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

Six Years Ago Today

Yellow umbrellas in force at Admiralty six years ago

 

Six years ago today was the start of the Umbrella Movement. I remember that day in Admiralty, seeing people carrying umbrellas and some wearing masks and goggles. What was going to happen? 

I just knew there were students holed up at Civic Square, surrounded by the police and people demanded that they be let go.

Nothing happened, so my friend YTSL and I grabbed a bite to eat in a restaurant in Pacific Place shopping mall and that's when I checked Twitter to discover people had occupied the roads.

When teargas was fired, umbrellas were defense

In disbelief we went back to see a surreal sight of people on the roads, helping each other climb over the highway barriers and wandering around. It was so bizarre we wandered around too and wondered how long this would last.

Later that evening around 6pm the police fired teargas into the crowds, who tried to defend themselves with umbrellas. People watching the scenes unfold on television were in shock and rushed over to Admiralty.

It would be 79 days before the occupation ended, and it was the spark that ignited the passion of fighting for democracy in Hong Kong. The community spirit at Admiralty was warm, friendly, eco-friendly. It had a utopian atmosphere of what people believed Hong Kong should be.

Students set up desks to do their homework and people volunteered to tutor them, people drew posters, encouraged others to write notes on the first Lennon Wall, and others created arts and crafts inspired by the movement.

The famous or infamous televised debate

Meanwhile the government was caught completely off guard and had no idea what to do. They looked worse debating student leaders, who demanded that the election reform should include nominations from local citizens. However, the government claimed this fell outside the framework of the Basic Law and the National People's Congress Standing Committee decision.

The government revealed its impotence though it claimed the talks were "candid and meaningful", while the student leaders expressed disappointment in the lack of concrete results.

The protests revealed the growing divide between pro-establishment and pro-democracy camps, both becoming more entrenched in their positions.

And then on December 15, 2014 the Umbrella Movement ended unceremoniously with people being arrested for refusing to leave the protest sites, and the police cleaning up the roads for traffic to finally resume.

I never thought I would see the roads occupied by people ever again until it happened again five years later with the anti-extradition protests. 

Protesters regrouped in Admiralty last year

All that pent-up frustration and anger exploded again in the city, revealing that people still had the passion inside them to protest what they felt was not good for Hong Kong. 

But alas it has come to this -- a tone-deaf government controlled by the heavy hand of Beijing. The implementation of the national security law in the hours before July 1 came out of the blue for everyone else, but was the plan all along to force Hongkongers into submission.

And with the ongoing pandemic, it makes it even easier for Beijing to do as it pleases, postponing the Legislative Council elections (that should have been earlier this month), and outright banning mass protests all in the name of social distancing.

October 1 will have a loaded meaning this year, as it is China's national day and Mid-Autumn Festival. And the legend has it that over 600 years ago, the Han overthrew the Mongol Yuan dynasty by inserting secret messages inside the mooncakes...

A mini protest tonight in Pacific Place

Tonight there was a low-key protest at Pacific Place to mark the sixth anniversary of the Umbrella Movement. About two dozen peo

ple turned out to shout anti-government slogans and sing protest songs.

While police watched nearby they didn't arrest anyone, and instead urged people to disperse.

The Civil Human Rights Front had applied for a march to protest the 12 people detained on the mainland on October 1, but that was immediately banned due to social-distancing measures. 

What will happen next?

Remembering Raincoat Man

Over one thousand people left floral tributes to Leung tonight

If the Hong Kong government thinks after almost 9,000 arrests in the past year that the number of protesters has shrunk to only a small group of "rioters", then it is sorely mistaken.

This evening over a thousand people came to Pacific Place in Admiralty to remember Marco Leung Ling-kit, who was the first casualty of the extradition protests exactly a year ago, and to mourn the death of "one country, two systems".

They also mourned "one country, two systems"

From around 6pm onwards, mourners came clutching white flowers to place them at the exact spot where Leung, wearing a yellow raincoat, fell to his death while trying to hang a protest banner. And the people kept coming.

