Government Crackdown on District Councillors

Lam claims district councillors pose "immense challenges"

 

Last Thursday I received a text message from my district councillor, announcing she was resigning because of health issues.

I was disappointed to get the news, but also not surprised.

The Hong Kong government is making it harder and harder for district councillors, particular the pro-democracy ones to continue doing their jobs, as some have been arrested for taking part in the pan-democratic primaries last July, and the rest are being forced to take the oath, by swearing allegiance to the city and to uphold the Basic Law.

District Councillor Cherry Wong has quit

But really these district councillors are trying to do what their constituents want, which is to make their neighbourhoods safer and cleaner, encourage recycling, or voice opinions on unwanted development.

So it's outrageous for Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor to claim these district councillors present "immense challenges" for the Home Affairs Department because they're behaving in a way that has "never been seen before".

It turns out HAD had issued warning letters to over 30 district councillors who had handed out candles to people on the eve of the 32nd anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown.

The warning letters said the councillors may have breached local laws by distributing candles to people and encouraging them to take part in an unauthorized assembly, adding their activities were "unrelated to the District Council's work" and "undermine district harmony," the department said.

The HAD is responsible for managing local administration and district councillors' salaries and funding, and Lam said the HAD will "respond appropriately" if councillors are found to have improperly used public funds or violated regulations.

Some district councillors handed out candles

Maybe it was someone's birthday that day and they needed candles. Why all this fuss? But obviously the government does not want its money -- which is technically the people's money -- used to mark this politically-charged tragic event, which up until recently was legal.

Last week three district councillors, including Yau Tsim Mong District Councillor Suzanne Wu set up street booths to talk about Tiananmen Square. They were warned along with six other district councillors from the Democratic Party.

Meanwhile Sha Tin District Councillor Vienna Luk was warned after citing lyrics from the Cantopop song, The Great Wall, by rock band Beyond in a Facebook message. The 1992 song describes China has a country where facts and truth were shut up behind walls.

Luk asked why the HAD had a problem with her appreciating music.

Then two other Sha Tin district councillors, Raymond Li and Thomas Cheung, were warned for displaying a banner that read, "Candlelights will not be out."

Some wanted to mark the Tiananmen anniversary

And then on Saturday, Tsuen Wan District Councillor Lam Sek-tim called off an energy-saving event after the department sent him a warning letter. In an earlier Facebook post, Lam had urged residents to turn off their lights for an hour and he would give away a few electric-powered candles. He did not mention the 1989 crackdown at all.

So I'm not surprised my district councillors has "resigned"; I don't know the circumstances, but I'm guessing it is very similar to what her colleagues have experienced.

Up until last week she sent out regular updates of what she had been up to, encouraged people to donate gently used sweaters and thermos to distribute to the elderly in poverty, gave out calendars and turnip cake in the new year, as well as lots of masks and hand sanitizers during the pandemic. 

If anything it's the government making it hard for district councillors to do their jobs. It was their constituents who democratically voted them in. 

The electoral system can't change fast enough for the government so it's doing its utmost to make the district councillors all leave their positions either through convictions, forcing them to take the oath, or quit under duress.

Lam's Lockdown Plans Need Tweaking

Lam addressed media this afternoon, admitted could be better

Just over a year since the first case of the coronavirus was reported in Hong Kong, the city now has over 10,000 cases and is desperately trying to clamp down on a surge in cases in the Jordan area in Yau Tsim Mong district.

Late last night the government imposed a lockdown at over 100 buildings with streets cordoned off and monitored by police. That meant people coming back late could not go home, while those in their flats could not go out.

Goal was to test 10,000 with results by Monday

Meanwhile healthcare workers went door to door testing people.

The residents in lockdown were given food but there were lots of complaints -- as Hongkongers like to do, but in this case it was quite valid. They were given instant noodles, oranges, white bread, uncooked pasta and canned items like sardines and baked beans.

Instant noodles are hardly nutritious as well as white bread, and what are residents going to cook pasta with if there's no sauce? However, government officials didn't think to ask or know that many of the elderly living in this neighbourhood don't have can openers let alone a kitchen to cook.

They usually depend on social workers to deliver hot food to them, and now they can't come in to help feed them. District councillor Owan Li said the government should have considered delivering hot meals to them.

Lots of instant noodles, oranges and canned food

Nevertheless the food they were given is such a hodge podge... how do you even make a decent meal out of that?

