Picture of the Day: Oat Milk

Swedish oat milk! Have you tried it? Tastes yum!

I read about oat milk recently and went to a vegetarian grocery store here called Green Common that opened a few years ago. It sells a variety of Chinese and Western food products, some are vegan, some are vegetarian.

The items are moderately priced for the most part, though I must say the 250ml box drink of Oatly cost HK$15 (US$1.92)!

The company likes to make you feel good

However, I enjoyed the drink -- sipping it through a straw it was like drinking milk but not creamy per se, with a subtle oat flavour. Maybe because I was thirsty, I had no trouble finishing it either. There's plain and chocolate flavours, but I opted for the plain one to see what it was like.

Oatly comes all the way from Sweden which probably explains the exorbitant price. The company promises its oats are non-GMO and don't use many pesticides to grow the oats.

I have yet to try other alternative milks like almond and rice milk -- has anyone else? Soy milk, especially those made outside of Asia, are quite sweet, but oh so creamy!

Where's the Hope?

Many young people are stuck in retail jobs, like the ones in Sogo

Last night I had dinner with some friends and talked about a perennial hot button issue -- housing prices.

One has been keeping track of her home evaluation and while she's pleased to see the price of her flat increasing quickly, at the same time she is dismayed that buying a home is even more impossible for young people in Hong Kong.

Most customers are mainlanders, but are we catering to them?

I had that in mind after dinner I went to the Sogo department store to see what I could buy for myself for Chinese New Year. The place wasn't very busy, with shoppers split between mainlanders and locals, the majority the former.

At one shop space selling sneakers, I was mortified to hear the young female shop assistant's Mandarin was atrocious. It was more Cantonese than Mandarin. Another shoe shop was the same. Another spoke in a tone that was laced with condescension.

Were they high school dropouts? Or they were unable to get into university? It was hard for me to tell, but on the whole most shop assistants' Mandarin skills were not good. Not only that, but their attitude towards their job was hardly enthusiastic.

Young people can't even afford one of these flats in the city

I know retail is not a career path many people aspire to, but surely it would be a motivator to find a way to get out? Or are they resigned to the possibility that this is their job forever? There wasn't any interest in trying to be a cheerful person, nor trying to improve their Mandarin skills.

Is this the generation the Hong Kong government claims it wants to foster? If so it's no wonder mainlanders feel a sense of ambivalence in the city; they want to enjoy it, and yet they are not welcome.

Why?

Preventing Agnes Chow Ting from running in the by-election, scorning the nomination of Joshua Wong Chi-fung, Nathan Law Kwun-chung and Alex Chow Yong-kang and the Umbrella Movement for the Nobel Peace Prize, and making no efforts to rein in housing prices and creating more job opportunities for young people shows the government doesn't care about the next generation.

The rift between young people and government grows wider

My friend pointed out the government has been pushing for closer links to China, which has resulted in young people retaliating by becoming "localists", focusing more on Cantonese -- which has resulted in English being left by the wayside.

How can Hong Kong call itself international anymore?

Beijing and the Hong Kong government have a lot to do to heal the rift -- they are the ones who have the power to change things for the better. Giving people hope makes the world go round instead of now, stagnant and bitter.

Yellow Umbrella Nobel Nomination

Nathan Law, Joshua Wong and Alex Chow were nominated for the peace prize

Late last night the news broke that 12 US congressmen had nominated Joshua Wong Chi-fung, Nathan Law Kwun-chung and Alex Chow Yong-kang and the Umbrella Movement for the Nobel Peace Prize. It is the first time there has been a nominee from Hong Kong.

As expected, Beijing and pro-establishment politicians were up in arms about it.

In a strongly worded statement, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in part: "Hong Kong's affairs are China's affairs, and China firmly objects to anyone intervening through any means.

Marco Rubio is one of the congressmen who nominated Wong

"We would urge the relevant congressmen to stop meddling with Hong Kong's affairs and China's domestic affairs. They should do more things that are conducive to the development of China-US ties, and not the opposite."

It's a reaction that was totally expected, but will this mean repercussions for Hong Kong?

A friend of mine asked me this today when she asked for my thoughts on the Nobel nomination.

Hong Kong would probably not be punished per say -- the activists have already done their jail time and further restricted in what they can do with their lives. No financial institutions want to open bank accounts with them nor employers hire them for jobs so they are pretty much confined in their livelihoods.

Also with Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor at the helm, Beijing has full confidence she has control over the city; protests of that scale will never happen again in the city.

Therefore it's a bit strange that these US congressmen who are critical of China choose to nominate the trio and the Umbrella Movement when it failed to achieve anything in the end. Some may point out things have gotten worse with the further politicization of issues and people. Even the colour yellow has political connotations.

The 2014 Umbrella Movement was unprecedented in its scale

Hong Kong residents didn't get one man, one vote. The government tried to ram electoral reform down their throats but the majority of people didn't buy it.

However a few good things came out of the movement. Young people became less apathetic and more interested in politics. Sadly they have been dismissed as decent political contenders in the upcoming by-election for seats in the Legislative Council -- we're thinking of Agnes Chow Ting here -- but that hasn't stopped them, even those in high school to be more politically aware of what is going on.

The other good thing about this Nobel nomination is that it reminds the rest of the world about the plight of Hong Kong. Some may vaguely remember the relatively peaceful protests that went on for 79 days, or others will learn about it for the first time. Drawing attention to Hong Kong is a good thing. Any publicity is good publicity.

We're assuming this news was blocked in China, and besides, Beijing should realize that anyone can nominate anyone for a Nobel prize and it doesn't mean the committee will take all the nominations seriously.

Regardless, being nominated is a sign that Hong Kong's struggle for democracy is not forgotten.

Defending the Indefensible

The scandal over the illegal structures at Cheng's homes continues to dog her

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor continues to back her embattled Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah. This time Lam claimed, speaking from experience, that it was possible to be "too neglectful, too busy and too devoted to public service to forget [one's] own private business".

Lam has been known to be so busy that she doesn't even know where to buy toilet paper late in the evening, but Cheng was not a civil servant before she bought three properties which have illegal structures in them.

How much longer can Carrie Lam defend Cheng?

Surely she would have known -- particularly the one she bought late last year -- and she would have known that she would need to deal with the problem as soon as possible, or at least give the appearance that she was hiring contractors to take down the illegal structures.

But no, Cheng was quiet about it and even survived two no-confidence motions on Monday thanks to support from pro-establishment lawmakers.

When Lam was answering questions in the Legislative Council, Lam was asked by People Power lawmaker Raymond Chan Chi-chuen if she believed Cheng lied to the bank about getting a mortgage without telling the financial institution about the illegal basement.

The chief executive replied she had no idea how to answer that as she had never bought a flat locally before. She has always lived in government housing, though her husband bought a flat in Zhongshan, Guangdong province.

Teresa Cheng's home (left) in Tuen Mun with illegal structures

It's mind boggling to find out that Lam, a career civil servant, doesn't own any property in Hong Kong. Which is why in some crazy way, she doesn't understand why lawmakers and many of the public are up in arms about Cheng being the justice secretary when she doesn't even follow the law with her own properties.

The most egregious offense is Cheng buying a flat last year and claiming she is a first-time homeowner when she has two other flats though bought through companies. But she was taking advantage of a loophole that we hope the government will close very soon.

Nevertheless, it is getting harder for Lam to defend the indefensible. There are so many calls for Cheng to step down but Lam and Cheng seem deaf to the growing chants...