Star Anchor in Corruption Probe

CCTV anchor Rui Chenggang was detained by authorities on Friday

The corruption net has widened in China to include a well-known anchor from China Central Television.

Rui Chenggang was taken away by the authorities on Friday from the CCTV premises, leaving his Economic News co-anchor Xie Yingying to host the show on her own that evening.

The routine camera angles continued, with shots of Rui's empty seat, though his microphone was there. Seems like no one in the control room knew how to deal with Rui's sudden departure.

In addition to taking away the 36-year-old, prosecutors also rounded up Li Yong, deputy director of CCTV's financial news channel and an unnamed producer.

This trio isn't the only group of people from CCTV caught up in investigations -- other high-profile figures at the state media have also been detained, including senior executive Guo Zhenxi last month.

Interestingly auditors found over 1 million yuan in Rui's office, but it was unclear if the money was related to his detention. Perhaps he was planning to take it to Brazil where he had planned to cover Chinese President Xi Jinping's trip to South America and the BRICS summit? Too much speculation at this point.

After Guo was taken away in early June, there were rumours Rui was implicated into the investigation into Guo, but Rui denied this. Instead he continued to host his show and even posted pictures on his Weibo account interviewing Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak on June 3.

If Rui is formally arrested, this will signal the downfall of one of China's most prominent young rising stars. He is fluent in English and apparently has a taste for Ermenegildo Zegna suits, and drives a Jaguar.

A biography on the CCTV English-language website said Rui had interviewed more than 30 heads of state, and more than 300 top executives of Fortune 500 companies.

In 2005 then Yale University President Richard C. Levin nominated Rui to be a Yale World Fellow, and Levin even wrote the introduction to the anchor's book called Life Begins at 30, on China's economic rise.

Two years later Rui gained notoriety when he used his blog to campaign the government to remove a branch of Starbucks from the Forbidden City in Beijing. It was later replaced with a Chinese cafe.

In 2010 Rui became the subject of Internet mockery over a comment he made when US President Barack Obama called for questions from the Korean news media at a Group of 20 summit meeting in South Korea.

"I'm actually Chinese, but I think I get to represent the whole of Asia," he said.

The next year he point blank asked then incoming US Ambassador to China Gary Locke, "I hear you flew here coach. Is that a reminder that the US owes China money?"

Locke replied it was standard practice for American diplomats and other American officials to fly economy.

In some aspects, Rui's character may represent China today -- ambition, conniving, patriotism, and hubris.

Food Truck Fun

Chef stars Jon Favreau (centre) who resorts to making Cubanos in a food truck

Just came back from watching Chef with YTSL at Palace IFC, starring Jon Favreau in a fun comedy with lots of yummy food on film.

OK the food part isn't as mouthwatering as the opening scene of Eat, Drink, Man, Woman, but it also gives an interesting insight into the restaurant industry and why chefs are fanatic about what they give their guests to eat.

Favreau is Carl Casper, the chef who works in a fine dining restaurant owned by Dustin Hoffman's character. When a top food blogger has made reservations to review the restaurant, Carl puts out all the stops ready to present a creative menu.

But this is vetoed by the owner and having lost all interest, it seems Carl's food only gets a two-star review that goes viral.

Carl tries to hit back, but in a very public way that climaxes into a rant that also goes viral.

The El Jefe goes on a road trip from Miami to Los Angeles

He has to start all over again and his ex-wife Inez (Sofia Vergara) takes pity on him and invites him to Miami where her other ex-husband (Robert Downey Jr), a wealthy narcissist gives Carl an old dirty food truck.

This gives an opportunity for Carl to bond with his 10-year-old son Percy, who seems to shuttle back and forth between parents. Martin (John Leguizamo) from the restaurant comes by to help out, and the trio go on a road trip driving the food truck back to Los Angeles.

As Carl teaches Percy how to make Cubanos, a type of Cuban sandwich, we also get some cooking tips and watch how they prepare these delicious-looking bites.

The scenes are spiced with lots of humour, physical and verbal. Now we know what chefs do during a hot summer nights...!

