Carrie's Quarantine Hell

Lam plays hardball extending hotel quarantine to 21 days

 

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor gave residents a lump of coal just a few hours before Christmas Day -- that any Hongkonger returning to the city will have to quarantine in a hotel for not 14 days, but 21 days. 

The bombshell was announced just before midnight, not giving anyone a chance to try to come back as soon as possible, which infuriated lots of people who were about to come back or were about to leave Hong Kong and cancelled their plans.

Professor David Hui Shu-cheong, who advises the government on the pandemic, said this latest move was necessary to ensure undetected infections would not spread among local households.

Travelers were angered by quarantine time

"Tight border control is very important," he said.

The Chinese University respiratory medicine expert said the government also had the option to further raise quarantine to 28 days, but was unlikely to be used for long, even if introduced.

Nevertheless, the knock-on effect was immediate, with designated quarantine hotels benefiting from travelers coming back in the next days and weeks having to stay for three weeks, but will miss out on future business of those who were about to leave Hong Kong and cancelled their trips altogether.

Those impacted are not happy with the extra cost, while those stuck in the UK and South Africa will not be coming back to Hong Kong anytime soon. And when they do return, they will probably have to quarantine for three weeks on top of that.

Many in the UK are parents who thought they were smart to go visit their children instead of them coming back to Hong Kong, and now the fathers and mothers are desperate to return.

Tung and Leung are active critics of Lam

They should know especially in this fourth wave that the situation is changing rapidly not just in Hong Kong but around the world, that it is better to stay put than risk traveling.

But perhaps the main reason for this severe measure is pressure from Beijing or the pro-establishment camp on Lam to be more effective in battling the coronavirus pandemic.

She's recently received a lot of flak from former chief executives Tung Chee-hwa and Leung Chun-ying, both have no qualms openly criticizing her, which was previously considered a no-no -- they are supposed to support her policies.

In addition, the liaison office has been uncharacteristically quiet, neither defending nor attacking Lam; some China watchers think the liaison office is waiting to see to see how effective these criticisms are before stepping in, or seeing how far these critics can further humiliate Lam.

Either way it's probably a sign that Lam will be a one-term chief executive, which will be a relief on all sides.

But who who will replace her? Who dares to take on such a divided city? It's definitely not for the faint-hearted...

The Impossible Rebranding Campaign

Hong Kong is a beautiful city, but is mired in political issues

A few days before the national security law was in force, there was an announcement that the Hong Kong government had hired a top British public relations firm to help "Relaunch Hong Kong".

Good luck with that.

The one-year contract worth US$6.2 million (HK$48 million) expects Consulum to come up with a communications strategy, as well as marketing and advertising plan to help "rebuild confidence in Hong Kong as a place to invest, do business, work and live".

Images like this were seen last year globally

The company will also come up with a strategy to change global perceptions of the city following last year's anti-government protests.

And now with the national security law in place, one aspect of which says anyone who criticizes the Hong Kong or Chinese government overseas and lands in the city even for transiting, could be arrested, rebranding the metropolis' image is going to be even harder.

How do you change people's perceptions worldwide about a draconian law that has decided the heaviest sentence of life in prison for those convicted of secession, subversion, terrorism or collusion?

Move along, folks, nothing to see here! How about some shopping?

One can't even begin to imagine what a mammoth undertaking this is and how to change people's minds after seeing the images of police firing tear gas at people, beating them senselessly, and arresting children?

Protesters try to get away from the tear gas

This is the ultimate challenge in window dressing, when really the Hong Kong government missed many opportunities, particularly early on in the protests to politically solve the issue of the extradition bill.

In addition, the choice of Consulum, based in London also raised eyebrows, not just for getting the job that many firms turned down to even pitch for, but also for its track record.

Consulum collapsed in 2017 after running a racist campaign in South Africa, highlighting the power of white-owned businesses to stir up anger about "white monopoly capital", and "economic apartheid".

It also had Saudi Arabia as a client to fix its image following the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October 2018 in the country's consulate in Turkey. Saudi officials claim the murder was killed in a "rogue operation".

Khashoggi was killed in Saudi Arabian consulate

Hong Kong PR experts are wondering why the government is hiring a PR company now, and wasting taxpayer money on what will be a fruitless exercise.

Andy Ho On-tat, who was a senior aide who worked in the Donald Tsang Yam-kuen administration, says with the hiring of Consulum, Hong Kong will be forever associated with Saudi Arabia. Also he thinks the timing of the PR offensive is wrong.

"We don't need to pay so much for a foreign firm to do studies to know that Hong Kong's negative image is largely due to political problems," he said a week ago.

"Now we are going to have a national security law and the US has threatened sanctions and China has also threatened to impose visa restrictions on US individuals. How can you persuade people overseas that Hong Kong is a free and welcoming city against this backdrop?"

Indeed.