Hong Kong's White Terror

These people ran in the primaries; most were charged today

 

On February 28, 1947, an anti-government uprising in Taiwan was violently quashed by the ruling Kuomintang. There are no definitive reports on how many were killed, ranging from 5,000 to 28,000. It was the start of the White Terror, where thousands of other Taiwanese went missing, died or were imprisoned.

Benny Tai speaks to media outside police station

On February 28, 2021, Beijing via the Hong Kong government charged 47 people with "conspiracy to commit subversion", which violates the national security law.

These people, pro-democracy activists, former lawmakers and district councillors were among the 55 arrested back in early January for organizing the unofficial primaries in its camp to see who would have the highest chance of winning in the Legislative Council elections that were scheduled to be held last September, but the government postponed them because of the coronavirus pandemic.

It was hoped that with more pro-democrats in the Legislative Council, they would have the opportunity to veto the budget and force Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor to resign -- this is in the Basic Law -- and also to influence the composition of the 1,2000-member election committee that chooses the next chief executive.

Last year's primaries drew over 600,000 voters

Many well-known people are now charged under the national security law, including former lawmaker Eddie Chu Hoi-dick, scholar Benny Tai Yiu-ting, former Democratic Party chairman Wu Chi-wai, Civic Party leader Alvin Yeung Ngok-kiu, and district councillors Lester Shum and Fergus Leung Fong-wai. Activist Joshua Wong Chi-fung and People Power's Tam Tak-chi are also included, though they are already in jail serving time for other sentences.

That primaries vote? Organizer Tai was hoping for 200,000 Hong Kong residents to cast their ballots -- more than three times that amount turned out.

These 47 will face their charge in court tomorrow, but the chances of them getting bail are very very slim; they will probably be remanded into custody until their trials come up.

Basically the government has jailed the political opposition even though they already quit in November.

Clancey was arrested in January, not charged today

American-born lawyer John Clancey, 79, was originally arrested in January and was not charged today but he isn't giving up the fight.

"Most people are ready to sacrifice when they see someone in need," Clancey said outside the police station before his bail appointment. "I think we must maintain the positive view the Hong Kong people have had for so many years of being able to build a better society based on human rights and working for democracy."

Some of those charged were ordered a few days ago to report to the police today, and many said farewell to friends, some posted online they believed they did nothing wrong, nor did they regret their actions, and some bought prison necessities, including sneakers without laces.

Chow had his tattoo done ahead of court hearing

Activist Owen Chow Ka-shing who was charged today seems mentally prepared for the road ahead. On social media he posted a photo of a Buddhist chant newly tattooed on his right arm.

"It looks like the suffering will continue indefinitely," he wrote. "What we need is not imagination about suffering but hope and determination beyond suffering."

A Wander Around Tai O

Tai O is a quiet, quaint place, but housing is dilapidated

 

Yesterday I took advantage of a day off to wander around Tai O, a small fishing village on Lantau Island. I have visited two or three times previously for work assignments, one on making the famous shrimp paste that has a very strong smell, and one on solar panels used as a pilot project by WWF. But after spending a good part of the day conducting interviews and shoots, we were tired and wanted to go home so I never really got a chance to see the place.

The night before I did some research on places to visit and especially where to eat and noted the names and addresses.

On the way to Fu Shan Viewing Pt

Then I took the MTR to Tung Chung, and then the No. 11 bus to Tai O. I was surprised to see a long line of people at the bus stop, but luckily I got one of the last few seats. I remembered it takes about 45 minutes to get to Tai O, and on the bus it made scheduled stops in places including Tong Fuk Correctional Institute (former lawmaker Nathan Law Kwun-chung served two months there), and another, Shek Pik Prison where pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong Chi-fung is, and independence activist Edward Leung Tin-kei spent some time there previously.

Finally we arrived around lunchtime and I tried to find the shops that sell some snacks, but was disappointed to find they were all closed because it was a weekday! There's Tai O Bakery that apparently sells freshly made doughnuts sprinkled with sugar, and another stall that makes savoury pancakes called jianbing.

The only places open were cha chaan teng or a few western-style cafes selling cheesecake and coffee.

I decided to find the hill called Fu Shan Viewing Point, but not before I saw a woman selling pandan egg waffles. It turns out she had literally just opened her shop and so her waffle iron was not even heated up yet when I asked for an egg waffle.

