR At Work Summit’ today, bringing together inspiring female leaders for empowering talks, thought-provoking panel discussions and unmissable networking opportunities. 

Themed “Connecting Visionary Women”, the interactive summit provides a platform for thought leaders and puts the spotlight on the myriad achievements of female trailblazers and pioneers in Hong Kong. Over the past two years, Harper’s BAZAAR has put the spotlight on female leaders in the city through the BAZAAR At Work initiative. “Our interviews with female leaders in Hong Kong have left us inspired and encouraged by the achievements in their respective fields. We are honored to host this in-person event to celebrate their stories and insights”, said Ms. Sophia Yu, Publisher of Harper’s BAZAAR Hong Kong and Chairperson of the ‘BAZAAR At Work Summit’

The half-day summit, held at Rosewood Hong Kong, enjoyed a 200-strong audience who were inspired by topics covering women’s roles in STEM, entrepreneurial spirit, career development and the arts in work and business. Attendees were inspired by stories of reinvention and insights from thought leaders such as Ms. Cindy Chow, Executive Director of Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund, Ms. Zuraidah Ibrahim, Executive Managing Editor, and Ms. Winnie Chung, Editorial Director of Specialist Publications, of the South China Morning Post, Mr. Xaven Mak, Editor-in-Chief of Harper’s BAZAAR, Ms. Anais Mak, Creative Director & Founder of ANAÏS JOURDEN and Ms. Sarah Tong, Co-founder of Big Bang Academy.

During the event, Harper’s BAZAAR Hong Kong also presented the Visionary Women Awards, which aim to recognize and honor high-achieving, outstanding female leaders with impactful visions in different fields. The awardees, who also spoke at ‘BAZAAR At Work Summit’ are role-models who connect, empower and inspire the next generation of women leaders. The seven awardees are Ms. Winnie Chiu, President and Executive Director of Dorsett Hospitality International, Ms. Norma Chu, Founder of DayDayCook, Professor Ava Kwong, Chief of breast surgery at the University of Hong Kong, Ms. Rany Lai, CEO of McDonald’s Hong Kong, Ms. Vicky Lau, Chef Owner of Tate Dining Room, Dr Cathy Lui, CEO of OPER Technology and Ms. Betty Ng, Founder of COLLECTIVE. 

About Harper’s BAZAAR Hong Kong

Part of the South China Morning Post Group, Harper’s BAZAAR Hong Kong started in 1988 as a print magazine that offers luxurious lifestyle content for sophisticated women. Since then, Harper’s BAZAAR Hong Kong has expanded its digital content offerings, reaching more than 1 million audiences on a monthly basis. Harper’s BAZAAR Hong Kong has produced new initiatives  such as “BAZAAR At Work” and “BAZAAR Museum” aimed at broadening offerings that cater to the changing needs of modern Hong Kong women.

For further information, please contact:

Stef Lo

stef.lo@scmp.com

SCMP to release historical news archives as NFTs on Flow

Hong Kong, 23 November 2021 – The South China Morning Post released its full whitepaper today on the ARTIFACT NFT metadata standard for tokenising history, as well as announcing the Post’s inaugural NFT collection on Flow, drawn from its 118-year-old media archives, called ‘ARTIFACTs by SCMP’

ARTIFACT’s metadata structure will be built on the Flow blockchain originally created by Dapper Labs, the company behind NBA Top Shot video collectibles and the partner of choice for world-renowned digital collectibles and consumer-facing decentralised applications. Flow’s reliability, scalability, speed, and high quality UX are essential factors for establishing ARTIFACT’s global NFT marketplace and ecosystem.

The whitepaper previews the visual design and rarity levels of the new NFT collection ‘ARTIFACTs by SCMP’ that will feature the first use case of the ARTIFACT standard. Conceptually, the launch will come in the form of ‘Base Series’ and ‘Thematic Drops’, released in boxes. This will include the inaugural ‘1997 Series’ that showcases significant historical events from that year, containing a randomised bundle of ARTIFACTs presented as collectible cards (images here).

“We are delighted to join the Flow ecosystem and partner with a major global blockchain innovator in Dapper Labs. This partnership is essential for creating world-class NFT experiences of our historical archives. Through our ARTIFACT whitepaper, we look forward to inspiring other ‘guardians of history’ to share our vision of making history more discoverable, connected, and collectable,” said Gary Liu, SCMP’s CEO.

“SCMP’s innovative approach to transform its ledgers of historical journalism with blockchain technology has all the markings of being a game-changer. We’re proud for SCMP to launch this visionary project that reanimates meaningful historical moments and we’re excited they have chosen Flow to be the foundation of ARTIFACT’s launch protocol,” said Mickey Maher, SVP, Partnerships, Dapper Labs.

