Hearing More of the Chinese Anthem

You'll be hearing more of the Chinese national anthem soon

The mainlandizing of Hong Kong continues as the city's three main radio stations will start to play the Chinese national anthem from November 16 to comply with the law that was enacted five months ago.

Hong Kong's licensed radio broadcasters are required to promote March of the Volunteers and anyone who insults the anthem can be punished by law.

Public broadcaster RTHK and privately-owned Commercial Radio will play the anthem before their 8am newscasts daily from November 16. Metro Radio owned by tycoon Li Ka-shing, will also air March of the Volunteers at the same time slot, but the starting date has yet to be decided.

RTHK will air the anthem before the 8am news

"It's a necessary move to fulfill the legal requirement," said Amen Ng Man-yee, a spokeswoman for RTHK. She added playing the national anthem was in line with the charter of the public broadcaster, which requires its programs to deepen Hong Kong people's understanding of "one country, two systems", and cultivate a sense of citizenship and national identity.

Ng added the practice of playing the anthem will be implemented across all six of RTHK's channels, after months of negotiations with Home Affairs Bureau officials.

Interestingly it has taken this long for radio stations to play the anthem -- since 2004 television stations including TVB and Cable TV have played the national anthem before evening newscasts. 

Anyone who publicly and intentionally insults the song faces up to three years in jail and a maximum fine of HK$50,000 (US$6,450).

US has no specific penalties for non compliance

This is in sharp contrast the United States Code, that says any person present during the playing or singing of the American anthem "should" stand at attention with their right hand over their heart. There are no penalties for non compliance. 

Has the airing of the national anthem on television in the past 15 years increased Hongkongers' sense of nationalism or patriotism?

This attempt at soft power is misguided. At the same time there are fewer and fewer people watching TV and listening to the radio. But the upside for radio producers is that it's one minute and 30 seconds less of programing to worry about everyday...

Worries of Surge in Post-Halloween Cases

People were partying in various "masks" for Halloween...

On Halloween night there were lots of people out on the streets, particularly in Lan Kwai Fong, and Secretary for Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee was worried looking at the footage that the large groups of people may lead to a spike in coronavirus infections.

But it was the government that eased restrictions just in time for Halloween... we may find out if there really is a surge in positive cases in the next two weeks.

A positive case was in Mongkok Police station

However there are other local infections to worry about, including a  26-year-old man who works for Cable TV and stayed in a holiday hotel in Mui Wo on Lantau with friends, and a 42-year-old mainland woman who was allegedly a prostitute arrested in a vice operation and the origins of her infection are unknown.

She came into contact with at least 23 officers as she was arrested in a hotel in Mongkok, then transferred to Mongkok Police Station for three days before she was moved to Castle Peak Bay Immigration Centre, then finally Ma Tau Kok Detention Centre.

It's interesting that anyone arrested these days is not tested for Covid-19 right away. So far four officers are in quarantine, and the police station was disinfected. While she was in detention, she shared a cell with six others; luckily they have all tested negative.

Another case stayed at this hotel in Mui Wo

Meanwhile the man shared a hotpot meal with 10 people at a friend's home, seven of them also worked at Cable TV. A woman who stayed with him in the holiday hotel in Silvermine Bay also tested positive along with a 15-year-old related to her.

While the number of daily local infections is less than five, it is apparently not low enough for the mainland to be confident enough to open the border with Hong Kong. 

A commentary in People's Daily on Saturday used Macau as an example, and said the borders were reopened after the casino hub had the virus under control.

"The top priority for Hong Kong is to effectively control the epidemic, strictly prevent cases from rebounding, and stamp out local infections," the commentary said.

It said the central government had supported Hong Kong by sending a team of medical staff to help with the city's mass testing program in September.

As I blogged earlier, China doesn't even count its positive cases according to everyone else's definition; it only counts positive cases as ones with symptoms and not the asymptomatic ones according to the WHO standard. 

Restaurants like Caprice are easier to book now

But that's fine if the mainland doesn't want to reopen the border with us.

Many Hongkongers are very happy to get reservations at Michelin-starred restaurants more easily and malls are much less crowded, along with public transportation.

That's the one upside of living in a pandemic...