Stocked Public Fridges for the Poor

A public fridge where people can freely take what they need 

More and more people are starving in Hong Kong thanks to the coronavirus pandemic that has forced them to lose their jobs and businesses and scrounge for food.

Wong Wai-kit tried to help some by giving them his takeaway meal.

"I tried not to make them feel they were a bunch of poor and miserable people waiting for my almsgiving. They had their dignity," said Wong, 40, who has founded several social enterprises that help the underprivileged and unemployed.

He came up with the idea in August of setting up stocked-up fridges in various public locations for anyone in need, for free.

The growing number of poor rises each year

The "Gift n Take" fridge project began in places like Dragon Centre shopping centre in Sham Shui Po and Eaton HK hotel in Jordan. A group of 20 volunteers fill the fridges every two to three days with dry food and provisions donated by NGOs, individuals and retail outlets.

As soon as the project started the fridges were cleaned out as fast as the volunteers could fill them, and now there are fridges in 40 locations across Hong Kong, including restaurants, schools, shopping centres and retail stores.

"I noticed a rising number of people who suddenly lost their livelihoods because of the tough social-distancing curbs. They feel helpless without anyone to turn to," Wong said.

"I hope to let them know people do care and are willing to help."

He has also helped some people find part-time work.

Charities and NGOs are seeing a spike in people looking for free meals, including young people.

In 2020, 19,438 people sought help getting food, a 48 percent increase from 13,142 in 2019. The number rose to 21,987 last year.

One of Wong's partners is Martin China Ka-shun, founder of social enterprise Amity, which distributes provisions to the poor in Sheung Shui, including those staying in sub-divided flats and elderly people living alone.

A public fridge can be found at Eaton HK hotel

"Most don't want to apply for social welfare or support from food banks as the application takes at least eight weeks," he said. 

"They don't have the money to pay for food, so we hope to help them survive this difficult period."

Fifty-eight-year-old Tong Shing-choi lost his job as a casual cleaner and delivery worker in late January when the companies he worked for temporarily closed.

Divorced and living alone in Mongkok in a sub-divided room that costs HK$2,700 (US$344.83) a month in rent, Tong said he had to borrow money from friends to get by. For him the fridge project, along with meal coupons he received from NGOs have made him less miserable about his situation.

"I rely on free meals from a charity group for survival. I got to the fridge from time to time for some canned food, cakes and instant noodles to fill my stomach, but I don't want to ask for more as I feel ashamed," he said.

Tong said he didn't want to apply for welfare help, as he hoped he could get another job again.

"I really feel gloomy and depressed, but help from Brother Kit [Wong] and other NGOs let me know that at least I don't need to worry about my daily meals."

Where is Lam's compassion for those in need?

Thank goodness for these NGOs and social enterprises for stepping up and helping those who were living pay cheque to pay cheque and now the pandemic has made their lives a daily struggle for survival.

Meanwhile what is the government doing to help these people? They did not become poor out of choice - it's up to the authorities to give them the help they need. Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has a background in social work and yet has no compassion for these people, whose population is growing by the day.

If Hong Kong is going to pull out of this pandemic -- and Lam will drag the city out if she has to -- she needs to also make sure people are not starving to death before then.

Have we really reverted to the real meaning of 吃饭了没有？

By the way the number of cases has gone down to below 8,000 at 7,860 today and 168 deaths, of which 143 are new, 25 backlogged.

Taking Election Benefit of Free Rides

Carrie Lam cast her vote this morning to kick off elections

The polling stations closed over an hour ago in the first revamped Legislative Council election and as of 9.30pm there were 29.28 percent of eligible voters who cast their ballots,  the lowest ever turnout for an election since 1997. The lowest was in 2000 at 43.57 percent.

Hmmm we wonder why.

Only some of the dim sum we ordered

There may be table banging in the Liaison Office in Western District tonight, wondering which bright person came up with the idea of giving all Hongkongers free rides on public transport (except ferries and buses going to the airport), as places like Disneyland and Ocean Park were packed with people.

The MTR constantly sent messages to subscribers, telling them taking the subway was free all day and there was no need to use the Octopus card, while buses had passengers use their card to count the number of people (presumably to bill the government later).