The ARTIFACT whitepaper comprehensively outlines a proposed governance structure and the development of a dedicated marketplace. A global council of cross-disciplinary experts will co-develop ARTIFACT’s metadata structure which imbues NFTs with the comprehensive context and provenance needed to establish historical significance and value, and raises their discoverability, connectivity, and collectibility. The project will be governed by a non-profit foundation and solicit participation from museums, archives, universities, publishers, art galleries, and other institutions. A marketplace will be developed specifically for the minting, sale and trade of ARTIFACTs to serve the global community of historical NFT issuers and collectors.

Details on ARTIFACT’s governance, marketplace and technology are available in the full whitepaper here. More details on the launch of ‘ARTIFACTs by SCMP’ will be announced soon.

ABOUT SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST

The South China Morning Post is a leading global news company that has reported on China and Asia for more than a century. Founded in 1903, SCMP is headquartered in Hong Kong, where it is the city’s newspaper of record, with a growing correspondent staff across Asia and the United States. SCMP’s vision is to “Elevate Thought” and our mission is to “Lead the global conversation about China”. It is the recipient of hundreds of awards for its journalistic excellence, from such prestigious organisations as the World Association of News Publishers and the Online News Association. A digital-first media organisation, SCMP is also home to Goldthread, a content platform with a focus on food, travel and culture in China, and publishes a portfolio of premium lifestyle and fashion titles in Hong Kong including Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Esquire and Harper’s BAZAAR. In 2020, SCMP became the first news organisation in Asia to join the Trust Project, a consortium of top news companies developing global transparency standards for credible journalism.

About Flow

Flow is a fast, decentralized, developer-friendly, next-gen blockchain chosen for its combination of scalability and usability, and its commitment to excellence, longevity and empowering communities. Flow is the only layer-one blockchain originally created by a team that has consistently delivered great consumer blockchain experiences including CryptoKitties, Dapper Wallet and NBA Top Shot. 

Flow boasts a rich ecosystem of top entertainment brands, development studios, and venture-backed startups. Flow ecosystem partners include global IP brands like Warner Music, Ubisoft, NBA and UFC; e-commerce leaders Shopify, leading game developers, including Animoca Brands, Sumo Digital and nWay; and many leaders in the crypto space such as Circle and Binance. For more on Flow, visit https://www.flow.com/.  

For further information, please contact:

Stef Lo

stef.lo@scmp.com

Operation‌ ‌Santa‌ ‌Claus‌ ‌2021‌ ‌Launches‌ ‌“Performing‌ ‌Arts”‌ ‌Theme‌ ‌and‌ ‌announces‌ ‌fundraising‌ ‌campaign‌ ‌for‌ ‌18‌ ‌beneficiaries‌ ‌

Hong Kong, 3 November 2021 – The annual “Operation Santa Claus” (OSC) campaign, jointly organised by Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) and South China Morning Post (SCMP), kicked off today (November 3) at Broadcast Drive announcing 18 beneficiaries for this year’s fundraising drive, and a performing arts initiative aimed at engaging and revitalising disadvantaged communities in Hong Kong.  

The Financial Secretary Paul CHAN Mo-po, Director of Broadcasting Patrick LI Pak-chuen, the South China Morning Post’s CEO Gary LIU and the composer of the OSC theme song Harry NG graced the ceremony.  They were joined by OSC 2021 ambassadors, award-winning actress Crisel CONSUNJI, singer and actress Kandy WONG and artiste Pakho CHAU, who will be supporting the fundraising campaign for his third consecutive year.  Other guests included representatives from beneficiaries and donors. 

In line with this year’s ‘performing arts’ theme, the ceremony featured performances by WONG, who sang the OSC theme song “Caring Christmas” and CONSUNJI who performed two classical songs “Colours of the Wind” and “Don’t Rain on My Parade”.   The young Australian guitar duo, Saxon and Jarvis Whittaker, also surprised guests with a rendition of “Hungarian Rhapsody”.

Eighteen charities were selected as the beneficiaries for this year’s fundraising drive, including NGOs and causes serving children and youths, the elderly and individuals with physical and mental disabilities.  As part of this year’s campaign, five local artists have minted NFTs to raise funds for OSC 2021.  These new works by a diverse range of creators demonstrate the artistic energy and will be auctioned on crypto art marketplace.  To encourage active participation from supporting groups, the most outstanding supporters of the OSC will be recognised at the end of the campaign with special awards for categories including “Top Corporate Fundraiser”, “Top School Fundraiser”, “Most Creative Fundraiser”, and “Most Creative School”.  The award list will be announced during the closing ceremony of OSC in January 2022.

