Protest Against Extradition Law Goes Global

A global protest will be held this Sunday

My friend YTSL has just sent me a poster letting the public know there will be protest marches against the extradition bill held in 17 cities around the world, including New York, London, Berlin, Vancouver, Toronto, Sydney, Melbourne and Tokyo.

Organizers of the Hong Kong march are hoping to get 500,000 people out like what happened on July 1, 2003 when half a million people came out to protest against the Hong Kong government's plans to pass Article 23, an anti-subversion law.

The massive protest led to then leader Tung Chee-hwa stepping down as well as Secretary for Security Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee. Article 23 was shelved and Beijing is still waiting for it to be passed.

But back to the upcoming protest this Sunday against the extradition law. If there are massive protests not only in Hong Kong but around the world, Beijing may think twice -- if it wants to have good standing on the global stage.

However, if Beijing believes the world is interfering in its internal affairs then the bill will be passed in the Legislative Council on Wednesday, after the government bypassed more stringent scrutiny by a committee following chaos in the legislature.

After that there won't be much we can do... now is the time to tell the government (and Beijing) how we feel about the extradition law this Sunday!

Picture of the Day: Street Cars

A vintage streetcar in use along Market Street in San FranciscoS

San Francisco is well known for its cable cars that run on steel rails with a slot between the tracks. Passengers (tourists) like to hang onto the poles for a good photo souvenir.

But did you know the city is also known for vintage cable cars?

If you take the F-line Historic Street Car, there's a high chance you will be able to sit in a cable car from as far back as 1928.

In 1982, San Francisco was going to cancel all cable car service for two years to fix the entire system.

But then cancelling the cable car would lose revenue from tourists who are keen to ride on the iconic cars.

So in the same year, the Historic Streetcar Festival started, bringing in other street cars from places like Milan, Melbourne, London and Mexico City. It was so popular the revamped old streetcars stayed in San Francisco.

It's neat to see these older streetcars in use and making people's rides around the city even more memorable for US$2.25 for adults, US$1.00 for children and seniors.

Remembering Liu Xiaobo Seven Days Later

A memorial for Liu Xiaobo was held at Tamar in Admiralty

I'm sorry I missed another memorial for Liu Xiaobo in Hong Kong last night.

It was the seventh day of his death, where the Chinese believe the spirit of the newly deceased will return home to bid a final farewell to their loved ones.

In Hong Kong, about 1,500 people gathered at Tamar in Admiralty, where they paid their last respects to the political dissident and Nobel Peace Prize winner who died of liver cancer on July 13.

Liu is remembered with pictures of a chair by the water

People signed condolence books and placed flowers in front of a large portrait of Liu with the words "Remembering Liu Xiaobo -- Free Liu Xia" at the park. Local musicians also performed several songs, including John Lennon's Imagine. At the end of the one-hour memorial, people raised three fingers in the air to represent resistance, freedom and hope.

Finally, a chair with a candle on it was lowered into Victoria Harbour. There are reports police were present but didn't intervene.

There were similar memorials in Vancouver, Boston, Melbourne and London.

It is believed the family was pressured by the Chinese government to cremate the Chinese dissident's body so soon after his death -- usually it is done at least a week after in observance of the Chinese custom.

Also his ashes were scattered into the sea in a controversial burial in an attempt by Beijing to deny supporters a place of pilgrimage. It is also known as a cruel form of posthumous punishment in traditional Chinese culture, where having a tomb is a place for one's descendants to pay tribute to the dead.

Projecting Liu Xiaobo's face on the facade of the PLA!

In the meantime there is serious concern over the whereabouts of his wife, Liu Xia. It is believed she may have been forced to "take a vacation" in the southwestern province of Yunnan.

Not only was she apparently detained, but also Liu Xiaobo's friends, who were reportedly under house arrest, unable to attend memorials. Others were detained after holding ceremonies by the sea.

On social media, people have been posting pictures of chairs by or in the sea, sometimes with flowers and the hashtag #liuxiaobo.

It's telling how far the Chinese government has gone to try to censor anything related to Liu Xiaobo, and yet people just keep remembering him through creative ways.

I think Liu would have been pleased to know so many around the world came out courageously to remember him in various ways.

Perhaps projecting his image on the barracks of the People's Liberation Army in Hong Kong is probably the most daring.

Only in Hong Kong...