The woman in her 70s was on the surly side, chastising a trio of middle-aged women who were lured by some palm-sized puddings to snack on. Luckily the three women were in a good mood and didn't let her criticisms get in the way of them having a good time.

The bridge in the distance and a plane overhead

Finally I got my egg waffles that had a tiny hint of pandan, but it was sustenance to keep me going for the mini hike.

The stairs are clean and wide, but I was already huffing and puffing and sweating -- I didn't realize until later it was because it was so humid. Walking along the ridge of the hill, down on one side are hundreds of large Chinese-style graves, and then further down is Tai O village itself.

On the other side is the South China Sea and in the distance is the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge that had no traffic on it. Above it every few minutes a plane took off from the nearby airport, making it an ideal spot for plane spotters.

I continued along the stone path until it abruptly ended, but saw others ahead still continuing along a rugged path and followed them.

The place is a scenic spot for pictures too

It wasn't too hard to climb and soon I was at the top, admiring the view, but then what? Turn back or continue down a dirt path? I decided to be a bit adventurous and thankfully with the help of ropes strung along the way, I managed to get down easier than my experience on Mount Johnston! 

When I got to the bottom, I checked out another scenic pavilion before encountering a temple and then walked back towards the Tai O village.

By now more visitors arrived and I'd pretty much gone through all the main thoroughfares in the village

While it's quaint and some like to call it "The Venice of Hong Kong", it really isn't, surrounded by dirty water, homes on stilts, others on the ground have very basic furnishings. One has to wonder if the government knows about people's living conditions here and will they be upgraded? 

Nevertheless, life here is slow, people ride bikes or walk along the paths, while cats and dogs laze around wherever they feel comfortable. 

Large fish that have been salted are left to dry out

This morning I woke up to heavy rain and was glad that I made the effort to go to Tai O yesterday, though I missed trying those doughnuts!

More Questions on HK$5K Handout

Chan (centre) on the phone-in show talking about the budget

 

As part of the budget, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po announced every permanent resident and new immigrants from the mainland will receive HK$5,000 -- in the form of an electronic voucher that will be distributed five times at HK$1,000 each. The amount cannot be accumulated and must be used within a certain period of time.

Cashless payments will be set up at wet markets

Chan explains this is a way for the money to be used locally to stimulate the economy and to help small businesses. 

While he has good intentions, it doesn't seem like Chan thought through his idea, or his advisors did not explain that many local shops, particularly wet markets don't use electronic payment, and many who actually need the HK$5,000 don't necessarily know how to use electronic banking, particularly on their smartphones -- if they have them.

During a phone-in radio show, Chan received a lot of calls regarding this, and the financial secretary said the government would help wet market stalls setup cashless payments to use Octopus.

"We will take these suggestions into consideration when implementing [the e-voucher], and follow-up on those concerns," he said, while conceding many details of the roll-out still needed to be ironed out.

Sze says the poor need the HK$5K handout asap

Sze Lai-shan, from the Society for Community Organisation (SoCO) that works with those in poverty, said the government should step up implementing electronic payments in wet markets as those with lower incomes would rather spend their money on necessities.

In addition, she said this segment of people would like to get the HK$5,000 in one go so that they can purchase badly needed big-ticket items such as washing machines, rice cookers and water boilers.

Smart callers pointed out there could be people who buy something using the electronic vouchers and then return the item for cash, or use the vouchers to buy insurance. Did the financial secretary think of that? 

Another question was how Hong Kong residents living outside of the city could use the vouchers. 

Chan said the government would examine how to prevent people from abusing the scheme.

It doesn't sound like it was completely thought out... did any of his advisors raise red flags before Chan put this in his budget? Or did they think they would just deal with it later?

Has Chan (centre) thought of all the loopholes?

Other callers wondered if encouraging people to shop was the right thing to do when some were scraping by. However, if this money can be used in wet markets, then that would probably help a large number of people put food on the table, though probably only for say half a year depending on the time limit of each voucher. Is it a month? Six weeks? Two months?

Simon Lee Siu-po, co-director of Chinese University's international business and Chinese enterprise program, said the consumption vouchers would only have a small stimulus effect on the economy. While HK$36 billion is earmarked for the scheme, Lee projected only about HK$7.2 billion would be injected into local retail, catering and service sectors.

To compare that to before the anti-government protests in 2019 and the coronavirus pandemic last year, monthly retail sales in 2018 was HK$40 billion and HK$9 billion in catering.

