{
  "id": 11626942,
  "title": "Prison term ‘karma’, says Hong Kong man freed after 26 years in Philippine jail",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/03/prison-term-karma-says-hong-kong-man-freed-after-26-years-in",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-03T07:00:16.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "South China Morning Post",
    "slug": "south-china-morning-post",
    "url": "https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/3369640/prison-term-karma-says-hong-kong-man-freed-after-26-years-philippine-jail"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Once a 29-year-old bartender named Tang Lung-wai boarded a flight to the Philippines for a holiday, he had no idea that it would alter his life forever. He spent 26 years in a Philippine jail, where he was serving a life sentence for drug-related charges. Now 55, Tang returned to Hong Kong after being released, saying he viewed his incarceration as \"karma\" for being a bad person to his family and friends. He learned how to be a proper human being behind bars and considered himself to have repaid his karmic debt.",
  "summary": "On his 29th birthday, Hong Kong bartender Tang Lung-wai boarded a flight to the Philippines for a holiday that would change his life. He ended up spending 26 years in jail in the country. Now 55, Tang spent years fighting his drug-related charges, insisting that he had been framed. But he told the South China Morning Post that he did not view those lost decades solely through the lens of…",
  "key_points": [
    "Tang Lung-wai, a 29-year-old bartender, spent 26 years in a Philippine jail.",
    "He was serving a life sentence for drug-related charges.",
    "Tang returned to Hong Kong, viewing his incarceration as karma."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 3,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "ABC News AU",
        "title": "Australian arrested for holding 'pistol-like object' in Hong Kong",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/03/australian-arrested-for-holding-pistol-like-object-in-hong-kong",
        "published": "2026-10-03T04:13:48.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "South China Morning Post - Hong Kong",
        "title": "Prison term ‘karma’, says Hong Kong man freed after 26 years in Philippine jail",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/03/prison-term-karma-says-hong-kong-man-freed-after-26-years-in-11628264",
        "published": "2026-10-03T07:00:16.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}