Over 200K Register their Positive Tests

Those who test positive from RAT can now register online

Finally the Centre of Health Protection's website for people to register that they tested positive using rapid antigen tests was launched at 6pm today and within hours over 200,000 have done so.

While the CHP stresses this is a voluntary exercise, thousands of people have registered because they may be living in spaces where they cannot isolate, or are with family members and are too scared to infect them.

When they registered they had to give their personal details, as well as those of their household members, their symptoms and the condition of the others in the home. 

CHP will arrange isolation quarters for people

They also have to upload a picture of the RAT showing the positive result. And then health authorities will determine if they need to go to hospital or if their symptoms are mild to recover in community isolation facilities.

Registered users can also get a certificate of their infection from CHP so that it can be given to their employers to be able to take sick leave.

The CHP said today that only those who tested positive today should register, while those who found out they were positive from February 26 to March 5 could register later, with March 14 being the deadline to avoid overloading the system.

Today there were 25,150 cases logged, and 161 people died in the past 24 hours, another 119 who died were from backlogged cases. The death toll so far is now 2,287, the highest in the developed world. 

As if that wasn't tragic enough, two children aged four and eight died with underlying conditions. Both had received one jab of Sinovac. They will be included in tomorrow's death count.

Chan (left) had not date for consumption vouchers

A friend suggested that because of the past two years children have been wearing masks everyday and not exposed to as many germs as before, let alone the flu, perhaps their bodies were overwhelmed when they were infected with Covid-19. 

Meanwhile Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po gave an uneventful press conference announcing details of the electronic voucher, as another HK$10,000 will be doled out to 6.3 permanent residents 18 years and older, and new migrants from the mainland.

However, he stopped short of giving the exact date when the exercise would start, citing the pandemic, and yet wanting to dole out money soon to help businesses. 

"Because of the pandemic situation, many shops' operations have been interrupted. That also applies to other stakeholders and operators involved in this particular consumption voucher project. That's why, to be prudent, we're refraining from giving a specific date," Chan said.

The four options to collect and use e-vouchers

"We hope to do it as early as practically possible, but it really depends on the circumstances... I think it is important for us to do sufficient back-end work, with the system properly tested."

What is there to test? Practically everyone who registered the first time haven't changed their details unless they have left Hong Kong. 

Nevertheless, when reporters asked if the e-vouchers would instead be available in cash for those who would find it more useful, Chan said no, things would be the same. Nor was there a condition of getting the jab before receiving the payout. 

So where is the incentive to get people inoculated? Again there is no benefit to being vaccinated, and yet the city is going through the worst Covid-19 wave now.

It boggles the mind...

Beijing Takes Over Anti-Epidemic Work in HK

Does Lam regret how she has handled the pandemic now?

Things don't look good when you have over 4,200 infections reported today, over 7,000 preliminary, but more importantly, when Party Secretary General Xi Jinping is personally concerned and tells Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor she has to work harder to contain the virus and maintain social stability.

Word came down that Xi asked Vice-Premier Han Zheng, the top state leader overseeing the city's affairs, to relay to Lam the president's "concern about the pandemic situation in the city and his care for Hong Kong residents".

Xi has personally voiced concerns over HK

Beijing will now have more oversight over anti-epidemic measures, creating another layer of bureaucracy, basically another layer of bosses to placate. The group will be made up of the State Council's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, as well as the National Health Commission, and will involve Beijing authorities and experts, as well as the Guangdong and local governments.

Xi stressed that Hong Kong "must earnestly take the main responsibility, and to make it the overriding priority to stabilise and control the epidemic as soon as possible".

"Authorities must mobilise all forces and resources that can be mobilised, take all necessary measures and protect Hong Kong people's lives and health, as well as ensure Hong Kong's social stability," Xi was quoted as saying.

"The relevant central and local authorities must fully support and assist the Hong Kong government in doing its anti-epidemic work well."

Lam responded with "heartfelt gratitude" to Xi, and admitted the local healthcare system was overloaded. 

A record 4,285 cases, 7,000 preliminary

Han told Lam that she should implement Xi's instructions, which include boosting testing capacity, procuring rapid test kits, and other medical equipment, supporting the construction of isolation and medical facilities, ensuring the supply of necessities, such as fresh food, and sending coronavirus experts to Hong Kong to help.

We already have a lot of very good infectious disease experts... they just can't agree with each other, while Lam does not rein them in or at least make sure they are all on the same page.

