An Omicron New Year

Just as Omicron has entered the Hong Kong community, people gathered in restaurants, hotels and outdoors to ring in 2022.

It has been confirmed there are at least two local cases of Omicron that originated in a Chinese restaurant in Festival Walk shopping mall in Kowloon Tong.

At Moon Palace restaurant, one Cathay Pacific crew member dined with his 76-year-old father, who also tested positive for the variant, as well as a 34-year-old construction worker who was sitting 10 metres away and eating with his family.

At least 3 people were infected at Moon Palace

Two other Cathay crew have tested positive for the virus as well.

Cathay's internal rules are that aircrew staff should only go out briefly for essential items and coronavirus testing during the isolation period. But now it looks like they must quarantine for seven days instead of three, and with not enough crew, flights will be affected, including cargo.

There were concerns on Twitter that the shipments of food at Marks & Spencer would be affected, though as we know, most food in Hong Kong is imported. Mail to various countries will also be affected.

So perhaps we are already in the fifth wave, but for the most part people were out and about tonight to celebrate the end of 2021 and welcome the new year.

While temperatures were mild, the last few days the pollution index has gone up and today was particularly hazy all day. We didn't make it up to the Peak and just as well -- we probably wouldn't have been able to see much -- so we opted the harbourfront instead.

People getting tested for Covid at Festival Walk

And when the countdown to midnight happened, suddenly fireworks exploded from the tops of several buildings nearby which was quite a sight. Hong Kong has hardly had any fireworks for the past two years so it was nice to have 10 minutes of them going off as well as a synchronised drone show.

Here we are in 2022. But now Hong Kong is seeing Omicron spreading in the city -- and hopefully that will spur the unvaccinated to finally get their jabs. It's time to get tough on those not yet vaccinated otherwise the city will never be able to move on.

We need to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Concert Under the Stars

Fantastic finish to Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture Finale!

I miss going to concerts... but how about an outdoor concert? I jumped at the chance, and so did 10,199 other people with the Hong Kong Philharmonic having its "Symphony Under the Stars" sponsored by Swire. It used to be an annual event until 2018 because of the protests and Covid-19 and now it's back.

A few weeks ago we all had to go online to get the free tickets... as soon as 10am hit, I had over 1,500 people in front of me... by the time I got the tickets, they were near the back. No matter -- I have tickets! Each person was allowed to get a maximum of four tickets so I asked a friend to bring her husband and daughter along. 

Registration was tedious, including each person's email and mobile number and we had to use the Leave Home Safe app. And... no eating or drinking!

Thank goodness for big screens!

Previous outdoor concerts were a picnic affair, where groups would stake out their territory early with picnic blankets, bring food and drinks while enjoying the concert.

But alas we were told not to bring food or drinks into the venue. 

It was held at the Central Harbourfront Events Space, and instead there was seating, each marked with a seat number.

At the entrance, staff made sure we had our tickets, then we proceeded to security where they made sure we had scanned the Leave Home Safe app, then had a quick check of what was in our bags before allowing us in. 

I walked further and further away from the main stage... to section J. And each grouping of seats was in fours. There were several rows behind us, but we were pretty much at the back! The musicians on stage were practically dots. My friend's husband did bring binoculars, but really it was about listening to the music.

The concert was hosted by Harry Gor Gor or Harry Wong the musician and former radio host. He was lots of fun for the kids in the audience, especially when he got out his instrument that he played with his nose... even playing Brahms' Hungarian Dance with it!

When Wong tried to joke with some of the musicians, they came off sounding very serious... Except for a trio of trumpeters dressed in relaxing holiday gear. They told Wong they had just had a staycation in Yuen Long and handed him a wife cake!

People waving their phones to Blue Danube

The program's theme was dance music, so all the pieces were very familiar and easy to listen to, like Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty, Saint-Saens' Danse macabre, Johan Strauss II's Blue Danube Waltz, and Anderson's Bugler's Holiday.

Wong kept teasing the audience about the fireworks, that it would happen... two pieces later. During the Blue Danube he encouraged people to turn on their phone lights as the drone above us swooped past. One of the composer's name is Khachaturian, and Wong joked if you said it in Chinese it sounded like gaat-jat choong leung, as in cockroach having a bath... 

After the two-hour mark, the concert was over, but not before the orchestra performed Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture Finale with fireworks! Amazing sight after having not seen any fireworks for over two years because of the anti-government protests and then the pandemic.

In front of us was a family with two young boys and they obviously loved the music. One kept swaying his arms like a conductor, the parents patient with them, not telling them to sit still, except for a security guard telling the younger one not to play with the chain bordering our section. But otherwise towards the end they were dancing and so excited to be there.

An exciting finish to the concert! 

