The Pillar of Shame Lives Another Day

 

Minutes before the deadline, media were filming the sculpture

 

The Hong Kong Observatory lowered the T8 signal to T3 at 4.40pm after 23 hours of Typhoon Kompasu passing by the city, causing a lot of winds and some spurts of rain, but nothing like the heavy rains on Saturday with Typhoon Lionrock.

Despite the weather conditions, many people gathered at the University of Hong Kong's Hakim Wong Building, where the Pillar of Shame stands, wondering what the university's management would do when the deadline of 5pm struck. Would campus security begin removing the 2-tonne sculpture or dismantle it?

In the end it turns out nothing -- for now.

The deadline coincided with Typhoon Kompasu

The artist, Jens Galschiot, has hired a Hong Kong lawyer to request HKU arrange a hearing to review its controversial decision.

He had warned the university would be held responsible for any damages if it removed the sculpture, and that the Pillar of Shame actually belongs to him, and is on permanent loan to the now defunct Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China.

"The lawyer and I will try to resolve the situation amicably and with satisfaction for both parties if possible," Galschiot said in a statement on Tuesday.

"Of course, I hope that my ownership of the sculpture will be respected and that I will be able to transport the sculpture out of Hong Kong under orderly conditions and without it having suffered from any damage."

Galschiot also revealed he was in touch with several Danish members of parliament to put pressure on the country's foreign ministry to intervene in the matter, while also appealing to the Chinese embassy to offer whatever help necessary to take the sculpture safely out of Hong Kong.

A HKU spokeswoman said on Wednesday the university was still seeking legal advice and working with relevant parties to handle the situation in a lawful and reasonable manner.

HKU will negotiate with Galschiot

Many are upset the university is removing yet another reminder of June 4 from Hong Kong. 

Louisa Lim is the author of The People's Republic of Amnesia: Tiananmen Revisited and she writes the ultimate motive of removing the sculpture may not be so much coerced amnesia, but the abasement of yet another Hong Kong institution.

"In requesting the removal of the Pillar of Shame, Hong Kong University is bowing down to the post-National Security Law reality and signaling that it will sacrifice its century-old tradition of academic freedom and critical inquiry in the interests of self-preservation," she writes.

Again we wait with baited breath to see what will happen to the Pillar of Shame...

Pillar of Contention

Looking down at the Pillar of Shame in HKU

Early this morning Tropical Storm Lionrock finally left after 22 hours, the longest a typhoon has lingered since 1978. The Hong Kong Observatory lowered the signal to T3 and then by afternoon all signals were cancelled.

At lunchtime I went to the University of Hong Kong to see for the first and possibly the last time, the sculpture Pillar of Shame by Danish artist Jens Galschiot, commemorating the victims of the Tiananmen Square massacre.

Closeup of Galschiot's sculpture

The university's management has sent a letter via its lawyers to the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China to remove the statue by Wednesday October 13 at 5pm or it will be deemed abandoned.

However Galschiot has weighed in on the situation, saying if the university's management damages the statue, he will seek compensation for it.

He said the statue is not for them to throw away as there was no purchase contract nor any payment made, so in principle the statue belongs to him.

"I am baffled since I have not received any official request to move my sculpture," he said. "I wonder why I am being informed about this through the press."

According to Galschiot, it has been agreed that the alliance and HKU should administer the permanent exhibition together and bear the attending expenses.

"It will take a long time to move the sculpture," he warned. "It is an extremely valuable piece of art, which after 24 years probably is a bit frail. Therefore there is a great possibility that the work of art will suffer irreparable damage if handled by an others than experts in handling art.

"If, contrary to expectations, damage to the sculpture should occur, the university risks incurring a claim of compensation for that damage."

HKU threatening to remove it Oct 13

I saw the sculpture as students and workers were queuing up for lunch in the canteen next to the Pillar of Shame, while a few visitors like myself examined the 8-metre-high sculpture that weighs 2 tonnes. There are steel cables at the top to prevent it from toppling over perhaps in typhoon conditions, but as it has been there since 1997, wear and tear has certainly made it more fragile.

