Omicron Infections Worrying

Sorry little fella, you need to go... some 2,000 hamsters culled

Hamster-geddon has been the talk of the town today, as we watched news coverage of people giving up their rodent pets to the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department to test them for Covid-19, and regardless if they are negative or positive, they are "humanely handled", but we all know what that means...

One father interviewed outside the AFCD said it was not fair, having to get rid of the animal when it was a living thing, and having to explain to his children that the hamster had to be destroyed because of the pandemic. But at the same time he said for the safety of the family the hamster had to go.

A mother said her children had been talking about getting a small pet for a while and then they finally got the hamster on the weekend, but now she was taking it to be culled.

AFCD asked people to surrender their hamsters

But others reported in other news articles have refused to hand over the animals, saying they would rather die than surrender their hamsters. Some saw this as an act of resistance against the government, and others even organised a system to take in hamsters as fosters; it reminded some of when strangers would taken in protesters for their safety back in 2019.

It has even gotten to the point where death threats have been sent to infectious disease experts like Dr David Hui Shu-cheong, and Dr Yuen Kwok-yung, but he brushed off the ominous messages, as he'd received them before...

In any event, seeing headlines like "Killing Hamsters Drives Hong Kong to New Low in Meeting China's Zero-Covid Dream", and "Hong Kong hamster massacre: Residents resist 'zero-Covid' city's pet project" give a horrific impression of the city, especially when no other animal-to-human transmission has been found around the world for the past two years.

While experts are still trying to find out if it was animal-to-human transmission or the other way around, Yuen believes the hamsters that came from the Netherlands, were most probably infected while in the warehouse in Tai Po, which is why he still thinks the cull was necessary.

Can you get infected with a mask on? Possibly

Today there is a report that one could possibly be infected with the Omicron virus just by passing by an infected person -- and everyone is wearing masks.

This is the plausible explanation of how a 26-year-old kindergarten teacher tested positive after passing by two infected people while walking in an MTR tunnel at a Mei Foo exit.

CCTV footage and her Octopus card transaction history showed she went through a tunnel exit at almost the same time -- just nine seconds apart -- as the two infected people last Friday. All three wore masks, and the teacher did not have contact with the pair.

Hui says this shows that the Omicron variant is four to eight times more transmissible than the Delta variant.

"If the index [patient] was near the kindergarten teacher, the wind direction could carry droplets [containing virus] to the teacher," he said. "Although a surgical mask could protect you from large droplets, it could still reach your eyes or leak in when you rub your eyes and nose."

He added that short-range airborne transmission could also occur if they stayed at a close distance, through gaps at the sides of the masks. He suggested residents wear glasses, plain spectacles, or face shields on top of face masks for extra protection.

Hui says Omicron droplets can get into the eyes

Oh no. Here we go again with people going over the top with a face shield on top of masks and those goggles usually worn in laboratories.

We are so exhausted by the whole pandemic and now we are told to be even more paranoid. 

"When is this going to end?" people keep asking openly, and there's no definitive answer.

Now that Omicron can possibly be caught so easily, restaurants are definitely going to see a drop in dine-in business, and who wants to even eat with a friend anymore?

It's all too much to bear. The impending Year of the Tiger is not looking good...

RTHK Becoming State Media

Lam (centre) at launch of CMG's 100th anniversary programs

 

Radio Television Hong Kong has been pretty much gutted into a shell (of its former self) in renovation speak -- ready to be remade into the form of a news outlet that is approved by Beijing. In other words, state-controlled media.

Earlier this week Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor announced that RTHK will build a long-term alliance with state-owned China Media Group and air more television content produced on the mainland in a bid to boost patriotism in the city.

Xi awarded medals to war veterans on July 1

China Media Group includes China Central Television (CCTV),  China National Radio, and China Radio International. CMG is controlled by the Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party.

The local broadcaster on channel TV31 will be running more dramas and documentaries produced by CCTV. 

She said the programs "offer a crucial opportunity to let Hong Kong people have a comprehensive and thorough understanding of the struggle and development of the Communist Party of China and nurture a stronger sense of patriotism".

Lam praised the quality of the programing, even adding: "I am also a fan of CCTV."

Where can people sign up to join the CCTV fan club?

So far TV31 has run programs like Awarding Ceremony of July 1 Medals, when President Xi Jinping bestowed honours on outstanding party members and war veterans. There's another called The Great Journey, documenting major moments in the history of the party. And there are other documentaries, like Masters of the Forbidden City and Asia-Pacific War Crimes Trials.

Masters of the Forbidden City

Riveting viewing.

In the future, Lam said, RTHK will make more programs aimed at promoting national security, Greater Bay Area development, and the country's 14th five-year plan "in order to help Hong Kong citizens understand Chinese culture and the country's latest developments".

In the last several years television has become irrelevant with people streaming shows online and watching them on their laptops and mobile phones.

It'll be interesting to see if it is difficult to find staff to produce this kind of content, and also what audience numbers are like when these state-produced shows are airing full time...

Joan Cornella's My Life is Pointless

Cornella's art is laced with black humour

 

This year has been... a write-off to say the least. The inability to get together with friends and family, to travel, having to wear masks all the time, working from home, and dealing with social-distancing measures have all taken a toll on all of us.