And coming.

And coming.

The line stretched all the way westwards along Queensway and around the corner up Cotton Tree Drive where the west entrance to Hong Kong Park is, about 1km. The floral tributes didn't stop until 11pm. Some people waited two hours in line to reach the floral shrine.

A female retiree in her 60s told one media outlet she was arrested last year for taking part in a protest last year.

The police had opposed to march organizer Civil Human Rights Front to hold a public gathering for Leung, and she said, "Whatever the government refuses to let us do, it is the right thing to do."

Most people wore black and a white ribbon, signifying their support for a strike to protest against the upcoming national security bill.

As expected the police were standing by in riot gear ready to attack, but all they did was warn the crowd about social distancing and advised them to disperse.

Inside the mall people sang Glory to Hong Kong

Also in the tributes was a sign that read: "RIP One country, two systems 1997-2020".

Inside Pacific Place protesters shouted slogans and sang the protest anthem Glory to Hong Kong while waving flags.

There were memorials also held in Tuen Mun and Tin Shui Wai.

The sheer numbers of people show they are still keen to defend Hong Kong's rights and freedoms from the impending national security law. But will the government recognize these people's views? More importantly will Beijing?

If the national security bill is of utmost importance for Hong Kong, how come residents, who will be most impacted by it are not consulted? Why is it being done in such a secretive manner? Why are Hong Kong officials and many businesses blindly supporting it without even knowing what is in this new law?

No one is defending Hong Kong except Hongkongers themselves. A year ago tomorrow, 2 million people came out to march against the extradition bill put forward by Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor.

There are still a lot of people who love this city and feel betrayed by Beijing for reneging on the Joint Declaration, where it was promised there would be 50 years of no change until 2047.

The remembrance ended at 11pm at Pacific Place

So while Lam and her senior ministers may think they are winning the war against the protesters, they are completely underestimating the sheer anger and sadness Hongkongers have, and that these emotions being channeled through every anniversary this year.

Protesters will make sure the Hong Kong government or the world will not forget what happened in the past year.

One Virus, Two Different Leaders

Ho Iat Seng announced today all casinos will be shut for two weeks

This morning Hong Kong recorded its first death from the coronavirus, a 39-year-old man who had suffered from sudden heart failure. Now there are two deaths outside of China, over 20,000 confirmed cases, 427 dead and interestingly 664 have recovered.

However over 20,000 cases is a lot, and health experts are expecting even more cases in the coming days, as people return from their extended Chinese New Year holidays. It's going to be a long, tough slog for all of us.

Carrie Lam still refuses to close all borders and wear a mask!

Yesterday Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor announced that no one would be able to cross the border check point at the Hong Kong-Macau ferry terminal, and then today her Macanese counterpart Ho Iat Seng declared at a press conference this afternoon that all 41 casinos would be shut down for two weeks.

He didn't say when this drastic action would start, but it was prompted by the case of a casino worker who fell ill with the coronavirus during the Chinese New Year holiday. Ho also shut the border between Macau and China.

Us Hongkongers have been impressed by his decisive leadership,  while Lam is still being pressured by striking healthcare workers to close the remaining borders with the motherland to prevent the fast spread of the virus.

And what is with her not wearing a mask at the press conference yesterday and today, claiming she ordered her ministers and staff not to wear them and give them to frontline healthcare staff instead?

Red and white ferries are docked in Shun Tak ferry terminal

The Hong Kong government surely has a steady supply now that prisoners are working around the clock to make these masks? Or does Lam want to show she is sacrificing her health for the cause? Either way it got no sympathy -- only confusion as infectious disease experts like Ho Pak-leung have strongly advised Hongkongers to wear a mask in public.

Her actions continue to confound...

This evening I walked to Shun Tak ferry terminal in Sheung Wan, where the ferries that would have carried people to Macau and back were all docked. In the last few days the ferries have been pretty empty anyway; from a distance I could see only a handful of people on each boat passing by the waterfront.

