Benny Tai in the Hot Seat

Benny Tai believes Beijing wants to make an example out of him

Last week Benny Tai Yiu-ting was in Taipei speaking at a seminar organized by the Taiwan Youth Anti-Communist Corps.

He said that if "dictatorship" ends in China, the country's various ethnic groups could exercise the right to self-determination and decide how they could link up with each other.

"We could consider going independent, being part of a federal system or a confederation system similar to that of the European Union," he said.

Only a small minority want Hong Kong independence

Afterwards the pro-Beijing establishment in Hong Kong swiftly condemned Tai, hinting again that he was not qualified to teach at the University of Hong Kong, while the Hong Kong Government said it was "shocked", claiming Tai was invoking separatism.

The State Council's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO) spokesman said it believed "a small number of people in Hong Kong have colluded with external separatist forces" to advocate the city's independence.

"They have fully exposed their attempts to split the country and violated the national constitution, the Hong Kong Basic Law, and the relevant laws in Hong Kong. They are challenging the bottom line of 'one country, two systems'. Such activities must not be ignored or tolerated," the spokesman said.

Meanwhile Tai was "shocked" by the criticism heaped on him by numerous pro-Beijing lawmakers and the HKMAO, saying his comments were not new, and were "imaginations of the future" and did not violate any criminal laws. Chinese state media also chimed in that someone like Tai should not be given a platform.

Grenville Cross says Tai is not criminally liable for his speech

He believes he is being condemned and made an example to intimidate others from discussing the possibility of democracy in Hong Kong.

"It is a calculated plot against me... to [declare] that any discussion on Hong Kong independence -- albeit not directly endorsing [the notion] -- will not be allowed in society and universities," the HKU law academic said.

Former director of prosecutions Grenville Cross also says Tai's comments are not criminal.

"Tai has not actually advocated independence in his Taiwan remarks," said Cross. "He simply suggested it as one of several possibilities if certain hypothetical events were to happen. This falls short of being criminal under either the existing sedition law or the 2003 [national security law] proposals."

He adds even if someone were to publicly advocate independence, no law would be broken if it was done peacefully, and if someone were to be prosecuted for sedition, there would need to be proof of inciting violence, promoting hatred and stirring up ill will.

Hong Kong's freedoms must be protected

However Tai won't be surprised if the government pushes through a bill to make any talk of independence -- violent or not -- punishable under Article 23. That would severely limit people's right to freedom of speech according to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, he says.

This is the pro-Beijing camp's attempt to further shred the credibility of the pro-democratic camp, which is still reeling from the recent by-elections in which its results were disappointing.

Nevertheless, 24 pan-democratic lawmakers issued a joint statement backing Tai, vowing to "resolutely defend academic freedom" and insisting the law scholar was entitled to his academic analysis.

They urged all parties to stop attacking Tai and warned that "Hong Kong will no longer be Hong Kong" without free speech.

This pathetic need to destroy Tai isn't working -- it's not good for the city nor society to kill freedom of speech over hypothetical ideas.

We need to do whatever we can to protect the freedoms we have left.

Review: Ex Libris

There are 92 branches that are part of the New York Public Library

I saw one more documentary as part of the Hong Kong International Film Festival. It's called Ex Libris by famed documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman who is still going strong at 87 years of age.

When I saw the trailer for Ex Libris, I thought, why not? Looks interesting, a look at the New York Public Library. But then others pointed out it was three hours and 20 minutes long. Gulp. I already bought the ticket.

So this afternoon I sat at City Hall Theatre with some 200 other people and I wondered if they also knew how long this movie was going to be. Some did trickle out -- my row had the worst offenders -- there were only a few of us left when the lights came back on.

What was most annoying was not understanding what was going on. From the moment it started, there was no context, no narrator and no editing. Wiseman let people talk on and on... about what? I wasn't sure and wasn't interested.

One in three people have no internet access at home

But he covered many aspects of the NYPL, from the numerous branches around the Big Apple, to meetings with administrators on how to appeal for more money from politicians to deciding how to best use their budget. It was frustrating not knowing who these people were and the documentary would have benefited from a few captions but even more so a narrator to guide us through.

