I am ashamed to say I didn't get my act together to register for the district council elections that happened in Hong Kong yesterday.
Many months ago I saw an ad on a bus telling people to register to vote and then never saw it again to remind me. By the time I remembered, it was too late to register.
Nevertheless I am very pleased to find that a record 1.2 million people came out to vote, 41.4 percent of the 2.9 million eligible to cast a ballot.
The turnout compares with 38.8 percent in the last election in 2007 and 44.06 percent in 2003 when there were nearly 500,000 less voters.
The day before the election a relative of mine claimed the government purposely didn't have many publicity campaigns about the elections saying it hoped fewer people would turn out. "They have tactics like changing the address of the polling stations or not even sending voter registration cards on time," he said.
He said the government was purposely playing down the election in the hopes that with less people voting there would be fewer stakeholders to deal with.
And he was right about the sly tactics. In the end it was reported almost half a million people encountered polling stations that had moved without much prior notice, including one that moved to another school on a hill making it harder for elderly voters to make it up there. Others found their designated polling stations were moved much further from where they lived, having to walk 20 to 30 minutes. Others showed up only to find they went to the wrong location.
If the government is purposely making it difficult for people to vote it is a pathetic sign it is not interested in universal suffrage. In the meantime the public is becoming more interested in local politics and determined to have their voices heard even more, hence the strong turnout.
Hopefully this sends a message to both the authorities and the district councillors they both need to work hard and together to give Hong Kong people not just want they want, but what's best for the city and their future.
Monday, 7 November 2011
Sunday, 6 November 2011
Fact of the Day: Macau still tops Las Vegas in Casino Takings
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| View of Galaxy Macau from the Banyan Tree |
Last month the former Portuguese colony set yet another record, soaring 42.3 percent from a year earlier to 26.8 billion patacas ($3.3 billion).
Mainlanders flocked to Macau particularly during Golden Week, October 1-7 and many flush with cash they are eager to burn off, head to the baccarat tables.
October's figures marked the city's sixth new monthly record in the past nine months, beating the record set in August by 8.4 percent.
An interesting comparison is that the $3.3 billion is almost the same as what Macau hauled in for the entire 2003, and surpassed the $3 billion hauled in by Las Vegas in the first six months of this year.
Stanley Ho's conglomerate SJM Holdings continues to lead the casino pack (29 percent share), followed by Galaxy Entertainment (22 percent), Melco Crown Entertainment (15 percent), Sands China (14 percent), Wynn Macau (13 percent) and MGM China (11 percent). The percentages are all approximate.
For those not familiar with the Macau casino scene, Melco and MGM are run by Stanley Ho's children, so the family's takings are even larger.
Many of the high rollers come to Macau on junkets and operators have ingenious ways to help the gamblers get access to lots of cash to burn.
However, with the economic slowdown also hitting China, the demand for junkets could slow down in the coming months.
It definitely won't stop to a trickle, but in relation to Las Vegas, very happy days are still in Macau.
Saturday, 5 November 2011
A Trickle that Becomes a Flood
Artist and activist Ai Weiwei has many friends. Thousands in fact.
After he announced the authorities slapped him with a tax bill over 15 million RMB earlier this week, some 2,700 people donated 871,000 RMB up until 7pm Friday, said Ai's assistant Liu Yanping.
"Every penny will be repaid [to you]. Please leave your contact phone number or email address [when you lend the money]," Ai wrote on his Google Plus account.
Supporters can send their donations either through the post office, to a bank account, through Alipay (a third person online payment platform) and Paypal.
Many of his supporters say making donations as a way to show their defiance to the authorities. "If you are not wealthy you can at least spare five or 10 yuan because each postal remittance receipt says 'No' to the authorities", said one person on Twitter.
A number posted copies of their remittance receipts online after making a donation.
Hopefully momentum will grow to the point where the authorities will be ashamed by its pathetic efforts to get back at Ai and finally leave him alone.
Perhaps it's wishful thinking, but we can only hope.
After he announced the authorities slapped him with a tax bill over 15 million RMB earlier this week, some 2,700 people donated 871,000 RMB up until 7pm Friday, said Ai's assistant Liu Yanping.
"Every penny will be repaid [to you]. Please leave your contact phone number or email address [when you lend the money]," Ai wrote on his Google Plus account.
Supporters can send their donations either through the post office, to a bank account, through Alipay (a third person online payment platform) and Paypal.
Many of his supporters say making donations as a way to show their defiance to the authorities. "If you are not wealthy you can at least spare five or 10 yuan because each postal remittance receipt says 'No' to the authorities", said one person on Twitter.
A number posted copies of their remittance receipts online after making a donation.
Hopefully momentum will grow to the point where the authorities will be ashamed by its pathetic efforts to get back at Ai and finally leave him alone.
Perhaps it's wishful thinking, but we can only hope.
Friday, 4 November 2011
Fuming Mad
In the last few days there has been stories in the news about Beijing's worsening air quality and how people with serious respiratory problems should not even venture outside for fear of exacerbating their conditions.
Many had wondered how Chinese officials would deal with the worst air quality since before the Beijing Olympics but it turns out the answer is simple.
They have been using air filters for years.