This afternoon Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor gave a press conference near the lockdown area, wearing a black hoodie, while Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee wore a puffy jacket -- in 25 degree weather?!

Lam admitted there was room for improvement. She said the lockdown was difficult to execute without residents knowing, as 3,000 people are involved in administering the operation, and that perhaps people would be less anxious if they knew the lockdown was only for 48 hours and that food would be provided to them, though now we know it wasn't adequate.

She also said the lockdown was nothing like those on the mainland and preferred to call the scheme "restriction testing declaration", and that it would be lifted after testing was completed.

Lam visited the area but was she welcomed?

When questioned by reporters if residents who were inconvenienced by the scheme would be compensated, particularly if they could not get to their jobs, Lam would only reply that residents were supplied with food and there was a hotline to call if they had any questions.

The aim of the lockdown -- I mean "restriction testing declaration" -- is to test 10,000 people by tonight so that they will be able to get back to work by Monday morning. Again the government is oblivious to the possibility that some people work weekends...

What is scary is that Secretary for the Environment Wong Kam-sing reported nearly 90 percent of the sewage samples collected from 40 buildings in this area tested positive for the virus. So having them continue to live in these contaminated places is hardly ideal. 

However, where do you mover 10,000 people? And how can their sewage pipes be fixed?

Covid-19 is not going away in Hong Kong anytime soon, despite wearing your mask everyday, washing your hands and social distancing. The virus has revealed there are too many structural issues causing such a big spread of the virus...

Unprecedented Lockdown in Yau Tsim Mong

Police cordon off the area in a Yau Tsim Mong street tonight

 

An unprecedented lockdown has just begun at midnight in 150 buildings in Yau Tsim Mong district (Yau Ma Tei, Tsim Sha Tsui and Mongkok) because of the unprecedented number of coronavirus cases. However there is a lot of confusion of what is exactly meant by this lockdown and how long it will last.

District councillor Andy Yu said in this evening's press conference that the residents in the affected buildings are uninformed as to what will happen -- have their moments been severely curtailed or can they still venture out for food and medical appointments?

150 buildings will be under lockdown in this area

"Most of them would like to know more about what's happening and they still need to deal with the changes. Maybe some people... they have to go to work tomorrow, or they have to go to the hospital... so many different kinds [of complaints] that we have received, said Frank Ho, another councillor, who reports those who have contacted him are scared.

So far there has been no word at all from the government for clarification of what the lockdown will entail. As a result, many have gone out today to stock up on supplies, while others even fled the district.

Media reports say only those with negative test results are allowed to leave and come back, but as another district councillor, Suzanne Wu pointed out, someone negative could catch Covid-19 while out, and locking people up in the building when the spread is possibly caused by the environment is not a good idea.

Dr Leung says the lockdown is "too late"

Indeed respiratory disease specialist Dr Leung Chi-chiu says a stay-at-home order is "too late" and "rather meaningless" as most residents have already been tested, and suggested instead expanding the scope of testing to nearby buildings to uncover possible clusters.

The Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood, an opposition party focused on lower-income groups, blasted the lockdown plan and urged authorities to support residents by inspecting plumbing systems in buildings and updating them if necessary.

"The government seems headstrong in committing to ineffective measures. Its latest proposal to lock down a whole zone will cause the stigmatization of the area and its residents, disrupt residents' daily lives and severely undermine local economic activity," it said.

So basically this lockdown is a mess -- no one has any details of how it is supposed to work,  and there are questions as to how effective it will be.

Many are ethnic minorities in tenement buildings

There will be lots of questions about accountability and transparency this weekend and especially Tuesday morning when Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor holds a press briefing...

 

 

 

 

Growing Infection Clusters in Yau Tsim Mong

Mobile testing is set up in Yau Tsim Mong for mandatory tests

 Hong Kong can't seem to get its coronavirus case numbers down with a whopping 107 reported today, and health officials are blaming ethnic minorities for the explosion of cases in the last week or so.

Of the cases reported today 28 are from the Yau Tsim Mong district -- now totaling 160 -- cover a large area northwest of the Jordan MTR station, bordered by Nathan Road, Jordan Road, Kansu Street,  and Ferry Street. The streets affected within this area are Temple Street, Reclamation Street, Shanghai Street and Canton Road.

SCMP map showing the affected area

Many of the residents who live in this area are South Asian, and don't have particularly good living quarters like sub-divided flats, and as a result many share facilities like washrooms and kitchens.

