Anger Grows at Govt's Culling of Seven Wild Boars

A hungry wild boar taking advantage of someone's picnic

The anger at how the Hong Kong government is dealing with the issue of wild boars encroaching into urban areas continues to simmer, with some 350 people in the veterinary sector signing a petition.

They are urging the authorities to stop the capture-and-kill strategy for wild boars and return to the original plan of neutering them so that they cannot reproduce.

Seven wild boars were killed last week

People who signed the petition included practicing vets, nurses and veterinary students.

One of the students who initiated the petition said overseas studies show contraception is the most effective way to reduce the wild boar population in the long term, so the government should not suspend the scheme after contraceptives were only used on about 300 wild pigs.

Another student said they learned about animal welfare and ethics in school, and believe they have a duty to speak up for wild animals in Hong Kong against the "unfair" strategy.

"Only a small number of wild boars have hurt people. And why did they do so? It's because humans invaded their habitats. They have no other options than to come into the city to search for food," she said in a radio show.

"It's not the wild boars' fault that they appear in the city. We should not kill them, but should step up education so people will not feed or get too close to them," she added.

Many roam in the urban areas in search of food

Indeed. Many Hongkongers feel the seven wild boars that were killed last week were innocent victims and should not be first of all lured with food -- which is against the authorities' advice -- and then killing them.

How about stepping up education around not feeding the boars and really fining or punishing people for giving them food? If police can constantly stop people from gathering in more than groups of four, surely they can patrol well known areas where wild boars are found and catch people who are feeding them...

The Real Vincent van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh died at the age of 37 in 1890

Last night my friend took me to see a play called Vincent at the Hong Kong Arts Centre.

We didn't know much about it except that it was written by actor Leonard Nimoy, famously known for playing Spock on Star Trek. Apparently Nimoy had a life-long fascination of the Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh. Not only did Nimoy write the play, he also performed it. 

He liked to paint scenes of everyday people

Vincent is based on more than 500 letters between van Gogh and his brother Theo, who were known to be very close. Theo owned an art gallery and was the one who financially kept his older brother afloat.

It turns out this is a one-man play was performed by Adam Harris, who I later found out during the intermission that he's a veterinarian by day! And this is not his first production! He previously performed Educating Rita, The Unknown Soldier, and Underneath the Lintel.

Harris is explosive from the start, with lots of energy to sustain the two-hour production. 

He plays Theo, who gathers us, his audience, as his friends to give his own personal memorial for Vincent who had recently succumbed to a gunshot wound in his chest. Theo says he was too distraught during the funeral to say anything but now seems prepared to speak, with several letters to help him paint a fuller picture of his brother.

There are some interesting details about van Gogh's life: He was hoping to become a minister and did preach in really poor parishes. Theo recounts that one time there was a terrible fire in a mine and one of the miners was left for dead but Vincent nursed him back to health.

A bandage around his head after cutting off his ear

And then he was socially awkward, falling in love with a cousin who was a widow, making the family mortified and terrified, as van Gogh could be emotional and stubborn.

He later fell for a "woman on the streets", who had two children and another on the way. Again his parents were hardly pleased and Theo had to financially look after all those mouths. Van Gogh finally left her.

Eventually he turned to painting but he was self-conscious and didn't want Theo to sell his pieces yet. He was emotionally fragile and doctors diagnosed him as being epileptic and was sent to recover in Arles, France.

That is where he became prolific in his paintings, and Theo reports Vincent would paint one or maybe even two canvases a day. We are then shown on a large screen a slide show of his works, some of which are famous, like The Starry Night, Sunflowers and Irises, and a few I have never seen before.

He then has an encounter with fellow artist Paul Gaugin, who Theo despises, because the meeting resulted in Vincent cutting his ear off and gifting it to a prostitute. His depression got worse and it is believed that contributed to him going into the fields to paint and shooting himself in the chest.

The Starry Night was shown during the play

Theo recalls in detail what they talked about before Vincent died, their childhood memories and asking for forgiveness for having his younger brother supporting him this whole time.

In the post script, Theo was so overcome by his brother's death that he too died less than a year later. Eventually Theo's remains were buried next to Vincent.

Harris as Theo is quite intense, with bursts of emotion that are explosive and thoughtful. He also sometimes plays Vincent, with darker lighting to illustrate this. He also reads Vincent's letters in his voice.

When Harris walked off stage to signal the intermission, we the audience had no idea what was happening until a female voice said there would be a 10-minute intermission!

My friend's friends who also went all said it was an intense play!

He was diagnosed as epileptic and depressed

Apparently Harris likes to do these one-man plays, perhaps making it easier for him to control the situation and not having to depend too much on others.

At the very end a woman came up on stage and sang Starry Starry Night which was a nice (and less emotional) finish.

Learned a lot more about van Gogh and glad to see this performance!

Vincent by Leonard Nimoy

Hong Kong Arts Centre McAulay Studio

November 18-20, 2021

Politically Incorrect Opening Ceremony

Two roast pigs mark the opening of a veterinary centre

When a company opens a new office, a film crew starts production, or families celebrate upcoming nuptials, a roast pig is usually presented as an auspicious way to mark the occasion.

Key personnel stand around the pig carcass and pose with the chopper, everyone with big smiles all round -- except for the poor pig. Or should I say roast pork.

Animal activists criticized the university for having roast pigs

However, the optics were really bad when the new Veterinary Medical Centre in Sham Shui Po opened on March 27, and they celebrated with not one, but two roast pigs.

How could a medical centre started by City University kill two pigs before it had even saved the life of an animal?

That was the scathing point made by people on social media which spread like wildfire, prompting the university to realize the terribly tone-deaf public relations blunder. It then issued a memo, urging all departments to stop the traditional roast pig-cutting ceremony.

The university tried to explain that the organizing committee had made the arrangements as a gesture of blessing, and that members of senior management did voice their concerns about having the roast pigs for the new veterinary centre's opening.

Now the university tells department to not do "outdated rites"

And now because "considering environmental protection and the concerns of different sections of the community", senior management was now asking all departments to consider cancelling such ceremonies and "other outdated rites at future celebrations".

This traditional pig-cutting ceremony doesn't have to be shelved completely, but it just had the wrong connotations for a veterinary centre. It just looks really bad and makes the opening far from lucky...