Wear Masks while Having Sex, says NGO

Sex workers and clients urged to wear masks during sex

Even during the pandemic, some people have sexual needs that have to be fulfilled.

Men in Hong Kong have been taking risks and visiting prostitutes, but a local NGO is advising clients and sex workers to both wear masks during their encounters -- even when having sex.

The Hong Kong Aids Foundation conducted a survey of 600 men who regularly visit prostitutes and found 70 percent of them engaged the services of sex workers, though two-thirds of them admitted cutting back on their visits.

Clients are urged to get vaccinated too

Only six percent of those surveyed said they kept their masks on while having sex.

The foundation's chief executive, Eris Lau, recommended that people should get vaccinated, wear face masks, check their body temperature, and use the Leave Home Safe app when visiting sex workers.

Really? Would people actually scan the QR code of the brothel? And wear face masks when doing the dirty deed? Seems like those are the last things people would do when satisfying their urges... And would a client like the prostitute to wear a mask? Probably not.

It seems so naive to think that people would follow these suggestions even though we're two years into a pandemic.

But perhaps they would be more amenable to getting the booster shot, which Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor announced would be available from January...

Maybe there should be an urgent queue not only for the elderly but those in the catering sector, including the sex industry, and its clients...

Two Pianists, One Star Rises, the Other Falls

Liu stands after his winning performance in Warsaw

 

Just as a new piano star is crowned, another has fallen in disgrace.

On October 21, Bruce Xiaoyu Liu of Montreal, Canada was named the winner of the prestigious 18th Frederic Chopin piano competition that comes with 40,000 euro (US$45,000) in prize money in Warsaw, Poland.

The 24-year-old who was born in France, is taking the big win in stride, though he hopes he can continue his "hobby", because he doesn't want piano playing to become something he has to do out of obligation.

He beat out 86 other young pianists around the world to clinch first prize in the competition that is only held every five years, but was delayed last year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Liu knows his career will accelerate from now on

During the competition Liu wowed the audience with his interpretation of the Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Minor, Op. 11. Even before the last notes were played the people, many of them music critics and Chopin experts, shouted and clapped, impressed by his intense playing. He says the performance was a blur and he didn't get much sleep before the competition.

When asked how he will celebrate his win, Liu said he didn't have time to think about it because he will be going on tour and it will be a while before he returns to Montreal. 

Nevertheless he seems to be taking it all in stride.

Liu describes his victory as a "life-changing event", and knows his career is about to accelerate and he is "ready for it".

But on the opposite end of the spectrum is well known pianist Li Yundi, who was reportedly caught with a prostitute in Beijing.

The news broke on the same evening of October 21 with police reporting they had detained a 39-year-old pianist surnamed Li on suspicion of patronizing a 29-year-old prostitute in the Chinese capital. 

Li also won the Chopin competition in 2000

Cryptically the police posted a picture of a keyboard with a message: "The world is not simply black and white, but one must distinguish black and white. It must never be mistaken."

Li rose to fame in 2000 when he won the Frederic Chopin competition at the age of 18. However, in recent years he has moved away from serious classical music performances and more towards entertainment shows in China.

Later a police statement did not specify how long Li would be detained, but according to Chinese law, soliciting prostitution is illegal and typically leads to administrative detention of between 10 and 15 days. It could be reduced to five days or fewer if the circumstances of the offence are minor.

However, the damage has already been done and the fallout begun -- the "prince of the piano" has been boycotted and numerous organizations have cut ties with Li, including the China Musicians Association, the Sichuan Conservatory of Music, and Mango TV, where he was part of a televised talent show named Call Me By Fire.

Esteemed China law expert Jerome Cohen questions why Li was singled out when so many others solicit the services of prostitutes but aren't prosecuted.

Li detained for allegedly soliciting a prostitute

"Did he offend a leader by some remarks of a political or personal nature? Was he 'set up' for this charge? Can one be confident that the facts alleged are true? Is this the use of the police as an instrument of revenge by some powerful person? Is this simply a part of the current campaign to transform and 'purify' the entertainment and other industries? Will Li be allowed to leave the country after serving his punishment to pursue his career abroad? That seems unlikely," Cohen writes in his blog.

"Prostitution is such a time-honoured Communist Party claim against political opponents that one has to be suspicious of this case. In any event, the manner by which the police have made the matter public only adds to the unsavoury story."

We will have to wait to see the fate of Li, while we hope to one day watch Liu's performance in person.

 

 

Alleged Trumped-up Charges

Simon Cheng has been charged with soliciting prostitution. True or false?

Today is the 15th day of Simon Cheng Man-kit's administrative detention in Shenzhen and unfortunately the nightmare for the 28-year-old isn't over yet. This afternoon Chinese state media outlet Global Times claimed the missing British consulate employee was charged with soliciting a prostitute during his visit to the mainland.

In the editorial, the state-run media outlet said police in Luohu district, which is the area right by the border with Hong Kong, told Global Times that Cheng was being detained for violating article 66 of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Penalties for Administration of Public Security which includes soliciting prostitutes.

Global Times claims to have an exclusive on Cheng's case

"It is disgraceful to be caught for soliciting prostitutes. Those who are arrested usually wish to hide the truth," the editorial says, and claims Cheng requested to Shenzhen police not to inform his family about his charge.

"In other words, if the British foreign ministry and Western media did not hype it, Cheng could have quietly returned to Hong Kong after being detained for 15 days... However, thanks to the British foreign ministry and media which have been hyping it, the case is now fully exposed."

Cheng's family would not comment on the matter, only to say people can judge for themselves.

First of all -- why would Cheng go during the day to visit a prostitute on a weekday when the consulate said he was there for a business conference. Second of all, if he was soliciting a prostitute, why wasn't he arrested at the scene of the crime and not at the mainland jurisdiction of the West Kowloon high-speed rail terminus?

Cheng worked at the British consulate in Hong Kong

Thirdly, what does hyping Cheng's case have to do with the consulate and Western media? Isn't China supposed to follow rule of law regardless? Trying to put the blame on the British consulate and the media on his detention doesn't make any sense at all.

And fourthly, it's state media that has exposed the alleged charge of soliciting prostitution, not the consulate or the media. It has now sullied Cheng's reputation in the court of public opinion.

If China wants to show that it is a responsible power then it should be more transparent about the whole case to demonstrate it does follow rule of law.

However it refused to divulge the whereabouts of Cheng for almost two weeks and now he seems to be arrested on trumped-up charges.

Apparently Cheng is being held by Luohu police in Shenzhen

This only frightens people even more about going to the mainland. Their phones may be checked and now they could be detained and then arrested on any charge.

This is what Hongkongers were terrified about with the now suspended extradition bill, and these concerns are fast becoming a reality -- without the bill being passed.

And yet China wants young Hongkongers to embrace the Motherland and go there to develop their careers? Cheng's case is hardly reassuring.