Singapore's Opening -- Any Takers?

The Lion City is welcoming visitors from HK and Macau

 

Just as the travel bubble or corridor between Hong Kong and Singapore was officially dead, the Lion City announced it would receive visitors from Hong Kong and Macau without quarantine from August 26.

It is part of a months-old scheme Singapore has with China, Taiwan and New Zealand.

Iswaran says two cities have different strategies

Singapore residents, permanent residents and long-term pass holders arriving from Hong Kong and Macau can go back home as early as Saturday. 

Travelers from Hong Kong and Macau don't even need to be vaccinated, and only need to have a negative result from a polymerase chain reaction test. However, they would still need to quarantine upon their return to their respective cities.

The travel bubble was pronounced dead according to Singapore transport minister S. Iswaran, as both cities' pandemic strategies differed, "with Singapore now taking steps towards becoming a Covid-resilient nation".

Meanwhile Hong Kong, following Beijing's lead, is trying to keep it at zero Covid-19 cases, which many, including the international business community in Hong Kong are clamouring is unrealistic and makes it another reason to move operations elsewhere.

Can HK really reach zero Covid-19 cases?

So... anyone in Hong Kong rushing to buy tickets to go to Singapore?

Didn't think so...

Nicole Kidman's Quarantine-Free Stay in HK Sparks Anger

 

Kidman is in Hong Kong filming a TV series for Amazon

Hollywood actress Nicole Kidman is in town filming a television series for Amazon called Expats and she really is living the glamorous expatriate life in Hong Kong.

She flew into Hong Kong from Sydney in a private jet and even got permission from the government to avoid having to quarantine, much to the shock of the rest of us who have had to suffer through the authorities' extreme measures of up to 21 days in quarantine to keep the Covid-19 virus out.

She was shopping in Cos, not in quarantine

The Australian celebrity was spotted in fashion boutique Cos -- which made people wonder why considering she is living in a residence up on the Peak for HK$650,000 (US$83,500) a month, and apparently staying until October.

When asked to explain why Kidman was already out and about two days after her arrival when she should have been in hotel quarantine for seven days, the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau clarified today she was given permission to carry out "designated professional work... conducive to maintaining the necessary operation and development of Hong Kong's economy."

What about the rest of us? Are we not contributing to the local economy?

This privilege of avoiding quarantine came with other conditions, that Kidman take at least three Covid-19 tests in the first two weeks of her stay, submit an itinerary of her job activities, travel only point-to-point, and stay off public transport.

Oh guess we won't be seeing her on the MTR then.

A select few others get to avoid quarantine as well, such as top business executives and diplomats, subject to the approval of the Chief Secretary.

A complicated quarantine graphic shows Kidman free to go

On social media Kidman was criticized for taking advantage of these perks and living the high life while residents are literally trying to leave the city because of the repressive measures the government is imposing.

This is not the first time Kidman has been hit out for her living arrangements -- last year she and her husband Keith Urban came back to Sydney and didn't have to do quarantine in government quarters, but in the comfort of their holiday home with their two daughters.

So today Kidman is on par with Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor in terms of their popularity ratings. 

There's going to be lots more questions about this at Lam's Tuesday morning press conference...

 

 

Protest-Related Humanitarian Fund to Shut

The fund was set up on June 15, 2019

Another civil society group has announced it will disband for fear of crossing the red line with the national security law.

612 Humanitarian Relief Fund was set up after the anti-extradition protests began in June 2019, helping to provide humanitarian aid and financial support to those who were injured, attacked, arrested or threatened with violence during the protests. 

The fund provided legal, medical, psychological and emergency financial assistance, and depended on donations from the public.

Cardinal Zen and Barrister Ng set up the chairs

But today 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund announced it would not take on new cases from Wednesday (today), and will shut down by the end of October.

The public donations were collected through a bank account belonging to the Alliance for True Democracy. The fund decided to stop operations after learning the alliance will shut down, citing the latest social developments.

"Without a bank account, we cannot operate at all. As to whether there's any political pressure behind, I don't think we are in a position to guess and in a way it's not relevant for us to guess," said Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee, former Civic Party lawmaker and trustee of the 612 fund.

"We have remained vigilant in the unpredictable political environment, the day has come that the fund is forced to shut down."

In total the fund had a staggering over HK$236 million, though only HK$2 million is left. They helped 43 percent of cases, or 947 of them, of which 231 had the charges dropped or acquitted. Then there were 371 cases that were convicted and sentenced to non-custodial sentence (alternative to prison sentence), and 345 convicted and sentenced to jail.

Cardinal Zen, Ng and singer Denise Ho (far right)

However, there are still 1,274 cases pending, and Ng says not all these cases can be helped. Only about 100 of them can be helped until the fund ceases to exist.

Nevertheless the fund is still accepting donations until September 21 before it closes October 31.

612 Humanitarian Relief Fund was specifically established to help people get the appropriate funding or help they needed, whether it be legal representation, paying for surgeries, or counselling. 

But alas it will soon be no more, though Ng remains optimistic for the future:

"A fair and just society, the rights and freedoms everyone is entitled to under the law will remain the joint hope and endeavour of Hong Kong's civil society."

Is hope enough to keep Hong Kong's civil society going? Hard to say, but it's looking very bleak these days. Yet another light snuffed out in the eerie dark future of the city...

 

 

HK Restarts Extreme Quarantine Measures

Lam said today the measures were to prevent another outbreak

 

People in Hong Kong are gutted the government is changing the quarantine rules from seven days to 14 after a fully vaccinated domestic helper was found to be infectious in the community beyond the seven-day quarantine with the highly infectious Delta variant.

Those who are already traveling in what are now deemed medium-risk countries will have to scramble to extend their hotel quarantine stay to 14 days, and another seven days at home.

Dr Yuen says three in quarantine have same virus

And it doesn't matter if you've been vaccinated and have a positive antibody test.

Government pandemic adviser Dr Yuen Kwok-yung says the helper could have been infected by a couple staying in the same quarantine hotel, the Dorsett Wan Chai, as they were staying opposite to the helper and all three have the same genome sequencing.

There are concerns the couple left the window open in their room, which allowed the contaminated air to flow out of their room. Yuen added the air flow in the two rooms was not up to standard.

While Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor says the changes are being made to prevent the city from having another outbreak, some feel Hong Kong's fearful approach to the virus is wrong and isolationist.

They all stayed at the Dorsett Wan Chai

They feel that the city has had a vaccination program running for months now and there is no excuse for people not to get inoculated from Covid-19, and that the authorities should stop protecting those who are not vaccinated at the expense of those who have gotten the jab.

In addition, with vaccines available, people abroad who have been inoculated should be able to enter Hong Kong.

With today's news and China still trying to stamp out infections with its zero-case policy, there are predictions the mainland may not open its borders with Hong Kong until the end of next year.

It is possible more people will leave, in particular expats who, while they are grateful to live in a safe city like Hong Kong, they have had enough of the extremely quarantine and social-distancing measures and want to go home and see their loved ones. 

Some argue residents should be allowed into HK

They feel not having seen their family for almost two years is too much, and those with young children or about to retire and throwing in the towel and moving out.

In the meantime Hong Kong's economy is going to continue to sputter along, as it is so dependent on mainlanders coming in to shop, dine and buy property.

How much longer the city can survive like this is hard to say...