This is now a stand off between Galschiot and HKU -- the alliance is trying to quietly disband and disappear without further repercussions. But it seems Galischiot is not giving up the fight and it will be interesting to see what happens this Wednesday...

Camping in a Typhoon

Typhoon Higos (the giant white swirl) was over Hong Kong last night

Typhoon Higos paid Hong Kong a visit last night, coming closest to the city around 2am when the local observatory raised the typhoon signal from T8 to T9. It went back down to T8 at 7.40am and then T3 just after 11am.

Usually we can see typhoons coming days away leaving much speculation about what time it will come closest to Hong Kong and more importantly, will we have a day off.

Tap Mun, or Grass Island in perfect conditions for camping

But this time Typhoon Higos developed quite quickly and in the afternoon the observatory raised the signal to T3 at around 2.30pm, then warned it would go up to T8 by 10.40pm.

As a result most people were safely indoors -- except for a 38-year-old man and his 70-year-old mother -- who were out camping!

They were on a remote islet called Tap Mun (Grass Island) when they called at 7am on Friday morning while T9 was in force, asking to be rescued after all their belongings had blown away.

Both were uninjured, but the mother was diagnosed with hypothermia.

At first the police sought help from the Government Flying Service to airlift the woman to hospital, but the helicopter could not be deployed because of bad weather. Therefore a rescue team had to hike in typhoon conditions to find them.

The 70-year-old woman who was rescued had hypothermia

They were then taken down to a marine launch, which ferried the pair to Sai Kung.

The man apparently went camping on Friday and had no mobile signal so he was completely unaware of the typhoon coming, while his mother joined him on Tuesday, though it is not clear at what time.

The wind gusts overnight in Tap Mun ranged from 71km/h to as high as 101km/h.

What was that man doing camping when the weather was turning bad? And for his mother to join him? Unbelievable.

We can only hope she recovers and her son learns a lesson not to drag her out camping during a typhoon! Hope he paid for the rescue because people literally risked their lives to get them to safety when they should not have been out at all.

Univited Help Arrives

PLA soldiers removing bricks from the road in Kowloon Tong today

This afternoon some residents who live around Pok Fu Lam Road and the University of Hong Kong began clearing the road that had been blocked for the past few days. There were some scuffles with protesters, but for the most part the volunteer clean-up crew were left alone.

Another clean-effort was underway around the Baptist University campus, but Hong Kong residents had some help from an unexpected group -- the People's Liberation Army.

A fellow soldier (right) filmed the soldiers cleaning up

From video clips it looks like several dozen soldiers from the PLA came out of their Kowloon Tong barracks around 4pm dressed in khaki T-shirts and black shorts, or in what look like colourful basketball singlets. Armed with bamboo brooms and red buckets, the soldiers started clearing broken bricks that were strewn all over Renfrew Road that the protesters had left behind.

The last time the soldiers came out was after the devastation of super typhoon Manghkut last October, when they helped to remove felled trees from Hong Kong's country parks. Their help wasn't requested that time either and today they just showed up unannounced.

Oh and yes they had a film crew document their good deed of the day.

According to Article 14 in the Basic Law:

The Central People's Government shall be responsible for the defence of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. 
 
The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall be responsible for the maintenance of public order in the Region. 

Last year the PLA helped clean up the country parks

 
Military forces stationed by the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for defence shall not interfere in the local affairs of the Region. The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region may, when necessary, ask the Central People's Government for assistance from the garrison in the maintenance of public order and in disaster relief. 
 
In addition to abiding by national laws, members of the garrison shall abide by the laws of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. 
 
Expenditure for the garrison shall be borne by the Central People's Government.

In this case the PLA is cleaning up roads... a spokesman for the garrison said the police force did not ask them to volunteer. "Stopping violence is everyone's duty," a man giving commands to the soldiers said to reporters.

But in the Basic Law, what the PLA were doing was illegal

Later when pressed by the media, the Hong Kong government replied: "The Hong Kong Garrison’s assistance... is purely a voluntary community activity initiated by themselves. The HKSAR Government has not requested the Garrison’s assistance.” 