My friend and I took advantage of the free fares by going from Wan Chai to Hung Hom to go to Sheung Shui, where we went to get some dim sum (we were too hungry and over ordered).

Lining up for First Class - and we got a seat!

Then we got back on the train -- first class -- to Tai Wai, where we changed trains to go all the way on the newest line to Wu Kai Sha. Then we immediately went across the platform and too the opposite train back all 28 stops to Tuen Mun. 

From there we got out and took the light rail to Tuen Mun City Centre and got on the bus (that was just boarding) to go to Tung Chung and then ended up at City Gate to split a peanut butter and chocolate Cinnabon washed down with lemonade soda before taking the train back home.

The Tung Chung station was packed with people -- staff had tried to slow down the number of people going down to the platform, which was hard to do and they seemed to give up.

Phew! What a ride! By the time we took the train back to Hong Kong island at 5pm it was packed with people.

Rewarded ourselves with a Cinnabon

My whole transit fare would have cost HK$101 (US$13). I thought it would be more, but it was a good six hours well spent (and fed).

What we'd really like to know is how big the bill is for all the free public transit, sending out text messages urging people to vote, all the banners placed all over the city advertising the election, and for all 40,000 polling staff, and 10,000 police.

Was it really worth it?

Real Estate Bull Run Continues

The rendering of The Arles in Fo Tan, New Territories

There are some people in Hong Kong who are really flush with cash.

Today someone bought the entire floor, or eight units of a new development called The Arles in Fo Tan, New Territories for HK$100 million. 

What will the owner do with them? Make them into one giant flat?! Or rent them out? Or buy them for eight family members? 

Prices of the flats ranged from HK$6.17 million to HK$23.5 million for 228 sq ft to 947 sq ft. 

Three rounds of flat-selling have been held so far

In Fo Tan. 

An industrial area.

In total 116 flats out of 272 were sold, with a 15 percent discount to HK$20,905 per square foot.

Apparently buyers came out with confidence on hearing the news the border with China may reopen in February, and Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor's big plans for the Northern Metropolis near the border, where it is expected 2.5 million people may live there in 20 years. 

The metropolis will include Tin Shui Wai, Yuen Long, Sheung Shui and Fanling.

"Since the stock market has recently been less volatile, the overall sentiment towards the property market is pretty good," Midland Realty's chief executive of the residential division Sammy Po Siu-ming said. He indicated more buyers are entering the market after Lam's policy address about the Northern Metropolis.

Buyers are bullish on the Northern Metropolis

So these buyers are bullish on Hong Kong, particularly the New Territories, but the prices are breathtaking.

Lam Promises Better Sleep in New Metropolis

Lam says Northern Metropolis residents can sleep better

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor is selling her Northern Metropolis project as a way for families living there to have a better quality of life because they will have more time to sleep.

Towns near the border become metropolis

In a speech to the Global Conference of the Alliance for Healthy Cities, Lam said the government will try to ensure that the new metropolis is self-contained, adding this will be a first for a new town development in Hong Kong.

She explained that with some 650,000 jobs that are envisaged in the metropolis, by the border near Shenzhen, residents would not have to travel into Hong Kong's existing urban areas for work. In other words Central district will now be in Fanling or Sheung Shui...

"When I am driven from the urban area where I live into the new development to attend a meeting, to officiate at a function, I always see buses coming the other way, that is from the new development areas into the urban areas, and the majority of passengers on the buses are falling asleep.

"So you just imagine, if we have more jobs in the areas where these people live, they will have an extra hour of quality sleep, in home, and not on the bus."

A bus tour in Tuen Mun to catch some sleep

Maybe she didn't hear about those tour buses specifically for people to sleep on because they like the gentle rocking on public transport that lulls them to sleep. 

Anyway this Northern Metropolis won't be completed in at least the next 15 years so people won't be sleeping better until then... what does Lam suggest in the meantime for people to catch their zzz's?

Lam's Plan to Develop New Territories North into Metropolis

Lam enters Legislative Council to deliver her policy address

 

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has revealed her ambitious plan to tackle housing -- develop New Territories North, the area close to the border with Shenzhen. That will mean the rapid development (and gentrification) or districts like Tin Shui Wai, Yuen Long, Fanling and Sheung Shui. 

