Slow Vaccine Uptake in HK

Many have taken selfies of themselves getting the jab

 

Even though a lot of people (mostly expatriates) are posting on social media pictures of themselves getting the injection or of the makeshift medical clinic with the hashtag #HKTwitterGetsVaxxed, only 304,100 people have gotten the jab in total, either Sinovac or BioNTech.

Considering 5.5 million people are eligible for the vaccine, so far only 4 percent of the population has gotten at least the first dose which is still a very low uptake.

As a result the government is considering incentives to encourage people to get vaccinated.

Chan hints at some incentives for vaccinations

Health Secretary Sophia Chan Siu-chee said today on a radio show the authorities would consider measures such as allowing those who have received a vaccine to enter certain premises, to visit care homes and hospitals, or to be exempt from other social distancing measures.

Errr... can you make these incentives more exciting? Sounds quite dull to be honest.

Infectious diseases experts David Hui Shu-cheong who was on the same radio program added that at least 50 percent of the population needs to be vaccinated.

"If the general public actually is actively taking part in the vaccination program, then I think we'll see fewer and fewer outbreaks in the community. By then, a lot of the social distancing measures can be relaxed," Hui said.

Sigh. 

The problem is most people are on the fence or don't care about being vaccinated. My hairdresser said, "I don't want to get the jab. The rest of you can get it so I don't have to."

Those vaccinated get special stickers

My hairdresser is dying to travel -- so getting a vaccine is most probably going to be a prerequisite!  

Even more bizarre is her parents are so pro-China and yet they aren't even touching the vaccine either!

Tonight I had to persuade my relatives to get the jab, that it was better to get it done now than later, but they were not in a rush to book online even though it would take five minutes.

Sigh.

The government better hurry up and come up with some really enticing incentives otherwise we're going to have to wait a really long time for at least half the population to get the jab...

Cheap and Cheerful Thai

The flavourful (and not spicy!) boat noodle soup with pork

 

Earlier this week a friend I haven't seen for a while suggested we catch up over a cheap and cheerful Thai lunch in Wan Chai.

It's a noodle shop called Kin Kao and one may want to characterize it as a cheaper version of Samsen, an extremely popular Thai eatery in Hong Kong that has expanded to two locations in Wan Chai and Sheung Wan.

I ordered the set lunch for the unbeatable price of HK$78: a bowl of boat noodle soup with pork balls and sliced pork in a flavourful dark soup stock with lots of chopped basil, and comes with a drink and I chose an iced Thai milk tea.

A very fluffy crab omelette at Kin Kao

My friend ordered stir-fried broad noodles with prawn, chicken and pork in a dark soy sauce (HK$78) and we also had the crab omelette (HK$88) that was fluffy and light.

The staff there are Thai Chinese and it's definitely a shop where you eat and go, though we lingered for a while, as tables around us had two to three rounds of customers.

During lunch most of the people who ate there worked in the area. Afterwards if you still weren't full you could line up at the nearby Bakehouse for its famous egg custard tarts, dark chocolate cookies, scones, danishes...

Also at the opposite end of the same street is International Curry House, offering Hong Kong-style curry dishes in a range of styles (Malaysian, Tamil, Vindaloo, East Indies, Pakistan), and any ingredient like beef, chicken, mutton, prawns, vegetables, along with rice or chapatti. This place is also cheap and cheerful! 

Kin Kao

G/F, Tai Wong Building

3 Tai Wong Street East

Wan Chai

2529 3806

Does HK Still have Artistic Freedom?

M+ in West Kowloon is completed, and will open end of 2021

 

Hong Kong's premier contemporary art museum, M+ is finally completed. Last week the media were taken around to have a look and one big question was now that the national security law has been implemented, will that affect what is shown at M+?

The museum's director, Suhanya Raffel, said there would be "no problem" in showing dissident artist Ai Weiwei's works and other pieces included in the M+ permanent collection, because their inclusion was based on research developed from "historical facts".

M+ director Raffel says collection "no problem"

"We have always had a robust curator-led approach to everything we do and that is underpinned by research and academic rigour," she said. "Like any global museum, it is our role to present art in a relevant and appropriate manner and stimulate debate, knowledge and pleasure. A city can only be a welcoming arts hub if it offers an open environment for artists and for different views."

Raffel may have to re-think her words after Eunice Yung Hoi-yan from the New People's Party raised concerns on Wednesday that Ai's work may violate the national security law by "spreading hatred against China".

She cited the example of a black and white picture of Ai holding up his middle finger in Tiananmen Square.

"If you point your middle finger towards Tiananmen Square, it means you want to show your anger against it, or you want to subvert the government with your artwork," she told RTHK.

Yung wonders if Ai's works are subversive

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said the government will protect freedom of expression, but added she was confident the museum's curators would be capable of distinguishing works that constituted artistic expression from those endangering national security.

Of the 33 galleries in M+, 12 will be dedicated to the 1,000-piece collection of contemporary Chinese art from Swiss businessman Uli Sigg. Some of the pieces were shown in an exhibition in 2016 and some of those works would definitely not be shown in mainland China.

These include the above mentioned Ai piece called A Study Perspective: Tian'anmen, and photojournalist Liu Heung-shing's picture of the June 4 crackdown where a tricycle cart driver peddling two men with gunshot wounds to hospital.

Today Ai hit back at Yung's suggestion that his work was subversive.

Is this photograph subversive or is it art?

"All artworks, if they are of value, raise questions and challenges. Challenging authority is one of the core values of art," he told RTHK.

"If she thinks artworks are just ornaments, then I'd say she doesn't understand art," Ai said.

He added if his works cannot be exhibited in the museum, this would be a signal that Hong Kong is moving further away from universal values and is becoming part of authoritarianism.

This puts M+ curators in a tough spot -- will they stand their ground in the name of artistic freedom?

 

Number of the Day: 144,000

Even monks are waiting in line to get vaccinated in Hong Kong

Even though 5.5 million people were eligible to sign up for a vaccine yesterday, only 144,000 took up the offer, though it was an eight-fold jump from 18,600 the day before.

It seems a lot of people are still not convinced to get the jab right away, including many domestic helpers, and Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor seemed disappointed by the low-key response.

Carrie Lam answering questions in Legco today

In a question and answer period with lawmakers in the Legislative Council, Lam sought to reassure the public, explaining there was an expert panel who decided on which vaccines to have in Hong Kong. She also said the government was considering ways to nudge people to get vaccinated.

"We are now considering offering incentives not only in aspects of cross-border travel, but also room to relax certain distancing measures for those who have been vaccinated," Lam said.

However, respiratory medicine specialist Dr Leung Chi-chiu believed even if there are incentives to encourage people to get the jab, the relaxation of social-distancing and travel restrictions will be limited until more people are vaccinated.

Leung said there was "a confidence problem that must be addressed", otherwise not enough elderly or vulnerable members of society would get vaccinated. 

Only 144,000 out of 5.5m people signed up

Professor Benjamin Cowling, an epidemiologist from the University of Hong Kong, said he was worried not enough people would take the shots even when there were enough doses for everybody in the city.

A high vaccination rate was the city's "pathway back to normal", he said.

Will people accept the government's incentives? To some degree many will as they are desperate to travel and dine more freely, or see a live show.

But many are in no hurry to get a vaccine yet, forcing everyone else to wait until they get the jab before Hong Kong can finally relax some restrictions.