Which means the PLA voluntary cleaning-up exercise this afternoon was illegal. 





What is this? It's a test, a trial balloon to see what the public's reaction is to the soldiers, not in uniform, but "volunteering" their time and effort in helping Hong Kong get back on its feet. Some people who watched the PLA soldiers clapped in approval, while the pan-democrats are ringing the alarm bells over this.

Security veteran and Democratic Party lawmaker James To Kun-sun believed the move by the PLA was not ordered by the chairman of the Central Military Commission.

"This time, it doesn't look like voluntary service," he said, referring to the soldiers' previous participation in tree planting. "It's more like assisting the maintenance of public order."

A lot of obstacles that need to be cleaned up in Hong Kong

He said if the operation was not based on the Garrison Law, then the soldiers should not come out to clear bricks. "It could be dangerous," To added, referring to potential clashes between them and the protesters.

"They may say PLA soldiers have been attacked... then they can use heavy weapons. This is the most worrying thing."

But the protesters did not confront the soldiers... hopefully knowing there was no point in trying to even fight them.

But having the PLA come out unannounced is rather concerning, especially since protesters are fighting to prevent further interference from Beijing...
 

Never a Dull Moment

Several hundred bankers gathered at Chater Garden tonight to protest

Tonight about 600 bankers gathered before 7.30pm -- usually they are still at their desks -- and marched from Chater Garden to IFC mall. The theme was "Freedom snooze, market lose". They chanted "Reclaim Hong Kong, revolution of our times" as they walked huddled under umbrellas as it was still Typhoon signal no. 3 and amber rainstorm warning.

About 100 of them even chanted through the luxury shopping mall encouraging people to join in the general strike that is planned for Monday August 5.

Tomorrow it is the civil servants' turn to voice their opinions

No one is sure to what extent the general strike will be like, but it seems like many sectors are signing on, including the aforementioned bankers and the arts community, and some civil servants.

Some 2,000 civil servants were planning to have a rally tomorrow in Chater Garden calling for the withdrawal of the extradition bill, but they have been formally warned by the government not to take part, and instead and instructed them to remain politically neutral and have "total loyalty" to the chief executive, or suffer consequences. But look up the Civil Service Code and there is no mention about punishment.

All protesters want the extradition bill to be withdrawn

For the past eight weeks, civil servants have not said anything -- until now. They feel compelled to finally speak out for their conscience as Hongkongers.  This is their right as citizens of the city.

So a rally tomorrow, and more this weekend... it's never a dull moment in Hong Kong... always wear comfortable shoes because you never know if the police are going to block the roads or the MTR...

A Dark and Rainy Day

This mid-afternoon became very dark and very wet

This spring in Hong Kong weather-wise has been very strange. We've had a prolonged spring which started off great, but now as summer is approaching, the weather has become more humid and unstable.

The aftermath of flooding in Tai Hang

Today was particularly dramatic. As I headed to Central for a haircut it was very humid and afterwards I made it to the gym just as raindrops were starting to fall.

It got so bad that around 2.40pm the sky turned black, turning day into night with lots of thunder and lightning. The Hong Kong Observatory raised the Amber rainstorm warning, that quickly turned to Red.

Many people were holed up at the gym and the food counter there made a killing today with people snapping up sandwiches and drinks to wait for the rain to subside.

Restaurants and hotels around town must have had good sales too, as the storm hit just as the lunch hour was ending with people lingering and ordering more, though staff must have missed having a decent break.

By the time I left Central at around 3pm the rain wasn't too bad but there were lots of big puddles. A friend in Tai Hang showed me a picture of massive flooding there and that earlier it was a severe windstorm where he was, claiming it was like being in a typhoon.

The skies cleared up for the rest of the afternoon and evening

Later in the afternoon the weather actually cleared up and people starting emerging and rushing out to do shopping or other errands, though the supermarket and wet market near my home weren't too busy.

Wonder what tomorrow brings...!

What's Ma Ying-jeou Up To?