"[The government still needs to focus on helping the heavily affected sectors," Lee said. "Otherwise the money will go to big retailers and major supermarket chains."

He also hinted retailers could get around the staggered vouchers by allowing customers to buy big-ticket items in installments.

Has Chan thought of that too? Would that be allowed?

So many questions, not enough answers... yet.

More Questions on HK$8B for National Security

The budget did not mention HK$8 billion for national security

The controversy over the HK$8 billion (US$1 billion) for national security continued today with no signs of abating since Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po refused to give clear and straight forward answers about the staggering amount of money considering Hong Kong is HK$257.6 billion in deficit in this year's budget.

First of all he didn't even mention it in his budget speech, but it was later discovered to be listed in a separate 1,000-page document that listed estimated revenues and expenditures of various government accounts.

Chan refused to divulge what the money was for

On a radio program, Chan refused to divulge what that money was for, but dismissed a suggestion the expenditure was equivalent to "military spending", reiterating only it was a necessary expense.

"[Some] may say that Hong Kong is very safe and we do not need to spend money on this area, [but] in 2019 we experienced half a year of social unrest. Such circumstances exposed the gaps in national security. This HK$8 billion will be used over a number of years... it is necessary," he said.

With the national security law in place, what was experienced in 2019 will never happen again. So again, what is the HK$8 billion for?

He also insisted the funds for national security spending were already disclosed in government accounts last October, but apparently it did appear in a document called the "Consolidated statement of assets and liabilities as at December 31, 2020" gazetted by the government on February 5.

In addition, the HK$8 billion is not listed under any specific department, and was described as "non-recurrent appropriation to a special fund to meet the expenditure for safeguarding national security" -- the same wording used in the budget document.

The national security office is covered by Beijing

Apparently this practice is similar to other countries, which also regard this kind of expenditure as "confidential".

Even more curious is that none of this money is being used to fund the operations of the Office for Safeguarding National Security of the Central People's Government, which was set up last July in Tai Hang, near Causeway Bay. Their expenses are covered by the central government.

However, Article 19 of the national security laws says the city's financial secretary, on the approval of the chief executive, shall "appropriate from the general revenue a special fund to meet the expenditure for safeguarding national security and approve the establishment of relevant posts, which are not subject to any restrictions in the relevant provisions of the laws in force" in Hong Kong.

So Hongkongers will never know where their hard-earned HK$8 billion will go towards, except for "national security"... a catch-all phrase for "none of your business"...

Hong Kong's Budget Hopes to Jumpstart Economy

Paul Chan delivered his budget today with a green tie

Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po delivered a sobering budget today with only a few sweeteners in a bid to jump start Hong Kong's economy after a year of recession because of the coronavirus pandemic. 

The city fell into a record deficit of HK$257.6 billion (US$33.14 billion), and Chan warned Hong Kong would continue to have deficits in the following years. Nevertheless he forecasts 5.5 percent economic growth in the coming year.

Permanent residents get HK$5K in vouchers

There are a few main highlights from the budget:

While last year the government handed out HK$10,000 to each Hong Kong permanent resident and low income non-permanent residents, this year Chan said only HK$5,000 that would be given out to every adult permanent resident and new immigrant from China -- but in the form of electronic vouchers, and incrementally, to be used by a certain date each time. There were no further details on how that would work and what that could be spent on, but some speculate it will be for food, which makes supermarkets, or rather the conglomerates that own them -- even richer.

For those who have been unemployed, with proof of paperwork, they can take a one-off low interest loan of up to HK$80,000 and borrowers would only have to repay the interest in the first year, and the balance within a maximum of four years. Those who pay back the loan on schedule will be reimbursed the interest.

As the unemployment rate is now at a 17-year high at 7 percent, Chan has earmarked HK$6.6 billion to create 30,000 jobs for the next 12 months. 

The government will create 30,000 new jobs

Seeing as Hongkongers are stuck in the city because of the pandemic and many have turned to hiking, the financial secretary has pledged HK$500 million to spruce up country parks, installing new washrooms, barbecue pits and picnic sites, including HK$55 million improve 10 hiking trails with the potential of promoting for tourism.

Speaking of tourism, Chan has allocated HK$934 million into that sector, perhaps in a bid to get the city ready when the pandemic calms down and people can start traveling again. The Hong Kong Tourism Board is probably salivating over that money it gets to play with.