Upstairs the mall it was pretty dead, like Pacific Place and IFC, and it was only before 8pm. The McDonald's outlet only had one person eating there, though Maxim's next door had a few more customers.

The McDonald's outlet is practically empty at dinnertime

It's hard to see how businesses can be sustained here with the border shut down indefinitely.

All shops and restaurants are now basically depending on locals, but after eight months of protests and now this coronavirus have completely turned us off from wanting to dine out let alone shop.

Hong Kong has to seriously re-think how its economy is run and what kind of city it wants to be, what kind of talent it wants to attract, and who it wants to live here.

Sounds existential, but now is the time to really think hard about pressing the reset button on the city and consider what it wants its future to be. The current model we have been running on for over a century is not working.

In the meantime, though there is one good thing about this mess -- with significantly fewer boats passing through Victoria Harbour in the next few weeks and months, surely it will be a fantastic opportunity for the water quality to improve and the quality of life for the sea creatures that live below?

Zhang Daqian's Masterful Style

On Route Switzerland-Austria, 1965

 

This afternoon I managed to catch the last day of a special exhibition of Chinese painter Zhang Daqian's work at Sotheby's Hong Kong. This year marks the 120th anniversary of the artist's birthday.

Dunhuang painting, 1942

Entitled "Zhang Daqian: The Master", the show features nearly 60 works from the artist's family and prominent private collections, many of these pieces either rarely or never before seen in public. Many of them are works that he gave to his daughter, Chang Hsueh-liang.

When I arrived at Sotheby's in One Pacific Place in Admiralty around 3pm, the place was already packed with people of various ages, eager to examine the artist's paintings and calligraphy. Strangely not all the works were captioned in English which were otherwise very helpful for me to further understand the paintings.

Nevertheless the pieces show an array of Zhang's styles that ranged from intricate line drawings to his famous splash ink paintings that verge on abstraction. He definitely pushed Chinese painting forward, still keeping with traditional philosophy, but very contemporary at the same time.

Zhang was born in 1899 in Neijiang, Sichuan province and learned traditional Chinese painting from several teachers, including his mother. He copied the works of ancient masters, refining his skills in painting landscapes, birds and flowers, and figures.

In the early 1940s he went to Dunhuang, Gansu province for three years, copying the Buddhist grotto paintings that deeply inspired him to learn more about art from the Tang dynasty. His observations of Tang-dynasty figures were later integral to developing his style.

The lotus is a favourite subject for Zhang, this painted in 1973

However, because of the impending revolution in China, Zhang left China in 1949 and went to live in places like Argentina, Brazil, California, and Taiwan. He became exposed to modern Western art developments, like the Abstract Expressionists, and even met Pablo Picasso. It was then that he began developing the splash ink style and using vivid mineral colours.

The exhibition has Zhang's line paintings from when he was in Dunhuang. There's a dynamic painting of a girl dancing with ribbons and it comes alive with elegance and grace. Another shows a woman presenting an offering in a flowing robe.

A particularly impressive painting is called Spring Clouds Amid Autumn Landscape done in 1948. He gave this painting to a friend of his (he had many friends he gifted with art) who turned 50 years old, and this particular painting is so detailed it's mind-boggling to think he painted every single pine needle on the trees and every wave in the sea. Not only does it show his attention to detail, but also his ability to paint so finely.

And of course Zhang is well known for his lotus paintings using the splash-ink style. The leaves are lively from his large brushstrokes, and yet anchored by the deliberate lotus flower stems that are detailed with dots on them. It's more about the leaves than the flowers themselves.

A screen of a landscape painting for Zhang's daughter

There is a screen that he gifted to his daughter Chang when she was getting married. It features an abstract landscape that spreads across several panels. Chang wrote that her father seemed sad about her leaving home soon and it took him a long time to finish the screen, as if hoping that if he didn't finish it, she wouldn't leave. But eventually he did finish it and her brother brought it over for her wedding.