Nevertheless, many of them have already suggested a citywide lockdown to clamp down on the virus mainland-style, and yet Lam refuses to do this.

But with Beijing now getting involved, it may get to this point.

Does Lam now see that her chances of running for chief executive again are becoming slimmer and slimmer by the hour?

There were 4,285 infections today, and sadly nine deaths, including the three-year-old girl who passed yesterday. 

These elderly patients outside must be freezing

This evening after dinner I walked along the harbourfront and it was quite windy. As long as I kept moving I was warm, but what about those elderly patients lying on gurneys outside hospitals waiting to get in? They must be freezing to death. Won't be surprised if there are cases of pneumonia tomorrow.

Meanwhile this afternoon one infectious disease expert, Professor Ben Cowling of the University of Hong Kong was interviewed by the Asia Society. 

A few points he made include: He projects the fifth wave will peak in about three weeks from now, when over half of the population will be infected with the virus. This will unfortunately mean seeing more fatalities, and so Cowling urged people, including children who haven't gotten vaccinated to do so.

In the first wave children did not seem to be affected by Covid-19, but they are now getting sick with Omicron, and so he highly urges them to get the jab. Cowling again pushed for seniors to get vaccinated, precious time was lost last year when elderly people did not get vaccinated, and hinted the government did not do enough to push up the inoculation rates in this age group. 

He does not see the point in having a vaccine mandate now because the rising numbers of cases may have prodded people to get jabbed now.

Cowling says fifth wave may peak in three weeks

Another suggestion Cowling made was for rapid antigen tests be made widely available. He is currently stuck in the UK and everyone can get lots of these RAT tests delivered to their homes. People can take these tests and if they are positive to isolate immediately or for everyone else in the household to get tested to prevent further spread in the community. 

Children in the UK take these tests every morning before going to school so that they can attend classes; Cowling says there is a risk they could become positive later in the day, but for the most part it allows education to continue and believes this is a good thing.

This evening there are reports that all Hong Kong residents will be tested maybe in early March three times. How this will be implemented has yet to be revealed, or revealed at all. It could be sprung on us one day.

Regardless it shows the local government has been completely swept aside, unclear of what needs to be done, let alone execute properly. This is what happens when there is no effective opposition, no grassroots activists, and media to point out what should be done. 

Lam and her administration have wasted lots of time, wasted lots of money -- the December 19 free rides day for starters -- and not listened to experts and figured out how to protect Hongkongers in the best way possible.

For the rest of us, it is only a matter of time before we get infected one way or another. This government has failed us. We are on our own.

Time to Push for More Jabs

It's time to implement vaccine passports at restaurants

Hong Kong's restaurant industry is calling for the lifting of social-distancing restrictions in restaurants if the government rolls out the vaccine passport plan. That would mean only those who have been fully vaccinated would be allowed to dine in restaurants.

Some restaurateurs and owners agree, and that if everyone at the table is fully vaccinated then there should be no limit on how many people are at each table. 

From December 9 people must use the tracing app

But for now the government has plans to have rules from January where at least two-thirds of diners per table must have at least one jab. The other one-third would be for exemptions like young children or those with medical conditions with a doctor's note.

This regulation would also extend to karaoke bars, gaming centres, beauty parlours, gyms and clubhouses, and all staff would have to be fully vaccinated.

However some restaurateurs and owners would rather wait until the city's inoculation rate was at 80 percent before implementing the vaccine passport, as many of their patrons are elderly, the vast majority of whom aren't yet to get vaccinated.

"The catering sector will definitely take a beating of at least 20 percent if a vaccine passport is implemented, as some people may refrain from dining out if they can't come together with their unvaccinated elderly family members," said Tommy Cheung Yu-yan who represents the catering industry in the Executive Council.

How long can we wait till we get to 80 percent herd immunity? It will take us forever at this rate. Why can't Hong Kong be like countries such as Italy and Germany and prevent those who haven't be jabbed from entering restaurants and shops? It is time to put the pressure on these people, and not being able to go out and enjoy themselves would be a strong incentive, would it not?

Italy does not allow unvaccinated into restaurants

Yes, we have had zero cases for the past 60 days, all of us are wearing masks (well there are more lax people who are not covering their noses), but for the most part people are complying. But it's not helping the city in lifting social-distancing restrictions.