Those playing the stock market were shocked to hear the government will raise the stamp duty to 0.13 percent from 0.10 percent on stock trading, the first hike since 1993 that could help the public coffers grow to HK$92 billion.

The response was immediate on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with the Hang Seng Index plunged as far as 9.3 percent before finishing the day down 3 percent to 29,718.24. Investors didn't see that announcement coming and many feel this hike on the stamp duty is bad for the financial sector. 

Money will be used to upgrade hiking trails

But perhaps the most eyebrow-raising news that Chan did not announce in his speech is that a whopping HK$8 billion will be spent "to safeguard national security".

In a press conference with the media following his budget speech, Chan said he did not include this figure because it has already been accounted for, and that Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor had already approved the amount.

Also suspicious was that Chan did not explain where the money came from and how it would be spent. 

In a separate budget document, it says the HK$8 billion is a "non-recurrent appropriation to a special fund to meet the expenditure for safeguarding national security". During the press conference, Chan only said that the money would be used over the coming several years and did not clarify how the money would be spent and on what.

One reporter on Twitter has pointed out this amount is almost three times the budget in 2018-2019 on "internal security", just before the anti-extradition bill protests erupted. 

A whopping HK$8 billion on national security

There is also HK$3.5 billion that will be spent on prison management, up from HK$3 billion last year, while "constitutional and mainland affairs" will receive a budget of HK$200 million, twice as much as it got five years ago.

Jeremy Tam Man-ho, former lawmaker and vice-chairman of the opposition Civic Party, said the funding allocation for national security was equal to "dumping money into a dark hole", and called on the government to explain. 

"It is a large amount of money," he said. "But there is no transparency at all. The people have no idea how the money is to be used. I think the government owes Hong Kong people an explanation."

Indeed. 

HongKongers Sign up for Vaccine Jabs

Lam got the Sinovac jab yesterday in front of the media

With a slew of cameras watching, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor was among the first to get the Sinovac vaccine yesterday.

Her other senior ministers also got the jab, but interestingly Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po, commerce chief Edward Yau Tang-wah, and environment minister Wong Kam-sing were conspicuously absent. Chan's office said he was too busy working on the budget...

Over 60,000 have signed up for the vaccine

Today it was reported over 60,000 people have made appointments online to get the same jab. 

Secretary for Innovation and Technology Alfred Sit Wing-hang said the enthusiastic response overloaded the system for a short period after the bookings opened at midnight, but is now running smoothly.

Some 2.4 million people are deemed to have priority to get the vaccine first, including those over 60 years of age, residents in care homes, healthcare workers, essential staff, pilots, flight attendants and cross-border workers.

There are skeptics who wonder if the government will be able to vaccinate at least 6 million Hongkongers within six months.

For those doing the math, if every one of the 6 million people gets two shots each, then that means 67,000 jabs will have to be administered daily. How will that be achieved? There are 29 Community Vaccination Centres across the city, and then 18 general out patient clinics of the Hospital Authority, as well as 1,200 private doctors and 1,500 medical clinics that will offer the vaccines.

Pilots are among those to have priority to get jab

Looks like administering the jab will be like a factory, where perhaps people walk in with their arms exposed ready to be jabbed and come out with a band-aid one minute later.

Meanwhile the BioNTech vaccine arrives at the end of this week, and then AstraZeneca later.

At least it's finally happening. Hong Kong is playing catch up to places like the UK and the United States where they are vaccinating tens of thousands of people everyday.

And by the way the LeaveHomeSafe app? While 97 percent of the 2.8 million downloads are local, apparently people in Fiji and Niger are even downloading the app! Technology chief Sit says perhaps there are people working or studying overseas there who may need to use the app later. 

Right...

 

 

 

 

Only Patriots to Govern Hong Kong

Beijing wants to change Hong Kong's electoral system

As expected, the November 2019 District Council elections were the last truly democratic elections held in Hong Kong.

Almost 3 million people voted, and a stunning 17 out of 18 districts were won by pro-democratic candidates. This during the anti-government protests, a quasi referendum on how the Lam administration was governing Hong Kong.

Pan-dems trounced pro-Beijing in 2019 election

However, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor postponed last September's district council elections, claiming the coronavirus pandemic was too risky to hold an election, even though places like South Korea, and eventually the United States held theirs.

Nevertheless, Beijing was stunned by the Hong Kong results too.

And since then it has vowed to make sure it will win.