Former Taiwan president Ma Ying-jeou working in a bookshop for a day

Does former Taiwanese president Ma Ying-jeou have a new gig?

In a recent video the 68-year-old is seen working as a shopkeeper in a bookstore in Taipei. As he's wearing a baseball cap and a black mask, most people don't recognize him at all. When customers approach him at the cashier, he suggests that they buy his memoir that was released in December.



Many say no -- in one case a woman said she hardly reads books anymore. But when he pulls down his mask, people do a double take and are excited to see him. He offers to sign the books for them too.

However he's not quite cut out to be a cashier. One customer asked to use JKo Pay, the local version of Apple Pay, and Ma seems to have no clue what it is or how to process the payment.

He tried to persuade customers to buy his memoir

The video has been seen over 150,000 times since Ma's office posted it on YouTube on Friday. His office explained the video is meant to show another side of the Harvard Law School graduate.

"We want to let the public know that the ex-president is actually an easy-going person, the man next door type," an official from the office said.

But when asked about whether this was an attempt to garner popularity again in the hopes of running for president in 2020, the office was coy.

"This kind of question has been around for some time, you'll have to ask the former president because we have no idea at all," the official said.

He made enough to buy ink and brushes to write couplets

It seems his popularity has risen in the past year or so, in contrast to when he was president, especially in the last few years of his second term which ended in 2016.

When Ma was first elected in 2008, his popularity approval rating was at 68 percent. But his government's mishandling of the economy and issues like the typhoon that killed almost 700 people in 2009, as well as the Sunflower movement -- where hundreds of students stormed the legislature in 2014 -- made him highly unpopular.

And in case you're wondering -- in the end Ma managed to sell 30 copies of his book, enough to buy Chinese calligraphy brushes and ink to write Lunar New Year couplets for his supporters.

A Delicious Alternative to Pork

Does this look like Cantonese steamed minced pork? It's made from plants!

First off -- did anyone in Hong Kong feel the tremors from the 6.1 magnitude earthquake in Penghu county in Taiwan just before 8am this morning?

I was sitting at the table eating breakfast when I felt my building swaying a bit, much like when it did when Super Typhoon Mangkhut came through Hong Kong.

At the time I thought it was strange and a little later when I checked the Hong Kong Observatory for the weather, it had a note that some residents had called in about feeling a tremor.

So it wasn't just me!

The Omnipork right after it is steamed for five minutes

Secondly, this afternoon, I tried some Omnipork, a plant-based meat that is supposed to mimic pork, but is made of shiitake mushrooms, peas, non GMO soy beans and rice. Today is the first day Omnipork is available for retail, priced at HK$43 for a pack that weighs 230grams.

The first demonstration was steamed minced pork, a typical family-style Cantonese dish. The portion looks good for two or three people. When scooped out of the plastic packaging, Omnipork looks like, well ground pork, pink in colour and mushy in texture.

The instructor added some finely julienne ginger and ginger juice, and pre-cooked diced mushrooms. He said the mushrooms had to be cooked beforehand as the Omnipork would be cooked in five minutes through steaming. He also added a bit of soy sauce that wasn't too salty.

Then he placed the plate with the mixture in a steamer and within five minutes we had "pork" that looked darker in colour and had the texture of meat. Because he added mushrooms to it, the taste was more mushroom in flavour.

Omnipork made into dumplings with a splash of sesame oil

Next up was dumplings and the Omnipork was combined with finely minced cauliflower and some of the left over diced mushrooms, seasoned and then portioned in round wrappers. They were then boiled and within minutes we were able to try these dumplings that had a splash of sesame oil and were very delicious.

The versatility of this plant-based meat is pretty amazing -- more so than Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat because there isn't much more you can do to those "meats" except to fry them as burger patties.

But with Omnipork it can be used in a variety of ways, making it easy for home cooks to use it.

It'll be interesting to see if Omnipork catches on especially for the retail market. It could possibly disrupt the pork industry, particularly now with the serious outbreak of African swine fever that is widespread in China!