The landscape paintings -- of places outside of China are very interesting because they are painted in a Chinese ink brush style, though viewers are encouraged to use their imagination. One called On Route Switzerland-Austria looks more like a Chinese landscape, but it has a brilliant colouring from the blue-green palette, evoking greenery, but also there is contrast from a waterfall in the distance that creates a giant mist further down, or are they clouds? that create a backdrop for the chalets on the mountains.

A woman Zhang painted that's printed on the foam of a coffee

What a treat to see all these paintings. I also got a cup of (cold) coffee -- with one of Zhang's paintings printed on the foam! A few of us took pictures of each other's coffee cups. One woman didn't want to drink her coffee to ruin her print-out of a woman's face. Eventually she did drink it...

Police Supporters Lash Out

 

Thousands came out with blue signs in support of the Hong Kong police

Today people in support of the Hong Kong police force came out to Tamar for a rally, with organizers saying 165,000 attended. Many were middle-aged and elderly, holding placards that read, "we support HK police" and chanted slogans.

The rally, organized by pro-Beijing lawmaker Junius Ho Kwan-yiu, had some star power attached, with actors Tony Leung Ka-fai, Philip Chan Yan-kin and singer Alan Tam Wing-lun on stage. Guess they have lost some fans for good now.

Tony Leung Ka-fai and Philip Chan Yan-kin at the rally

Also making speeches were former police chief Tang King-shing and Basic Law vice-chairwoman Maria Tam Wai-chu.

Speaking onstage, Tang said he was "disheartened that Hong Kong police, which are the best in Asia, had their efforts completely disregarded".

"Over the past few weeks, Hong Kong police, working in extremely difficult environments and facing investigation, still remain very tolerant," Tang said.

He led the crowds in shouting" "Sir, madam, we support you! Sir, madam, thank you!"

However, this was far from a peaceful rally. Supporters for the police harassed reporters and anyone dressed in black, assuming they were an anti-extradition bill protester. Some people were manhandled and/or had abuse shouted at them. The police had to intervene.

Police supporters seen ripping signs off "Lennon Wall"

Tensions surged higher when police supporters went around, tearing down posters that protesters had put up, ripping up messages of support that were posted on "Lennon Wall", a concrete stairwell area that had been the site of many messages in 2014.

This led to more shouting matches. One Caucasian man confronted a middle-aged woman for desecrating a memorial for one protester who fell to his death on June 15 at Pacific Place. She ignored him and then turned around saying as a Hong Kong person he should speak Cantonese. He replied English is also an official language in the city.

Others desecrate a memorial

Hong Kong seems more divided than ever -- and the government has already picked sides.

If anything today's event has only inspired more people to come out tomorrow for the annual July 1 march. Perhaps this is the government's bizarre way of getting people to do more physical exercise?

Protesting into the Night

Thousands gathered at the police headquarters in Wan Chai tonight

Around 5.30pm a friend asked me if I would like to join her and her husband to listen to a concert of experimental music.

I replied that I had to do a civic duty -- visit the protests as I had missed all of them while I was away.

All day today I was watching news reports and a colleague said even by 6am there were some protesters who already arrived at the Legislative Council in Admiralty for their "picnic", and the crowd continued to grow throughout the day.

A poster of Carrie Lam at Pacific Place

As I watched the television coverage, it seemed very fluid -- crowds were moving to the police headquarters in Wan Chai, to Harcourt Road in Admiralty, to the Legislative Council and Pacific Place.

Seeing Harcourt Road covered with people again was a sight I never thought I would see again after the 2014 Occupy protests. I had assumed the Hong Kong government would never allow this to happen again, but it has.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor didn't respond to the four demands made by a group of student protesters by the deadline yesterday at 5pm, and since then she has been completely out of the picture, as well as the police, who were trying to be restrained following a barrage of criticism for their heavy-handedness in dealing with protesters last Wednesday.

As a result, the protesters were pretty much left to their own devices, and they chose to take the high road and be civil.