Which is why we all need a laugh, and artist Joan Cornella has a sarcastic, and often black humour in his work.

This work sums up 2020 for me

The 39-year-old artist from Barcelona is holding his third solo exhibition called My Life is Pointless in Hong Kong, at Sotheby's no less in Pacific Place in Admiralty. 

To ensure social-distancing measures were in place, visitors had to book a time slot to visit the gallery -- and yet they were all filled up before the exhibition started, and there are even wait lists! With the help of a publicist involved in promoting the show, I got a Friday morning time slot -- and only five or six other people were there at the same time.

Before entering we had to fill out health declaration forms, including recording our temperature, and use hand sanitizer.

Young Hongkongers seem to love Cornella's biting observations about modern life that he captures with surreal, often disturbing images.

The last time his show was here, he had some Hong Kong-inspired elements, such as how people need to multitask to survive, and how people's living spaces are so tiny that he questions why people would pay mortgages for them.

A Hong Kong-related piece?

This time the images are more general, but still satirical. As the introduction explains, his characters all share a generic blank smile and a bright cheery colour palette akin to 1950s advertising or airline safety pamphlets. 

Cornella pokes fun at horrible topics, such as cannibalism, infanticide, murder, suicide and amputation. 

"In m comics, characters are like plastic and always have a big smile even though horrible things happen to them constantly. Everything is exaggerated, although certain behaviours can relate to real life," he says.

Perhaps one piece that sums up 2020 with a woman smiling and says: "Today is a good day to feel more boredom and pain!"

Another is a cut out of a man who is smiling and his T-shirt says "free hugs" but he himself has no arms.

You get the idea.

Perhaps the only Hong Kong-related piece is a man in a suit holding up a picketing sign that reads: "Stop demonstrating" when he himself is.

Point a CCTV camera at yourself

Cornella has also created pieces of a man holding a selfie stick with a gun attached to it, pointing at his smiling face. Another version has a CCTV camera attached to the selfie stick, in case he wanted to record his every move -- which many influencers do!

If you are keen on any of Cornella's work in this exhibition, they are available for immediate purchase... someone is desperate to make a sale. We didn't dare ask the prices, but wondered who buys his work when they define the moment right now. Do they stand the test of time?

The gallery is spacious, though we had to feel for the security guards who had to listen to strange music playing all day that sounded very unsettling.

Nevertheless, we just enjoyed seeing these crazy art pieces to give us a bit of levity in such an annus horribilis to the nth degree.

My Life is Pointless by Joan Cornella

Sotheby's Hong Kong Gallery

5/F, One Pacific Place

Admiralty

December 15, 2020-January 29, 2021

China's Propaganda Machine in Overdrive

Medical staff in full suits looking after coronavirus patients in Wuhan

The Chinese government is anxious to show it is doing everything to battle the coronavirus, which means all hands on deck in the propaganda department.

There are video clips of mostly men who are seen dashing into police stations or government offices and dropping off boxes of masks or lots of cash and then running away.

It's meant to show people's selflessness, that they are willing to give away their life savings to the authorities to fight the coronavirus. If they ran away, how would they know all these details? Or maybe these people just robbed a bank beforehand?



The first video seemed shocking but sweet, but now there are about 41 different video clips which makes them even more staged. Why would so many people run into a police station or government office, dump bricks of cash on the counter and then run off again? It boggles the mind.

Then today CCTV has a clip of apparently two nurses decked out in full hazmat gear complete with plastic shields and blue suits yellow shoe covers in a coordinated dance outside of the hospital. Apparently they were trying to make light of the situation and enjoying a fun moment.



Really? From the clips I've seen of nurses having mental breakdowns, them dancing like children is completely off the wall and ridiculous. It's so obvious this clip was begging for sympathy.

But then there are uncomfortable video clips of more than a dozen nurses in Gansu province having their heads shaved, calling them "the most beautiful warriors!" in a bid to show their devotion to fighting the coronavirus. These women are crying, which seems to indicate they were coerced into doing this. Why didn't the men go bald too?



And there are horrific stories of nurses being forced to take birth control pills so they wouldn't menstruate (as going to the bathroom would be too much trouble), and they were chastised for asking for sanitary pads and tampons, saying they "lacked the spirit of devotion".

While the propaganda army was hoping these clips of the nurses would make the public sympathize with them, it actually enraged people that the women were being treated this way and vented their wrath online.

Young people in particular have had enough of the propaganda machine, as they can access a lot of information and clips via WeChat or going over the Great Firewall to see what people outside of China are saying about the coronavirus in their own country.

People are still very angry about Dr Li's Wenliang's death

They were particularly angry following the death of Dr Li Wenliang, who tried to warn his former classmates about the coronavirus, and were angry that the police accused him of spreading rumours.

"In the past month, many young people have been reading a lot of firsthand information and in-depth media reports about the epidemic on the internet," says Stephanie Xia, a 26-year-old in Shanghai in The New York Times. She says they are angry and confused about what they learned.

"There's some gap between what the young people are really like and what the government believes what they're like," Xia adds.

