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Hong Kong electric car push to benefit Ma Wan residents?

We have seen a number of recent announcements from the Government pushing e-cars (and also cleaner fuel ferries). For example: https://www.asiaone.com/asia/hong-kong-phase-out-fossil-fuel-cars-and-go-all-electric-minister-says https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3035165/hong-kong-phase-out-fossil-fuel-cars-and-go-all The reports all indicate plans for Hong Kong plans to phase out all fossil fuel vehicles over the next 10 to 20 years and switch to electric modes of commercial and public transport with a view to improving air quality, One commonly cited objection to those who are opposed to more residents owning cars on Ma Wan / Park Island is that residents want "clean air" and chose Park Island "to be away from pollution". Whilst I personally doubt that normal cars would add any significant noticeable "pollution" on Ma Wan, I do think that the idea of electric cars only for Ma Wan would be great. These cars are ...

Hong Kong property prices - back on the way up in 2019

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My last post on the Park Island blog was titled  Well that didn't take long . I was referring to the admirable community spirit of Ma Wan residents cleaning up after Hong Kong got hit my massive typhoon, but I could just as well have used that same title for the subject of today's topic, which is about the rapid recovery of the Hong Kong property market. Take a look at the graph of Park Island property prices for 2019: Park Island Price Graph 2019 Look at that massive spike that has taken place over the last few weeks. This price increase has been mirrored across the Hong Kong property market generally, but the upward trend for Park Island has been particularly sharp. Why? Well, at a general level, we have the US Fed reducing its outlook for rate rises in 2019. This is positive globally for assets (as assets are usually financed using debt, and if the cost of debt is lower then assets become more "affordable"). In Hong Kong this effect is even ...

Well that didn't take long...

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Check out how quickly Ma Wan got cleaned up after the typhoon. What a great sense of community Park Islanders have! It was really quite touching and inspiring to see so many pitch in and help out in restoring their homes after the typhoon.

Photos of Super-Typhoon Mangkhut in Hong Kong, Ma Wan

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The residents of Park Island, Ma Wan, endured incredibly powerful winds and heavy rain, and survived in style. Overall, the damage to apartments on Park Island was surprisingly minimal. The most common type of damage was due to water leaking in through windows or various air vents such as in the kitchen, or bathrooms, or via air conditioning units. This is a testimony to the solid and high quality construction quality of the Park Island apartments. The outdoor areas of Park Island suffered some damage, most of it rather nominal (although it looked pretty bad in the immediate aftermath. Palm trees stripped entirely of leaves, tree branches blown off. Here are a few pictures after the typhoon. Monster super typhoon Mangkhut Foliage on Park Island damaged by the typhoon Lucky this heavy structure didn't land on anyone Image the forced needed to rip out this tree Lots of rubbish blew onto our beautiful beach :( But it will be cleaned up soon. ...

The Tsing Ma Bridge disappears into the fog...

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Cool photo. Well done to whoever took the pic!

A few cool photos of the old village on Ma Wan

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To the amazing photographer, please let me know who you are so I can credit you! Its great that we can "capture" history before this area is re-developed...

Relaxing view on one of Ma Wan's beaches

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Not a bad place to hang our on a day off, with a nice cold beer, bottle of wine, and a picnic blanket :) I would add though, like all parts of HK, crap does wash up onto the beaches (especially plastic). This beach on Ma Wan, whilst not an officially Government sanctioned beach, is regularly cleaned up by local residents. Thank you for caring!!!