Stormy Days Ahead in Third Coronavirus Wave

The gloomy weather on Sunday reflected people's mood

Today Hong Kong reported another 80 coronavirus cases for a total of 3,669,  though the death toll went up by four to 42.

The focus is now on two wet markets, Hung Hom and Tokwawan where there were two more infections at the former, one at the latter. Both markets were closed earlier to have a thorough disinfection.

Social-distancing measures are set to continue for at least another week, with the dining-in ban from 6pm to 5am. Numerous restaurants in Hong Kong may not survive after this third wave, as it is difficult for them to pivot to doing more takeaway, which does not earn them as much as patrons dining in.

Yuen Kwok-yung inspects Hung Hom wet market

If more of them close, then more people are going to be out of work. I bumped into a young Singaporean chef on Sunday while walking along the waterfront. Since the new dining-in restrictions have been in place, business has dropped significantly at the food court in Central where he serves Singaporean dishes like laksa and nasi lemak.

The food court, which opened two months ago, mostly services office workers in the building upstairs, but most of them are now working from home. Also that food court has no agreement with any delivery services, which means he's had to set up an alternate location for food delivery pick-up.

This is his first business venture and while it's temporary, it's still not a good sign when you've been doing everything you can to keep the business afloat, but there are so many factors beyond your control. He knows cutting staff would help financially, but he feels this would be awful to do to people and is trying to figure out other ways to keep everyone employed.

Another young businessman runs a space for guest chef pop-ups, but that's been obliterated since the pandemic in late January. He quickly pivoted to doing special dinners cooked by local chefs, offering cooking classes and bake sales, and for two months managed to pay the rent this way.

Been supportive buying these desserts!

But now with no dinner service, he can only depend on doing home catering for clients, and while it's decent money, it's a lot of physical labour, carrying all the ingredients, plates and pots, pans, and cutlery to the customer's home.

This was probably not what the father of a young child had in mind when he started this business over five years ago, but now he is hustling any way he can to keep going. He's had to dig into his savings to pay this past month's rent.

It's difficult to watch these guys work so hard and yet they can't seem to get a break...

Coronavirus Numbers Drop and Remembering a Bookstore

Social-distancing measures continue for another week

Hong Kong recorded 80 new coronavirus cases today, a merciful drop from the triple digits we had for the past 12 days. However, health officials are warning the public not to let its guard down yet, with social-distancing measures in place for at least another week.

Meanwhile the rainy weather has also encouraged many to stay at home, which is expected to be around this week and next week.

This evening the rain stayed away and I did my regular walk rain-free and in cooler temperatures at 25.5 degrees Celsius. Not too many people were out either, though there were still those pesky runners who insist on not wearing a mask...

I haven't had a chance to write about this because of everything that's been going on, but last Friday was the last day of Swindon Book Company's operations in its Tsim Sha Tsui location.

Swindon Book Company in Tsim Sha Tsui

In the past week locals flocked to the store to take pictures and snap up any interesting books. By the time I went on Friday there was a bizarre collection of books available from large medical textbooks, to cooking healthy meals for kids, and interpreting sexual dreams! There was even a giant tome compiled of China's organizations complete with contact details. Who would want to buy that?

But on that Friday there were quite a few people combing through the bookshelves (nothing was organized at all, it was a total treasure hunt), to find a book to buy. At one point a woman came by who told us we could buy one book and get two free. They were desperate to get rid of what they had left.

Swindon Book Company was where practically every student in Hong Kong went to get their textbooks. Even on the last day there was a father putting in an order for textbooks, and was a first-time customer. Even my mother remembers getting her schoolbooks from there from when she was a student many moons ago.

But alas, bookstores in Hong Kong have a hard time staying in business, and there have been many who have complained that locals are not educated enough because they don't read enough books, they would rather play video games than read books, and hence bookstores have had to close.

People making their last purchases at the store

However, that doesn't explain the popularity of the annual Hong Kong Book Fair, that unfortunately had to be canceled this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Every year the attendance is about 1 million people, interested in buying the latest titles, listening to their favourite authors, or coming across books that might not end up in a bookstore because the subject matter is too obscure for mainstream readers.

The reality is the high cost of rent in Hong Kong, and a bookstore needs a big space to put all its items on the shelves. While some may argue that buying books online is most efficient, it is when you know exactly what you're looking for, whereas browsing around a bookshop is an exciting pastime for others.

An online shopping experience does not replace picking up a book from a shelf and flipping through it, randomly picking a page and reading it. Does it have pictures? Illustrations? What does the cover look like? Is the book heavy or light?

Founded in 1918, Swindon Book Company is Hong Kong's oldest bookstore and is being run by the third generation of the Li family. It will now only sell books online, though the company also owns Hong Kong Book Centre in Central and Kelly & Walsh in Pacific Place in Admiralty.

Many empty bookshelves on Swindon's last day

In the last few years Swindon Book Company on Lock Road in Tsim Sha Tsui was behind on rent and owes HK$3.71 million to the landlord, who took the company to court to vacate the 5,000 sq ft premises.

While Swindon Book Company already shifted to selling books online 10 years ago, there are those who will miss the place that was been a part of their formative years for generations.

HK Government Considers Breaking its Own Rules

People lining up to vote in 2019 District Council elections

After Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor postponed September's Legislative Council elections for a year, it seems the pro-establishment camp is desperately looking into how it can make every single vote count.

Two weeks ago Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Erick Tsang Kwok-wai had even gone so far as to propose having polling stations set up for Hongkongers living in China. In that way they wouldn't have to worry about rushing across the border and quarantine regulations.