Hong Kong Government Hypes White Elephant

It cost Hong Kong HK$84.4 billion to build this high-speed rail station

When I visited the Hong Kong West Kowloon Railway Station last weekend, it looked quite busy with a number of passengers wandering around, buying tickets, or checking in.

But according to figures from the MTR Corporation, the numbers are down for the second month in a row since it opened.

About 1.5 million passengers per month used the high speed rail between September 23 and November 22. That means the average daily passenger number was around 50,000, which is 38 percent less than MTR's estimate of 80,000.

It cost taxpayers HK$84.4 billion to build the much-hyped project, and before the opening, the government boasted the high-speed railway would be profitable from day one.

There are 38 percent fewer passengers coming through

Uh huh.

Today the MTR Corp claimed it would take some time for people to get used to the service, and the company was continually working to upgrade services.

"The MTR Corp has been using various sales strategies to reach out to different customer groups... including by offering more promotion and partnering with industry players to expand sales channels," the firm said.

Before the high speed railway opened on September 23, Hong Kong transport minister Frank Chan Fan was "pretty confident" the service would be profitable from the outset, saying it would not incur losses, based on official projections for passengers and "competitive" ticket prices.

He probably said that in the hopes of getting consumer confident about the service. It has been revealed the government is contractually bound to step in and absorb 70 percent of financial losses if the difference between projected and actual passenger numbers is more than 15 percent.

We taxpayers have to pay for the government's inability to more accurately forecast how many people are going to use the service? Wouldn't it be better to underestimate than over estimate?

Many Hong Kong people have complained about how inconvenient the routes are -- as the stations in the mainland are not located in central business district areas and instead near suburbs; they would rather fly or take the slower trains to get to the city centre.

The clean-up following Typhoon Mangkhut continues

There seems to be a pattern here -- when it comes to projecting the Hong Kong government's revenues, the finance minister is almost always way off the mark when delivering his budget. How can they get this wrong by several hundreds of millions of dollars?

And then the government doesn't prepare with how to deal with the aftermath of Super Typhoon Mangkhut. The government was great in insisting everyone stay at home and be prepared before the super typhoon came, but afterwards there is a lot of criticism for insufficient transport links for people to get to work, and the mess is still being cleaned up.

Now we have a giant infrastructure project that cost tens of billions of dollars, and it's not reaching the passenger numbers the government had in mind -- even expecting the high-speed rail to pay for itself on the first day of service!

Tall order...

Hong Kong officials are completely clueless about what is really happening in the city. They really need to get out of their ivory towers and experience what life is like for ordinary people. These civil servants seem completely out of touch with reality.

Scary, isn't it?

Chinese Officials Learn Cantonese (Finally)

Chinese officials working in the Liaison Office are learning Cantonese

While I was away, I saw a story from Hong Kong that struck me as amusing, and thinking, "about time!".

Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng has instructed more than 200 officials who work in Beijing's liaison office in Hong Kong are studying Cantonese to better connect with the city's residents.

Vice Premier Han Zheng wants officials to connect with locals

It only took over 20 years for Chinese officials to finally realize they really needed to learn the local lingo to be accepted in Hong Kong.

Perhaps it's better late than never.

Apparently it was Zheng who pushed for the staff to get language training, while Wang Zhimin, director of the central government's liaison office in the city, has been trying to set an example by "trying very hard to learn, and now his command of Cantonese is pretty good", says a source.

Hong Kong Academy of Management is teaching the officials Cantonese, with most classes taking place after regular office hours.

The source also said most officials were "very enthusiastic and keen to learn", and with a high attendance rate, staff members were passing with good grades.

Apparently Wang Zhimin speaks pretty good Cantonese...

While the officials spoke Cantonese with their own accents, the source said, "at least we can understand what they are saying".

Apparently the liaison office is trying to find opportunities for the officials to practice their Cantonese by organizing volunteer events, like cleaning up Heng Fa Chuen and Silverstrand beach after Typhoon Mangkhut.