"They have many family gatherings and like to gather with fellow countrymen," said Raymond Ho Lei-ming, head of the health promotion branch at the Centre for Health Protection. 

"They like to share food, smoke, drink alcohol and chat together. If it is without masks, the risk is high. They also need to share sanitary facilities with neighbours if the living condition is crowded."

Ho's comment is culturally insensitive and assumes all ethnic minorities drink and smoke and don't wear masks religiously. Hong Kong Chinese people do this too. And they also live in subdivided flats. How are they any different? It is not their choice to live in these conditions, but this is all they can afford.

In fact one has to wonder if the affordable housing issue was considered more of a priority years ago, and shutting down subdivided flats, would we be having these clusters of infections spreading so quickly now?

Regardless, it also seems like health officials did not take the initial cases from this area seriously and only later decided the people in this area have to be tested. 

People lining up for mandatory Covid-19 testing

Since there are so many people involved, they have tried to get people to isolate themselves in the area, but residents seem to be freely going in and out which is concerning. 

Health officials are also offering free Covid-19 tests to food delivery drivers, as many of them are South-Asian. It's all a mess really.

Meanwhile on the vaccine front, the panel advising the Hong Kong government on the pandemic has recommended using the Pfizer-BioNTech jab despite concerns in Norway 33 elderly people died after getting the shot. They apparently had underlying health issues. Some 42,000 people in Norway have received the vaccine so far.

Hong Kong will start vaccinating people after Chinese New Year, a very late start compared to many other countries like the United States, the UK and Canada.

Coronavirus Cases Continue to Rise

Dr Chuang (left) says the Covid-19 situation is very worrying

For the fourth straight day there is a record number of new coronavirus cases which makes the situation very worrying for health officials, and depressing for Hongkongers who had tried hard months ago to avoid the virus as much as possible.

But many were fatigued from working at home for weeks, eating home-cooked food or the stress of being stuck with family members made them want to go out as soon as restrictions were loosened.

Police telling beach goers to stay at home

Today Hong Kong recorded 133 cases, reflecting infections from two weeks ago and it's upsetting to see people weren't taking the virus seriously then.

"We are still seeing a very high number of cases daily and the trend is still increasing," said Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the communicable disease branch of the Centre for Health Protection. "We are very worried about whether this situation can be controlled actually."

Of the cases, 126 were local infections, including 55 with no known source of infection. At least one was from the Sheung Shui Slaughterhouse -- which is listed as one of the places people are exempt from quarantine.

One patient, #2099 apparently went wild around town, going to a staggering 16 places on July 22 -- the day she was confirmed positive with the virus.

She went to a restaurant in IFC mall in Central, several locations in Sai Kung, Sha Tin, Yau Tsim Mong, Sham Shui Po and Wan Chai. How did she even logistically do that? Just reading the list of places makes me exhausted.

A reporter asked Chuang if it was a delivery person and she said no, someone who had an unusual number of activities. No kidding.

People waiting to get on junks on July 11

Also among the 133 cases, Chuang said the government is now trying to track down over 40 people who went on a junk trip on July 12, as one person was confirmed infected.

Why am I not surprised. Every weekend I walk by Pier 9 and Pier 10 in Central and see several groups of people without masks, waiting to get on one of the boats, or junks they have rented and will spend the entire day in cramped quarters with other people, eating and drinking.

It was bound to happen, and I'm surprised it didn't happen earlier. Perhaps the authorities will stop partying on junks for a while?

The police had to go to the beach today to tell scantily-clad people it was closed and to go home.

Which part of "stay at home, stay safe" do they not understand?

Food Hawkers Legal by Next Chinese New Year?

This year's #fishballrevolution may be a one-off if hawkers legalized next year

Nine months after riots broke out in Mongkok on the first day of Chinese New Year, the Hong Kong government has proposed licensing street food hawkers during the holiday period.

The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department submitted a proposal to the Yau Tsim Mong district council to set up a food bazaar from January 28-30 for 40 hawkers in a "suitable" location.

However, Secretary for Health Dr Ko Wing-man denies the proposal is related to the Mongkok riot on February 8. He said the government had formed a task force with the previous Legislative Council to discuss street food policies.

Dr Ko denies the proposal is linked to the Mongkok riots

It is the first time the government has proposed legalizing these hawkers, who traditionally offered food alternatives during Chinese New Year, as many shops and restaurants were closed during the holiday period.