Today Xia Baolong, head of the State Council's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs office said Hong Kong's administrative and electoral systems must undergo a fundamental revision to ensure only "patriots" hold key positions in all three branches of government -- the executive, the legislature, and the judiciary, as well as statutory bodies.

Instead of the mantra during the handover over 23 years ago of "Hong Kong people governing Hong Kong", it is now "patriots governing Hong Kong". 

"Key posts under every circumstance must not be taken up by anyone "who goes against China and disrupts Hong Kong," Xia said, referring to the three branches of government, and the statutory bodies.

Xia says only patriots can be in government

"Those who stand in opposition to patriots are destroyers of the 'one country, two systems' principle and they should not be allowed to take a share of the Hong Kong special administrative region's political power. Not now, not ever."

With that kind of language, how can anyone be an effective opposition, even if it is just to hold the Hong Kong government accountable? 

This puts the pro-Beijing camp in the current legislature in a curious bind as well. Since the pan-democratic camp resigned en masse late last year, the pro-establishment lawmakers are stuck having to question the government on bills and legislation, so does that make them less patriotic?

While Xia says "Different political opinions are allowed in this country", he adds, "The CCP is the creator and leader of the 'one country, two systems' model. Isn't it contradictory for someone who safeguards [the model] to oppose its creator and leader?"

So are different political opinions still allowed?

He claimed anti-China and radical separatist forces had entered Hong Kong's governance structure through various elections, including that of the Legislative Council, the Chief Executive Election Committee, and district councils, and so it was necessary for electoral reforms.

Which of these three is a radical separatist?

Could Xia please explain the radical separatist forces in the CE election? All three candidates, Lam, former financial secretary John Tsang Chun-wah and retired judge Woo Kwok-hing were vetted to be politically correct before they began campaigning...

Xia also said these electoral reforms were necessary to improve people's livelihoods. That's a stretch. The government's reticence to acknowledge one in five people live below the poverty line is the problem, not political leanings.

 In any event, even before Xia said this, many Hongkongers have declared their patriotism by saying, "I f**king love Hong Kong".

But perhaps that's not enough to pass Xia's patriotism test...

Picture of the Day: Hong Kong Sakura

People were excitedly photographing the blossoms on the tree

 

Today my friend and I did a marathon walk from Sha Tin, well actually Shek Mun to Sai Kung, which was over 18 kilometres and took us three hours and 20 minutes.

It was a beautiful day for a walk, not too hot. I really enjoyed walking along the Shing Mun River in Sha Tin with the water very calm.

However at one point we saw a bunch of people standing around a young tree with pink blossoms and taking pictures of it!

With people unable to travel for the most part of this year, they were missing the chance to go to Japan to see the sakura, and so when they spotted the cherry blossoms on a tree locally, they took the opportunity to snap pictures of the transient blossoms.

Personally I found it amusing -- when they can travel they should visit Vancouver where there are entire streets lined with cherry blossom trees and in the spring they are all covered in pink.

Author Douglas Young called it "pinked out" many years ago.

In any event we finally made it to Sai Kung and were shocked to see the weekend tourists crawling all over the pier area. Restaurants, cha chaan tengs and cafes were doing a brisk business with lots of people willing to line up to get a seat.

We eventually settled on a western restaurant and I had a delicious lamb burger with a yogurt cucumber and red onion garnish. 

Then we boarded a bus back to where we came from -- and it took about 20 minutes.

Lack of Trust in Government-tracing App

Restaurants saw a modest increase in business with dinner on

 

Now that people can eat dinner in restaurants until 10pm, many dining establishments are reporting an increase in business, from 10 percent to as high as 40 percent, but there are still many reticent to dine in because they would have to either scan the LeaveHomeSafe app to record where they have been, or write down their name and phone number for contact tracing.

Patrons must scan the app or leave contact details

For some people, the sudden doubling the number of people in a restaurant makes them cautious about dining out, while for others it's the privacy issue. When it was clarified that those ordering takeout did not have to scan the app or leave personal details, then many opted for takeout rather than dine in.

Others didn't seem to mind about scanning the app. There has also been a surge in seniors buying smartphones, as some previously only used old school mobile phones to make calls, but now they felt compelled to buy a smartphone and install the government app in order to dine out.

One restaurant owner who was interviewed observed only 3 or 4 percent of customers used the app, while the rest wrote down contact details. 