For young people today, this coronavirus and how they experienced it is much like other seminal events, like the Wenchuan earthquake in 2008, the Wenzhou train crash in 2011, the downfall of Bo Xilai in 2013.

How China's next generation is influenced by how they went through this year's coronavirus crisis will forever shape their perceptions of the Communist Party of China and their trust in the government.

One gets the feeling it's not going to be very solid...

Hong Kong's Inept Leadership on Coronavirus

About half of people I saw today wore masks as a precaution in public areas

After last night's news of Hong Kong having two confirmed cases of patients testing positive with the coronavirus, this morning many people wore surgical masks in public. Some of my colleagues wore masks because they were coughing, or others wore the protective gear to prevent themselves from catching anything.

Not having been here in 2003, I was reticent about what to do -- was it that serious? But it seems like it is better to err on the side of caution these days. You never know if the person next to you isn't feeling well.

Why can the MTR be stopped and not the high speed rail?

However, the supply of masks has run out in many pharmacies in Hong Kong, making people panic even more.

But in a way they have a right to worry as the Hong Kong government seems to take a laissez-faire attitude towards the coronavirus that originated from an animal market in Wuhan, in Hubei province.

Even health experts are chastising the government for acting so slowly in trying to contain or prevent cases from coming into the city.

"There is so much more the Hong Kong government can do. They have done so little so far," said Dr. Arisina Ma Chung-yee, president of the Hong Kong Public Doctors' Association. "The checks at the border are insufficient."

Dr Ho Pak-leung says the government needs to do more

Previously there was no need for passengers traveling on the high speed rail to the West Kowloon terminus to fill out a health card which is outrageous. It turns out many of the suspected and confirmed cases were of passengers who took this mode of transport to Hong Kong. If they don't fill out health cards with contact details, how can the authorities track them down as soon as possible?

And with the first suspected case in Hong Kong, why did the authorities allow them to leave Hong Kong and go to Manila to possibly infect another country? It boggles the mind.

Ma also urged the government to consider giving away free masks in public facilities like libraries, to prevent the spread of germs.

Dr Ho Pak-leung from the University of Hong Kong said the government was now doing worse than in 2003, when the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) killed 299 people in the city. At the time everyone entering Hong Kong had to fill out a health form.

"Hong Kong needs to wake up. We all need to wake up. The situation right now is very severe," he said.

People want to travel home for Chinese New Year

Ho added the government should issue the black travel alert to Wuhan, meaning everyone should avoid going there; at present there is only a black alert for Syria.

He also said doctors had claimed many sick mainlanders were trying to come to Hong Kong to seek medical treatment, and this showed the need to step up border controls.

But perhaps the government is caught flat-footed because our fearless leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor is not here but in Davos trying to sell Hong Kong, when she should be delegating more power to her ministers to do everything possible to minimize the coronavirus from spreading in the city. But it seems our city is being run top-down, and since our chief executive isn't here, her ministers don't seem to know what to do.

Political scientist and commentator Simon Shen Xu Hui points out that the MTR can be shut down at anytime because of the protests, but nothing has been done to shut down the high speed rail to prevent the coronavirus from coming into Hong Kong.

A suspected case in Central startles people in the area

But perhaps even worse is mainlanders in China are unaware or not given enough information about the seriousness of the Wuhan coronavirus. For example on tonight's news on CCTV, President Xi Jinping's speech at a Spring Festival banquet was the top story, followed by New Year cultural activities around the country, a happy report on people at Beijing West train station traveling home, and a story on how the rehearsals are going for the CCTV Spring Festival Gala. The Wuhan coronavirus was the fifth news item.

No wonder people are trying to get into Hong Kong to find out what's really going on.

This outbreak is really bad timing -- with Chinese New Year days away, how do you prevent masses of people from congregating or traveling around?

After dinner I took a stroll along the waterfront and one woman was running with a mask on which seemed like overkill. How was she able to breathe? In any event, it looks like wearing masks in public will be de rigeur in the next few weeks at least...

Video of the Day: Carrie Lam's Husband

Xi on stage with performers to celebrate Macau's 20th anniversary handover

Macau is celebrating its 20th anniversary today with a show that is reminiscent of stick-to-the-script happy-faced people in colourful costumes with broad smiles on their faces.

During the rendition of "Ode to the Motherland" that was broadcast on CCTV, lots of performers were standing on stage, with President Xi Jinping front and centre, clapping and singing along with his wife, Peng Liyuan.

HK leader Carrie Lam's husband, Lam Siu-por, has been hailed by some as gutsy frontline 'sau zuk' (hands & feet, the term protesters called each other) after a Macau Daily video shows he has refused to clap & sing the patriotic song with others during the #Macau20 show last night pic.twitter.com/xSU8biG5PM

— Jeffie Lam (@jeffielam) December 20, 2019

 

Below watching the stage in the front row were some Hong Kong officials, like Zhang Xiaoming, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, Chinese foreign diplomat Wang Yi, and Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor.

Oh wait -- who's next to her -- it's her husband, Dr Lam Siu-por! We haven't seen him in public in ages!

Carrie Lam’s Husband Dr. Lam Siu-bor decided to take no action when everyone was singing “Ode to the Motherland 歌唱祖國” in Macau. pic.twitter.com/QXctElWMVV

— Galileo Cheng (@galileocheng) December 20, 2019

 

And notice how he's not clapping or singing the patriotic song, instead holding his hands together in front.