I didn't start taking part in my civic duties until around 7.30pm after finishing a quick dinner with a friend in Causeway Bay. I decided to take the bus over to Wan Chai, but when I got on, the driver said he was only going as far as Southern Playground.

People mourning the death of a man surnamed Leung

So after a few minutes' bus ride, we all got off and started walking towards the police headquarters in Wan Chai. Hennessy Road going eastbound was already blocked off, though vehicles could keep going westbound.

When I arrived, the atmosphere was calm, people standing around, some prepared with masks, goggles and umbrellas, some stared at their phones, others chatted with their friends. Some wore black T-shirts, others in office wear from being at work all day.

Periodically they shouted slogans like "Release them!", referring to some protesters who were arrested, or "Hongkongers add oil!", or they would periodically raise their middle finger at the police station.

At one point the police set up a video camera on an elevated walkway, and down below protesters gave sounds of loud disapproval. A few people were prepared and shone green laser lights at the cameraman or his video camera. Good to know those pointing lasers are also useful at protests.

"Pass them over!" someone shouted, and giant boxes of plastic wrap rolls were passed over through the crowd, while a box of small pizza was being passed the opposite direction to anyone who was hungry. Two young women came by with a white plastic bag, saying, "Garbage! Garbage!" in case anyone wanted to throw something away. Which other protest in the world has such systems in place?

Harcourt Road occupied five years after the Occupy protests

After a while I left the area, but not without taking a shot from the overhead pass and realized there were way more people on the onramp onto Harcourt Road. The police station was completely surrounded by protesters.

Then I walked across Queensway to Pacific Place and there were many people paying their respects to the man surnamed Leung, who fell to his death last week. Bouquets of flowers were placed in boxes, and there were hundreds of yellow Post-It notes plastered all over, telling the man that they would finish his wishes, that he rest in peace.

In the mall I had a quick bathroom break and then bought a small bottle of water at Great supermarket before heading to the Legislative Council at Tamar. By now there weren't that many people on Harcourt Road, but they were still occupying the roads. It was still 31 degrees outside and hot and humid. It's not easy conditions, but everyone out there was willing to be out there in the warm weather.

Finally I made it to the Legislative Council, and there were clusters of people discussing the controversy over the extradition bill through Christianity, or singing Hallelujah, or sitting around with their picnic blanket. It was a random group of people, but everyone seemed very civil and courteous.

What is Lam going to do next?

To blame the protesters for the roads being blocked and causing traffic disruptions is disingenuous. It is actually her administration that has not effectively thought through the consequences of this bill. She thought an apology was enough, and didn't make a pro-active gesture to engage with young people.

In the meantime it looks like tonight's protests will continue throughout the weekend, or until Lam makes the next move. For her sake, it better be the right one.

Waiting for Mangkhut

This restaurant enticed diners to come for the evening

Late yesterday afternoon, Hong Kong's security minister John Lee Ka-chiu told the public to "prepare for the worst", because of Super Typhoon Mangkhut coming close to Hong Kong, so today people came out in droves to stock up.

It wasn't as severe as bare shelves in North Carolina when Hurricane Florence was approaching yesterday, but the wet market in Kennedy Town as well as the Park n Shop were much busier than usual around 10am. The atmosphere was like Chinese New Year eve, people buying up ingredients they would need for the next few days.

Many shops around Hong Kong taped their windows like this

In the afternoon, the shopping malls were packed with people. At Festival Walk in Kowloon Tong, people were even checking out the cars on display, not necessarily getting supplies for the impending Super Typhoon Mangkhut.

By evening things had calmed down -- my colleague and I had a delicious dinner at a Lebanese restaurant called Francis in Wan Chai. It was full, but there weren't a lot of people waiting outside for a table in the second round.

After our early dinner around 8pm I walked to nearby Pacific Place in Admiralty, and the shopping mall was practically dead -- hardly anyone was in the shops and even Great, the supermarket downstairs was relatively quiet.