The ceremony was hosted by RTHK R3 DJ Alyson HAU and was broadcast live on the RTHK Radio 3 YouTube Channel (youtube.com/c/Radio3RTHK3) and ”Operation Santa Claus HK 愛心聖誕大行動” Facebook page (facebook.com/opsantahk/).  For more information about the OSC campaign, please visit the OSC website (oschk.org) as well as “Operation Santa Claus HK 愛心聖誕大行動” Facebook page.

About Operation Santa Claus

Operation Santa Claus (OSC) is an annual charity campaign jointly run by RTHK and SCMP. Established in 1988, OSC aims to make a difference to the community and beyond by combining the fundraising power of two of the city’s most respected media organisations. Mainly during the months of November and December every year, the public, various non-profit making organisations, commercials and educational sectors in Hong Kong demonstrate their compassion by organising creative fundraising initiatives for specially selected deserving causes.

ABOUT SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST

The South China Morning Post is a leading global news company that has reported on China and Asia for more than a century. Founded in 1903, SCMP is headquartered in Hong Kong, where it is the city’s newspaper of record, with a growing correspondent staff across Asia and the United States. SCMP’s vision is to “Elevate Thought” and our mission is to “Lead the global conversation about China”. It is the recipient of hundreds of awards for its journalistic excellence, from such prestigious organisations as the World Association of News Publishers and the Online News Association. A digital-first media organisation, SCMP is also home to Goldthread, a content platform with a focus on food, travel and culture in China, and publishes a portfolio of premium lifestyle and fashion titles in Hong Kong including Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Esquire and Harper’s BAZAAR. In 2020, SCMP became the first news organisation in Asia to join the Trust Project, a consortium of top news companies developing global transparency standards for credible journalism.

For further information, please contact:

Stef Lo

stef.lo@scmp.com

SCMP Appoints David Wightman as Global Head of Advertising

Hong Kong, 26 October 2021The South China Morning Post today announced the appointment of David Wightman to the newly created role of Global Head of Advertising. 

The senior-level appointment signals the continued growth of SCMP as a globally recognised and trusted partner to brand advertisers, powered by adtech innovation and data-driven advertising effectiveness.

Wightman will spearhead the on-going growth and international expansion of SCMP’s global advertising business. He will lead a department spanning Hong Kong, mainland China, Asia, USA and Europe, and oversee global media sales, marketing and creative solutions, branded content, events, custom publishing, advertising technology, and sales operations.

“We are delighted to add a leader of David’s global expertise and reputation, and look forward to broadening our business reach and international relevance with his strategic, operational and commercial experience,” said Gary Liu, CEO of SCMP. “His C-suite exposure across the EMEA and APAC markets will greatly benefit SCMP’s growing portfolio of international clients.”

David has more than two decades of industry experience, gained at the intersection of media, data and technology. He has previously built and led local and international sales and operations teams within digital and traditional media companies.

Before joining SCMP, Wightman was based in London as the Group Director of Business Operations for Ebiquity, the world leader in media investment analysis. Prior to this, he was the Managing Director of [M]Platform, where he launched and scaled the regional programmatic, data and technology division of GroupM Asia Pacific. 

As the Chief Operating Officer of GiveMeSport, he overhauled the editorial and content marketing approach, increasing readership, revenues and investment. Earlier in his career, Wightman held senior commercial leadership roles at media organisations, including Geeknet, CBS Interactive, Yahoo!, and Mirror Group Newspapers. 

“I am energised and enthused to be joining SCMP,” said Wightman. “The award-winning history of the brand, coupled with an innovative approach to how we harness data and technology, offers an unprecedented opportunity. I believe the future is very exciting for our company, our advertising partners and our audiences.”

ABOUT SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST

The South China Morning Post is a leading global news company that has reported on China and Asia for more than a century. Founded in 1903, SCMP is headquartered in Hong Kong, where it is the city’s newspaper of record, with a growing correspondent staff across Asia and the United States. SCMP’s vision is to “Elevate Thought” and our mission is to “Lead the global conversation about China”. It is the recipient of hundreds of awards for its journalistic excellence, from such prestigious organisations as the World Association of News Publishers and the Online News Association. A digital-first media organisation, SCMP is also home to Goldthread, a content platform with a focus on food, travel and culture in China, and publishes a portfolio of premium lifestyle and fashion titles in Hong Kong including Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Esquire and Harper’s BAZAAR. In 2020, SCMP became the first news organisation in Asia to join the Trust Project, a consortium of top news companies developing global transparency standards for credible journalism.

 

For further information, please contact:

Stef Lo

stef.lo@scmp.com

South China Morning Post launches SIGNAL 2.0 to deliver greater personalisation, measurement and optimisation

Hong Kong (October 6  2021) – The South China Morning Post launched the next version of its successful award-winning brand suitability tool SIGNAL 2.0, bolstered with a suite of new functions to help drive optimisation for advertisers and brands. 