If you didn't know the words, perhaps you would at least clap along, but Dr Lam didn't even do that. He seems to be the only person purposely not partaking in the song.

Observers immediately jumped on it and described Dr Lam as a "frontline protester".

Wonder what his wife thought about that, and also Xi?

Perhaps more importantly, when will we next see Dr Lam again?!

Loss of Trust

Protestors set fires in Mongkok tonight, angry at police brutality

The problem with Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor finally announcing she will withdraw the bill after three months of protests is that all the trust in the government and the police is completely gone.

Tonight the MTR stations at Mongkok and Prince Edward are shut down and tear gas has been fired yet again because people are surrounding these stations and demanding answers about how the police brutally beat people up on August 31. They also believe a person died in Prince Edward MTR station, which the railway operator denies.

At 7am this morning a woman dressed in black and wearing a hat and mask, sat down by the control booth at Prince Edward MTR station and had a sign demanding the staff release the CCTV footage in the station and she would start a hunger strike.

A quiet protest crowd gathered at Prince Edward MTR station

Even though she left at noon, by late afternoon a large crowd had filled a good part of the station with other people sitting there quietly.

While people accuse the police of treating people brutally in the station, the force claims its officers only chased after those radicals they believed changed their clothes after trashing the station.

The police also pushed journalists aside whenever they were beating people up, the authorities claiming they were concerned for their safety, but really they didn't want more video footage of them excessively hitting people.

And now people want CCTV video footage in the Prince Edward and Mongkok MTR stations to be made public. They don't trust anyone anymore.

That also means protesters still want Lam to agree to their other four demands; one is far from enough.

A statue symbolizing the Hong Kong protests up in Central

Every evening at 10pm, people can be heard doing "shout protests", calling out for the five demands to be met. Even this evening as I came out of the MTR station, there was a young woman in black standing across the street, shouting out slogans.

Perhaps Lam doesn't hear them, but surely she must know people are not satisfied with just withdrawing the bill.

If she really wants to stop the violence and help start Hong Kong heal, then she really must also conduct an independent inquiry. The more she refuses, the more the violence will escalate again.

How does Lam think she and the police will build up trust again with the people when they are skeptical of anything she or her administration say?

Picture of the Day: New Architectural Addition in Beijing

The CCTV tower with the China Zun Tower to the right in Guomao, Beijing

Beijing continues to look more modern with very tall buildings or ones that spread out with funky shapes but once you go inside, the interiors look pretty much the same. They are all office buildings anyway.

When we were wandering around Guomao the business district, we saw the famous CCTV or shall we say CGTN building, where CGTN stands for China Global Television Network, but further down was a tall skinny tower.

It turns out it's the China Zun Tower designed by architectural design firm Farrells. At 528 metres, it towers over every other building in the Chinese capital and the country too.

Some locals have already nicknamed it the penis building...

Tibetan Let Down by Rule of Law

Tashi Wangchuk is concerned about losing the Tibetan culture

A few days ago, a Tibetan who was hoping to petition the Chinese government to have better teaching of the Tibetan language, was thrown in jail for five years, convicted for "inciting separatism".

The thing is, Tashi Wangchuk doesn't want to have anything to do with independence. He just wants to preserve the Tibetan language and culture.

To that end he tried to file a lawsuit against local officials for going against China's constitution that says all ethnicities in China "have the freedom to use and develop their own spoken and written languages".

However he couldn't do that, so he traveled to Beijing in the hopes of getting China Central Television (CCTV) to shine a spotlight on the issue of how the quality of teaching Tibetan has fallen and how he wants to protect the language from being sidelined by Mandarin.

Beijing seems intent on more Chinese spoken than Tibetan

But when he tries to approach the CCTV building in Beijing, he sees security guards asking visitors for their ID cards and he worries he will be taken in by the police. In a touch of naivety, he thought state media was open and was always searching the truth.

Then he tries to find lawyers to take on his case, but many of them say the Chinese government has done good things for Tibet, particularly economic development. Either they are pro-Beijing or they just don't want to get involved.

His attempt to petition the government and expose his story led to him being detained in 2016 after appearing in a New York Times video chronicling his journey. Most recently that video was used as evidence against him in a four-hour trial in January, saying he was deliberately inciting separatism and trying to discredit the government's international image and treatment of ethnic minorities.

Tashi was previously a shopkeeper and learned Tibetan from his brother, who had studied with a monk. In 2015 Tashi tried to find a Tibetan teacher for his niece, traveling through several provinces but couldn't find any.

In the video by the New York Times, Tashi says: "The local government is controlling the actual Tibetan culture, such as the spoken and written language. It looks like development or help on the surface, but actually the goal is to eliminate our culture."

Did he not make his argument clear, using the Chinese law to push China to preserve Tibetan language and culture?

Apparently Beijing was not pleased by this tactic and turned the tables on Tashi. He is a young man who has thought long and hard about how to bring change to his people. Tashi tried, but in the end sacrificed himself for the cause.