That will mean having to deal with the thorny issue of indigenous villagers having those small three-storey houses dotted all over the New Territories, and developing brown sites that are covered with shipping containers.

Across the border is developed Shenzhen

By combining the above mentioned districts together and developing the area could yield 515,000 new residential flats and become a crucial link with the Greater Bay Area.

"With as many as seven land-based boundary control points, the Northern Metropolis will be the most important area in Hong Kong that facilitates our development integration with Shenzhen and connection with the Greater Bay Area," she said during her policy address today.

"Such an integration can create the development capacity to meet the needs of our economy and people's livelihoods, and a quality environment for sustainable development," Lam said. "All these will help us better respond to the new opportunities brought about by deepened cooperation between Hong Kong and Shenzhen."

Time to tackle indigenous villager houses

Lam is still pitching her "Lantau Tomorrow Vision" of building an entire island from scratch off of Lantau, but the Northern Metropolis makes more sense and would be less ecologically damaging.

However, will the market worry about property prices falling? There are rumours house prices will drop this month following Lam's announcement. 

But those owning land in Tin Shui Wai, Yuen Long, Fanling and Sheung Shui will be raking it in as their property will be demand. 

 

HK Police Step Up Violence

Police dressed as protesters hit people with extendable batons in the mall

The "shopping protests" have changed tactics to focus on shops catering to parallel traders, those who buy goods in Hong Kong and then take them across the border to sell at higher prices for a profit.

This has been going on for years and this was particularly egregious in 2012 to the point where districts near the mainland border ran out of goods like milk powder and it had to be rationed to two cans per customer. Back then parallel traders were called "locusts" for taking everything and leaving nothing behind.

People protest against parallel traders in Sheung Shui

So to put more pressure on the Hong Kong government to resolve the political crisis that has gripped the city for seven months, protesters targeted several shopping malls, including Landmark North shopping centre in Sheung Shui, the last district before the border with China.

The protesters shouted, "Five demands, not one less", "disband the police force", and also "go back to the mainland", aimed at Chinese daytrippers and parallel traders. This forced almost all the shops in the mall to close down for fear of potential vandalism.

But the protests also attracted the police, who stepped up their tactics in a more brutal way.

They dressed up like protesters and then without warning whipped out extendable batons and began attacking and arresting people. The riot police in uniform were nearby and also had no qualms beating up protesters until blood spilled.

There is a video on Twitter showing a young man being excessively beaten by riot police in Landmark North, and there is blood on one of the police shields.

This is the bloody arrest I was filming with @XinqiSu when I was pepper-sprayed, during a ‘Shop with You’ protest at Landmark North, Sheung Shui. Note the bloodied riot police shield. pic.twitter.com/MxeyRuIl1z

— Daniel Suen (@suen_daniel) December 28, 2019

 

Is this really necessary? Why not just arrest them and save energy to catch the next protester? Another brutal tactic of unleashing pepper spray at point blank range is also uncalled for.

This stepped up brutality not only further contravenes the Hong Kong police force's code of conduct, but shows officers are willing to use more violence to subdue protesters.

Is shooting pepper spray really necessary at close range?

Since Beijing has endorsed Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor during her latest duty visit earlier this month, it seems her way of quelling the protesters is with more violence.

This is totally outrageous. 

This is how Lam and police chief Chris Tang Ping-keung think they can end the protests?

While wounds may eventually heal, trauma does not go away and these shocking images will infuriate more people to come out to yet another large-scale protest march on January 1.

The people are not cowering. It's going to be a long fight.

Tensions Flare up in Sheung Shui

Several thousand people protested in Sheung Shui against parallel trading

This afternoon marchers dressed in black gathered in Sheung Shui, the district closest to the border with the mainland to protest against parallel traders who make a profit buying up products in Hong Kong.

Organizers say some 30,000 protesters showed up, the police say 4,000... you can decide how many from the above photograph. Some protesters held signs that read, "Reclaim Sheung Shui".