When I lived in Beijing my colleagues joked that the canteens we ate at in state-owned enterprises had decent food quality because they were related to the government. And it was a widely-known secret top officials and senior cadres had access to tegong or special supplies for all kinds of things from food to cigarettes, stationary and electronic appliances.
But now the word is out that government officials improve the air quality around them, thanks to the disclosure by a mainland manufacturer of air purifiers.
According to Broad Group, a Hunan-based air-conditioner maker, at least 200 air purifiers are installed inside Zhongnanhai, the leadership compound where many top leaders like President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao live and work.
"They are everywhere in Zhongnanhai, from living rooms and meeting rooms to swimming pools and gyms," the website of one of the company's Beijing dealers said. "It is a blessing for the people that our purifiers have created a healthy and clean environment for state leaders."
Apparently top leaders have used Broad's air purifiers in Zhongnanhai since December 2008, after the Beijing Olympics.
The webpage also explains in detail how leaders were convinced of the necessity of using air purifiers when they saw proof of Beijing's filth -- "ink-coloured dirty water" from dust and pollution-covered filters -- at the end of a test in a meeting room used by Politburo Standing Committee members.
Not only are these air filters in Zhongnanhai, but also in the Great Hall of the People, the Diaoyutai State Guest House and many other government buildings.
It has also become essential when leaders travel around, according to Qi Zhiwang, a Broad Beijing-based sales manager.
Qi added air purifiers were a popular gift for foreign leaders and dignitaries including Bill Gates, Tony Blair and Ban Ki-moon.
Long Yongtu, former secretary general of the Boao Forum for Asia and chief negotiator for China's accession to the World Trade Organisation, said in a video clip on the company's website that he carried a portable air purifier wherever he travelled on the mainland.
"Air pollution has become so bad that I have to use the purifier in my car and even hotel rooms," he said.
This latest revelation has no doubt led to Beijingers fuming at their leaders for not tackling air pollution and only finding a solution to breathe better for themselves.
"No wonder they don't care about food safety and air quality, while the grass roots are drinking melamine-tainted milk, eating gutter cooking oil and breathing deeply polluted air," remarked a microblogger on Sina Weibo.
Professor Zhou Xiaozheng of Renmin University agreed. "Thanks to the over-concentration of power and one-party rule, the special privileges enjoyed by special-interest groups have become the root cause of China's political, social and environmental woes," he said.
Could this be the straw that breaks the camel's back and see thousands Occupy Beijing?
Probably not, but it's just another reason for people to despise the elite who obviously have no concern for the people.
In the meantime one wonders if Broad will continue supplying air filters to government officials much longer...
Many had wondered how Chinese officials would deal with the worst air quality since before the Beijing Olympics but it turns out the answer is simple.
They have been using air filters for years.
When I lived in Beijing my colleagues joked that the canteens we ate at in state-owned enterprises had decent food quality because they were related to the government. And it was a widely-known secret top officials and senior cadres had access to tegong or special supplies for all kinds of things from food to cigarettes, stationary and electronic appliances.
But now the word is out that government officials improve the air quality around them, thanks to the disclosure by a mainland manufacturer of air purifiers.
According to Broad Group, a Hunan-based air-conditioner maker, at least 200 air purifiers are installed inside Zhongnanhai, the leadership compound where many top leaders like President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao live and work.
"They are everywhere in Zhongnanhai, from living rooms and meeting rooms to swimming pools and gyms," the website of one of the company's Beijing dealers said. "It is a blessing for the people that our purifiers have created a healthy and clean environment for state leaders."
Apparently top leaders have used Broad's air purifiers in Zhongnanhai since December 2008, after the Beijing Olympics.
The webpage also explains in detail how leaders were convinced of the necessity of using air purifiers when they saw proof of Beijing's filth -- "ink-coloured dirty water" from dust and pollution-covered filters -- at the end of a test in a meeting room used by Politburo Standing Committee members.
Not only are these air filters in Zhongnanhai, but also in the Great Hall of the People, the Diaoyutai State Guest House and many other government buildings.
It has also become essential when leaders travel around, according to Qi Zhiwang, a Broad Beijing-based sales manager.
Qi added air purifiers were a popular gift for foreign leaders and dignitaries including Bill Gates, Tony Blair and Ban Ki-moon.
Long Yongtu, former secretary general of the Boao Forum for Asia and chief negotiator for China's accession to the World Trade Organisation, said in a video clip on the company's website that he carried a portable air purifier wherever he travelled on the mainland.
"Air pollution has become so bad that I have to use the purifier in my car and even hotel rooms," he said.
This latest revelation has no doubt led to Beijingers fuming at their leaders for not tackling air pollution and only finding a solution to breathe better for themselves.
"No wonder they don't care about food safety and air quality, while the grass roots are drinking melamine-tainted milk, eating gutter cooking oil and breathing deeply polluted air," remarked a microblogger on Sina Weibo.
Professor Zhou Xiaozheng of Renmin University agreed. "Thanks to the over-concentration of power and one-party rule, the special privileges enjoyed by special-interest groups have become the root cause of China's political, social and environmental woes," he said.
Could this be the straw that breaks the camel's back and see thousands Occupy Beijing?
Probably not, but it's just another reason for people to despise the elite who obviously have no concern for the people.
In the meantime one wonders if Broad will continue supplying air filters to government officials much longer...
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