Marketing effectiveness and driving impact is essential to marketers. To meet this demand, SCMP Advertising built a proprietary insight and activation technology platform that ensures true performance measurement and enhancement at no extra cost, while aligning with supply path optimization goals and ensuring more media investment is put to work.

SCMP’s SIGNAL has its own viewability and time-in-view measurement for all campaigns and this data has been integrated for optimization and reporting to ensure the Post can deliver quality engagement and post-click action.  This means advertisers can increase their brand familiarity by up to 55% and ad recall by up to 79% with the platform engines’ ability to target ad placements with exposure time beyond five seconds.

Extensive reports and research have shown that one-third of advertising dollars is spent on tech tax, or percentage-wise almost 50% of advertising spend. With the understanding that marketers want to ensure their advertising commitment avoids all possible malicious and fake inventory, SCMP SIGNALensures the immediate identification and exclusion of  spiders &  bot traffic that minimises advertising fraud to help drive effective advertising spend. 

Data collected by the new version of SIGNAL can help brands optimise their activation by making format, content, sentiment recommendations before a campaign goes live by looking at Ad log data from the brand’s  past campaigns as well as aggregated cohort data. Brand Lift studies for all scaled display campaigns have also been introduced to help brands demonstrate the effectiveness of their branding campaigns and measure, awareness, consideration and intent, amongst other insights. 

Ian Hocking, Vice President of Digital said: “This advancement of our proprietary technology clearly demonstrates the value of working directly with a publisher as brands can now reduce their tech costs whilst also driving their overall performance.” 

Timmy Bankole, Associate Director  of Operations said: “SCMP continues to invest in its own advertising technology tools to ensure the best possible result for our advertisers, while ensuring we can continue to provide effective solutions independent of changes to the identity and data privacy marketplace. We also remain committed to transparency and third-party measurement so that brands may measure the uplift for themselves.” 

SCMP SIGNAL 2.0 Factsheet – Activation Optimisation

SCMP’s new version of SIGNAL is essentially one product, with three key features: 

  1.     Brand Suitability 
    • Brand safety 
    • Contextual suitability 
    • Ad Fraud detection – NEW
  2.   Personalisation – NEW 
  3.   Measurement – NEW
    • Viewability 
    • Brand Lift 

SCMP SIGNAL was built in May 2020 and was the first publisher-built brand suitability platform designed to: 

  • Keep brands safe whilst on SCMP across all platforms from the first impression. 

Built into our CMS, SIGNAL scores content as it’s written, so you’re safe the moment an article is published.

  • Determine the true nature of the article utilising our Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) based A.I. through reading article keywords, context and sentiment.
  • Improve your performance by an average of 40% across an average campaign by actively finding content and context that works for you. 
  • Increase your reach of key audiences by an average of 25%. Using SIGNALs improved analytics, we can whitelist more content. 

Understand more about our audiences. SIGNAL data is added to our central customer data platform (CDP) 1PlusX and appended to their unique I.D. This data includes: 

  •       Contextual content consumption. 
  •       Behavioural interest/intent. 
  •       Observed sentiment preference. 
  •       Reading level – Generalist, advanced or expert. 

Since its launch last year, Signal has gained global recognition, winning Campaign Asia-Pacific’s Tech Most Valuable Product Award (2021) and claiming second place at the INMA Global Awards for the ‘Best Use Of Data to Drive Advertising’.

ABOUT SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST

The South China Morning Post is a leading global news company that has reported on China and Asia for more than a century. Founded in 1903, SCMP is headquartered in Hong Kong, where it is the city’s newspaper of record, with a growing correspondent staff across Asia and the United States. SCMP’s vision is to “Elevate Thought” and our mission is to “Lead the global conversation about China”. Additionally, SCMP publishes a portfolio of premium lifestyle and fashion titles in Hong Kong including Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Esquire and Harper’s BAZAAR. SCMP is also home to Goldthread, a content platform with a focus on food, travel and culture in China. In 2020, SCMP became the first news organisation in Asia to join the Trust Project, a consortium of top news companies developing global transparency standards for credible journalism. 

ABOUT SCMP ADVERTISING 

SCMP Advertising’s mission is to help partners make an impact on readers who want to understand global issues from an Asian perspective. Our principal focus is to deliver effective and efficient marketing solutions that engage and activate the right audiences through a comprehensive portfolio of integrated offerings – including SCMP Lighthouse, the first Asia publisher built first-party-data platform that offers marketers unparalleled consumer insights to drive efficiencies by enhancing audience targeting, and SCMP Signal, a proprietary brand suitability tool that offers marketers with customisable contextual, keyword & sentiment targeting options. The award-winning studio Morning Studio offers clients with successful bespoke brand-storytelling solutions. Visit advertising.scmp.com for more information.

For more information, please contact:

Stef Lo

Stef.Lo@scmp.com