Most people rushed home on the MTR because we'd been warned it was going to be a big one. The bakery in the Kennedy Town MTR station it looked like it had been raided as most of the baked goods were gone.

This bakery was practically cleaned out of baked goods

I am curious to know what kinds of snacks and food people stock up on for a typhoon! I saw one guy carrying a shopping bag full of candies including a giant box of Malteasers...

The Hong Kong Observatory is expecting to raise the T8 signal between 11pm and 2am, with Mangkhut coming skirting just south of Hong Kong in the late morning or early afternoon, depending on its speed.

Many shops have taped their windows so it looks like the Chinese character for rice (米)... before they would only tape an "X"... guess this time Mangkhut is special that it warrants more tape?

In any event we're prepared... everyone is also watching to see what happens to the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge!

With Rain Comes Umbrellas and Plastic

The view of Victoria Harbour this morning from Kennedy Town

In the last few weeks we have had cloudy skies and intermittent rain storms throughout the day so you never know when you'll need an umbrella. The other day we even had a red rainstorm warning, but the heavy rains were in the New Territories and not on Hong Kong island or Kowloon.

Nevertheless, the reality is that with rain comes plastic in the form of umbrella covers so that there is less water on the floor, less mess to mop, and less chance of people slipping.

But it does create a lot of one-use plastic.

Make your umbrella less wet with this

A local environmental group called Greens Action shamed the Hong Kong government for encouraging people to use the plastic umbrella covers at 60 of its 83 buildings managed by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department.

"We are very disappointed that while the government has been encouraging citizens to adopt a greener lifestyle, some departments have failed to follow their own environmentally friendly policies," Greeners Action's Yip Chui-man said.

We have to agree. Even the MTR, which services millions of commuters everyday, doesn't give out plastic covers for umbrellas when it rains, but employs the use of industrial fans to blow dry the floor.

I recently wandered into Pacific Place in Admiralty and they had an interesting contraption to get rid of most of the water off umbrellas.

I haven't actually tried it, but basically you stick the umbrella in the slot and move it up and down to wipe off as much water as possible. The only downside is that you can't stick folded umbrellas in the contraption.

Nevertheless it's a start. The less plastic we use the better -- even if it means having wet floors.

Why Knock a Good Thing?

The General Post Office in Central is slated for demolition

The Hong Kong government doesn't think the city has enough office towers and malls so it is planning to demolish the General Post Office in Central. The post office and its contents would be moved to a new building in Kowloon Bay that cost taxpayers HK$1.6 billion (US$204 million).

Why do we need to move the General Post Office when we need one in the central business district? The post office has been an essential service not only Monday to Friday but even on Sundays for domestic helpers who are only free that day to mail packages back home.

This was the original General Post Office

And also why do we need another shopping mall? We already have IFC and Landmark in Central, and Pacific Place nearby. Surely those malls don't want competition either.

Environmentalists are using the argument that if you must move the post office, fine, but leave the building there. Roy Tam Hoi-pong of the activist group Green Sense says knocking down the building would create a lot of construction waste which would clog up landfills.

Green Sense has estimated it would produce more than 12,000 cubic metres of waste, the equivalent of five standard-sized swimming pools.

The five-storey Central Post Office was erected in 1976 to replace Hongkong Post's previous Edwardian-era headquarters at the corner of Des Voeux Road Central and Pedder Street.

The site on which the post office is located is known as Site 3, and it is part of a HK$12 billion plan for eight key sites on the Central harbourfront. There are plans for upmarket (ie expensive) office space, a large pedestrian deck and a mix of hotels and shops. Town planners had approved this for the site in September 2016.

Keeping the post office would be of cultural value to the city

Kitty Law Ngar-ning, co-convenor of the Central and Western Concern Group believes the building should be saved for its heritage value.

"The General Post Office has served Hongkongers for more than 40 years and... its symbolism is embodied by all the commerce, trade, cultural and societal exchanges that took place there," she said. "It is an important piece of architecture in our collective memory."