However there are a few holes in the story -- what kind of job does Inez have that requires a publicist? And there's not indication of how she grew up in Miami and then has lots of staff tending to her household. She also seems too young to be Carl's wife...

A scene from the movie showing a mouth-watering steak

Also, would an ex-husband help another by giving him a food truck? Seems like there were some favours made behind the scenes that we are not privy too, but are expected to accept.

Nevertheless we enjoyed the foodie road trip and how social media can make or break a restaurant. The posting of messages on the screen, allowing us to read them was fun and entertaining, and Chef is also a lesson in what not to do on Twitter.

I won't be looking at cornstarch the same way again.

Micro Living

Interested in living in a flat this small in Taipo?

Hong Kong flats are getting smaller and smaller.

And that's not just the ones in town -- developer Cheung Kong (a la Li Ka-shing) has a new project called Mont Vert ("mount green") in Taipo where 196 of the flats are less than 200 square feet.

The smallest one has 177 sq ft -- leaving 97 sq ft for the living room, 13 sq ft for the kitchen, and 31 sq ft for the washroom.

These flats are similar in size to public housing studio flats that are rented out for HK$1,200 a month.

But they are selling for HK$10,000 per sq ft, making them about HK$1.7 million.

However these aren't the smallest flats around -- High Place built by Henderson Land in Kowloon City that will be released in September are 166 sq ft.

Apparently Mont Vert has a lot of interest from investors who want to rent out to tenants like mainland students who find the location not too far from Chinese University.

But no one is going to buy these micro flats for their own use. These are strictly for investment. But will it be worth it in the end?

It's incredible how small these flats can get -- does this mean people only have 10 articles of clothing and have no possessions whatsoever or they will stack everything up in boxes and weave around them in the room?

Whatever the case is, it's pretty claustrophobic to live in such tiny units. One wonders what that does to people psychologically, never mind the under HK$2 million price tag.

Pushing Invisible Boundaries

Murong Xuecun was questioned by police about an essay about June 4

The 25th anniversary of June 4 was over a month ago, but novelist Murong Xuecun was questioned by police and then released after he admitted his involvement in a private gathering the commemorate the the crackdown.

Other human rights activists were detained after attending the event that was held in May, including civil rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang.

Murong Xuecun, whose real name is Hao Qun, did not attend the gathering as he was at another event at the University of Sydney in Australia. However, he released a public statement on Saturday saying one of his essays on the suppression of the pro-democracy movement in Tiananmen Square.

It was his way of showing support for the gathering.

"I oppose their detention. I have done the same thing as them and should not enjoy any sort of exemption," he said in the statement that was circulated on social media on the weekend.

"I will stay at home for the next 24 hours waiting for arrest, but please call me to make an appointment if you fail to make it in the next 24 hours," he said.

Hao wrote about the event in The New York Times in May about the piece he had written.

"Reciting such an essay at a private gathering can violate China's laws," he said. "By the government's logic, I, too, have committed the crime of 'picking quarrels and provoking trouble'. I am going to turn myself in."

Then on Tuesday Beijing police contacted Hao and asked him to come in for "a cup of tea", a euphemism for a chat with the authorities, he said during an interview with German broadcaster Deutsche Welle before he went to the police station at dusk.

"The police called me about an hour ago. I asked them to wait as we've already scheduled this interview," he said.

Hao added he was prepared for a jail sentence.

"No one likes or wants to be imprisoned, but I want to do the right thing," he said. "If a jail term is the price I have to pay, then so be it."

He was eventually released after midnight and joined his supporters, some of whom were waiting outside the police station, for a late-night snack.

From Hao's words one can see that he is very clear about the rules and knows his actions will result in some kind of consequence. He is prepared for it which shows how determined he was to do what he did.

He also seems like an old hand in dealing with the authorities on these matters and didn't provoke them enough to make them want to incarcerate him. Also it helps that friends were waiting outside the police station showing they knew where he was.

These calculated risks made with courage are what rights activists in China go through everyday. They are trying to push civil society forward inch by inch in the country without the government's blessing.

There is hope that eventually civil society will become more mainstream on the mainland thanks to people like Hao.