It's cute, but a good first step to building bridges with the local community. It should have been done 20 years ago, but now they realize being high and mighty does not work with Hong Kong people. It's about earning respect and this is a good start, even if they don't have a good Cantonese accent!

Post Typhoon Woes Continue

Commuter chaos in Tai Wai on Monday Morning, after Typhoon Mangkhut

This morning I went to my hairdresser Joanna to get a trim. I asked her how she fared during the typhoon.

She said it was fine, but it was the next day, Monday's commuter chaos that was terrible. Joanna lives in Yuen Long and in the morning her clients were texting her to see if she was still keeping their appointments. She hadn't kept up with the news on the transportation issues and said she should get to the salon on time.

Trees fell on cars and streets, making some roads impassable

But when she got to the station she realized it would be a long wait. In the end it took over two and a half hours to get to Central.

Her colleagues in Sha Tin had a trying time -- there were massive lines already outside of the station trying to get in.

"They decided to lower the typhoon signal from T8 to T3 at 6am," she says. "Why couldn't they have just waited a bit later and then we would get to work by the afternoon?" she asked.

That makes a lot of sense. Did the Hong Kong government think about that?

Then there would be time given to the army of cleaners to clear as much of the streets as possible and for electricity to come back on in some areas, and as a result some more buses could be on the road.

Some say people should not be complaining to Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor about their transportation woes -- they should really be directing them at their bosses to have a bit more understanding.

Glass strewn on the streets from blown-out windows

One example is a Facebook post by the union at Radio Television Hong Kong or RTHK saying their bosses forced them to use their annual leave on Monday if they didn't show up for work. Eventually RTHK backed down and employees didn't have to claim the day off.

Sometimes there are acts of God that you cannot control -- but yet we have the best of intentions to come to work -- or you don't believe us?

It's high time employers have more faith in their workers to do their utmost to come to work. Most of us just want to come in, do as good a job as we can, and then go home, then repeat the next day.

The vast majority are not slackers, though there is a small minority of them. We all need the job for money, so why not trust us to show up for work?

Treating us better would go a long way in terms of productivity.

Survived Typhoon Mangkhut

Dramatic scenes in Heng Fa Chuen, with a man by the waterfront

Typhoon Mangkhut has come and gone -- and it was a whole day affair.

Late last night around 1.10am the Hong Kong Observatory raised the T8 signal. Early in the morning I could hear howling from my air conditioner and rain pounding against the windows which was unsettling. Would my windows blow out? Why did I not tape them?!

Outside my flat the elevator shaft was howling loudly along with any fan connected to the walls of my flat -- they were whirling away madly and blowing in any debris that was lodged in them into my flat -- including a broken tiny spring probably from a pen!

Many windows were blown out in a building in Hung Hom

Cooking breakfast was a bit nerve-wracking because the stove fan was making strange noises from the wind. And my building was swaying periodically too...

Meanwhile on social media people started posting pictures of destruction -- first it was the flooding on the waterfront in Heng Fa Chuen, the fast east side of Hong Kong Island, and then an office building in Hung Hom had its windows blown out and with them flew lots of papers too...

There was also footage of a construction crane falling off a tall building, same with a tree that was growing on a rooftop of another building. And one of the front doors of the InterContinental Hong Kong shattered from the powerful winds, while the Mercedes-Benz showroom in Wan Chai was completely flooded.

A tree broke in Tsim Sha Tsui next to The Peninsula

The list goes on and on, but the good thing is that as far as I know, there were no casualties, and the vast majority of people stayed at home. However, my friend YTSL told me this morning her friend went to Wan Chai for dim sum with her family at Hopewell Centre during T10! Apparently the restaurant was half full and mostly elderly people. Guess some cannot do without yum cha...

The only transportation running was the MTR and some taxis so overall the city was dead, which is strange as we all know it as a metropolis that is non-stop. But today it was eerily quiet.

In all my 15 years of living on and off in Hong Kong, this is the worst I have ever experienced! And no I didn't need tape. Nevertheless, today will be an "I remember" moment for a long time to come...