She suggested it be used as an exhibition space or a postal-themed museum. But it could have other uses as well. Why can't part of it remain a post office and the other parts some office space? Looking at how the Murray Building was recently refurbished into a hotel is interesting and useful. Does the government really have no creative ideas?

The government's Commerce and Economic Development Bureau claimed there wasn't enough grade A office space in the area. If that's so why are companies moving their offices away from the central business district? They can't afford the rents anymore!

The impending plan makes no sense, and hopefully lawmakers will question it. If not, we'll be left with another gaping hole in the Central harbourfront area and wondering why Hong Kong doesn't preserve its history and culture...

Picture of the Day: Supermoon

Admiring the "Supermoon" from Admiralty

Tonight after dinner, my friend and I walked out of a restaurant in Pacific Place in Admiralty and looked up to see the moon.

The "Supermoon" is closest to the Earth now and so it appears 7 percent larger and 15 percent brighter than usual. The last time it was this close was in 1948.

The moon did look much bigger and we admired it for a few minutes, observing its roundness and brightness while taking pictures of it.

Later in the evening I went out for a run around my neighbourhood and saw many amateur photographers setting up their cameras trying to get a good shot, though there were many street lamps in the way.

Of course taking it from a smartphone isn't the best, but gives an idea of how beautiful it was, because we won't see it again like this until November 25, 2034.

Retailers Change Their Tune

Did hot men result in hotter sales for Abercrombie & Fitch in Hong Kong?

A few years ago luxury brands muscled their way into prime retail locations in Hong Kong, which had the domino effect of unsympathetically pushing out mom-and-pop stores that had been there for decades.

This kind of gentrification was not welcomed by Hong Kong people -- these boutiques selling expensive fashion, jewellery and watches were catered towards mainland tourists, not the local population.

It got to the point where there were regular reports in the paper about this noodle shop closing, or that bakery shuttering because of exorbitant rents, and residents rushed to these places for their last bite because it reminded them of their childhood.

I also joked at the time that because all these food shops were closing that we wouldn't have anything left to eat.

Burberry's flagship store in Pacific Place

Abercrombie & Fitch created a stir when it kicked out Shanghai Tang from Pedder Building in Central, and even worse, was willing to pay double the rent at HK$7 million a month.

After the hoopla of having topless men with washboard stomachs (of course) doing publicity stunts around town, did that help sell millions of dollars worth of casual clothes per week?

Then there was Burberry that took over the space previously occupied by Lane Crawford in Pacific Place in Admiralty, that caused a chain reaction -- Lane Crawford then moved across the street to Queensway, uprooting a number of small shops that had occupied that area.

But now some of these brands are having their comeuppance, as mainland shoppers are not keen to buy big ticket items in Hong Kong, and instead are looking further afield to outlet stores -- in Europe and Japan where the euro and yen are weak.

Swiss watchmaker TAG Heuer is closing its store on the popular Russell Street in Causeway Bay, while luxury group Kering (formerly PPR) founded by Francois Pinault, will be asking for lower rents for its brands like Gucci, Saint Laurent Paris, Boucheron, Bottega Veneta, Stella McCartney and Qeelin.

Kering not only wants to get rent reductions in Hong Kong, but also Macau, and if these requests aren't met, some shops may have to close in the region, according to the company's chief financial officer Jean-Marc Duplaix.

IFC mall in Central is full of luxury brand stores

Following its big gamble of setting up many shop spaces in Hong Kong, Burberry Group is looking for a cut in rent, saying Hong Kong is "a challenging luxury market", while Coach says its weak sales were due to "lower tourist trends from the mainland".

On the other side, big landlords like Hongkong Land says it has received requests to decrease rent, but has refused to, while Cheung Kong Property Holdings that owns 1811 Heritage mall in Tsim Sha Tsui has frozen the rent for three years when leases were up recently.