Why is the government suggesting two-thirds of diners at each table be vaccinated? Why not the whole hog? It clearly illustrates the authorities are tip-toeing around this issue and not willing to be even more strict about it. 

In the meantime Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor talks up what will happen when the borders open with China, but no indication of when.

How about announcing a date and that could possibly incentivise more people to get inoculated. As one colleague says, Hong Kong needs a string of infections to get people to realise we need more people to get vaccinated. 

As one infectious disease expert has said, vaccination is the only way out.

Children in Poverty are Stressed and Tired

A sister looks after her younger sibling in a cramped flat

It is heartbreaking to read a report that in some impoverished families in Hong Kong, children help supplement their parents' income by collecting cardboard and other paper, or cannot go out and play because they need to look after younger siblings and do housework.

One 15-year old spends an hour a day finding discarded cardboard in Sham Shui Po so that he can earn HK$25 (US$3.20) a week for 5kg.

He also prepares lunch for his 10-year-old sister and tutors her, as his mother, a 39-year-old divorced cleaner is too busy working.

Impoverished families usually have single parents

"When I think of how hard my mother works, I think it's all right to help out a bit," said the secondary three student. 

"There are people who ask, 'Why are you gathering cardboard at such a young age?' I think it's OK to help my mother when she earns so little."

According to the Hong Kong government's Poverty Situation Report, there were 274,900 children under the age of 18 living in poverty.

The city's poverty rate is 23.6 percent, or 1.65 million people, a 12-year high.

An individual whose income is lHK$4,400 or less per month or a family of three with a total income of HK$16,000 or less is considered poor by the government.

A survey by the Society for Community Organisation (SoCO) between June 2020 and September this year found 80 percent of 201 poor children between the ages of three and 17 had to do housework or look after their family members.

Children are usually too tired to do homework

Nearly one-third spent more than eight hours a week helping at home, and nearly a fifth more than 16 hours a week. Their parents were either at work, ill, or had to return to the mainland to renew their visas.

Fifty-seven percent of children took care of family members, including bathing or feeding them, and nearly one in 10 sold waste paper and cardboard to help their families make ends meet.

As a result of doing so much housework and looking after family members, the children felt exhausted, helpless or stressed, and had attention issues and muscle aches. They also didn't have enough rest, or lacked time or energy to play and meet with friends.

"We sometimes see these children quitting school because they have to make money for their families, or they are absent from our [extracurricular] classes because they have to cook for their younger siblings or take care of sick family members," said SoCO deputy director Sze Lai-shan.

Does the government not care for these children? Why squabble over the definition of poverty and help them instead?

Some children collect cardboard for extra money

They deserve to at least have time to do their homework, and play with friends as a bit of stress relief. 

With hardly any pan-democrats like Fernando Cheung Chiu-hung and Leung Kwok-hung in the Legislative Council to shed attention on grassroots social issues like these, it's not surprising the government isn't interesting... though almost 275,000 children who are poor cannot be swept under the carpet either.

Hong Kong cannot afford to have children suffering from the yawning wealth gap when the city is so rich. 

More Children Self-Harm During Pandemic

Children find it hard to talk to parents, leads to more arguments

The coronavirus pandemic has caused family tensions at home to become even worse, with some children even self-harming themselves to deal with the pressure, according to a survey.

The Hong Kong Family Mediation Association and the Junior Chamber International Lion Rock polled about 300 parents and 300 primary school students between April and May.

Concerns of children self-harming in survey

They found nearly half of those polled said they had gotten into arguments at least once a day and almost six out of 10 children said they hurt themselves or others to deal with pressure.

Fish Leung, the executive director of the association, said she hadn't expected so many children to harm themselves, and it revealed they could not find a way to release their stress.

She pointed out that traditional stress relievers, like sports or talking it out with classmates were not available because of social-distancing measures imposed to curb the spread of Covid-19.

"Children's verbal language is not good enough -- that's why they don't know how to express themselves or mention their emotions," she said.

"If they tear their [hair] or hurt themselves, this pain will make them happier; happier than communicating with their parents. This is so sad."

She said since the pandemic started, parents and students have not actively been seeking help and schools have referred fewer cases to social workers, as school opening hours have been drastically cut back.

Kids need outlets to release stress and anxiety

Leung appealed to people to seek help at the earliest opportunity, as a buildup of pressure and stress could lead to suicidal thoughts.