Mainlanders are snapping up goods from Hong Kong

As predicted the atmosphere was tense as parallel trading is a touchy issue -- mainlanders want to have quality products, and yet they are snapping up items aimed for the Hong Kong market, though some businesses are specifically catering to these traders and customers.

Some businesses, like pharmacies and shops selling beauty products or snacks took precautions and closed earlier in the afternoon, even though they supported the protests.

Rural leaders, Bowie Hau Chi-keung and Brian Kan Ping-chee were in the crowds lending their support. Hau asked his assistants to buy nine or 10 cases of drinks, which turned out to be Pocari Sweat, the Japanese drinks company that pulled its ads from TVB recently.

Kan, also a famous race horse trainer, said he opposed parallel trading as well. When asked if he had urged the government to deal with the issue, he said, "This government is useless!"

However things got tense after the march when the protesters didn't leave right away and the police, perhaps getting nervous, tried to disperse the crowds that outnumbered them. Some report the protesters initiated attacks on police, throwing umbrellas at them, but the retaliation was much worse. The police brandished batons that they swung at people resulting in bloody injuries.

Police attacking unarmed protesters after the march

Even reporters covering the event were attacked by police, who didn't make it easier for them to observe what was happening and instead became part of the story. One AFP reporter was at first reported as being struck on the head, but it turns out later she tripped and fell, but was quickly treated by first-aid volunteers and was even driven to the hospital by volunteers.

Covering these protests has become very dangerous work for reporters, and it's timely that tomorrow morning there will be a silent march in Admiralty to Wan Chai to protest how the police have treated reporters during violent protests.

Why are the police being so heavy handed with protesters? And why are many of the police not even in uniform? There are many wearing regular T-shirts, let alone not even displaying their ID numbers, which they should in their official capacity. Perhaps they are hoping the tense scuffles and wielding batons will scare of protesters from showing up at the next march?

This is hardly the way to diffuse tensions in Hong Kong, only escalating them.

The Dreaded W-Word

Carrie Lam speaking to the media today, saying the extradition bill is "dead"

This morning all eyes were on Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor who held her first media briefing since the extraordinary 4am press conference on July 2 after a group of protesters had stormed the Legislative Council.

Lam acknowledged there was lingering fear that the government would restart the amendment process within Legco's current term, which ends in 2020. "There is no such plan, the plan is dead," she said.

Memes online

In addition, she would not entertain one of the protesters' demands that an independent inquiry be established to investigate the clashes between protesters and police.

So basically Lam did not budge at all.

One could hear the entire Hong Kong collectively say, "What?"

What was the point of this morning's press conference when she had nothing new to say?

And "dead"? What does "dead" mean? Can she not say the w-word -- withdraw?

If she did say the w-word, it would have meant that she caved into the protesters' demands, and she doesn't want to be seen as being weak, though these last few weeks have completely eroded any credibility and integrity she has left as a leader.

Even her biggest allies, the pro-Beijing camp are pointing fingers at each other over who supported the bill and that certain people failed in delivering the opinions of the public on the extradition bill to Lam.

All of that is way too late now. We're beyond the blame game and just want to move on -- ie. withdraw the bill. If today is any indication, it seems like saying the w-word is too difficult for her to mouth.

The Chinese media have had a field day, as "dead" in Chinese can have so many different kinds of meanings that immediately exploded on social media.

See Lam's face planted on top of Uma Thurman?

She used the word "壽終正寢", which means a natural death due to old age, but this extradition bill has not died of natural causes at all! 

On Twitter someone reminded Lam that as a Catholic she should remember that Jesus rose from the dead three days later...

Another image on the left shows Lam as The Bride in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill...

It looks like people are going to continue protesting in Sheung Shui on Saturday, Sha Tin on Sunday.

There's no stopping until the w-word is uttered. Hongkongers, add oil! 香港人加油！

Hong Kong in Transport Chaos

Thousands of people stuck in commuter hell in Tai Wai station this morning

The aftermath of Typhoon Mangkhut left lots of fallen trees, debris strewn everywhere, flooding in some parts of Hong Kong and broken glass on the ground.