Concerts like these help foster children's love of music and that's so important.

What's also interesting is that while Wong thanked Swire and people clapped, no one did when he also thanked the Hong Kong government for sponsoring the event as well... or at least I couldn't hear any applause...

Watch the concert here. Wong's nose instrument playing is at 1:48:07

Wong has a fun skeleton dance at 48:19

No Inquiry into Worst Martime Disaster in 40 Years

The Lamma IV filled with water and sank, killing 39 people

On the evening of October 1, 2012, colourful fireworks exploded in the sky above Victoria Harbour to celebrate National Day. 

But about half an hour before the pyrotechnics display, the night went horribly wrong, as 39 people lost their lives in the water, including eight children after two ships collided, making it the worst maritime disaster in Hong Kong in 40 years.

At around 8.20pm, a regular ferry that goes between Central and Lamma, called Sea Smooth, crashed into Lamma IV, a Hongkong Electric Company vessel that was on its way to Central to watch the fireworks following a tour of the power station on Lamma, thus many families were on board.

Victims' families want an inquiry into collision

The crash ruptured two water-tight compartments on Lamma IV, causing the ship to quickly fill with water and sink. More than 100 of the 121 passengers were thrown overboard without wearing life vests, while the Sea Smooth continued on its way to Lamma Island, with some of its passengers including the captain were injured. In total 92 people were injured from both ships.

There was criticism of the captain of the Sea Smooth for leaving the site of the accident and not offering to help rescue Lamma IV passengers; others say there were concerns the Sea Smooth should quickly make its way to Lamma out of fears it might sink. After being discharged from the hospital, the captain was emotionally unstable. 

The Sea Smooth captain was sentenced to eight years in prison for the deaths, while the Lamma IV captain was acquitted of manslaughter, but found guilty of endangering the safety of others at sea.

A commission of inquiry was submitted to the government in 2013, which found there were "serious systemic failings" with the Marine Department that added to the tragedy.

James To is pushing for the Coroner to reconsider

But now eight years later, the Coroner's Court has told families of the victims it will not investigate into the tragedy but did not disclose the reasons publicly.

James To Kun-sun, a Democratic Party lawmaker, has been assisting the families, said he was shocked by the coroner's decision.

"As the Lamma ferry crash was an unprecedented marine accident in Hong Kong... an inquest should be opened to give family members and the public the truth."

He said the inquest would let the public know about the details of investigations by the police and the Marine Department, which were carried out after the commission of inquiry. 

To added it was unfair for the victims' family members to lose the right of cross-examination, which would have helped pursue the truth behind the accident.

Eight children died in the disaster in 2012

"An inquest is the only opportunity for victims' relatives to receive relevant [investigation] documents, make cross-examinations and seek the truth," To said.

The families were dealt another blow when the Department of Justice said earlier this month it would no longer initiate prosecutions over the crash.

As a result the victims' relatives may file private prosecutions against those responsible for the crash.

It is strange the Coroner's Court is not pursuing an inquiry -- the public needs to know what happened in this disaster and to prevent it from happening again. Perhaps the Marine Department feels enough punishment was meted out at the time, with 17 of its officers found guilty of misconduct and disciplined by the Civil Service Bureau. 

But this was the worst maritime disaster since 1971 -- and involved eight children.  Surely it deserves a comprehensive inquiry?

The horrific collision led to many families registering their children to learn how to swim -- eight years on, is this still a skill in demand?

From Mykonos to Santorini

On a large ferry on the way from Mykonos to Santorini in over four hours

We took a ferry from Mykonos to Santorini and the journey was over four hours long. Considering tourism is such a big part of the Greek economy, it was pretty surprising to see how underdeveloped the ferry piers are at both Mykonos and Santorini.

The view of the sea from the stern of the ferry

At Mykonos there is a temporary kiosk that sells food and drinks from giant refrigerators. The sandwiches are more bread than filling, but the prawn cocktail-flavoured potato chips from Lays ("summer edition") were not bad, more tomato taste than prawn.

Then there is no proper passenger seating area -- there is a covered area with cement benches for people to sit on, or out in the sun on wooden benches. There is no electronic board to show which ferry is coming and will be docking at which pier.

Not all the ferries display English signs, though we managed to find out which pier our ferry would dock at, which arrived at the appointed time. Security officials were on hand to direct traffic: first the passengers disembarked, followed by several vehicles from cars to trucks.

Then trucks and cars waiting in line were allowed to drive into the ferry first -- trucks had to back in one by one, and then finally passengers. There were hordes of us tourists descending onto the ferry, though there was a traffic jam at the entrance as we could only enter one by one by showing our tickets.