It's absolutely tragic that children cannot communicate with their parents, nor know how to express themselves, and it is necessary their mothers and fathers empathize with them and acknowledge their struggles. Everyone has been under an unprecedented amount of stress for the past year and a half. 

Not only is Hong Kong dealing with a pandemic (and handling it very well), but what is happening to the city politically is shaking the city down to its core and affecting people's well being too.

 

Word of the Day: Lying Flat

White collar workers to university students are "lying flat"

A new phenomenon has emerged among young people in China. It's called "lying flat" or 躺平 (tang ping). 

From white collar workers to university students, they are tired of the rat race of having to work long hours for little pay that will not get them any closer to owning a home, let alone a car or start a family. Hence they are "lying flat".

There are even T-shirts that read: "Do nothing lie flat youth" that are selling online.

Young Chinese people are tired of the rat race

 Elaine Tang works at a Guangzhou-based tech firm and says the term resonated with young Chinese who saw the odds stacked against them.

"In recent years, property prices have skyrocketed, and the gap between social classes has become wider and wider," said the 35-year-old, who has been married for seven years but has yet to have children.

"The rich and the authorities monopolize most of the resources, and more and more working class like us have to work from 9am to 9pm, six days a week, but still can't afford a down payment [on a flat] or even the cost of having a child."

Comments like this are making the Chinese authorities nervous because they don't want young people to stop being productive members of society. How else are they going to pay for pensions and taxes? And what about encouraging families to have three children per family now?

But the domestic economic slowdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic and trade tensions with the United States have made people more receptive to the "lying flat" idea.

Young people feel income inequality is too great

"Local officials and scholars are concerned about the phenomenon of lying flat [because] it reflects young people's resistance to the current social and economic model, as well as their confusion about the political order," said Peng Peng, executive chairman of the Guangdong Society of Reform, a think tank connected to the provincial government.

There's also another word called "involution" making the rounds. It was originally used in anthropology to describe agrarian societies that stagnate because, while their workload increases, a person's output does not or cannot.

This is what is happening now because of the pandemic and the trade war, where everyone has to work harder than before, but they are faced with stagnating incomes, unemployment concerns and soaring costs for housing and child care.

Tech workers were among the first to comment on the involution in their lives, because those at big firms often work at "996" culture, working from 9am to 9pm, six days a week. Others have joked about the new work ethic as "007" -- where one works from 00am to 00pm, seven days a week.

While the Chinese government is trying to suppress this movement online and using celebrities to denounce it, too many young people relate to this relentless work schedule for little pay and they will definitely find other ways to show they are "lying flat".

Will Chinese Families Have Three Kids?

China now allows families to have three kids, but will they?

 

China is now encouraging families to have not just two children but three in an announcement made today due to a significant drop in the birth rate in the world's most populous country.

Xinhua reported the change was approved by Chinese President Xi Jinping during a politburo meeting. 

"To further optimize the birth policy, [China] will implement a one-married-couple-can-have-three-children policy," Xinhua said.

The cost of raising children is very expensive

Five years ago China finally scrapped its one-child policy that dates back to 1978, and allowed couples to have two children, but that didn't lead to a significant baby boom thanks to the rising costs of having children, as well as housing and education.

The announcement today was short on specifics in how it would give support and incentives to families to have more children.

Dan Wang, chief economist at Hang Seng Bank (China), said the government would have to offer subsidies, and maybe even set up a new tax system for companies to have the incentive to hire women of childbearing age.

"The high costs of housing and education, as well as a lack of job protection for women, are strong economic constraints on having children," she said, adding the cost of having a third child would be too high for most middle-class families.

This decision comes soon after the release of a summary of census data that pointed to a decline in births in China, and Yi Fuxian, a specialist in China's demographics, said the timing of the announcement so soon after the census summary suggested the detailed data to come would be extremely worrying.

Women's job prospects are low after childbirth

"Maybe it's because the real population data is too scary. Even if they have not published it, it probably frightened the decision makers," Yi said.

The once-in-a-decade census showed the population grew at its slowest rate during the last decade since the 1950s to 1.41 billion.

But the reality of the situation is that young, educated and ambitious women do not want to be baby-making machines. Many are happy to be single let alone married, and prefer having a successful career than the thankless task of looking after a husband and children.

While the government has tried to scorn these women online, that is not going to help the situation, as the ratio of women to men is much smaller, so the pool of women willing to have children is even smaller.

