Olympic Pride of Crisis Management?

 Wu Minxia may show off her gold medal and diving skills in Hong Kong

After every Olympics, the Chinese gold medallists get to visit Hong Kong to boost the national pride, but this time they will come a week before the upcoming Legislative Council elections.

There are concerns the athletes competing in Rio could face backlash due to rising "pro-independence sentiment".

Swimmer Sun Yang will probably come too

Typically the gold medallists give sports demonstrations and meet fans during their three-day stay. Athletes that will likely come are Zhang Mengxue, winner of the women's 10-metre air pistol event; (controversial) swimming star Sun Yang, and Wu Minxia, the five-time diving gold medallist.

Hong Kong chef de mission Kenneth Fok Kai-kong said he would try to invite bronze medallist and social media sensation Fu Yuanhui to come, after the swimmer's post race interviews made her endearing all over the world. She expressed complete delight at finding out from a reporter that she had won bronze, and made funny faces on the podium.

However, Fok says it is up to the Chinese national team who will come to Hong Kong August 26-28.

While he is not worried about backlash during the athletes' visit, Fok was concerned about the event being politicized and that it's about the medallists and sports.

There are hopes to get bronze medallist Fu Yuanhui to come

However, political analyst Dr Chung Kim-wah of Polytechnic University warned the upcoming visit could backfire in the wake of the rise of pro-independence sentiment in Hong Kong.

"The visit, like those in the past, is supposed to promote social harmony and drum up social support for Beijing and the Hong Kong government. But the government should be prepared for some embarrassing moments when the medallists are confronted with anti-China protests," Chung said.

This Friday night could be the start with localists planning to broadcast a badminton match between Hong Kong and China on the street.

Don't say you weren't warned...

Tower of Cool at PolyU

PolyU's Innovation Tower looms in the skyline at dusk

The other day I had a chance to take a peek inside the new Jockey Club Innovation Tower on the campus of Polytechnic University.

The unfinished stairways have a sculpted look to them

There's no mistaking the building when you see it -- a large white structure that seems to have no sharp angles and feels like it should be in some futuristic community. Oh wait -- aren't universities supposed to be projecting into the future?

It was designed by Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid who was the first woman and Muslim to win the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2004. She describes the fluid character of the building is "generated through an intrinsic composition of its landscape, floor plates and louvers that dissolves the classic typology of the tower and the podium into an iconic seamless piece."

Still unfinished, but the building has undulating waves

While the striking structure is easy to find on campus, getting there is trying as the usually clear signage at Poly U was virtually non existent to get to Innovation Tower even though it's on the map.

However, once you get there, the building -- which still has yet to be finished by March -- is white, clean and open in the foyer. There are temporary exhibitions in this new home for the university's School of Design, and offices, meeting rooms and work spaces upstairs.

We watched some construction workers on the ninth floor putting the finishing touches on a sculpted stairway, and one was periodically blowing dust our way which made us feel like we needed to wear masks!

Inside bamboo scaffolding prove useful here

Nevertheless, it was interesting to see bamboo scaffolding used in the space -- the workers going up and down them like monkeys -- which was a nice Hong Kong touch to the otherwise white space.