Extradition Protest Aftermath

When police fired teargas into the crowd yesterday afternoon in Admiralty

I was glued to my phone watching the video clips and Twitter updates of the violent clashes yesterday in Admiralty and Central that I couldn't stop watching until 2am Pacific Time.

The one thing the protesters achieved was the Legislative Council postponing the reading of the extradition bill. It was postponed again today without a new date set... yesterday pro-Beijing lawmakers were not spotted at all near Legco -- probably too terrified to be confronted by angry protesters.

A lone protester is water cannoned and tear gassed by police

Perhaps this contentious bill will make them too scared to be associated in passing it. Or will they be willing to take the risk for the love of Beijing?

The Hong Kong Police should be ashamed of themselves for their excessive force exerted on the protesters. One video showed a man carrying a box of water bottles only to be attacked by several policemen who beat him up. Another was of a middle-aged woman trying to talk sense into the police, asking them why they were beating up young people in their teens who have not done anything wrong. What did the police do? Attack her.

It's the return of the yellow versus blue... did they not learn anything from 2014?

Meanwhile the protesters left Admiralty and Central in a mess -- but some of them came back today and CLEANED UP the debris on the streets. Where in the world have you seen angry protesters return and clean up the mess they made?

Tens of thousands showed up near government headquarters

Only in Hong Kong.

The ball is now in Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor's court. She has made the world terrified of what is happening in Hong Kong and will be scared of visiting the city or think twice about doing business there, with images of what look like a police state being implemented. Is this the impression she wants the rest of the world to have of Hong Kong?

More Contaminated Water in Hong Kong

Why hasn't the government not solved the issue of lead in water yet?

It is very worrying that the Hong Kong government still has not found the cause of lead in drinking water in the city. The latest to find lead in their water is a primary school in Sham Shui Po.

One of six samples taken at St Thomas Primary School contained 43.2 micrograms per litre, more than four times the World Health Organization's safety level of 10mc/l.

The contaminated sample was found from a tap for washing hands in a first-floor classroom, while the other five samples were less than 5mc/l.

Principal Tam Hsien-ming said the school was highly concerned and taking emergency measures. Tam said the school took water samples for testing after public housing estates were found to have excessive levels of lead.

Tam has also notified the Education Bureau, which seems to have not shown any kind of concern, only saying it was working closely with the school and seek support from other government departments.

Why isn't the Education Bureau concerned about Hong Kong's children to ensure all drinking water in schools are safe? And what about hospitals?

In fact why aren't all water sources checked for levels of lead?

The longer the government takes to find the source of the contamination, the less confidence people have in the authorities to deal with this serious matter.

Some even think that perhaps the lead contamination is coming from the Dongjiang River across the border, where Hong Kong gets over 80 percent of its water, but the government not dare to say anything.

In the meantime the only ones pleased about this situation are the water companies... who apparently don't seem to do much to treat their water before bottling it!

Pictures of the Day: Mid-Autumn Festival

A hot pot lantern with a tiny but round moon in the distance!

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival! 中秋节快乐！

The weather in Hong Kong has cooled in the last few days and with Mid-Autumn Festival here, the drop in humidity with some wind have been very welcome.

A reflection of the water bottle dome lit with LED lights

For today, companies must let their employees off early so that they can have the traditional dinner with their families and eat mooncakes.

So YTSL and I took the opportunity to have an early dinner and then head to Victoria Park where the main Mid-Autumn Festival event on Hong Kong Island is held for the public.

Inside was like a curtain creatively lit by water bottle lights

We arrived from Tin Hau station and immediately saw a giant dome made of plastic water containers lit with LED lights and got into the massive lineup. Luckily it went quite quickly -- just over half an hour, walking through the snaking queue until we got into the dome.

A traditional puppet show that's now mechanized

The shell itself is made of those giant water cooler containers and then inside there's thousands of water bottles also with small LED lights in them. They were like a curtain of water bottles which makes for an interesting low-cost design. Apparently the water bottles will be recycled after this event is over.

After our short tour of the dome we wandered around a bit -- or more like waded through a sea of people, everyone constantly taking pictures everywhere, making it hard to dodge and move.

There was a row of stands with businesses selling everything from drinks to cotton candy, dried squid, and even cha chaan teng chain restaurant Tsui Wah selling toast and its signature milk tea in a bottle.

One of the better-looking lanterns on display

We also saw some traditional crafts, including puppets, but these were automated.

However we weren't very impressed with the lantern selection this year. It seemed like the theme was food, and so there was a giant hot pot, a bamboo steamer with dim sum in it, a massive skewer with fish balls on it, and egg waffles too. Yawn Lame.

After that we were pretty much wiped out from having to deal with the crowds. You can only take so much before you just want to go home! Nevertheless we were pleased the weather held up nicely, the big round moon poking through the clouds periodically, because Typhoon Usagi may visit us on Sunday...

Fish balls and egg waffles... hmm...