Company policies and attitudes are sexist and need to change -- during job interviews young men are usually chosen over young women because it is assumed the latter will get married soon and have children and then may quit the job. 

Maybe Peng can tell Xi what women go through?

If the government wants to boost the population, it must force employers to find ways to accommodate women before, during and after having children, to keep a job for them or at least give them the opportunity to come back from maternity leave, otherwise how are they going to afford their mortgage, childcare, and pay for education? 

It would be beneficial for companies to retain these workers too; many mothers just want a steady pay cheque, though it is less than what a man would earn in the same position.

So it's all very well and good for the government to tell families to have more children to increase the country's population, but there needs to be specific incentives, services and tax breaks to give couples the financial confidence to have children. 

Grandpa Xi really needs to step up on this issue and look at it from the women's perspective before deciding what carrots he will dangle in front of them.

Perhaps his wife Peng Liyuan, or his daughter Xi Mingze can give him suggestions...

Coronavirus Information and Advice

The coronavirus is wreaking havoc on our lives and global economy

Today our office organized a medical expert (who previously was a front line doctor during SARS) to speak to us on a webinar about the coronavirus and he had some interesting points I'd like to share.

It is hard to say when the coronavirus pandemic will end, and it is hard to tell who has it when they are asymptomatic, which is why he stresses everyone should wear a face mask and constantly wash their hands. Elevators are where you have a good chance of catching the virus because it is a confined space, so a mask is an absolute must when you are in there.

A new way to greet friends instead of shaking hands

During this period there should be no handshaking or even dining with people at close range because the virus can be passed through droplets in the air. That's why everyone should stay at least one to two metres or six feet away from each other. Restaurants are definitely going to have a hard time staying in business now.

At meetings, everyone should wear a mask, and as a result, no beverages should be served; instead there should be hand sanitizers in the room that everyone uses before and after the meeting.

He said it was not necessary to wear an N95 mask -- let healthcare professionals wear those. If you wear one, you may not wear it properly and also you can only wear it at most two to three hours otherwise you will get dizzy from breathing in your own carbon dioxide. A three-ply surgical mask is fine.

Someone asked if the mother was infected, could she still breastfeed her baby. The doctor replied yes, and that she should clean her hands and wear a mask while breastfeeding.

As for taking toddlers outside, he did not recommend they be taken out too much because they will probably take their mask off at any opportunity, but if you do take them outside, go to a place with open air, like a park.

Deep throat swabs are the most accurate way to test

The virus in the form of droplets can be still active on surfaces for 72 hours -- he says studies did not measure beyond that, though their virulence is much weaker by that point. Nevertheless, he said to keep surfaces clean and again wash your hands frequently.

There is currently no evidence that the virus can become airborne through aerosol outside of a hospital environment so there was no need to worry about this. He said when it comes to offices being sanitized and deep cleaned, ventilation systems don't need to be cleaned per se, just the twice yearly cleaning is fine.

When it comes to home quarantine, he admits it is difficult for the average middle class family to do this effectively as family members are sharing the toilet and food (not at the same time!); the only expensive solution is for the person in quarantine to stay in a hotel for 14 days to ensure that elderly people in the family are not affected.

In Hong Kong, the rapid test, or deep throat swab can be done in public or private clinics, though he believes not many private doctors will do this (they have to suit up in protective gear before doing this) and will suggest patients go to a public clinic. The accuracy is the same as they are all processed in government labs.

The new social distancing at press conferences now?

However, the antibody test where they prick your finger for a drop of blood and test it is not effective and the doctor advises people not to do this.

Someone asked if after 14 days of quarantine one should be re-tested again, and he said it was not necessary.

Why are people re-infected? He says that perhaps they developed antibodies, but then after a certain period of time the antibodies were no longer in the person's immune system and so they were infected again. He does say people can get permanent lung damage from the coronavirus.

The Centre for Health Protection has chosen the quarantine time of 14 days in the hopes that most infected cases will be fine by then; there are some outlier cases where the virus is still present longer than that, but at the same time the health expert said there needs to be a balance of people getting back to work and their family. As long as someone tests negative twice then they are allowed to leave quarantine.

Yes! Walk your dog but wear a mask outside

He didn't go into the psychological impact the virus has on people, but reading stories about the coronavirus all day is terribly depressing and frightening too.