Everyone trying to take pictures of the sunset at Oia

The ferry ride took over four hours going south east, passing several other islands along the way. Finally we arrived at Santorini and the port here was even more primitive than at Mykonos, which is strange considering hotels in Santorini are much more expensive. It was like arriving in a developing country, with people holding up signs for tours or transport, while others advertised for taxis or buses for certain destinations.

We found our driver who then drove us over half an hour zig-zagging up the hill and then driving along the countryside where we saw donkeys, cows and horses grazing in the fields, hardly any development in sight.

Finally we drove onto a quiet street in the middle of nowhere to find our hotel opposite a huge resort development called Santa Maris, consisting of a number of villas that could be accessed by golf carts. Ours is a small complex of three units.

I managed to finally get a sunset picture without tourists

We were told by the manager to go up the hill to the right to see the famous sunset view in Oia, the town we are in. The hill is a steep walk but it took less than 10 minutes. From there we tried to go as far right as we could and encountered tons of people holding up their smartphones to document every second of the sun's descent into the ocean.

It took us a while to finally inch a bit closer to the front, but even then people were busy taking selfies or recording the sunset on video. And when the sun finally set, people actually clapped their hands as if it was a performance!

Then the tourists started leaving like a stream, as the stairway we were at is quite narrow. We could see more and more people coming up the stairway and wondered when the last ones would finally leave.

And actually this was when the skyline was even more dramatic with yellow, pink, mauve and deep purple colours. We're glad we didn't miss that!

An even better view of the sky after the hordes left the area

For dinner we found a small and relatively decent-priced restaurant but we had to wait about 20 minutes. During that time we met a couple from South Dakota, and the husband had been to Hong Kong on a business trip last year.

He asked about the protests and I told him they were actually happening as we spoke. I added the protests would not end soon as the government was not listening to the protesters at all. He also said that he visited Macau via the bridge a month after it opened (November 2018) and was impressed by the small former Portuguese colony.

We finally tucked into tzatziki sauce that we dipped bread into, baked eggplant stuffed with onions, tomatoes and balsamic vinegar, and spaghetti marinara with prawns and mussels in a rich creamy tomato sauce.

Our rich spaghetti marinara in a creamy tomato sauce

And then as we were finishing dinner, there were fireworks going off in the distance and we watched this small but constant stream of fireworks being set up for at least 20 minutes. The size of the fireworks paled in comparison to the ones in Hong Kong, but the non-stop firing of them was impressive!

Cries for Sympathy Leave Bad Taste

This year there weren't fireworks to mark the start of the Year of the Dog

The Year of the Dog wasn't as boisterous this time with the cancellation of the fireworks on the second day of the new year.

It was the seventh day after 19 people died and 66 injured in a horrific bus crash in Tai Po and in Chinese tradition it is believed on that day the souls of the dead visit their loved ones for one last time.

Many restaurants like this one capitalize on the fireworks

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor made the right decision out of respect for the victims and their families, but that decision wasn't easy to make -- as expected local businesses were financially hit by the fireworks cancellation.

"On the surface, it seems like it would not be a big deal to cancel [the fireworks], but there is a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes that travel agencies have to take care of... there are bound to be losses," tourism sector legislator Yiu Si-wing said on a radio show on Saturday.

Yiu added restaurants with a view of Victoria Harbour, where the fireworks are usually held, would be affected the most. "According to my understanding, one-third of the customers had backed out of their reservations," he said.

During the same radio program, Travel Industry Council chairman Jason Wong Chun-tat suggested the government should give priority to the affected industries if the government was going to organise any activities in the future.

Jason Wong hopes travel and restaurants get help in the future

Yes fireworks are a big deal in the city -- hundreds of thousands of people turn up on both sides of Victoria Harbour to get a good spot to watch them. Some make reservations at restaurants with a view, prepared to pay a bomb for their vantage point.

However with the cancellation of the pyrotechnic show, restaurants probably lost out the most, having ordered a lot of fresh (and expensive) ingredients beforehand and with many customers cancelling -- perhaps a bit to easily -- they took a big hit.

But these businesses were capitalizing on an event they didn't have to pay for in the first place. They would still have business (probably not at prices as jacked up) anyway because of the view.

Yiu says there are losses in the restaurant industry

More importantly, can we have some respect for the dead? For these legislators to hint there should be sympathy for the tourism and restaurant sectors is too much. Lives were lost -- can you put a price on that?

This also demonstrates how tough things are in the restaurant and tourism sectors to make a buck -- with rents sky high, customers are really paying the rent than enjoying good food and service at a decent price.

Many establishments are just trying to keep their heads above water these days as 2018 is going to be another challenging financial year.

The legislators were also probably hoping they could get the sympathy of Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po ahead of the upcoming budget speech at the end of the month. But he seems pretty tight lipped -- about everything.