Hong Kong Space Museum to launch new sky show “Shenzhou 13 – Space Travel”

The Hong Kong Space Museum will launch a new sky show, “Shenzhou 13 – Space Travel”, at its Space Theatre from tomorrow (May 15). This is China’s first space-filmed full-dome movie, shot by Chinese astronauts Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping and Ye Guangfu. It takes audiences on board the Shenzhou-13 spacecraft on a journey to the Tiangong Space Station, pursuing the dream of space exploration.

On October 16, 2021, the three astronauts went aboard Shenzhou-13 to the Tiangong Space Station, where they stationed and began their six-month space mission. Through the cameras operated by the astronauts, audiences will be enthralled by an immersive journey, piercing through the atmosphere, understanding daily life and work at the space station, and marvelling at the shimmering sea of city lights during a glimpse of our magnificent blue planet from a unique perspective.

Enhanced with computer animation, the show presents various stages of the in-orbit assembly of the Tiangong Space Station and recreates the docking process of the Shenzhou spacecraft with the Tianhe Core Module. Audiences will also witness the historic moment when Wang Yaping became the first Chinese female astronaut to walk in space as she successfully completed her extravehicular mission.

The 28-minute show will be run until February 14, 2027. Screening times are 3.30pm and 8pm on weekdays, and 2pm and 6.30pm on weekends and public holidays. Tickets priced at $30 (front stalls) and $40 (stalls) are now available at the Hong Kong Space Museum Box Office and URBTIX (www.urbtix.hk). For details of the show, please visithk.space.museum/en/web/spm/shows/sky-show/shenzhou-13.html.

The Hong Kong Space Museum, located at 10 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, is closed on Tuesdays (except public holidays).

Housing Bureau announces Composite Waiting Time for Subsidised Rental Housing has dropped by around five months to 4.7 years, marking lowest record in over eight years

The Housing Bureau (HB) released today (May 14) that the latest quarterly Composite Waiting Time for Subsidised Rental Housing (CWT) is 4.7 years, a decrease of 0.4 years as compared with the last quarter, which is also the lowest record in over eight years.

CWT shortened 1.5 years to 5.0 years for first time in comparison to 6.1 years before current-term Government

This record is calculated based on general applicants (i.e. family and elderly one-person applicants) that were housed to public rental housing (PRH) or Light Public Housing (LPH) in the past 12 months as at end-March 2026. Compared with the highest level of 6.1 years before the current-term Government took office, the CWT has been shortened by nearly one and a half years, and has fallen below 5.0 years for the first time.

8 400 general applicants housed with nearly half in LPH

“In the first quarter of 2026, we have succesfully arranged a total of about 8 400 general applicants to be housed to PRH or LPH, including about 1 200 newly completed PRH flats, about 3 300 recovered PRH flats, and about 3 900 LPH units. Nearly half (47 per cent) of them were housed toLPHunits, which is significantly higher than the proportion in the last quarter (16 per cent),” said the spokesman for HB.

Waiting time for LPH only three years on average

“The waiting time of general applicants who were housed to LPH in the past 12 months is only 3.0 years on average. Since the waiting time of general applicants housed toLPH is obviously shorter, the increased proportion of LPH has effectively led to a decrease in the overall CWT. In fact, the waiting time for PRH units in the urban district in the past 12 months was about six years, while the waiting time for LPH units in the New Territories was only about two years, with a difference of four years. We hope that families in need will make the most appropriate decision for their family members, particularly for the health of elderly members and the growth of children,” said the spokesman for HB.

Current average quarterly supply more than doubled that of three years before current-term Goverment

In fact, since the first LPH project began allocation in March 2025, the Government’s overall supply of subsidised rental housing has increased to about 7 500 units per quarter, which is more than double the average quarterly supply of about 3 500 units during the three years before the current-term Government took office (i.e. from 2019-20 to 2021-22), showing that the supply has significantly increased. This fully highlights the original policy intent of the LPH to promptly assist residents in alleviating their hardships, which has not only played a key role in shortening the waiting time for PRH, but also improved the living conditions and quality of life of low-income families. Furthermore, as compared with subdivided units, residents who are housed toLPH can also save an average of over $50,000 in rent per year, which can be accumulated as family savings to plan for a better future.

Further reductions in PRH waiting queue with general applications significantly reduced by more than 30 per cent over past 5 years or so

In addition, with the Government’s multipronged approach to expedite the turnover of PRH flats, the number of PRH general applicants has further decreased. As at end-March 2026, there were about 103 400 general applications for PRH, and about 81 100 non-elderly one-person applications under the Quota and Points System. As compared with the highest level of 156400 cases and 143700 cases of general applications and non-elderly one-person applications, the application number reduced significantly by more than 30 per cent and over 40 per cent respectively. Among them, the number of non-elderly one-person applicants aged below 30 recorded an even sharper decline of about 60 per cent over the 10-year period, from about 71 300 as at end-March 2016 to about 29500 as at end-March 2026, clearly demonstrating that the PRH waiting queue is being reduced.

Slight fluctuations expected in near term amid PRH completion peak over next five years

As the number of general applicants to be housed toPRH or LPH in the next quarter may be lower than this quarter, the CWT in the next quarter is expected to slightly fluctuate; it is nevertheless anticipated to be capped at 5.0 years, indicating that the CWT is still on a downward trend.

Looking ahead to the next five years starting from 2026-27 onwards, the overall public housing production (including LPH) will be about 196 000 units, over 80 per cent higher than when the current-term Government took office. Among them, about 115 000 PRH flats will be completed during this period, reaching the peak in supply. In respect of LPH, about 9 650 units have been completed and have now been fully occupied as at the first quarter of 2026, and about 20150 and 200 units will be successively completed in the remainder of 2026 and early 2027 respectively, gradually moving towards the target of completing the construction of about 30 000 LPH units by 2027-28.

CWT entering new stage and moving towards 4.5 years target

Under the current-term Government’s unremitting efforts to “enhance speed, quantity, quality and efficiency” over the past four years, the back-loaded situation has been completely reversed by the public housing production. This shift has enabled faster fulfilment of the housing needs of low-income families. The CWT will move towards the target of reducing it to 4.5 years in 2026-27.