Hopefully now those who thought the virus won't affect them will finally understand that, as the doctor says, everyone is susceptible to it; there are more cases involving elderly people because they have underlying health conditions, but it is also hitting young, healthy people too.

Stay home as much as you can and wear a mask if you go outside. Oh and wash your hands...

Shock, Horror -- HK Kids Fighting for Future

Just some of the children who were arrested last weekend

The Hong Kong government released a slew of statistics related to the anti-government protests that are stretching into its 18th week.

The special tactical squad arresting protesters in the streets

Since June, 2,379 protesters have been arrested, one-third of them, or 750 are under the age of 18, 104 of them under 16.

Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung Kin-chung says, "These numbers are shocking and heartbreaking."

Part of the reason for the high numbers of young people is that they simply can't get away fast enough when the special tactical squad, otherwise known as raptors, catch them. Last weekend there were photographs circulating of young children around 10 to 12 years old who were arrested, one of them literally shaking in fear.

"I appeal to parents, teachers, and friends from various sectors in society to ask young people not to join any illegal or violent acts and stay away from police cordon lines, to avoid putting themselves in dangerous situations during police dispersal or arrest operations, or even getting injured or arrested, destroying their future," Cheung said.

Hong Kong's next generation... what do they want?

He and his boss, Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor still don't get it -- these kids don't see a bright future in Hong Kong, which is why they are out on the streets.

It is "shocking and heartbreaking", but who created this situation in the first place? It's a series of administrations that since 1997 have not earnestly provided for young people in terms of understanding their hopes and fears and trying to alleviate them with policies, grants, subsidies and so on.

All parents want a good education for their children, get into university, and then the next hurdle is get a good job that has potential for promotion and by extension pay rises.

This is not what is happening in Hong Kong -- it is the elites who govern the city and it is their children who benefit from the system, leaving the rest of the kids behind.

Some 42km of railings were dismantled around the city

And so the need for universal suffrage is so important in Hong Kong -- to be able to vote for leaders who are serving the interests of local residents and not desperately trying to please Beijing. The need for accountability is so great now. It is obvious after 22 years that the current system does not work at all.

But does Beijing want to admit that? That is the problem. China does not understand Hong Kong at all, nor does it want to; it expects the former British colony to kowtow and bend to Beijing's will.

However we are not that kind of people, in particular the next generation are not. That is not who they are nor that is not what they want Hong Kong to be. They want Hong Kong to be Hong Kong, to have the rights and freedoms that were promised to them.

Some 2,600 square metres of bricks have been dug up

It sounds simple, but that's not what President Xi Jinping wants.

So we're at an impasse, one that should have been resolved five years ago, but continues to fester today.

In the meanwhile, the government also released other interesting facts: protesters dismantled 42 kilometres (or the distance of a marathon) worth of roadside railings -- many of which are redundant really and made the city more accessible now; dug up 2,600 square metres (28,000 square feet) of brick-paved sidewalks, and smashed around one-fifth of the city's traffic lights.

When it comes to the MTR, violent protesters destroyed 2,400 ticketing machines and turnstiles, and smashed 900 CCTV cameras as 83 out of 94 stations.

By the way tonight was the first night the MTR closed at 10pm (last night was 9pm). I went out for dinner, but it was too late to catch the last train and resorted to sharing an Uber ride with a colleague (HK$124). Going out is expensive these days...

About one-fifth of the traffic lights were smashed in the city

Is the worst over? We shall see this weekend. In the meantime more upcoming events were cancelled. The annual Wine & Dine Festival, Cyclothon, the New World Harbour Race, Marco Polo German Bierfest, and now Symphony Under the Stars.

We might as well going into hibernation at this point and wake up in the spring...

Chinese and Polish Docs Looking for Hope

Photo of Tereska, a Polish Jew in an orphanage taken in 1948

The inaugural Hong Kong International Documentary Festival is on and I caught my colleague's short film called Gone With the Policy.

In 2017 the Beijing government wanted to keep the capital city's population under control and shave a  million or two people off the census. The easiest people to remove? Migrant workers and their children.

A migrant school in Beijing is slated for demolition ("chai")

It was heartbreaking to watch the scene of a migrant school in Chang Ping district, in the outskirts of Beijing being knocked down and the pile of rubble was still left there months later.

The principal of the school was keen to find another space and set up another school, having taught for 10 years. But by the time he secured the space and moved the desks and other furniture there, many families had left -- some even overnight -- which resulted in only four students signing up.

