How Operation Santa Claus grew from Christmas donations to ‘engine’ of change

South China Morning Post - Oct 24, 2026

Over nearly four decades, Operation Santa Claus (OSC) has grown from a quirky holiday fundraiser into an “engine” for community change in Hong Kong. For some beneficiaries, the journey was a full circle. Rachel Chow Chiu-yan learned about the fundraising drive in Young Post when she was a student, later pitched for funds on behalf of a group helping teenage girls and later joined the charity. “Ten to 20 years ago, Operation Santa Claus disbursed some funding to charities that saw it as seed...

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Spring comes earlier, autumn foliage later as climate change alters forests

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If you are planning a fall foliage trip this year, you may need to set off a little later than expected. The peak autumn foliage season is forecast to arrive later than usual. According to the Korea Forest Service, fall colors will spread gradually from the central to southern regions, starting with Mount Seorak on Oct. 20. Foliage is expected to reach its peak nationwide only in late October, with peak dates forecast for Oct. 28 at Mount Songni, Nov. 4 at Mount Naejang and Nov. 6 at Mount Halla. The average peak date for maples and oaks nationwide is expected to be Oct. 31, about 0.8 days later than the average peak date over the past five years. The delayed foliage season is not an isolated development this year. As temperatures rise, spring is arriving increasingly early while autumn is shifting later, a pattern that researchers have consistently observed in Korea's forests. The seasonal clock that we have long taken for granted is changing. A 2021 study by researchers at the Korea National Arboretum and Seoul National University’s Graduate School of Environmental Studies tracked 25

Birdwatching takes off among young Koreans

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As you stroll among the trees, you hear a rustle and stop to listen. You raise your binoculars and quietly scan the spot where the sound came from. After waiting patiently, you may finally catch a glimpse of something rarely encountered in everyday life: a small, precious bird. Birdwatching, or birding, is emerging as a new hobby among Korea’s millennials and Gen Z. Until recently, it was largely seen as a pastime for middle-aged and older people, requiring expensive equipment and specialized knowledge. But smartphones have made the activity accessible to almost anyone. With celebrities, including actress Kim Tae-ri, author Chung Se-rang and model Lee So-ra, sharing their interest in birdwatching, it has even gained a reputation as a trendy hobby. Taking off during COVID-19, with smartphones lowering the barrier to entry Content about birdwatching has recently proliferated on social media. On Instagram, posts tagged “birdwatching" number approximately 144,000, while those tagged “birdwatching records" and “birdwatching life” number around 17,000 and 14,000, respectively. A gro

N. Korea's Kim calls for 'strongest army' in speech for military meeting in Pyongyang

N. Korea's Kim calls for 'strongest army' in speech for military meeting in Pyongyang

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called for the regime's military to build the "strongest army" as he addressed a meeting of commanders in Pyongyang, the North's state media reported Saturday. Kim made the remarks as he supervised a meeting of company commanders on Oct. 22 and 23 in the North's capital, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Kim told the commanders that "the main spirit of the Third Meeting of Company Leaders of the Korean People's Army is to build the strongest army and accelerate the Korean-style military revolution by training the strongest companies," the KCNA reported. Kim also instructed company commanders to "firmly carry forward the true nature of our army as the army of the Party and the army of ideology and core elements." The meeting was the first gathering of the North's entire army after Pyongyang's Ninth Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea, the KCNA reported.

US Army activates air defense battalion in Guam amid N. Korean, Chinese missile threats: report

US Army activates air defense battalion in Guam amid N. Korean, Chinese missile threats: report

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Why Hong Kong should rethink premiums for private recreation clubs

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Hong Kong private secondary sector expands as local universities’ reputation grows

Hong Kong private secondary sector expands as local universities’ reputation grows

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Chinese FM meets UN high commissioner for refugees

Chinese FM meets UN high commissioner for refugees

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday met with UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Barham Salih, who is in China for the 2026 Global Governance Forum (Xiongan).

US-China strategic competition to keep escalating as world watches on, Rudd says

US-China strategic competition to keep escalating as world watches on, Rudd says

Kevin Rudd, president of the Asia Society and a former Australian prime minister, described US-China strategic competition as full-on and multidimensional at a Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics event on Friday. “There is a full-blown strategic competition under way in every dimension of national political power and influence, militarily, economically, trade and investment and technology, in foreign policy, in ideology,” said Rudd, a noted China scholar. “It’s across the world,...

US, allies and China vie for influence through Pacific security deals

US, allies and China vie for influence through Pacific security deals

Strategic competition between China and the US and its allies is intensifying across the Pacific islands, with both sides pursuing a growing range of security agreements to expand their influence, according to an interactive mapping tool released this week by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington think tank. The tool details 56 security arrangements among 14 Pacific island countries and the US, Australia, New Zealand, mainland China and Taiwan in a bid to map...

What will China’s fifth plenum mean for the root-and-branch corruption drive?

What will China’s fifth plenum mean for the root-and-branch corruption drive?

Plenary sessions of the Central Committee, the upper echelon of China’s ruling Communist Party, are major events on the country’s political calendar. In the third part of this series, William Zheng and Alcott Wei examine how the fight against corruption is shaping the party’s future. When China’s political elites gather for a key conclave in Beijing later this month, the increasingly empty auditorium will speak loudly to the event’s theme – the ruling Communist Party’s strict self-discipline and...

Zelensky hopes Beijing can use ‘influence’ over Moscow to help stop Ukraine war

Zelensky hopes Beijing can use ‘influence’ over Moscow to help stop Ukraine war

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that Beijing has “influence” over Moscow it should use to stop the war in Ukraine, and that a proposed summit meeting of the US, Chinese and Russian leaders must not lead to the division of his war-torn country. Speaking virtually at an event hosted by Washington-based Hudson Institute think tank, Zelensky said he did not know what would be discussed at the potential meeting between US President Donald Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping and...

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