"They feel it's [using the app] relatively inconvenient. The main reason is they have privacy concerns," he said.

There have been 1.8M downloads of the app

While the government reports there are 1.8 million downloads of the app, it is not a true reflection of the situation.

There are some who are so paranoid that they plan to download the app, use it once and then delete it, and then download it again when needed.

If there is suddenly over 7 million downloads, then surely something is up.

And there are others who refuse to download the app using their home wifi and would rather do it using public wifi, which is another sign of paranoia.

It is really telling that people would rather write down their name and phone number (if it really is their details) than use the app. This is a serious breakdown in trust between the people and the government, when trust is badly needed right now, during a serious pandemic.

Many refuse to use the app to protest against Lam

It seems people are eager to use this as a way to protest against Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, by making up names and phone numbers on pieces of paper. But if a restaurant really has an infection and needs to inform its customers, aren't these people wasting the staff's time by filling out bogus information when it is critical to do contact tracing?

While the government means well by developing this contact-tracing app, its residents aren't buying into it at all. Lam lost her chance to regain the public's confidence over a year ago and now her goal of zero infections is further out of reach...

RTHK's New Head Signals New Direction

RTHK's incoming chief has no editorial experience

 

Radio Television Hong Kong is entering a new era, led by a career bureaucrat who has no journalism experience.

Veteran journalist Leung Ka-wing who has been at the helm of RTHK for over five years abruptly stepped down today, months before his contract was to expire in August.

He will be replaced by Deputy Secretary for Home Affairs Patrick Li Pak-chuen on March 1. The government claimed after a long search it could not find a suitable successor.

This is not the first time the broadcaster has been led by a bureaucrat -- back in 2015, RTHK was led by Roy Tang Yun-kwong.

Patrick Li is at the Home Affairs dept

After the announcement of the change of leadership, the government released a 157-page report, accusing RTHK, an outlet that has often been critical of officials, of lacking transparency and objectivity.

RTHK is considered similar to the BBC in that it is funded by taxpayer dollars, and its charter states it should have editorial independence.

However the six-month investigation found "serious inadequacies", including poor management and lack of editorial accountability at RTHK.

During and after the anti-government protests in 2019, the broadcaster bore the brunt of a lot of criticism, including that it was biased towards the protesters.

Earlier this month, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor slammed RTHK's performance as "unacceptable" and demanded reform to "set things right".

The report was most critical of the editorial operations, saying it lacked well-defined and properly documented process or any clear allocation of roles and responsibilities among staff.

It said that editorial accountability was weak, decisions rested on the judgment of individual production units or officers working in silos, and the editor-in-chief and other senior management took a passive role in program production.

Leung Ka-wing waves goodbye to well wishers

"There are some issues with the governance and management of RTHK, and improvement is needed in the system, execution and monitoring," said Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau Tang-wah in a press conference today.

"While the [RTHK governing] charter, producers' guidelines and Communications Authority codes of practice have been put in place, the management failed to explain them to staff and ensure they were applied on all programs."

It sounds like there will be much more oversight in how RTHK operates, particularly in editorial decisions. This will definitely slow down how things are done at the public broadcaster, where speed is of the essence.

There seems to be also a lack of trust in how the news is gathered and disseminated.

The report came after several complaints about RTHK's satirical show Headliner for making fun of the police force, and a hard-hitting investigation into the July 21, 2019 mob attack on people in the Yuen Long MTR station that led to the arrest of one of its producers for misrepresenting herself when she requested information about some vehicles related to the attack.

Meanwhile RTHK Programme Staff Union chairwoman Gladys Chiu Sin-yan criticized the report's findings as "contradictory" and "poorly justified", saying the government had failed to grasp how the editorial department operated.

Gladys Chiu worries about editorial independence

"Since 2000s, manpower has been tight following a hiring freeze, but there are still new television services coming into the steam," she said, quoting the traditional Chinese saying, "You can't expect the horse to run fast when you don't let it graze."

She added RTHK had produced many award-winning programs and its credibility was widely recognized, none of which was mentioned in the report.

"It's an affront to our dignity," she said.

People who work at RTHK will probably soldier on the best they can -- they feel a duty to their audience to give them the latest news without bias. 

But when a bureaucrat comes in whose portfolio included overseeing such areas as national education, gambling policy, entertainment licensing, religious matters, and legislation on divorce, maintenance and wills, one has to wonder if he really is the best person for the job...

