To continue with the focus on South Africa created by the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the South African Consulate-General proudly presents the very first South African Contemporary Art Exhibition 2011 in Hong Kong.

The theme of the photo exhibition includes lifestyle, people and wildlife, adventure and natural scenery, to present the richness of South Africa in different angles.

The groundbreaking event will also introduce the work of an emerging abstract artist Lee Chaldecott.

Oliver Kingston an emerging digital photographic artist has this to say:

“Photography has always held the allure of essence through images. The ability to communicate hidden meanings and subtext has previously been a form of subconscious prompting limited to film and literature. The birth of the digital photographic medium has now changed that in an exciting and beautiful new way”.

An excited Tembi Tambo, Consul-General of South African Consulate-General, Hong Kong/Macau added:

“Through this exhibition, we would like to exhibit the contemporary art and beautiful scenery of South Africa, to introduce South Africa in a different and more sophisticated way than people are traditionally used to. We hope that this first exhibition will be enjoyed by the Hong Kong community as we would like to do a bigger and more diverse event next year. “

South African Contemporary Art Exhibition

Date: 18 April to 1 May 2011

Time: Monday to Sunday ( 10 am – 10 pm)

Venue: The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts Atrium Painting Corner

If you’re interested in attending, or for more information, please the South African Consulate-General:

Eva Yan

Email: sacghgk1@netvigator.com

Tel: + (852) 2577 3279

While Howzit-HongKong.com was busy spending some quality time sipping Red Bull by the can-load at the first-ever Red Bull Flugtag in Asia, it seemed that it was South Africa-day over at the Sunday Morning Post.

No less than three stories made the Sunday newspapers today.

The Good…

First off, the Post ran the story about the retirement from public life of the former Arch-Bishop of Cape Town, Desmond Tutu.  The article referred to the cleric popularly know as “The Arch” as “South Africa’s voice of conscience.”

The other good…

Judging from the online responses to this story back home, some would describe it as “the bad.”

The Sunday Morning Post also reported on the story about the South African billionaire Robert Gumede who, together with his international arms-dealer business partners, bought a 49.9% stake in up-and-coming South African rugby franchise the Lions.

The ugly…

Finally, they just had to mention the story about Roland Schoeman, a top South African swimmer who referred to an Indian spectator at the Commonwealth Games as a “monkey.”

A storm-in-a-teacup if you ask me.

If you missed any of these stories, this is how the South African press reported on them:

Tutu retires (News24)

Lions Rugby shares (Times Live)

Race row at Commonwealth Games (Sport24)

Just over a year ago, Joseph Shabalala’s Ladysmith Black Mambazo made an appearance at the Shatin City Hall.

I remember the flurry of e-mails circulating among the South African community trying to rally a group to attend the concert.

Well, it seems that Hong Kongers liked what they saw in Shatin and the article in Tuesday’s The Standard certainly attest to the fact.

This is how we posted on the Group’s Hong Kong appearance back in May 2009.

Here is a scan of The Standard’s story:

(click for larger view)

A former Matie, Lizette Smook is an executive member of the South Africa Women’s Chamber of Commerce (Hong Kong) and was featured in last Sunday’s Sunday Morning Post Magazine, a local English daily newspaper.

In 2008 a group of Hong Kong-based South African business women met to discuss ways of supporting the entrepreneurial spirit of young people and women in business and how to build a cultural bridge between South Africa and China.  Smook was instrumental in this gettogether and the outcome was the formation of the South Africa Women’s Chamber of Commerce (Hong Kong).

Lizette Smook is also the founder and CEO of Innovasians, a development and manufacturing company located in Hong Kong since 2007.

This is what the Sunday Morning Post Magazine had to say:

Who?

Lizette Smook’s mission is to make innovative products from materials most people would discard, such as dinner plates from rice husks, towels from plastic bottles and bed sheets from bamboo. Smook founded her company, Innovasians, three years ago in Hong Kong to help companies become greener and cleaner.

Why are the products unique?

Her handsome beige dishes and cutting boards are crafted from the skin of rice husks, which are bound with bio-resin and then heat-compressed. They are reusable, biodegradable and microwave safe.

Bamboo fibres can be harvested to make fabric for bed sheets, says Smook, who studied science in South Africa, where she was born. Bamboo is ideal for mass production because it grows extremely quickly, requires no pesticides and uses only 33 per cent of the water that cotton production requires.

Her non-snag towels (pictured) are made from organic cotton and recycled plastic bottles and are, according to Smook, more durable than conventional towels.

Another fabric gaining international recognition is e-leather.

“Traditionally, the leather that is harvested from cows comes from their backs because that is where the thickness and grain is most consistent,” Smook says. “The rest is discarded and thrown into landfills, where it produce copious amounts of methane gas.”

E-leather is leather that has been broken down into a fibre form, using hydro-electricity. It is then reconstructed to reduce waste.

“It is leather – only it doesn’t stretch like leather. It’s easy to clean, more durable, tear-resistant and lighter,” Smook says. “[India's] Jet Airways used the fabric in their seats and found they were 40 per cent lighter.”

Why did she jump from working for mass producers such as Nike and Next to founding a sustainable design company? ”

Actually, that was the impetus – when you see the impact on the environment that cheap, disposable fashion has, you realise that trends come and go, but the fabric and pollution created from producing these textiles lingers,” Smook says.