In the video he talks about how over 100 Tibetans have committed self-immolation. He observes they didn't do it because of a family dispute, but because they feel so strongly about the Tibet they know disappearing that they have lost hope that things will get better.

He doesn't think he would do that, but he can now see how desperate some people are, that they practically have no choice left but to accept the inevitable -- that Beijing controls Tibet, despite it being called an "autonomous region".

For now Tashi will appeal, but trying to silence him with jail is only going to create more resentment against the Han Chinese...

"Ice Boy" Reveals Plight of "Left-Behind" Children

"Ice Boy" Wang Fuman (centre) visits Beijing for the first time

Over a week ago there was an uproar in Chinese cyberspace with the story of "Ice Boy".

Wang Fuman, an eight-year-old boy from Ludian county, in a poor area of Yunnan province became famous overnight when he was photographed with his hair, eyelashes and eyebrows covered in frost and he wasn't wearing enough clothes to keep warm. It took him over an hour to walk 4.5km to get to school everyday.

The picture went viral with many in China feeling sorry for the boy, who is a "left-behind child", because his parents have to leave home to work elsewhere, while Wang and his older sister are raised by their grandparents.

This picture of "Ice Boy" went viral

An outpouring of sympathy led to donations of over 300,000 yuan (US$46,900), but apparently not all the money went to the child -- apparently the local government only gave the family 8,000 yuan, saying it was not good for the boy to become "rich" overnight, which led to questions of where the rest of the money went.

State broadcaster CCTV reported 100,000 yuan went to Wang's school, Zhuangshanbao. So where did the over 202,000 yuan go?

Maybe it went towards his "free" trip to Beijing this past weekend for three days with his father and older sister. But the propaganda website China Peace, run by the Party's Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission claims to have shelled out for the trip.

It was the first time Wang had ever been on a plane, left his hometown and gone elsewhere. He also marveled that people in the Chinese capital had indoor heating, which probably led to him wondering why he didn't have that at home.

"It's very cold at home, but very warm in Beijing. At home, we have to burn charcoal at night for warmth. In Beijing, the rooms are so warm -- I only need to wear one layer of clothing. This is the first time I've come across heating, it really is a miracle," he said. "I want to see how children in Beijing go to school, and whether they need to walk a long way everyday."

He and his sister in their bare home

He might also be shocked to find kids in the big city get driven by car or take the bus, not many actually walk to school -- let alone 4.5km -- to get to class.

And apparently to make life better for Wang, his father has been given a job in his hometown so he doesn't have to be away from his children. Is he really going to earn enough money to support the family? And what about the other parents of "left-behind" children? Is the government going to offer them jobs too?

These stop-gap measures hardly solve the problem of "left-behind" children. It wouldn't be a surprise to find after six months to a year that Wang's father needs to leave again to support his family.

The government really doesn't seem to care or understand the plight of these people and that the economy is dependent on migrants like Wang's father to work in big cities. However, the sacrifices they make are a big impact on the family's emotional well-being.

"When I saw the photo, there was pain in my heart," says Wang's 28-year-old father. "I couldn't stay home and look after my children -- I had no choice. If I didn't leave and find work somewhere else, my two kids would've have had nothing to eat."

How is Xi Jinping going to solve this problem? With "left-behind" children, their education level is lower which leads to less opportunities later in life, stuck doing menial work and unable to further improve their situation.

If China values these 60 million children, then it will do something, but so far not much has been done for them. If Xi wants to eradicate poverty by 2020, these children need to be on the priority list.

Lam's Tale Apparently Full of Holes

 Lam was arrested last night; today he was charged with misleading police

The bizarre story of Democratic Party member Howard Lam Tsz-kin took another turn today as he has now been charged with misleading police, as the authorities are finding his story implausible.

Footage shows Lam was there an hour later than he claimed

Yesterday news organization Fact Wire released video footage its reporters had gathered where Lam claimed he had been abducted by mainland agents. Instead of seeing him bungled into a van in Yau Ma Tei, he was walking on his own with a knapsack on his back. He was also in the area an hour after he claimed the incident took place.

There was more CCTV footage of him getting onto a minibus in Mongkok to go to Sai Kung and he wandered around the beach. Originally he had claimed his abductors had dumped him there in his underwear and he somehow managed to have money to take a taxi home.

Police also questioned why the crosses of staples on his thighs were so neatly done, and there was no sign of him struggling. Staples on other parts of his body that he couldn't reach could have made the claims more plausible.

Police say the staples in his thighs were too neat to be forced

Lam's case will be heard tomorrow in Kowloon City Court, though he will not be present because he claimed to be feeling unwell and was still in hospital.

Another issue is that Lam has a history of mental health issues including depression and suicide, and the authorities think that perhaps the stapling was a form of self-harm, but he insisted he was mentally fine.

Meanwhile the Democratic Party is slowly backing away from Lam, after they had rallied around him during his press conference last week. The whole incident further disintegrates whatever integrity the party had left, making it the laughing stock of local politics, dragging down the likes of Martin Lee Chu-ming with it.

Police searched for more clues on Sai Kung beach today

Why would anyone want to support them now, but the only alternatives are a bunch of kid activists or patriotic pro-Beijing supporters. There isn't much choice left. The pan-democrats are really lucky it's not an election year...

