Hong Kong Government Backpedals... Again

The Penny's Bay site on Lantau Island where quarantine camps will be built

The Hong Kong government is now opening a tender to build the second phase of a quarantine camp after it was criticized for handing the construction contract to a state-owned enterprise, which is not the normal procedure.

The site on Penny's Bay on Lantau Island involves building 500 rooms and construction is expected to start in April and be completed in July.

The camps are for those in close contact with confirmed cases

The Architectural Services Department confirmed the contract will be awarded through a bidding process. Last week the department was under fire for giving the first-phase contract, worth HK$194 million (US$25 million) to state-owned China Harbour Engineering without going through a selection process.

Officials claimed urgency because of the coronavirus was the reason and stressed due process was followed.

"To deal with the epidemic, government works departments acted swiftly to make appropriate commissioning arrangements based on practical circumstances, whilst complying with the government's sourcing requirements and guaranteeing the quality of construction," a department spokesman said.

Uh huh.

The Penny's Bay camp is one of several quarantine centres being built to accommodate those who have been in close contact with confirmed cases of the coronavirus, which is now at 109, and two fatal cases.

Luo Huining visited one of the completed quarantine camps

Interestingly another quarantine camp at Lei Yue Mun Park and Holiday Village was awarded to another state-owned enterprise, China State Construction Engineering (Hong Kong).

Eyebrows were raised last week when Luo Huining, the new director of the liaison office had a photo-op when he visited construction workers at the Lei Yue Mun camp that was completed four days early. Luo praised the firm for "demonstrating its commitment".

Ngai Hok-yan, a veteran civil engineer, said while splitting the Penny's Bay project into two had the benefit of hiring specialist firms to do each part, but that the government was under pressure to make the second phase contract open to bidding.

"Many people were asking why the first phase cost about HK$190 million when the quarantine camp at Lei Yue Mun cost only HK$70 million in total," he said.

Carrie Lam has finally come round to wearing masks

The government's rush to hand out contracts to particular companies is infuriating when Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor insisted in a press conference that when it came to sourcing masks, money was not an issue, and yet the government went through the tendering process so it was unable to secure enough masks.

Back then she probably didn't see masks as a priority to purchase, but now she's been wearing masks in public. Stubborn Carrie, but at least she's finally gotten round to following health experts' advice.

Perhaps we need to stop paying these civil servants too much money as they are completely out of touch and oblivious of how their actions result in bad optics.

Study Xi Jinping for Money

Get brownie points by studying Xi Jinping

The Little Red Book has gone digital.

The famous pocketbook of quotations supposedly spoken by Mao Zedong has been upgraded to studying "Xi Jinping Thought" through an app called Xuexi Qiangguo, or "Study Powerful Country".

Once people open the app, they are supposed to read the articles in it -- but they are also quizzed too.

Xuexi Guoqiang is an app for people to read more about Xi

It doesn't matter if you get the answers wrong -- you still get points for trying.

And of course the more time you spend on the app the better, because it's all about amassing lots and lots of points to show how dedicated you are in studying Xi Jinping thought.

It turns out this activity is not just for individuals to show how devoted they are to the Communist Party of China and Xi Dada or Grandpa Xi, but even companies can get in on this and reap some big benefits.


A company called Zhejiang Taida Miniature Electrical Machinery Co, that produces ventilating fans, received a so-called "red impetus loan" of 3 million yuan (US$447,000), said chairman Qiu Rongquan at the recent bi-annual Canton Fair.

The loans are given to companies that have solid businesses after promoting the Communist Party, Qiu explained.

Xi's app is the digital version of the Little Red Book

According to Huzhou city government, where the company is based, the loans are guarantee- and collateral-free, with reduced interest rates to help private companies develop. Qiu said his company received the loan at the benchmark interest rate, whereas it would usually pay 20 to 30 percent above the rate.

What a bonus! And just for promoting the CPC!

Previously the Chinese government would freely give loans to state-owned enterprises, but now it seems more interested in dangling carrots in front of private companies that badly need the capital injection.