However luxury mall owners like Sun Hung Kai at IFC mall and Hysan Development at Hysan Place and Lee Gardens have claimed they didn't receive any requests to have cuts in rent.

Chasing the mainland tourist dollar has been a short-sighted strategy all along. While the sheer numbers of visitors across the border cannot be ignored, Hong Kong entrepreneurs should not completely shut out local clientele.

Either way perhaps landlords will finally realize that their greediness was not sustainable long term...

Hong Kong's Saddest Day

A banner at Admiralty that reads: "Hong Kong will save itself"

This is the saddest day for Hong Kong.

People trying to get across to Tamar

Why did it have to come to this?

After several dozen students were cordoned off at Central Government Offices, Occupy Central leader Benny Tai Yiu-ting unexpectedly called for "the banquet" to begin on Sunday at 1.45am.

Most people woke up to the news this morning and headed over to Tamar to lend their support to the students.

But when they got there, the police had already barricaded the overpass to the area and did not allow anyone to go through.

I arrived around 2.45pm and found lots of people all over Admiralty, the closest MTR station to Tamar. What was even more bizarre was seeing people shopping, eating and watching movies at Pacific Place.

Spreading out all over Queensway

Nevertheless I pressed on to Admiralty Centre, where people were blocked from getting onto the overpass to Tamar. It wasn't a particularly tense atmosphere, with volunteers handing out surgical masks, plastic wrap to prepare for pepper spray and pamphlets.

When I got there, I couldn't help but feel emotional. Did it really have to come to this? My home is under seige. Why were we not allowed to go to the protest area to be with the students?

People made the occasional chants for the police to "open the road" and for Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying to step down, and "protect the students", but they were on the whole short spurts.

At one point a large banner was unfurled on a walkway above us: "自己香港自己救" or "Hong Kong [has to] save itself" to much cheers and became a new chant.

People right by the PLA barracks (right)

It was then announced around 3.30pm on a bullhorn that Leung was making a statement.

Along with his key personnel, Leung promptly declared the protest "illegal" and that elections would go ahead as planned.

By then my friend YTSL met up with me and since she hadn't had lunch yet and so we left the protest area to grab a bite to eat in Pacific Place.

While we were having the late lunch, I kept checking Twitter and received tweets that pepper spray was used in the area we were in.

Afterwards we went back to the protest area to see people all over the roads, taking over Queensway and Harcourt Road. We saw two young people take flimsy barricades and put them over the tram lines.

As YTSL and I concluded, it was a surreal sight -- this was not the Hong Kong we used to know.

Occupying one of the main thoroughfares of Admiralty

After taking a few pictures we decided to leave the area via MTR and just as well -- at 6pm the police started firing tear gas into the crowd.

How does the police justify using tear gas on protestors who have done nothing except call for being allowed to go to Tamar to support the students? Sure they pushed against the police barricades, but that's all. It's the police that have instigated using pepper spray and then tear gas.

Hong Kong protestors are some of the most civilized in the world -- they are patient, pick up garbage and recycle, and when ambulances and fire trucks need to pass, they let them through.

Did they torch any of the police vans parked on the streets? Did they throw any Molotov cocktails? Did they punch a police officer?

Preparing for tear gas with water barrels

So why did they deserve tear gas -- several times?

They would be sprayed and then they would flee the immediate area. But soon afterwards they would regroup again in the same area. And because they saw tear gas being used, MORE people came out into the streets to show their anger against the government and support for the protestors.

Tonight Admiralty is in complete chaos, and so is Central and Wan Chai and now there is word that Nathan Road in Kowloon is being occupied.

If the police had let protestors into the Tamar site earlier...

Bad calculations on the part of the Leung administration. They seem to have no idea how angry people are with him and how they have not stood up for Hong Kong at all during the electoral reform process.

More police out in force at the Central Ferry Piers

What will happen tomorrow is anyone's guess, but come October 1, there will probably even more people out to voice their frustration at the Hong Kong government and Beijing.

Hong Kong people 1, Leung administration and Beijing 0.