Waiting for Mangkhut

This restaurant enticed diners to come for the evening

Late yesterday afternoon, Hong Kong's security minister John Lee Ka-chiu told the public to "prepare for the worst", because of Super Typhoon Mangkhut coming close to Hong Kong, so today people came out in droves to stock up.

It wasn't as severe as bare shelves in North Carolina when Hurricane Florence was approaching yesterday, but the wet market in Kennedy Town as well as the Park n Shop were much busier than usual around 10am. The atmosphere was like Chinese New Year eve, people buying up ingredients they would need for the next few days.

Many shops around Hong Kong taped their windows like this

In the afternoon, the shopping malls were packed with people. At Festival Walk in Kowloon Tong, people were even checking out the cars on display, not necessarily getting supplies for the impending Super Typhoon Mangkhut.

By evening things had calmed down -- my colleague and I had a delicious dinner at a Lebanese restaurant called Francis in Wan Chai. It was full, but there weren't a lot of people waiting outside for a table in the second round.

After our early dinner around 8pm I walked to nearby Pacific Place in Admiralty, and the shopping mall was practically dead -- hardly anyone was in the shops and even Great, the supermarket downstairs was relatively quiet.

Most people rushed home on the MTR because we'd been warned it was going to be a big one. The bakery in the Kennedy Town MTR station it looked like it had been raided as most of the baked goods were gone.

This bakery was practically cleaned out of baked goods

I am curious to know what kinds of snacks and food people stock up on for a typhoon! I saw one guy carrying a shopping bag full of candies including a giant box of Malteasers...

The Hong Kong Observatory is expecting to raise the T8 signal between 11pm and 2am, with Mangkhut coming skirting just south of Hong Kong in the late morning or early afternoon, depending on its speed.

Many shops have taped their windows so it looks like the Chinese character for rice (米)... before they would only tape an "X"... guess this time Mangkhut is special that it warrants more tape?

In any event we're prepared... everyone is also watching to see what happens to the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge!

Can Bridge Take On Super Typhoon?

Super Typhoon Mangkhut is over Luzon now, on the way to Hong Kong

The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge is almost done -- but before it opens the mega infrastructure project will face its first severe test -- Super Typhoon Mangkhut on Sunday.

It's expected to pack up winds of up to 205km/h and be within 100km of Hong Kong -- but can the 55km bridge handle it?

Structural and geotechnical engineer Ngai Hok-yan has his doubts. He says the artificial islands in mainland waters and on the Macau side would face a greater risk from Mangkhut than the one at Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok, which is partly protected by Lantau Island.

Can the bridge sustain winds of over 200km/h?

"Whether the bridge can withstand the destructive force of Super Typhoon Mangkhut depends on the height of the waves at the artificial island," he said.

Currently the dolosse or protective blocks there can withstand waves as high as four metres, but beyond that there is a chance the protective blocks could wash away very quickly, Ngai said, adding American forecasts have predicted waves could be as high as six metres.

"Without the protection of the dolosse, the worst case scenario would see the undersea tunnel detach from the artificial island and float above the sea, and also the collapse of the island."

He also said the Macau artificial island was exposed to more risk because it faced the sea.

Hmmm! Seems like none of the higher-ups in Hong Kong, Beijing or Macau considered the possibility of natural disasters when they were thinking about building this bridge that connects Macau and Hong Kong with the mainland.

Can the dolosse sustain waves over four metres high?

Aside from adverse weather conditions, one friend said she refused to go on the bridge once it was completed because what if someone's car broke down? Would there be a massive traffic jam? Who would help tow the car away? Or what if there was an accident? And the chances of that happening are very high, considering drivers in Hong Kong and Macau have the steering wheel on the right side of the car, China on the left.

And now this ominous warning from an engineer saying the bridge may not withstand a super typhoon...

All we can do now is wait and see what happens.

Picture of the Day: Super Typhoon Mangkhut

That white blob in the centre is Super Typhoon Mangkhut going northwest

The big story today is not one but two typhoons coming our way.

One, called Typhoon Barijat, is passing south of us now, but the big concern is Super Typhoon Mangkhut that is on its way to the Philippines and projected to come within 100km of Hong Kong on Sunday.