Ten Years a Flicker of Hope

Andrew Choi, executive producer of Ten Years with the cast and crew

Last night it was a thrill to see the local movie Ten Years won Best Film in the Hong Kong Film Awards.

Not only was it made by five first-time directors, but also because it has become a political issue, as the five vignettes imagine what the city will be like in 10 years, or 2025.

There are scenes of children in uniform policing adults, harking back to the Cultural Revolution, a taxi driver who loses out on business because he cannot speak Putonghua, and even a self immolation in front of the British Consulate.

State media, in particular, Global Times denounced the film in an editorial describing it as a "thought virus", and as soon as Ten Years was nominated in the annual film event in January, Tencent and CCTV announced they would not be broadcasting the awards show on the mainland.

So it was in this backdrop that many wondered if Ten Years would have a chance at all, only being nominated in one category.

A scene from Ten Years that looks at Hong Kong in 2025

But those who voted gave Ten Years their approval.

The film's executive producer Andrew Choi said in his acceptance speech: "Thanks to the Film Awards for daring to give us this award. Ten Years has already gone beyond just being a film. There are so many possibilities in Hong Kong films.

"This award shows that Hong Kong actually has hope. This award tells us that we need to keep working hard. Thanks to all the Hong Kong viewers. This award belongs to you all."

However not everyone in the local film industry was happy with the result. Peter Lam Kin-ngok, chair of production company Media Asia complained Ten Years was not a top film.

"It was unfair to filmmakers. Politics has kidnapped the profession and politicized film awards," said Lam, who is also a local delegate to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

Peter Lam believes the film politicized the film awards

Media Asia's She Remembers, He Forgets was in the running for best picture, but won for best original film song.

Motion Picture Industry Association chair Crucindo Hung Cho-sing also said Ten Years' win was a "big joke".

"It was not nominated for the best actor, actress or cinematography, so it doesn't even match the standards of a best picture," Hung said. "I don't know if anyone was using the awards as a political tool."

Lawmaker Ma Fung-kwok, who is also Film Development Council chairman, thought the filmmakers of Ten Years might be "too worried" about Hong Kong's future.

Then why did the film that cost HK$500,000 to make went on to make HK$5 million in the box office?

It resonates with people, talking about their fears of what Hong Kong could possibly be, with some of the scenes already a reality. It may not have a star cast or have high production values, but the ideas are there.

A Hong Kong taxi driver can't speak Putonghua in Ten Years

So now Ten Years is dragged further into a political spat because the establishment isn't happy.

The city is so divided -- you're either on one side or the other -- reminiscent of the Occupy protests, the blues or the yellows.

When will these divisions end so that we can focus on making Hong Kong better?

But it seems like the establishment are only concerned about enriching themselves at the expense of the rest, and the rest are trying to scrape whatever opportunities are left to survive.

As Choi says, there is hope if we keep working harder. And that flame has flickered a bit brighter now.

Xi Defines State Media Role

Xi Jinping is "anchoring" the news, saying state media must work for the Party

When I worked in state media in Beijing, my colleagues who were Communist Party members would disappear once in a while for an entire afternoon for a "meeting". It was actually a study session to decipher then President Hu Jintao's "Three Represents" (三个代表).

They would also be reminded that the state media was the medium in which the Party's doctrine would be communicated, that everyone must be in line with the Party for the sake of unity and ensure everyone got the same message.

This was said behind closed doors.

And periodically Hu or the Premier Wen Jiabao would visit state media outlets and re-emphasize these points that were published in newspapers, read out in news casts and such.

But the exercise was stepped up by President Xi Jinping last Friday when he visited Xinhua, People's Daily and CCTV and insisted state media must show absolute loyalty to the Party.

Ren Zhiqiang says the media should serve the people

There were no vagaries here -- it was straight to the point. According to a report in People's Daily:

The Party's news and public opinion work must adhere to the principle of the Party character, cleaving fundamentally to the Party's leadership of news and public opinion work. Media run by the Party and government are propaganda positions of the Party and the government, and they must reflect the Party. All work of the Party's news and public opinion media must reflect the will of the Party, mirror the views of the Party, preserve the authority of the Party, preserve the unity of the Party, and achieve love of the Party, protection of the Party and acting for the Party; they must all increase their consciousness of falling in line, maintaining a high level of uniformity with the Party in ideology, politics and action.

It's pretty clear how Xi is instructing how the media should operate. What happened to the so-called "vibrant media" in China, where there were different shades of red?

Seems like that is no more, as everyone must disseminate the same message.

But perhaps even more interesting is that an outspoken tycoon has criticized Xi's pronouncement about state media's role in society.

Ren Zhiqiang said on Weibo on Friday that the media should serve the people, that news operations were funded by taxpayer money and so should serve the public rather than the leadership.

"When does the people's government turn into the party's government? [Are the media] funded by party membership dues? Don't waste taxpayers' money on things that do not provide them with services," he wrote.

Needless to say Ren was immediately attacked by a news site affiliated with the Beijing municipal party committee, accusing him of "anti-Communist Party" thought.

Qianlong.com claimed Ren represented capitalism that sought to topple the Party's rule and establish Western-style constitutionalism on the mainland, and even accused him of having "completely" lost his Party spirit.