Erick Tsang mulls moving polling stations north

Excuse me? According to the Registration and Electoral Office -- which is run by the government -- you must reside in Hong Kong, with a registered address and proof of living there within the last three months through showing a copy of rates, water, electricity, gas, or telephone bills, or letters from banks or government departments.

So if you have moved to the mainland to live and work, then you are not eligible; but if you work in China during the week and come back on weekends in Hong Kong, it is possible to register, showing you have the above proof.

Apparently a group called United Front Work Department gathers Hongkongers living in Guangdong and ferries them across the border during election days. This is basically voter rigging.

And now Tsang's idea of moving polling stations up north is taking voter rigging a step further.

United Work Front Dept ferries HKers to vote

By the way he also warned the pan-democrats that holding their primaries on July 11 and 12 could constitute as breaching the national security law. Over 600,000 people ignored his warnings and participated.

How does this square with the rules by the Registration and Electoral Office?

In addition, isn't this unfair to Hong Kong diaspora in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Australia and Europe?

The ideas the government comes up with are unbelievable, even breaking its own rules.

Oh wait. It already did that with the national security law.

500 beds available at AsiaWorld-Expo now

Meanwhile things are not getting better on the coronavirus pandemic front, with 115 new cases reported today, though no imported ones.

Thirty-one patients who are in relatively stable health condition were moved to AsiaWorld-Expo, which has 500 beds, and can open another 400 if necessary. Each person gets a semi-private cubicle with a bed, and a small tableside cabinet. Guess you have to get up and find the washroom. Interestingly the beds are separated by sex and have cameras monitoring them at all times.

A new study shows 87 percent of Hongkongers are suffering from stress due to the pandemic, particularly those in tourism, catering and medicine.

Some 87 percent of us suffer from work stress

Some 43 percent had signs of anxiety disorder, while 8 per cent and 1 percent suffered moderate and severe anxiety respectively.

People were concerned most about their personal health (72.7 percent), income or employment (65.7 percent), and the pandemic (53.6 percent).

While the poll was conducted between May 1 and July 1 on 801 respondents, perhaps that survey should be done again to measure people's stress levels since the national security law was put in place over a month ago.

Surely all of our stress levels have gone up considerably since then...

Government's Mixed Messages on Coronavirus Battle

Lam clarifies 290,000 are trips into Hong Kong, not people

In a rare admission, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor actually apologized about the trouble caused to those who were forced to eat outside due to the dining-in ban that was implemented on July 29 and then abruptly U-turned two days later.

"I admit we haven't balanced well in considering public health tolerance of the business sectors and pubic needs," Lam said in a radio program this morning. "That led to the scenes that happened on July 29, the first day [the ban] came into effect. We are very sorry about that."

She said the government decided to change the restriction the day after after realizing the problem and how it affected the grass roots community, such as construction workers.

But how will the reversal in the decision help keep the virus numbers down?

Many were forced to eat meals outside for 2 days

Also interesting to note how defensive she was on Friday evening about the number of 290,000 that we all had assumed to the point to be the number of people who were exempted from quarantine.

Lam explained that actually it was 290,000 trips into Hong Kong. She claimed for example a truck driver would come in and out of Hong Kong several times a day, which would contribute to the 290,000 number.

Is this true? Someone needs to fact check this.

Nevertheless, Lam's apology to the grass roots wasn't enough to keep the number of new coronavirus cases down, with 125 reported today for a total of 3,396, and four deaths to a total of 31.

Today Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection's communicable disease branch advised people not to gather with loved ones for the time being.

"We also observed some extended family clusters, for example, the grandparents, children or the aunties, because they have had some family gatherings during weekends as usual," she said.

"So we think we may have to stop this practice for one or two weeks, to maintain the social distancing... especially if we want to protect the elderly."

Dr Chuang says family gatherings need to stop

How about telling that to others having house parties, birthday parties and the like? Many think these restrictions don't pertain to them, but fighting the virus is a city-wide effort. We can't let our guard down now especially during this third wave.

Apparently Lam has asked Beijing for help in conducting mass coronavirus testing, and 60 clinical technicians will come here, with seven arriving tomorrow.

When she was asked for more details, CHP's Chuang had no more information, as she herself had read it in the media! A reporter asked if these technicians would be quarantined for two weeks before beginning their work, and again Chuang could not answer.

Some people are concerned these technicians here are actually going to collect people's DNA, much like what is being done on Uighurs in Xinjiang.

Lam leaves a radio station after her interview

It's a terrifying thought and the media will be watching this closely.

Meanwhile, Lam continues her repression of Hong Kong's next generation. In a radio interview, she said many young people have got it wrong when they think being anti-government or anti-Beijing is a way out. She warned if they step across the bottom line of "One Country, Two Systems", their future will be doomed.

How encouraging.

As for the six activists who fled Hong Kong and are now on the Hong Kong Police's wanted list, their threats might be empty ones -- for now.

Lawyer Michael Vidler, who specializes in criminal and human rights cases said that just being on a wanted list in Hong Kong doesn't mean much unless that person in question is in the city, but if they've been put on an Interpol wanted list, then "that is a different matter", because that will affect their possibility of traveling elsewhere.

Vidler says wanted list on Interpol more serious

"Firstly, if they've already been granted asylum, and they've got refugee status in wherever they are, then they won't be returned to Hong Kong," said Vidler.

"If they're in a location where there is an existing extradition treaty, then the local courts will have to determine whether it is appropriate under the existing terms of the extradition treaty for those individuals to be returned."

And since some countries like the UK, Australia and Canada have suspended extradition treaties with Hong Kong, then these individuals would not be returned to Hong Kong anytime soon.