Where are her products used?

Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts uses the rice dinnerware in its staff canteens and for guests with babies. Hong Kong hairdresser Emmanuel F uses the towels.

Sources: SCMP, SAWCC(Hong Kong) and Innovasians

The Springboks’ last minute loss to the Wallabies in the hosts’ final Tri-Nations encounter on Saturday evening made the Sunday Morning Post‘s sports-pages on Sunday.

With Hong Kong again hosting the final Bledisloe Cup match in October this year (the previous such match took place in 2008) there is renewed interest in the Southern Hemisphere’s premier competition, the Tri-Nations.

In fact, with Hong Kong Bledisloe Cup ticket sales reported to be sluggish this year (in part due to the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand next year) the Hong Kong rugby authorities are pinning their hopes on the Wallabies beating their Trans-Tasman opponents in next week’s final Tri-Nations encounter.  This, they hope, would make the third-ever Bledisloe Cup to be played on neutral ground more of a contest with the All Blacks having totally dominated the Tri-Nations this year.

With a potential Hong Kong bid for the 2023 Asian Games looming, it is not hard to understand why the issue of white elephants will be in the back of locals’ minds.

The following story about South Africa’s World Cup stadia and the fact that they are not suitable for cricket appeared in today’s Sunday Morning Post.

The story highlights comments by SARU President, Oregan Hoskins:

“What we are discussing today should have been discussed before we built the stadiums.  It is tragic we have to act in reverse.”

After winning his first Major golf tournament at St. Andrews on Sunday, Mosselbaai-native Louis Oosthuizen must have been hounded by the media non-stop.

Here in Hong Kong he made the sports section of the free daily newspaper The Standard on Tuesday (July 20,2010).

I’m not sure where the headline “Ooh-la-la he’s cool” fits in but after the successes of the 2010 World Cup, Louis did his bit to keep South Africa’s name in the hearts and minds of the world.

Cheers Louis.

(click on the newspaper page above for larger view)

The South China Morning Post‘s PostMagazine of June 27, 2010 carried a story by one Daniel Jeffreys in their regular “Toast rack” feature.

Before I continue, let me come clean by saying that said writer and I share at least one belief and that is:

(Jeffreys wrote) “Democracy and free speech go hand in hand but there has to be a limit.”

Those who know me will know that I also advocate that “too much democracy is not a good thing.”

Anyway, where Mr Jeffreys and I differ is his obvious disdain for our vuvuzela.

To the rant below, all we can say is:

Dear Mr Daniel Jeffreys (who is obviously a sour-puss England football fan) where is your “Gees” ?

(Click on the pic below to read full screen)

Here at Howzit-HongKong.com we make it our business to stay abreast of what’s going on in our fair city.  For this reason, we read a plethora of magazines and daily papers to stay abreast of things.

One of these magazines is Time Out Hong Kong. 

Although not free (you can buy it every fortnight at HK$18) Time Out Hong Kong is an excellent source of information on Hong Kong’s vibrant social life and it’s thousands of restaurants, bars and other interesting places/events to visit and hang out at.

As we are all in the spirit of the 2010 Football World Cup, Time Out Hong Kong refused to be left behind and has a interesting featuring in this week’s edition.  They have ”scoured the city” and found one local resident who hails from each of the 32 participating World Cup countries.

The South African representative and long-time Hong Konger is none other but Gary Kitching.

This is what Gary had to say:

“It is an immensely proud moment to be South African and African.  The negative commentary has made us even more determined to host the best World Cup ever.”

Well said Gary.  We love that you’re representing in a Springbok jersey!

(Gary is the MD and a partner of Grebstad Hicks Communications)

The 2010 World Cup feature that appears in the current edition of Time Out Hong Kong:

If you’ve taken careful notice, you will have seen our section called “SA in the HK Media.”

With the 2010 World Cup a mere 5 days away, it’s getting more and more of a chore keeping up with all the reports from home appearing in the Hog Kong media.  That is NOT at all a bad thing.

We hope you didn’t miss last Friday’s edition of HK Magazine for they had a lekker insert about the World Cup called “HK World Cup Guide 2010.”

A useful local guide to the world’s biggest sporting event, it features sections like:

* A guide to the BIG TEAMS: Argentina, Brazil, England, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Spain.

* The COMEBACK KIDS: Australia, Chile, Greece, Mexico, Uruguay, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Serbia, North Korea, Slovakia and Slovenia.

* The ONES TO WATCH: Cameroon, Denmark, Honduras, South Korea, Netherlands, Paraguay, South Africa and USA.

* The UNDERDOGS: Algeria, Japan, New Zealand, Nigeria and Switzerland.

The insert also features a handy guide to where you can sample some of the participating nations’ cuisine in Hong Kong while watching the on-the-pitch action from South Africa.

Needless to say there’s also a handy Match Schedule as well as a sheet where you can enter the scores and progress of the teams as the tournament progresses.

If all else fails and you did in fact miss last week’s issue of the HK Magazine, just contact them, hopefully they still have a few copies left over.

Find the HK magazine here:

Asia City Publishing Ltd.

301 Hollywood Centre

233 Hollywood Road, Hong Kong

Tel. (+852) 2850-5065

Fax. (+852) 2543-1880

E-mail: asiacity@asia-city.com.hk

Hurry.