Unfortunately the principal had to admit defeat, while his subordinate, the vice principal wistfully remembers how the original school they had grew and how can the government deny these students an education? He hints at economic prejudices against them.

Students enjoying school, before it is torn down

Meanwhile a migrant worker in Beijing brings his two children, who were born in the city, back to his hometown. The older daughter seems shell shocked at the reality of having to make a new life in the countryside, where her grandmother doesn't understand what laundry detergent is, and wondering how she will continue her education, let alone get into university.

The vice principal points out many of the students' parents built the Bird's Nest for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but they also built much of Beijing as well. And what do they get for their contribution? Being shoved out of the city.

While the documentary is a bit rough around the edges, it is an important piece of evidence that documents the plight of migrant workers, who otherwise don't have much  of a voice in Chinese society let alone history.

Two people try to track down Tereska in old photos

The other film presented was called Searching for Tereska, a Polish documentary that has some fictional scenes in it.

In 1948, a Magnum photographer David Seymour took a haunting picture of a young girl with a bow in her hair. She is standing by the blackboard with a mass of circles she has drawn and a disturbed look on her face.

Fast forward to today, and a young man wants to find out who this girl is and if she is still alive. He enlists the help of a woman who seems very resourceful and determined, very much like a reporter.

They are warned at first by a group of Jews that they may not find the person, but on their journey they will meet many people. The latter was for sure. Their first clue was that she wrote her name, Tereska at the top of the black board. That was it.

Through some sleuthing they identify the building and from there go to a Jewish Centre that deals with survivors, a woman there believes the girl in the picture is her friend and so the couple meet her, but she is the wrong Tereska.

The poster for Searching for Tereska

And then they tracked down what they think is the building but the nun won't let them inside. They also try to find who they think is Tereska but it leads to a tombstone. They leave a note there, hoping someone will contact them, and the grandson does.

However, when he brings out a picture of his grandmother in her younger years, she doesn't look like the girl in the picture.

Then they hit upon a school and find very old registration records and even get copies of the contact sheets of the photographs David Seymour took. They get in touch with various experts to identify the school Tereska was in or where the building was located.

Finally the woman who showed them the school registration records realizes that perhaps because of her disturbed mental state, Tereska did not graduate with her grade, but after, which leads to a massive clue to help track her down...

At first I didn't know what was going on in the story, but as it kept going on, you as a viewer become more invested in the story and wonder if they will ever find an ending to their search (which they do). It makes you realize how important records are and that when buildings are torn down, memories and information are lost forever. And not just buildings, but people too, when they pass away.

But Tereska isn't the only one who was lost. There are thousands of other people who may not have been accounted for. Will anyone find them?



 

Picture of the Day: Childlike Fun

Eddie Kang's Big City Life elicits smiles from visitors

The Asia Society Hong Kong always has some outdoor sculptures for visitors to admire. They are usually on the serious or contemplative side.

This one however caught my eye and made my day. It's a whimsical collection of five cartoon heads, each with different faces on them. You can't help but smile at the playfulness of the expressions and colours.

And that's the intention of Korean artist Eddie Kang with Big City Life 2017.

In the description it says Kang, like other city dwellers, is overwhelmed by the density and tension in the urban environment, and so he seeks comfort in cartoons. He wants to remind us of the joy and simplicity we experienced as a child.

Enjoy!

Picture of the Day: How is This Art?

Sofia Coppola's Birkin handbag becomes an art piece thanks to Jeff Koons

Apologies -- I have one more thing to mention about Art Basel Hong Kong that happened last week.

One of the galleries presented this "piece" by American artist Jeff Koons.

Called Birkin Bag Black (Shelf) 2014, it features the famed Hermes handbag, mirror and acrylic shelf.

Koons didn't even have to buy the highly-coveted bag that takes months to order because they are all handmade in workshops in France. Director Sofia Coppola donated it to him to create for auction in 2014.

Coppola had asked her father to buy her a Birkin when she was "way too young to have one". When Francis Ford Coppola got to the Hermes store with a wad of cash, he was apparently mistaken about the cost of the item. "They said, 'Oh, no... it's one more zero.'"

And then it was in Sofia Coppola's closet for a long time. "It's very decadent so I'm happy it's now an art piece," she said at the time. Her bag was auctioned off for an undisclosed amount.