Qiu encourages his employees to use the Xuexi Qiangguo app, and apparently it has paid off, receiving government support.

The "red impetus loan" may be used to be part of the 5 million yuan Qiu planned to invest in research in development, upgrade machinery and attract talent. In this way he hopes to more effectively compete with Germany and Taiwan and increase the company's market share from 10 percent to 30 percent.

Devotion to the app can lead to company loans

See it's so easy to study Xi Jinping thought. You could hit the jackpot!

Word of the Day: Tegong

A university canteen with students in the back lining up for food

When I worked at a state media outlet in Beijing, at 12 noon we would get our empty food containers and chopsticks, and gather at the canteen door for some grub. Only when the staff were ready were the doors unlocked and we could see what grub was available.

There were thick noodles with a tomato and scrambled egg sauce, small plates of appetizers like pickled garlic cucumbers, or spicy pickled wood ear fungus, or even steamed or fried small fish.  My favourite on Thursdays was jiaozi, or dumplings. I'd get two catties' worth, or about 20 of them and was very happy eating them with a good dose of vinegar. The food was also very cheap too, only a few yuan.

Tomato and scrambled egg with noodles in soup

After a few days or weeks, I can't remember, a colleague I was eating lunch with said we were lucky to have good food. He explained that because we were working for a company that was state owned, the food was of a good quality. Of course he added, senior officials had access to the best quality food.

I was relieved to hear this, as there were so many stories of fake food in China, but I was also surprised to hear this privilege we had, just from working in state media, my colleagues toiling for 3,000 yuan a month.

Now I know there is a word for it, called 特需供應 te(4) xu (1) gong (1) ying (4) or tegong meaning "special supply", where food comes from organic farms, and quality trusted pork, beef and chicken producers.

This privilege extends to all canteens of local governments, state-owned enterprises, and elite athletes, while everyone else has to guess if the food they are eating is not dodgy.

Dumplings were never served like this in the canteen...

Tegong is an ancient tradition in China, where royal households in past dynasties used to source food from designated suppliers in regions known for their particular produce. One example is that during the Qing dynasty, emperors would only drink spring water from Beijing's western hills, which were carried over daily to the Forbidden City.

The tradition continued after the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949 for Communist Party leaders. The main reason was for food security to ensure central government officials were not poisoned, the second was for food security during famines and food shortages. The third is reputation, where the government designates certain farms and suppliers for overseas consumption, including Hong Kong, so that the quality and safety is ensured.

During the 1980s, one of the grievances that led to the Tiananmen Square protests was anger against officials' privileges that included tegong. After the bloody crackdown, the government promised to do away with the tegong system, but the measure wasn't implemented.

And so this privilege is still here to this day, while people continue to buy milk powder outside of China, and any other food they can get their hands on.

Until government officials eat the regular food that the laobaixing or ordinary people eat, food scandals will continue to fester, while the privileged can enjoy their tegong food.

Gargantuan Subway Web

Look familiar? This subway station is for line 6 in Beijing

When I arrived in Beijing in April 2007, there were only three subway lines -- 1, 2 and 13.

Now there are 22, some of which are feeder routes to help commuters get to the main subway lines. The bad part about transferring lines is that it can take as long as 10 minutes to get to the other line.

The complicated map of Beijing's subway system

I once went to Wudaokou and it took at least 10 minutes to walk several long corridors and up escalators before getting to line 13. I had to do the same thing coming back to my hotel.

Something worth noting is that the subway lines are operated by five different companies: the state-owned Beijing Mass Transit Railway Operation Corp, Beijing MTR Corp, Beijing MTR Operation Administration, Beijing Public Transport Tramway, and Beijing Capital Metro.

Beijing MTR Corp is a joint venture between MTR and state-owned enterprise Beijing Capital Group.

So it was interesting to see some subway station platforms look very similar to the ones in Hong Kong. Inside the carriages looked similar down to the stickers on the door windows telling people not to mind the gap and not eat or drink.