It's current path will skirt Hong Kong to the south, but in the next few days that path could change.

Already people are very worried. After work my colleague went to the supermarket to find all the fresh vegetables were sold out and so she resorted to buying frozen peas instead.

It's hard to say what's going to happen until the typhoon does arrive, so there's not much point in freaking out about it now.

One thing for sure is that it will be very windy when Mangkhut comes, with winds expected to be the strongest since records began in 1946, and stronger than any of the past 15 severe or super typhoons that were T10.

Super typhoons can have wind speeds of up to 185km/h near its centre. 

Last year Super Typhoon Hato reached 185km/h at its highest intensity and was 60km from the Hong Kong Observatory's headquarters.

I am relatively stocked with food in the freezer, and have plenty of projects to do if I'm stuck at home on the weekend (ie cleaning out the flat, catching up on sleep).

Living in a Haze

This picture of Central was taking at 6pm with a very hazy skyline

For the past two weeks Hong Kong has been shrouded in haze. Even periodic heavy rainstorms can't wash the humid grayness away from the city.

It's pretty much unprecedented and today was particularly gray.

Air pollution levels were off the charts today in Hong Kong

Many of my colleagues remarked about the hazy weather and one was so mortified by the air pollution readings that he posted on our internal messaging system that the AQI or Air Quality Index was 175, deemed "Unhealthy" in red type.

Thanks for that, but what can we do?

It feels very humid outside, but the recent and current typhoons around the region have caused air movement to stagnate. It's particularly bad for children and the elderly as well as people who have asthma, and I've been trying to stay indoors as much as possible.

The Environmental Protection Department issued a warning, saying the air quality would remain bad until next week, as light winds were unable to disperse the pollutants in the air.

Pollution was made worse by people burning money tonight

Tonight when I was coming home, I saw people burning things on the street and lighting candles -- it's the eve of the Hungry Ghost Festival that starts tomorrow until September 9 this year. That means every evening people will be burning "hell money", creating even more air pollution.

I feel for the businesses that are near these people burning things, as the ashes end up blowing into their premises and they didn't ask for it, let alone breathing in the smoke.

While they are only burning money and incense in the evenings, creating less air pollution would help, especially when we're dealing with this terrible haze!

Picture of the Day: Rain

The view of Victoria Harbour for most of the day -- rain!

Today was particularly wet for most of the day -- the remnants of Typhoon Maria (that already landed in Fujian province in southeast China) are affecting us in Hong Kong.

Many people on social media took pictures of themselves, remorseful they forgot to bring an umbrella with them. Throughout the day it was torrential rains for several minutes and then it would stop for a while, then the heavy rains were back at it again.

I ventured out in the morning and just when I made it to the wet market, there was a downpour and it dried up by the time I got home.

Again in the early evening I caught a bus from Central to have dinner with my relatives in Kowloon. When the bus got to Wan Chai, there was heavy rain again and luckily I had an umbrella with me.

But this time the rain would not stop when I arrived at my stop in Tokwawan. To pass the time I popped into a grocery store to pick up a few things and when it wasn't so heavy, I made it to my relatives' home not too soaked.

The rains remind me of Singapore where it will pour for five to 10 minutes and then stop and even the sun makes an appearance.

Does this mean Hong Kong's weather is turning into something similar to the Lion City's?

It's definitely affected by global warming. I don't remember the weather being as crazy as this...

Picture of the Day: Sunset by Victoria Harbour

Taken between Shun Tak Ferry Terminal and Dr Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Park

The other day my colleague and I finished work in Tsim Sha Tsui and then took the Star Ferry back to Central. She walked back to Wan Chai and I headed back by foot to Western on foot, taking the scenic route.

The sun was just setting and it was a beautiful view looking west out onto the water. You would never know that Super Typhoon Maria was approaching Taiwan, except that it was quite humid.

It isn't often I get to walk so close to the water -- it had such a calming effect that put me in a good mood. This is why I love Hong Kong and also living close to the water!