The Education Department decided early on to cancel school today, while bus companies said only a handful of buses would be in service because the roads were not completely cleared.

That left the MTR having to do the heavy lifting today in getting over 3 million people to work today, but it was a complete disaster, particularly for those in the New Territories.

People waited for several trains before they could get on

The East Rail Line from Tai Po Market to Sheung Shui was suspended because the overhead power lines weren't working, which left people at and between these stops wondering how they were going to get into town if buses weren't running.

Taxis had a field day, constantly picking up passengers who were desperate to get to work.

As a result it took many people an hour longer to get to work.

The pictures of people stranded in these stations are horrific -- and I thought rush hour at Admiralty was bad.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor had asked that employers be more lenient on employees coming in late, but not all of them heeded her words. Some people told reporters that they bosses were chasing them on the phone while they were stuck in commuter hell.

Many vented their frustration on Lam's Facebook page, with 6,700 comments complaining that perhaps the government should have told companies to take the day off before the roads were cleared.

Others going short distances walked instead, luckily no rain

However, it is not the government's jurisdiction to do that; when it comes to education, the authorities can decide whether schools should close or not.

And besides, Hong Kong is a money-making town -- Terence Chong Tai-leung, Chinese University associate professor of economics, said if the entire city did not work on Monday, economic losses could amount to about HK$7.3 billion (US$930 million). He calculated this by dividing Hong Kong's gross domestic product last year by 365 days.

Some companies are already making razor thin profit margins and need the business day to pay rent and so on...

There really should have been a discussion last night between the government and the transport companies -- the MTR, buses, mini buses and taxis about the situation and a coordinated effort on how they were going to get people to and from work today.

Maybe in this case only essential staff should have tried to get to work in the morning, and non-essential staff come in the afternoon or work from home if they could.

Then perhaps there wouldn't be such chaos and frustration affecting thousands of people because there were glaring spots where transport links weren't connecting at all.

Other than that Hong Kong functions very well for the most part, but in these special cases, there needs to be more patience and understanding by some, and better planning and communications by others...

A future case study for future government officials?

Hong Kong's Tree Conundrum

Stumps of the banyan trees are left behind on Bonham Road

On Saturday morning people living around Bonham Road in Sai Ying Pun woke up shocked to find four Chinese banyan trees growing along a stone wall were suddenly chopped down in the middle of the night.

A tree expert on a government advisory panel said the decision was "scientific", as another Chinese banyan tree collapsed on July 22 during a serious rainstorm, injuring two people.

Some residents left balloons and notes on the roots

There was no prior announcement the trees would be cut down, and so "mourners" came to the site hanging colourful balloons or leaving notes that read: "The trees are crying".

For many, the trees were a nostalgic memory of their childhood and questioned why they had to be chopped down -- could there not have been severe pruning done instead?

However it seems the Hong Kong government did not want to take any chances, and erred on the side of safety and face the wrath of residents than risk another possible accident.

It turns out the authorities may have been right.

Last night, after days of blistering heat, there was an amber rainstorm warning with lots of thunder, lightning and heavy rain.

The banyan trees before they were cut down Friday night

In the morning, four trees had collapsed, one in Repulse Bay and another in Stanley, and then one near St John's Church in Central, and the last tree in Sheung Shui.

It seems the city's aborists don't have enough experience in assessing Hong Kong's tree situation, because in many cases a year or two after they have been assessed, some trees collapse and it turns out they were completed rotted and should have been removed much earlier.

And now with residents gradually becoming more environmentally conscious, they want to save the existing trees without understanding some cannot be saved and need to be chopped down for public safety reasons.

The government really needs to do a thorough evaluation of trees in the city and monitor them more closely. They provide a natural shade and add character to our concrete jungle.

Not only do we need to protect what we have, but also plant more trees to create a greener future for our city.

Still Business as Usual?

Is the new restriction on visits to Hong Kong going to impact parallel traders?

We now hear the latest measures limiting parallel traders coming to Hong Kong to once a week has become effective immediately, and reaction has been swift.

Some say because there is still such a high demand for goods from Hong Kong across the border that parallel trading businesses will find other ways to get stuff that's in demand, like milk powder, chocolates, shampoo and toothpaste.