Creatively Circumventing the Govt App

Dining in restaurants requires scanning the QR code

 

Finally today's the day! People were so thrilled to have dinner in a restaurant tonight, though others still preferred takeaway. 

Walking along the waterfront tonight I could see Caprice, the three Michelin-starred French restaurant in the Four Seasons Hong Kong had guests seated by the windows, though at the same time by the ferry piers, many people carried plastic bags with their meals inside.

Lam scans the QR code before entering

Some were thrilled to finally go to the gym, another activity to do after having completed several of the hiking trails since November.

Meanwhile electronic shops were doing a brisk business these few days, some selling new phones, others "burner phones", or second-hand ones for people to use just for the LeaveHomeSafe app that must be used starting today if eating in a restaurant, going to the gym, and many other places.

"I'm buying a burner phone because the government clearly doesn't trust Hongkongers, so why would I trust them?" Vincent, 28, an accountant who gave only his first name because of the sensitivity of the issue, told Reuters.

Many had the same sentiment, as people flocked to places like Sham Shui Po to buy cheap electronic equipment.

People flock to Sham Shui Po for cheap phones

"People are just looking for a cheap smartphone that can run the LeaveHomeSafe app," said a vendor surnamed Wong. She reported selling 50 phones in the past week compared to the usual 10 or so the week previously.

Anecdotally a relative reported seeing more people writing down contact details than scanning the QR code, in a protest of fears the government could see their private information from the contact-tracing app on their phones.

Some planned to write their contact details as "Carrie Lam", referring to Hong Kong's chief executive, and then leave a fake phone number.

While this may seem amusing, the government may not take the joke, and may instead enforce people to use the QR code, perhaps with penalties attached, as contact tracing during a pandemic is a serious public health issue.

An employee in Choi Wan Estate was assaulted

And putting the onus on the business to ensure people scan the app isn't going down well -- a McDonald's employee in Choi Wan Estate suffered injuries after he was assaulted by a man in his 20s or 30s with his phone after refusing to use the LeaveHomeSafe app.

Restaurant industry leaders had expressed concerns altercations could happen between employees and guests if they did not comply to either scanning the QR code or writing down their details.

And already the first incident happened on the first day...

 

Jimmy Lai Arrested on Another Charge

Lai was arrested and charged with helping 12 fugitives flee

 

It was a surprise to hear Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai Chee-ying -- who is already remanded for several charges, including breaching the national security law -- to be arrested again.

This time he was arrested for allegedly helping the 12 fugitives flee to Taiwan in August, though they were intercepted by the Guangdong coastguard.

A legal assistant allegedly helped Andy Li (above)

Early Monday morning a 29-year-old legal assistant was arrested and this morning charged for allegedly conspiring with Lai, activist Andy Li Yu-hin, and others in colluding with foreign forces.

Lai was arrested and charged under the national security law for "conspiracy to assist an offender", and "conspiracy to collude with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security", which has a maximum sentence of life in prison.

The legal assistant, Chan Tsz-wah was also accused of conspiring with Lai, Li and others to help Li leave Hong Kong and escape prosecution.

Prosecutors claimed Chan conspired with Lai, and the media tycoon's right-hand man, Mark Simon, Li, Lau Cho-dik and others "to request a foreign country or an institution, organization or individual outside the mainland, Hong Kong, and Macau... to impose sanctions or blockade or engage in other hostile activities against [Hong Kong] or People's Republic of China".

Simon allegedly conspired "to assist offenders"

The offense allegedly took place between last July and Monday when Chan was arrested. Simon and Lau are still wanted in connection with the case.

Last October Chan was arrested for allegedly helping the dozen fugitives flee to Taiwan, charged for one count of "conspiracy to assist an offender" in connection with Li's escape attempt. 

Did Lai really get involved in this incident? What evidence do prosecutors have?

In the meantime we may catch a glimpse of Lai again tomorrow when he appears in High Court for his bail review hearing... 

Green Light for Reopening Some Venues

This afternoon Dr Chan announced loosening of restrictions

 

So it's happening.

The Hong Kong government announced the relaxation of measures starting on Thursday, the seventh day of the Lunar New Year.

However there are some odd choices of why certain venues will reopen and others will not.

What will open? 

Theme parks like Ocean Park can reopen

Restaurants can operate until 10pm and have four to a table -- even though in terms of public gatherings are still a maximum of two people. Secretary for Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee said this regulation will be amended to four people soon.