In the end US$5.5 million was raised for the United Nations Foundation through a charity called Project Perpetual.

And lo and behold, we got to see this "artwork" in Hong Kong.

But really... is this art?

Puffed Up Advertising

Would drinking this coconut milk make your chest look like theirs?

On the eve of International Women's Day, many Chinese companies still don't get how sexist they are in 2019 when it comes to their marketing slogans. But at least consumers are speaking up and shaming these companies into correcting their puffed up claims.

Wahaha said the "testimonial" was taken off the packaging

Case in point -- Chinese beverage giant Wahaha removed a "consumer quote" that claimed drinking a package of milk regularly would increase a woman's breast cup size from A to D.

The drink, called Vitamin A&D Calcium Milk, which is a popular drink for children, has a so-called testimony that reads: "When I was in high school, someone in my class said drinking Vitamin A&D Calcium Milk can help [your cup size] grow from A to D. That started a craze in our class and all the girls started drinking it."

Maybe it did increase their chest sizes from all the hormones injected into the dairy cows, but I digress...

Consumers complained, saying the so-called testimony was misleading and inappropriate for a product targeting children to carry a message about breast enhancement.

This milk product is actually geared towards children

Wahaha apologized on Tuesday and said it had stopped producing the packaging. It tried to explain that the testimonial was from actual consumers and got their permission to use the quotes.

But really? A story claiming apparent breast enhancement printed on a drink for kids?

Meanwhile another drinks company, Hainan Coconut Palm Group was also criticized for claiming that if women drank its coconut milk, then their breasts would get bigger.

The ads featured women frolicking on the beach with large chests with slogans like: "drink one can ever day, [your] curves will excite people, whiter and more plump", or "I drink from small to big", or "drinking more coconut milk every day can make [your] breasts fuller".

That's not the first time Hainan Coconut Palm Group got into trouble about unverified claims about its drinks. In 2017, it released an advertisement for its papaya juice, with large-chested women in bikinis on the beach with the slogan: "when I'm full of papaya, I'm ample-chested".

Claims of big chests after drinking coconut milk are false

It's quite obvious these companies don't have women in senior positions otherwise they would never have gotten into trouble with these silly marketing slogans in the first place. Do they really think women are gullible enough to consume these products to get a bigger chest?

How about just focusing on promoting how good it tastes instead of making such puffed up claims...

Stimulating Creativity in the Park

A new children's park in Tuen Mun is for all ages and got input from kids

For a cosmopolitan and wealthy city, some Hong Kong kids are the saddest in the world.

In 2017, Baptist Oi Kwan Social Service released a report that found as many as one in 10 primary school children were suffering from serious depression. Also in the same year, a Chinese University study found less than half of those aged between two and 17 had an hour of physical activity per day, the internationally recommended level.

Many government-run playgrounds look like this

But all is not lost yet. The Hong Kong Architectural Services Department has designed the first barrier-free play space for children in the city. NGO Playright Children's Play Association spearheaded the project that took four years to realize.

It's located in Tuen Mun Park and it's almost the size of a football pitch and includes a water zone, sand area and built-in musical instruments for children to stimulate their creativity.

The government did a survey in 2016 of 1,200 children, two-thirds of which felt the current playgrounds aren't very fun because they didn't have very challenging facilities that were also generic.

Researchers believe this is probably because the playgrounds were designed by adults who wanted to minimize risks, that Paul O'Connor, research assistant professor at Lingnan University's Department of Sociology and Social Policy, believes is disastrous for children. 

The swings here aren't like the generic ones in other parks

"Young people in Hong Kong are conditioned not to fail. They are asked to play safely, to follow the rules and colour within the lines," he says. "Kids' playgrounds in Hong Kong are rubbish; the same tiny swings and slides. Kids need a greater space in which to fail."

The 43-year-old O'Connor is an avid skateboarder, and he says over-protecting children can leave them unable to deal with setbacks later in life. "Kids who are given space to deal with failure, get away from screens, make real-life friends, and learn a host of creative skills along the way," he says.

For the Tuen Mun Park, the NGO Playright collected ideas of what the park should be like from children, and even appointed some of them to be advisors on the project.

When the park was completed, the children were reportedly touched because they felt like the adults were listening to them.

A water zone is included in the Tuen Mun Park

Perhaps that's a lesson we can all take from -- we should be listening to everyone regardless their age. Even kids can teach us too.