"Instead of hiring one person to conduct the trade three times a day, they will probably hire three people to do it once a day," said student Dicky Chung, a North District resident.

An employee at a pharmacy in Sheung Shui suggested that parallel trading ringleaders would recruit Hong Kong people to transport products. "We're talking about a HK$200 profit margin per day, or about HK$5,000 to HK$6,000 a month. Who wouldn't do it?" he said.

We will have to wait and see how this new restriction will affect parallel traders -- will they hire more people to help them bring goods across the border? Is it really that worth it? Or because it's harder to get access to these goods that prices for them in China will increase?

The Hong Kong government claims the latest measures will reduce the number of parallel traders by 30 percent, or about 4.6 million a year, but it is believed parallel traders will have something up their sleeves to keep their lucrative businesses going.

No one has a good idea of how much really is brought across the border to resell and how much profit is made out of parallel trading. Obviously mainlanders are doing a brisk business otherwise they would not be doing this on a daily basis. But it would be interesting to find out exactly what kinds of products are in demand, who buys them and why.

Besides, we need this market research for the shopping malls we're apparently building near the border just for this segment of people who come to Hong Kong...

More Police Power

Police can now break up "suspicious" gatherings of three or more people

Need another sign that Hong Kong is becoming more like the motherland?

Hong Kong police now have the power to prevent "suspicious" gatherings of three or more people from turning into a protest. The new guideline from the force's management last week focuses more on "preventive" handling of unauthorized protests and is now in effect in all districts.

This enforcement of the Public Order Ordinance came out due to the gau wu protests in Mongkok which are not formally organized, and people pretend to shop right at closing time, forcing the establishments to stay open, and yet they don't purchase anything.

Another are the recent protests against parallel traders that have rotated to places like Sha Tin, Tuen Mun, and Sheung Shui. These recent incidents have escalated to violent altercations with the authorities, resulting in the use of pepper spray and arrests.

"If officers deem a gathering could cause breach of the peace or threat to public safety, we would not allow the participants to proceed," a source said. "We would demand that they produce identification and disperse, and follow them around if they did not leave. Anyone who refuses to comply can be arrested for obstructing police."

This warning sounds like it will invite more friction with the police, as protesters have become more defiant following the end of the Occupy protests in December. And following people around? Could citizens sue the police for stalking and infringing on their personal freedom of movement? Would be interesting to see how lawyers interpret this.

The source adds that if things escalate further, the crack Police Tactical Unit would be deployed to patrol the streets. Are Hong Kong protests really degenerating to this point? Or is this a scare tactic to indicate protesters here are out to create chaos, or that the police force isn't trained enough to deal with them?

The enforcement of the ordinance dates back to 1967 during the Hong Kong riots, where gatherings of more than three people without police permission were outlawed. Since the handover protest organizers must inform the police of their plans and get approval. Previously this law was aimed mostly at suspected triad members.

But with the enforcement of the guidelines, it appears like the police are looking at protesters like triad members...

"Before the Occupy movement, if police found a group of people wearing masks and carrying rucksacks gathering on the streets at night, we would check what they were up to and consider whether they were linked to triads," said a senior police officer.

He said the police were extra tolerant during and after Occupy, allowing people to gather without approval. "We showed them more than enough tolerance during Occupy."

They would have had to tolerate tens of thousands of people who poured onto Queensway on September 28 because the authorities were completely outnumbered.

Now they believe they have the upper hand. So there.

But what does this really show? It demonstrates the Hong Kong government is still sheepishly hiding behind the police and would rather the force deal with unruly protesters than try to engage in constructive dialogue and try to hammer out some kind of resolution to the socio-economic conflicts we are seeing in the city on a daily basis.

As a result should we be surprised that public sentiment here is the worst its been in 16 months following a survey released by the University of Hong Kong. The Public Sentiment Index compiled by HKU's Public Opinion Program (POP) fell to 61.8 points on March 8, down 5.9 points from the previous survey at the end of February and at its lowest level since November 2013.

With these new police measures in place, people's unhappiness with Hong Kong will deepen even further...

