Covid Numbers Climb; Oscar-Nominated Ascension

Babies and toddlers seems more at risk of Covid-19 now

Hong Kong had another record day of cases -- 7,533 -- and sadly 16 deaths, one of which was an 11-month old baby girl. There is a big concern now about children becoming infected and how they are not getting vaccinated or are too young to be vaccinated in the case of this baby.

Meanwhile the government is still going ahead with the vaccine pass that starts on Thursday. In order to get a haircut or go to a religious service you must have at least one jab and have this vaccination certification uploaded on your LeaveHomeSafe app.

Uploaded vaccine passport is on left, none on right

If you are going to a shopping mall, supermarket, department store or wet market then you may need to show your vaccine pass if a security person stops you. So there may be some people who are not vaccinated and may take the risk of going into a supermarket without having to show anything. How is this helpful?

And perhaps even worse, no vaccination is needed at all to go into a hotel! Why is that when almost all hotel staff were pushed to get the jab? It boggles the mind.

Something completely unrelated to Covid -- I watched a documentary called Ascension that was nominated for Best Documentary at this year's Academy Awards.

I didn't know quite what to expect and was surprised at the end and how it all came together.

Oscar-nominated documentary Ascension

There is no one main character, no particular storyline, but it becomes more apparent the longer you watch it. It starts off with scenes of people looking for jobs and those trying to entice them with decent labour conditions, like free wifi, air conditioning in the dormitories, but the pay is very low at around 20 kuai (US$3.15) an hour. We are not sure what the jobs entail, but some say you get to sit while working, others say the job is in an office.

People get rounded up and taken in coaches to their new destiny.

Some make rugs for Ikea, components for spray bottles, bottles of water, others make microchips, Christmas trees, jeans, and shirts. 

Perhaps the most amusing scene is watching mostly women putting sex dolls together. They are made of silicone, with large pendulous breasts, and curvy bottoms. They have permanent surprised expressions on their faces. Each one is custom made -- "Her nipples need to be pink!" one worker says, another has her wig changed from blonde to brunette. Another flings the doll's legs apart to inspect her down there. Each one is photographed to make sure it is correctly done up.

Worker checks the sex doll's face with the order

An interesting tidbit is that director Jessica Kingdon said a subsequent talk that all the sex doll factories they went to were owned by women.

Then the film shifts to jobs that have been created in the last few years, such as cryptocurrency mining (mostly young guys playing video games and eating lots of junk food), men collecting rented bikes that are dumped in a pile, people talking into their smartphone streaming online to sell things, and what looks like a pyramid company, where everyone is aiming to make over 10 million yuan in three years.

There's also people who are training to be bodyguards, hitting each other until there are scratches and bruises on their chests, and to be professional-looking assistants where they should smile to show eight of their upper teeth, while others are training to be butlers, measuring the distance between glasses and plates. The instructor asks them if they have ever watched Downton Abbey and none of them have, leaving them with little understanding with what career they have chosen.

It's an interesting look at what Chinese wealthy people think what being rich should look like, and the butlers trying to fulfill that fantasy. They probably assume everyone in England lives like that, ringing a bell for the butler to appear. 

People waiting around to get work in factories

This is similar to the aspirations of China's middle class. They think they have made it when they buy luxury brands or they go to a water park and sharks swim around them in an outer pool. It's all quite overwhelming the sheer numbers of people all trying to enjoy themselves at the same time.

Kingdon herself has an interesting background. Her father is Jewish-American, her mother is Chinese. Her brother went to China for a few years, learned Mandarin and persuaded his sister to come look at the country.

Before Covid-19, Kingdon and her small crew filmed in 51 different locations around the country and she says in interviews she had the best Chinese food. Kingdon also managed to meet relatives on her mother's side, one of which is now a cousin who works in Silicon Valley in the US.

Nevertheless, the title of the film comes from her great grandfather who wrote poems. One of them is Ascension, where he writes that the higher one climbs, one is horrified by what they see down below.

Director Jessica Kingdon, her mother is Chinese

This encapsulates the film -- how people are struggling to get ahead in some way, whether it's factory work to escape the poverty in the countryside, or to become a butler in the hopes of getting away from a terrible work environment. And with all this production and capitalism leads to terrible environmental damage, climate change, and exploitation of labour.

But Ascension doesn't preach a particular message, nor is it judgemental -- it has a fly-on-the-wall approach to the film and lets the viewers see what is going on and decide for themselves what they see in the documentary.

Ascension

Directed by Jessica Kingdon

97 minutes

Curious Observations About Xiao Jianhua

Xiao Jianhua had a preference for female bodyguards to protect him

There is now further development in the Xiao Jianhua story, with reports saying the 46-year-old billionaire is on the mainland "assisting investigations" into the stock market turmoil in 2015 and the case of a former top spy apparently.

But in the meantime there has been a lot of buzz about how he and many other uber wealthy mainlanders stay in the apartments at the Four Seasons Hong Kong. It is nicknamed "north-facing watchtower" by mainland businessmen and the media.

Some media outlets have reported that rich mainlanders trying to evade the law seek refuge in this hotel, where the presidential suite can set you back HK$78,000 (US$10,000) a night.

Xi Zhendong has been reported to stay at the Four Seasons

They apparently prefer this hotel because of its "timeless luxury" as well as its location, with the airport express downstairs and it is a short walk to the Shun Tak ferry terminal to Macau.

Some people were were believed to have stayed there include Xi Zhendong, head of technology firm Beida Jade Bird. He lived in the hotel in 2014 when another businessman he was allegedly connected to was placed under investigation on the mainland.

Another is Xing Libin, founder of Shanxi coal mining company Liansheng Energy. He also spent time at the Four Seasons Hong Kong after he heard Beijing authorities were investigating his company. He later returned to Shanxi where he was arrested.

Some others include LeEco founder Jia Yueting, Jiangxi tycoon Xiong Xianzhong of Ke Long supermarkets, businessman Su Daren, and Wu Changjiang, chief executive of NVC Lighting who spent time in the hotel to evade mainland authorities.

However, it is an intriguing fact that Xiao would have an entourage of female bodyguards ranging from two to eight.

Xing Libin also stayed at the hotel, but was later arrested

When questioned by the media, Hong Kong security experts commented it was unusual to have an entire team of female bodyguards, rather than say one as part of a team.

Bruce McLaren, the chief operating officer of Signal 8 Security, said having female bodyguards was mostly beneficial to female clients, as they could accompany them to the washroom or changing areas with ease.

He added female bodyguards can be just as strong as the men.

So the mystery continues as to the fate of Xiao -- will he be allowed to come back to Hong Kong? Will he be detained indefinitely on the mainland?

And also -- will mainlanders now avoid staying at the Four Seasons as mainland agents just plucked Xiao out of there even though he had bodyguards with him?