While many places are open these days because of the economic climate, that hasn't stopped food vendors from trying to make an extra buck for a few days and offer some nostalgic snacks for sale.

However this past February, a riot started in Mongkok apparently because officials were cracking down on illegal operations, and the violence escalated to the point where a police officer fired shots into the air when they were surrounded by angry protesters.

"We did not consider [the proposal] because of any specific incident," Ko said during a public event on Sunday.

"We have however, considered that citizens, during Chinese New Year, may be interested in enjoying traditional Hong Kong snacks and cooked food on the street. Some business operators may also feel there are larger flows of people during this period and they can do better business.

If the licensing is approved, local food culture will thrive again

"Given that there is such demand, we have the responsibility to consider whether there is a way or location to make such operations safer without affected public order."

The preliminary proposal suggests 40 street food stalls would operate between noon and 2am during the three-day holiday period, and set up at locations like Macpherson Playground. For safety reasons, only electricity would be used to cook the food.

Interesting to see the government make a concession about street food during Chinese New Year following all the political tensions we have gone through in the past few years.

However, from a food perspective, customers might not be too thrilled with dishes cooked with electricity, as those cooked with gas would have more "wok hay" or flavour from the wok due to the high heat.

Nevertheless, it's a good will gesture from Ko and we'll take it for now.

Homeless Numbers Underestimated

A homeless person in Hong Kong photographed by Lei Jih-sheng

There seems to be a major discrepancy in numbers with regards to the homeless in Hong Kong. A City University study has found the estimate could be double what the government thinks it is.

The government's tally over 15 years ago was at 674, while the university together with three community organizations put the number at 1,414.

The Homeless Outreach Population Estimation project lasted for eight months and counted people at 180 locations, including temporary shelters and 24-hour restaurant chains, where many find refuge.

In addition the university surveyed 323 homeless people and found 40 percent had low-paying jobs with an average salary of HK$5,688. About half of the respondents had attended high school.

Constance Ching Wing-lok, project supervisor of the City-Youth Empowerment Project, which organized the study, said rising rents and low incomes force many people into the streets.

"Many of these homeless people don't earn enough even for a subdivided flat, which costs at least HK$3,800 these days."

Ching said previous government numbers didn't give an accurate picture of the situation because they did not include those who lived in temporary shelters or other temporary accommodation.

"The [government's] total number of homeless people is believed to be an underestimation, given the highly mobile nature of the homeless," she said.

The last citywide count was conducted by the Social Welfare Department in 1999. It now gets its numbers from the Street Sleepers Registry, counting street sleepers but not those living in shelters. There were 555 street sleepers recorded in 2012.

As expected, Yau Tsim Mong and Sham Shui Po had the highest number of homeless people, with two-thirds over the age of 50, the youngest at 21, the oldest 89.

Another interesting statistic is that 93 percent of those surveyed were male, with them being homeless an average of four years. One said he'd been without a home for 36 years.

Ng Wai-tung of the Society for Community Organization said the government should provide more shelters for single homeless people and extend the length of time they could stay there so that they could apply for public housing.

It is disappointing to see the government not have as accurate numbers as possible on the homeless, particularly under Chief Executive Leung Chung-ying's watch.

He has made combating poverty one of his biggest concerns at the moment, but to not have a good picture of what's going on with the homeless shows the government really doesn't understand them.

If the government did, it would try to understand that homeless people are very mobile and will go wherever they need to go to find shelter. They also go, as mentioned earlier, to places like 24-hour McDonald's just to get some temporary reprieve, a warm place to sit down for a couple of hours. And assuming that those living in shelters are not homeless is ridiculous -- that is the way to sweep the problem under the carpet. All these people need to be taken into account.

And what about learning about their plight and how they fell on bad times? Finding out how they came to this situation can help the government have adequate services in place for them such as skills training or some kind of counselling to help them on their feet.

No one chooses to be homeless and in some cases they might have made some bad choices or mistakes along the way. They most desperately want some sense of dignity, but the government seems to like to clear the streets of them, pushing them further into the fringes of society.

Hong Kong is a wealthy city and is hardly a welfare state compared to places like the UK and Canada.

If Leung's administration is determined to combat poverty, it should take these latest numbers seriously and consider 1,414 a conservative estimate of how many homeless really are in the city.