Simmering Tensions

Parallel traders have sparked conflicts between Hong Kong and China

The tense issue of parallel traders clearing shelves in Hong Kong to sell supposedly "real" goods across the border is not going away, thanks to the inaction of the government.

Hong Kong officials have let the tensions simmer to the point where protesters are escalating their actions, verbally bullying people, physically assaulting people, and holding up traffic. It has been happening in Yuen Long, Sheung Shui and Tuen Mun, and this past weekend also spread to Tsim Sha Tsui.

Instead of trying to solve the problem, officials like Secretary for Security Lai Tung-kwok claims the protesters' actions were "close to that of rioters".

Protesters in New Town Plaza in Sha Tin last month

It's quite extreme for him to brand them "rioters" because it was not excessive violence, but yes, we should be trying to resolve the situation as peacefully as possible.

And who's fault is that?

The Hong Kong government could very easily limit the number of times parallel traders could come across the border daily, and yet this has not been curbed, probably because it wants these people to continue stimulating the city's economy.

After all, the parallel traders are snapping up everything from baby milk powder, to shampoo, chocolates, cosmetics, cookies and so on -- whatever is in demand and can be turned into a profit.

That has left a sour taste in Hong Kong residents' mouths -- particularly those in districts that are impacted by these people. I recently asked a relative if things were really bad in Tuen Mun where she lived and she confirmed it was terrible.

A shop like Watson's would be packed with people and so she would have no choice but to nip in there as quickly as possible to buy what she needed and then get out. There was no interest in trying to fight the crowds in the store to browse.

The government is planning to build shopping malls right by the border specifically for these commercial shoppers, but that's a ways yet before we might even begin to see some easing.

Another issue is that for some reason, the cause for universal suffrage has been mixed up with this one on parallel trading. Some see the protesters as the same ones in the Umbrella Movement, and claim that their violent actions are what people fighting for democracy do.

It's a kind of scare tactic someone or some group is using to to discourage people from supporting the Umbrella Movement, and in a way it is succeeding because no one wants to be associated with a group that is very easily provoked into violence.

In the end the Hong Kong government needs to move in and resolve this issue -- branding protesters as "rioters" will not solve anything.

And more importantly, Beijing needs to step up its campaign to prove its food and products are not substandard quality to regain consumer confidence. It's been over six years since the melamine milk scandal and what has come of it since? Can anyone blame Chinese consumers for buying up anything they can get their hands on -- outside their own country?

Another Reason to Strike

Swimmers enjoying the Kowloon Park Swimming Pool

There's a good chance many people won't be able to go swimming in their neighbourhood pool or beach tomorrow because 100 lifeguards will be on strike for one day.

They are protesting against staff shortages and increased workloads caused by an influx of mainlanders who come to swim in the pools particularly in Fanling and Sheung Shui. There are complaints that these day trippers don't respect pool etiquette and mainland children will urinate near the pools, resulting in more efforts to clean them more often.

Alex Kwok Siu-kit, vice-chairman of the Hong Kong and Kowloon Lifeguards' Union says he has seen more mainlanders come to swim in the city in recent years, while the government has cut the number of lifeguards at pools and beaches by 30 percent in 2004.

No one in the water yet at the Morrison Hill Swimming Pool...

Kwok said last month, a friend of his who works at the Kowloon Park Swimming Pool reported seeing a group of 40 mainland tourists who were there for a one-day "swimming tour".

"They were holding a flag that said, 'Hong Kong swimming one-day tour'. They came at around 1pm and swam for about three hours. There were 40 of them," Kwok said.

He adds that people aren't interested in entering the profession because of the heavy workload and it's a dead-end career. But who is a lifeguard for the long term anyway? In the west many young people see it as a summer job or a temporary one to earn money for tertiary education.

The average salary of a lifeguard is HK$15,000 a month.

In any event, the union is calling for the number of lifeguards to be increased by 20 percent.

This is not the first time lifeguards have gone on strike, and it certainly won't be the last.

While it's understandable lifeguards may feel they have more work to do, so do the rest of us. But at the same time, if the Hong Kong government is encouraging people to get fit, there should be a few more lifeguards watching over swimmers too...