It'll be interesting to see how Ren gets himself out of this fiasco unscathed if possible, but he is technically right. Taxpayer money does go to state enterprises like state media and it is the job of media to inform its readers.

But, things are done differently on the mainland, and with Xi in charge, it's near impossible to beat the President.

Nevertheless, with 37 million followers, Ren could win in the court of public opinion, though politically and financially he may lose big time.

No More "Weird" Architecture

Does the CCTV headquarters qualify as "weird" architecture in China?

More directives are being issued by Beijing these days and the latest one was an interesting edict -- no more "weird" architecture, gated communities or illegal structures are to be built in China.

The directive from the State Council came two months after leaders met for the Central Urban Work Conference -- which was left held in 1978! One wonders why they procrastinated this long.

One of many "White House" replicas in the mainland...

Forty-eight years ago only 18 percent of the population lived in towns and cities, compared to 55 percent as of last year at 750 million people.

Nevertheless, the directive says urban architecture should be "suitable, economic, green and pleasing to the eye", in contrast to the "oversized, xenocentric, weird" buildings with no character or cultural heritage, that Chinese President Xi Jinping said reflected "a lack of cultural confidence and some city officials' distorted attitudes about political achievements".

One big building that might fit the bill is the CCTV tower, the Rem Koolhaas-designed building that locals nickname da kouchar (大裤衩) or "big underpants". Others are replicas of famous landmarks like the White House, Eiffel Tower, and London Bridge.

... Oh and Eiffel Towers can be spotted in around China too

Liu Shilin, head of the Institute of Urban Science at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, said while "weird" has yet to be defined, the new policy was heading in the right direction.

"These buildings do not have much value in terms of use, and cost a lot to operate and maintain. Quite a few were torn down soon after completion," he notes.

However, the big concern is the opening up of gated communities that were built for expatriates and the wealthy to keep the riff raff out.

"Residents have all paid their share to use the roads in these communities. How can you open them up just like that? Opening them up will bring in noise pollution, air pollution and security risks. How can residents' safety and health be ensured?" said one online commenter.

Residents of gated communities are worried about opening up

By the way -- does Zhongnanhai also qualify as a "gated community"? Or perhaps it's in a category of its own...

Reality Stranger than Fiction

Gui on state media apparently admitting guilt to a fatal drunk driving incident

The case of the missing booksellers has taken a bizarre twist, as one of them, Gui Minhai, who holds a Swedish passport, suddenly emerged on Sunday on Chinese state television.

The co-owner of Mighty Current publishing company looked pained as he seemed to read from a statement admitting he fled the mainland to flee from a suspended two-year sentence for killing a 23-year-old woman while driving drunk in Ningbo, Zhejiang province in 2004.

One of the conditions of the sentence was that he had to stay in China.

"I was afraid of going to jail, and there was no way I could develop on the mainland, so I thought I better run," Gui said.

Causeway Bay book store is behind Sogo department store

He apparently surrendered to mainland Chinese police in October last year, though he has been missing since November.

"I have to shoulder my own liability, and I'm willing to be punished," he added, while sobbing.

However, while it is confirmed by his friend that Gui was involved in a drunk driving fatal accident, it is not clear exactly which year it was. While Gui said it was 2004, state media said it was 2003, though CCTV carried reports of the crash in April 2005 when Gui was 46 at the time.

But Gui was born in 1964 so he would have been 40 when the incident happened.

Some basic fact-checking was not done properly on this report.

Nevertheless, his daughter Angela has never heard about this drunk driving case before, and questions the authenticity of his supposed confession.

Gui's friend Bei Ling, co-founder and president of the Independent Chinese Pen Center, says it is highly unlikely Gui returned to the mainland to face charges.

Gui's Pattaya apartment where four men tried to take computers

"What has happened to him is abduction conducted by a country," Bei, a dissident poet said from Boston. "the Chinese government needs to come out and offer an explanation."

He also doubts the video-taped confession, saying it looked like Gui was reading from a "scripted speech".

Bei adds some men tried to go into Gui's apartment in Pattaya, Thailand and seize his computers, but the management office refused to let them in.

Reality seems stranger than fiction here. Meanwhile people in Hong Kong continue to be gripped by this case and wonder what this all means for the rest of us...

First Historic Step

Ma Ying-jeou and Xi Jinping give each other firm handshakes today

The highly anticipated meeting in Singapore between Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou and Chinese President Xi Jinping has come and gone.

What came out of it? The media scrutinized every single aspect of the event, from the 80-second handshake between the two leaders and that at the dinner table, their name cards were written in simplified Chinese for Xi, traditional for Ma.

How diplomatic.

The actual meeting lasted about an hour, though they had dinner for about another hour after two separate press conferences.

It was also noted that during the photo call just before the meeting, Ma's speech was censored by the mainland's CCTV. Was it when he said, "Both sides should respect each other's values and way of life"?

The two leaders talked in a closed door session, touching on issues such as Xi's "One Belt, One Road" campaign, threats to cross-straits relations (for China it's Taiwan's independence streak, and for Taiwan it's China's missiles aimed at the island), and the possibility of setting up a cross-strait hotline to clear up misunderstandings economic integration.