If this is a no waiting zone, where do we wait for the train?

We almost felt like we were in Hong Kong -- almost.

In the stations there is very little regard for people in terms of enough space to wait on the platform to having escalators and not stairs for commuters to get around. It's hardly about "caring for life's journeys", as the MTR slogan goes.

Nevertheless we found this sign curious. If it's a no waiting zone, how are we supposed to wait for the next train?

Ice Boy's Woes Continue

Wang Fuman at home and back to where he started, but with much more cash

Remember "Ice Boy", the eight-year-old from Yunnan province who had to walk to school for over an hour each way and his hair and eyelashes were covered in snow?

After the boy and his father were taken on a free trip to Beijing, a private school with boarding accepted him, as the headmaster took pity on the boy and took him in.

However, after one week in the school, the headmaster told Wang Fuman's father to take him home because of the intense scrutiny from the authorities and the media.

Zhuanshanbao Primary School is an hour away by foot

It was hoped that by enrolling in Xinhua School Fuman could try to catch up on his studies, but his father Wang Gangkui was told to come pick up his son and put him back in the state school.

"i'm illiterate and I don't understand why this school has kicked us out," the frustrated father said Wednesday.

Fuman was confused as he liked his new school.

"The teachers taught better than those at Zhuanshanbao Primary School. Pupils don't talk in class and everyone is focused on studying," he said.

"I ate better too. Unlike at home, when my grandma is busy, my sister and I need to find food for ourselves... because we don't know how to cook, we just boil potatoes, but at Xinhua School I ate so many different things."

The headmaster of Xinhua School, surnamed Yang, said he offered to take the boy for free because he wanted to "do some good".

But the intense media attention and scrutiny from authorities put the school under a lot of pressure.

Fuman with his sister (left)

"At first, I didn't know... but later, I found out that Fuman had been identified by the Ministry of Education as a key figure to be helped in the government's poverty alleviation efforts. There are very few such pupils in the whole Yunnan province," Yang said.

"As a result, during these days of having him in my school, we have received numerous requests from various levels of government departments to inspect us. Many media outlets also insisted on interviewing us."

He said the school could not cope with the extra demands placed on it because of Fuman's attendance.

Yang said he still wanted to help the boy, but in a more low-profile manner.

When Yang sent the boy back, he gave his father 15,000 yuan and offered to help the family if they encountered more problems in the future.

Meanwhile Wang Gangkui isn't doing well either. He had been promised a job at a state-owned construction company in Zhaotong, But the company says it doesn't have any work for him at the moment.

It's really sad to hear Ice Boy isn't getting the help he really needs, let alone his entire family. It's understandable that while the headmaster wants to help, he doesn't want to be constantly monitored because he has such a high profile student. There were probably lots of expectations for Fuman to do well so that he could be used as a poster child for a poor kid who did well.

Wang Gangkui was promised a job and then no word

But surely someone can help the boy get a decent education -- at least he sounds interested in learning, which is not what could be said of some students these days.

And also how can a company at first claim to offer a job to his father and then later rescind it? How professional is that? Sounds absolutely ridiculous and a publicity stunt on the part of the state-owned construction company. Wang Gangkui had quit his job in Kunming because he had been promised work and now he has nothing to do.

So now the family is back to where it started, though it does have donations pouring in. But it's not money they need, they want jobs and an education. Is it that hard to help in that way? This fiasco proves that throwing money at the problem doesn't really solve it.

Word of the Day: Lang Qing

At lunchtime today and colleague was telling me about slang words he had learned from the media and asked me if I knew them.

Not being able to read Chinese or watch Chinese TV I didn't know what he was talking about.

One of the words he taught me was lang4 qing1 浪青.

He explained that in China there are young people who have jobs where they don't have much to do all day. Some try to act important and look like they are "working", but really aren't busy, partly because they don't need the money, or they are doing these time-wasting jobs to get the benefits. Many state-owned enterprise jobs are like this, or government positions.

As a result, talent and brain power of young people are wasted, which is why they are called langqing.