Other places can open, like cinemas, gyms, massage and beauty parlours, concert halls, theme parks, exhibition centres, bowling alleys, skating rinks, and game centres.

But venues that will remain closed are bars, party rooms, bathhouses, karaoke lounges, mahjong parlours, beaches, children's play facilities, barbecue sites and swimming pools.

It boggles the mind how this government decides that for example game centres can open but not swimming pools or beaches. Children can't even play on playgrounds.

When asked about this, Chan didn't have an answer, only to say the government was proceeding with caution, and is being vigilant for any rebound in cases after the Lunar New Year.

"I don't think the next phase of relaxation will be very soon," she replied to a question asking when the other venues may reopen.

Mahjong parlours remain closed

Meanwhile people are rushing to buy an extra phone and sim card to use the LeaveHomeSafe app starting on Thursday when entering premises like restaurants, cinemas, wet markets and gyms.

The salesperson who sold me the sim card said he had already helped several customers with the same request.

I remarked that his company was lucky to get this extra business considering others are still hurting because of the coronavirus pandemic.

"Actually we don't really want to do this kind of business -- pandemic business. This app is making people spend more money when they shouldn't have to," he said, adding it was just like the mask-buying situation where the scarcity led to high prices. 

Afterwards I set up the app and tried it out this evening. It's easy to use, scanning a QR code when you enter, then press "leave" when you are leaving, though it prompts two options of "leaving now" or "already left".

Swimming pools must also stay shut

It is hoped the app can help people record their movements in case they themselves are infected, or can alert others if they were in the same place at the same time. In theory it will help speed up contact tracing and it will be interesting to see how quickly people will comply to using it from Thursday.

In the meantime I will continue to walk instead of swim for exercise, though I have die-hard swimming friends who have resorted to open-water swimming these last several months! 

 

Is the Fourth Wave Over Yet?

Community Testing Centres were fully booked for tests

 

For the first time since November 18, Hong Kong logged nine new coronavirus cases today, four of which were local, five imported.

However, health officials at this afternoon's press conference were at pains to remind the public to not socialize too much during the Lunar New Year holiday, that if they feel unwell they should seek medical attention, and to be vigilant about wearing a mask and hand hygiene.

Centre for Health Protection's new chief Dr Ronald Lam Man-kin was asked by a reporter that while the number of cases has dropped to single digits, was another three days enough to indicate this was a decreasing trend in order to allow gyms, beauty parlours, cinemas and amusement parks to reopen this Thursday, while restaurants can open until 10pm with four people per table.

Dr Lam warned the public to be careful these days

He was desperately doing verbal gymnastics to say that while the number of cases today was low, people will be going back to work tomorrow and that there is a possibility of a surge in infections in the next day or so, and didn't really answer the question.

"Looking back at past experience, usually after long vacations and gatherings... we will see some form of upsurge. We will not rule out the possibility that the number of cases will go up again. We need to observe that trend and be very, very cautious," Lam said.

As he was saying this, my neighbours were having a karaoke party one floor above, belting out Cantopop songs from the 1990s. 

This past weekend hotels were also very busy with staycations for Valentine's Day, many guests staying for two nights, along with special lunches and afternoon teas.

Again -- why did the Hong Kong government choose February 18 to reopen the above mentioned venues and not wait two weeks until the end of the month or early March? February 18 seems to early to tell if this is definitely a declining trend.

If restaurants and other places reopen, the chances of infections will rise again and Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor will never reach her zero infection goal.

Many enjoyed staycations for Valentine's Day

Meanwhile chefs on social media are already hinting they will reopen this Thursday and that they can't wait to cook for dinner service.

However, I am of the camp that we should wait a bit longer to ensure the number of infections is definitely on a downward trend. It seems irresponsible for the authorities to promise something like this when on social media there are pictures of gatherings larger than 10 in people's flats to mark the start of the Year of the Ox.

And those are the get-togethers we know about. 

One of the infections reported today was a baker who worked in a bakery in a Tuen Mun shopping centre, and another was a student who has been studying online for months and hasn't been on the school premises.

Meanwhile to prepare for openings on Thursdays, all the community testing centres in the city are all booked solid for appointments and health officials again reminded people that they could also get tested by leaving their deep throat saliva samples in collection boxes at MTR stations.

Tomorrow and Wednesday should be interesting in terms of the number of cases and what will the government say if there is a surge in cases...