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Infrared thermography is said to be a technique that can detect external finishes defects. However, there exist numerous parameters that can affect the accuracy of this technique. Its use should be subject to strict control and the results cannot be considered as conclusive. This paper discusses the complications of the thermal signature and the possible procedures when carrying out the survey. It also indicates that such a technique may be useful to the building control authority for mass‐screening of a large batch of buildings to justify the issuance of statutory orders.

The majority of the population in Hong Kong live in multi‐storey high‐rise buildings. The safety conditions of these buildings are a major concern of the Government and the public. Fire safety is one of the major concerns especially after several large fire tragedies in the past few years. The Hong Kong Government has introduced a mandatory safety assurance requirement which is called the “Building Safety Inspection Scheme”. Under this scheme, building owners are required to appoint appropriate building professionals to assess the safety level of their buildings and to recommend appropriate actions. One of the major aspects relates to the fire safety. In order to ensure uniform standards and easy administration, the Hong Kong Government intends to publish a Code of Practice on the assessment for use by building professionals. This paper proposes a fire safety assurance approach including the fire safety assessment method which may form the basis of the Code of Practice.

This paper aims to collect and compile the historical data of Guanfu Salt Farm, officially built by the Song Dynasty (960–1279) within modern Hong Kong territories, to reconstruct its history for the reflection of Hong Kong society of the time.

This paper is largely based on identification and analysis of historical documents, including keyword search on electronic databases and verification with the original sources, with reference to archaeological findings when necessary.

This paper reconstructs the history of Guanfu Salt Farm based on documentary sources with reference to archaeological findings. English translation of Chinese sources is also provided when necessary.

There has been an absence of systematic compilation of historical data of Hong Kong during the Song Dynasty, which are limited in quantity and scattered across different sources. This paper seeks to fill the vacuum of knowledge about pre-colonial Hong Kong, with a more comprehensive reconstruction of the history of Guanfu Salt Farm.

Considers the effects on the mass media of China’s transition to a more open economy and the strategies which advertisers might use to overcome the problems it presents. Describes the media available (including the unofficial “black route”, the official but restricted private sector “white route”, and the state “red route”) and lists the challenges which advertisers face in using them. Suggests some strategies and practices which can help to overcome them and some hypotheses on future media use. Calls for further research in this area.

Successful implementation of Health Promoting Schools (HPS) depends on putting the model in the schools’ context for both health improvement and school improvement. HPS can only be effective if the change can be sustained over an extended duration. The purpose of this paper is to discuss development of the HPS process by University Research Centre in Hong Kong, resulting in an award scheme, where no additional resources were initially provided by the authorities.

The team adopted a step-by-step approach starting with capacity building of key stakeholders and comprehensive needs assessment, leading to development of a system of evaluation and monitoring and establishment of a “Healthy School Award” system. The system was built on data derived from several different sources and made use of qualitative and quantitative information and were intended to be used to guide practice and actions for improvement.

Schools measured their own performance against established school and student health profiles. The validated system of evaluation and monitoring led to a Healthy School Award scheme for participating schools with “accredited” and “award” designations. The award system evaluated six key HPS areas and identified exemplars of HPS as resource schools to form a strong network.

HPS can be regarded as new paradigm of schooling rather than an add-on programme.

HPS can be regarded as new paradigm of schooling rather than an add-on programme. The advantage of an academic institution masterminding the development process lies with their strength in education and research, building on the professionalism of school educators in health promotion and developing evidence-based HPS practice.

This paper discusses an approach for addressing the key factors associated with initiation of innovation and management of change in an education setting. The involvement of both higher education and an award scheme can act strong catalysts to drive change, resulting in a strong evidence base with and results demonstrating effectiveness, which then led to government support.

The majority of Hong Kong filmmakers have pursued co-production with China filmmakers for having the Mainland market at the expense of local styles and sensitivities. To many critics, the two-part series of Ip Man and Ip Man II provide a paradigmatic case of film co-production that sell the tricks of Chinese kung fu, regurgitating the overblown Chinese nationalism against Japanese and kwai-lo. The purpose of this study is to rectify such observation of the Ip Man series.

The authors read the series deconstructively as a postcolonial text in which Hong Kong identity is inscribed in the negotiated space in between different versions of Chinese nationalism.

The analysis points to the varying subversive features in the series from which Hong Kong’s colonial experiences are tacitly displayed, endorsed and rewritten into the Chinese nationalistic discourse whose dominance is questioned, if not debased.

This paper advances new research insights into the postcolonial reinvention of kung fu film and, by implication, the Hong Kong cinema in general.

This research outlines the Hong Kong film industry with examination of key actors, directors, films, and production companies within the martial arts genre of Hong Kong Action Cinema. Hong Kong Film Award winners and nominees, core films within genres, and core reference works both general and theoretical from experts in the field of Hong Kong martial arts film research have been highlighted. Web sites are suggested that provide reviews of Hong Kong martial arts films, biographical information on a variety of actors and actresses as well as comprehensive bibliographic information on select films. Also included are commercial Web sites that provide Hong Kong martial arts films.

This paper reports the development of the Hong Kong consumer satisfaction index (HKCSI) – a new type of consumer‐oriented economic performance indicator representing the quality of products (commodities and services) sold in Hong Kong as evaluated by Hong Kong consumers – as well as the findings of HKCSI from 1998 to 2000, each year with more than 10,000 successful telephone interviews on about 60 products. According to Hong Kong's special economic structure, the HKCSI is constructed from a consumption point of view concentrating on products and the products’ consumers, rather than from the popular production point of view focusing on firms and the firms’ customers. Key features of HKCSI include: the direct introduction of consumer characteristics (such as age, education, and income) in model construction; the wide coverage of services, especially free services; and the adoption of a product weighting system based on consumer price index (CPI), not on gross domestic product (GDP). In this paper, a theoretical framework of consumer satisfaction is first presented after investigating the relevant literature, and then the large‐scale consumer survey scheme adopted to collect the data and the structural equation modeling technique employed to estimate the indexes are discussed. New considerations in the HKCSI in such areas as model structure, indicator and questionnaire design, and product classification are elaborated upon. Next, the estimated results are analyzed focusing on the reliability and validity of the model, on the relationships among consumer satisfaction and its antecedents and consequences, and especially on the effects of consumer characteristics on consumer satisfaction and the implications of such effects for marketing practice. The results are generally consistent across different products, broadly acceptable and in agreement with previous findings, and are also relevant to Hong Kong's special situation. The paper concludes with a summary and some remarks on problems in the present study and future research directions.