How much can you discuss in an hour anyway?

It was a good start, though we're guessing not too much was accomplished because both sides still have their fundamental differences.

Still, makes great fodder for political pundits who are curious to see how this meeting unfolded.

It's doubtful this event will help Ma politically, because for the most part, people in Taiwan don't want to be closer to the mainland. Taiwanese people want to retain their independence, their ability to vote, and their way of life.

They are already disturbed by how mainlanders behave when visiting the island state and the thought of further economic integration worries them.

For Xi, this was an excellent political opportunity to reach out to the "renegade province" and quietly reel it closer to the mainland.

At least that's the plan...

Is China Changing Tack?

Premier Li Keqiang in the Great Hall of the People today

World markets were watching for the latest signals from China, and today Chinese Premier Li Keqiang delivered it -- a sombre economic growth target of 7 percent.

This is different from 2007, when then premier Wen Jiabao who pronounced China needed to sustain 8 percent growth to keep people employed and factories humming.

But 2015 is a stark change from the eve of the Summer Olympics and announcing China's rise. Now it's putting on the brakes after sustaining increasing growth for 25 years.

While countries around the world that depend the yuan to prop up their economies may be dismayed (the United States is probably first in line), slowing down China's economy is necessary.

Back in 2009, Wen and then president Hu Jintao had an opportunity to use the global economic slowdown to clean up China's own house financially, but instead threw 1.5 trillion yuan at the problem.

Mostly state-owned banks were forced to shell out the money -- and this led to even greater graft and corruption, and financial institutions are still having trouble collecting their debts.

"The downward pressure on China's economy is intensifying," Li said. "Deep-seated problems in the country's economic development are becoming more obvious. The difficulties we are facing this year could be bigger than last year. The new year is a crucial year for deepening all-round reforms."

So is Li really going to implement serious economic reforms this time around? He and the Chinese government cannot procrastinate any longer. There are many bloated state-owned enterprises that need to be restructured, and it's not always merit that wins out... people, especially those in senior positions will have to battle it out in seeing who has the better guanxi...

Chai Jing gives her findings about pollution in China

Meanwhile slowing down the economy also hopefully means less pollution. A few days ago former CCTV presenter Chai Jing released her documentary Under the Dome, where she chronicled China's pollution and how she believes it affected her daughter's development in the womb, as the baby was diagnosed with a lung tumour.

There's been lots of talk about this independent investigation that Chai spent 1 million yuan in making, as it reveals how it is the rich and the government who are making 1.3 billion people sick one way or another.

The general public don't want break-neck development at the cost of their lives -- they too want to have blue skies, clean water and a healthy environment for their children to grow up in.

So will the Central government pay attention to the desires of the people and give them what they want? By doing this it would mean stability of the Party, no?

Finally Li reiterated that the crackdown on corruption is here to stay, pouring cold water on those who thought it was a temporary campaign.

"Our tough stance on corruption is here to stay," he said. "Our tolerance for corruption is zero, and anyone guilty of corruption will be dealt with seriously."

The hunt for tigers and flies continues... is anyone completely clean in China?

Jackie Chan's Son In Jail

Jaycee Chan in a Beijing court today and pleaded guilty to drug charges

The saga of entertainer Jackie Chan's son Jaycee is over for now, with the conviction of the 32-year-old today for a drug offense that will see him jailed for six months and fined 2,000 yuan ($322).

He has already served five months in jail, so the younger Chan will be out on February 13, days before Chinese New Year.

In a Beijing court, Chan pleaded guilty for "sheltering others to use drugs", a charge that could result in up to three years in prison. The court agreed with the prosecutors' recommendation that Chan be given a lighter sentence because he volunteered information about his drug use to the police, and that he behaved well in detention.

He and his father Jackie Chan in happier times...

Wait a minute -- the prosecution recommended a lighter sentence?!

When police busted his apartment in Beijing on August 14, the authorities found more than 100 grams of marijuana. Taiwanese actor Ko Chen-tung was detained at the time, and gave a tearful confession on CCTV and was given 14 days' administrative detention, while Chinese actress Li Xiaonan was also busted, but not charged. All three tested positive for weed.

Chan admitted he made his home available for drug use to Ko three times, and Li once between 2012 and last year.

"I broke the law and I should be punished," Chan said in the court. "When I'm back in the community, I won't repeat the offense because I have hurt too many people, including my family, friends, and teachers."

Teachers? Is this a school reprimand?

Taiwanese actor Ko Chen-tung gives a tearful confession

Nevertheless it's quite obvious Chan was just following the script and one has to wonder how much his father tried to intervene in the legal process or if he did at all.

Jaycee's drug bust and conviction is a big blow to Jackie Chan's reputation, because not only is he considered a clean superstar who spends a lot of time on the mainland, he was also named an anti-narcotics ambassador in China in 2009.

Jackie Chan and his wife Lin Fengjiao did not attend the hearing, probably to avoid further media coverage.

Thus ends the soap opera of Jaycee and his drug antics. His career is probably over now -- who wants to risk casting someone whose drug bust was broadcast on TV? Hardly upstanding citizen material.

However, daddy surely has made more than enough money to keep his son covered for a long time... no?