But that's not Wiseman's style. He wants you to be a fly on the wall to see what is going on in the library, be it watching people talking about knowing their rights as a mentally disabled person to get housing, to a job fair, to children singing Old Macdonald Had a Farm, to kids learning how to program robots, to highbrow intellectual discussions about books with people like Elvis Costello.

A blind person teaching another to use a Braille typewriter

It's not about the books per se, but how the NYPL is grappling with how to deal with the changing landscape of technology and how to best serve its users. The library is no longer just a place to read and borrow books; it is the first point of contact for many to get resources to find jobs, to get access to computers and the internet, to get help on school work to access to original manuscripts and letters.

I just wish it was all kind of condensed and packaged more neatly -- there were times people were making speeches that were passionate, but didn't merit 10 minutes on the screen, whereas watching a blind person show another blind person how to read Braille books was fascinating, along with watching an actor recording a talking book, or seeing how books were redistributed back into the system.

Documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman

Wiseman just wants you to see the library for what it is and then make up your own mind about it. Just wished I didn't have to sit through three hours and 20 minutes to do that...

Ex Libris

Directed by Frederick Wiseman

We Still Remember

Lots of flower arrangements with messages for Leslie Cheung by the hotel

April 1 is not a joke for people in Hong Kong. For the past 15 years it has been a day of mourning the loss of Cantopop singer and actor Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing.

Every year a plethora of flower arrangements are left by fans at the corner of the Mandarin Oriental where he fell to his death.

People gather every year to mark the sad anniversary

Since it was Easter weekend it was nice that the roads were blocked off around the hotel so that passers-by like myself could take a closer look without having to worry about oncoming traffic.

People remember Cheung for being down-to-earth, true to himself (near the end) and so talented. They give him the nickname "gor gor" or "older brother" as a term of endearment and also as someone they looked up to.

Has it been 15 years already?

It's hard to believe it's already been 15 years and yet the outpouring of remembrance is still going strong. The amount of flowers and messages dedicated to him doesn't seem to have decreased much over the years.

Baseball Caps for How Much?

K-pop group EXO was in Hong Kong for the opening of MLB store

Last Friday afternoon two areas of the Times Square shopping mall in Causeway Bay were filled with screaming teenage girls. The main atrium and downstairs in the basement were clogged with raging hormones, as these school-aged girls were super excited to see their favourite K-pop or Korean pop group EXO.

I profess to know nothing about K-pop except that Hong Kong people love Korean food, dramas, pop music, clothing, learning the language and visiting the country...

Fans of the group covered every inch of the mall for a look

EXO was in Hong Kong for the opening of MLB -- a Korean sports wear brand promoting Major League Baseball merchandise, and the band members' faces (Chanyeol, Sehun and Kai) were all over ads wearing baseball hats and shirts. The first day of sales must have been astronomical as there was a very long line to get into the store.

Aside from the lure of K-pop stars to a shop opening, it's really strange to see baseball promoted in Hong Kong as it's not a sport that is popular at all here -- football (soccer) and basketball are the ones guys are into. Women might be into baseball if EXO are fans...

However, MLB is really keen on establishing its presence in Hong Kong, with not one, but three stores, including a large one on the ground floor of a new building on Queen's Road Central that houses mostly art galleries.

Really bling-ed out baseball caps... interested?

After dinner in Times Square, my friend and I checked out the MLB store, but there were hardly any customers. There were lots of baseball caps for teams like the New York Yankees, New York Mets, Chicago Cubs and Detroit Tigers to name a few.

These ones pictured right in particular caught our eye -- they were so bling-ed out we had to laugh. The baseball caps not only had the New York Yankees initials, but also intricate embroidered dragon designs on both sides that were obviously catered to the China market.

There was even a hot pink dragon version for the female baseball fan.

The price? HK$619 (US$78.87). Would you buy a baseball cap for that much?

We didn't think so...