Sleeping Bus Tour in HK

Now the sleep-deprived can catch up on sleep on a tour bus

I'm surprised this business opportunity was not spotted before the pandemic, but interesting it is now here -- long bus rides specifically for people to catch up on their sleep.

There is a 83km or over six-hour ride on a regular double-decker bus that goes around Hong Kong for people who want to snooze.

"When we were brainstorming new tours, I saw a social media post from my friend saying he was stressed out by his work, he couldn't sleep at night," said Kenneth Kong, the marketing and business development manager of ulu travel, the tour bus organizer.

A local tour company organizes the 6hr bus trips

"But when he was traveling on the bus, he was able to sleep well. His post inspired us to create this tour that lets passengers just sleep on the bus."

Tickets cost around HK$129 for a single seat, to HK$899 for those who want to take up extra seats, and depending on if they choose the upper deck or lower deck, and the each passenger gets a lunch to consume outside the bus, and a goodie bag that includes an eye mask and ear plugs.

The first "Sleeping Bus Tour" was last Saturday and it was sold out. Some passengers even brought their own blankets, or changed into slippers, or settled in with travel pillows.

The tour starts in Tsuen Wan and goes all the way to Tuen Mun, even makes stops for people to take pictures, including the aircraft maintenance area near Hong Kong International Airport.

One passenger, Marco Yung, joined the tour, as he usually manages to fall asleep on the bus during long journeys. 

Dr Shirley Li, the principal investigator of the Sleep Research Clinic and Laboratory at the University of Hong Kong says people's tendency to fall asleep on public transport is a type of conditioning.

Don't disturb people trying to sleep on this tour!

"People in Hong Kong don't have enough time to sleep," Li said. "That's why we have to kind of use other times to sleep, which is our daily commute, especially when we are traveling on public transport.

"For some people, they may tend to associate public transport with their sleep. And that's why they found it easier to fall asleep on the bus," she said. 

To pass the time, some people like to board random buses to see where they go, while this one is geared towards the sleep deprived. 

Have people become so desperate to try something new that they are signing up for these bus tours? Or are insomniacs really keen on riding this bus to catch some sleep? 

Either way it's a smart way for a tour company to think of a new way to market its services. It's not about seeing the sights, but enjoying a snooze on the bus.

Convicted Protester Defiant at Sentencing

In November 2019 students clashed with police at CUHK

Yesterday five former Chinese University students were jailed for up to 59 months each for rioting and flouting a ban on wearing masks at public gatherings during clashes with police on the university campus in November 2019.

When handing down the sentences to the five at West Kowloon Court, Deputy Judge Kathie Cheung Kit-yee said the defendants must have chosen to remain at the scene either to take part in the violence or abet the criminal acts of their comrades.

She said the lack of evidence over the defendants' level of involvement was no reason to reduce their jail sentences, because all participants in a riot shared the same culpability regardless of their roles in it.

5 were arrested at the bridge near CUHK entrance

"Hong Kong is a place which upholds the rule of law, and a peaceful and tranquil community which shows no tolerance aimless acts that seriously disturb the peace, especially those targeting law enforcement officers," Cheung said.

Three men aged 23 and one aged 20 were all sentenced to 57 months in jail, while one female defendant, Foo Hoi-ching, 23, was handed a 59-month sentence.

The five were arrested near the bridge near CUHK's entrance where protesters hurled objects at police. At the time protesters had just thrown 23 Molotov cocktails and other hard objects at police.   

Foo, a nursing student, remained defiant during mitigation, saying she was not sorry for what she had done and found Cheung's ruling unreasonable.

She wrote a letter to the court that was quickly translated on Twitter by Tsui Lok-man, a former assistant professor at CUHK's School of Journalism and Communication:

Foo says authorities free to interpret the law

"First of all, this letter of plea is not intended to gain the mercy of the judge.

"In asking for the background report, I honestly have no regrets for my actions, and I also have nothing to say to the judge in my plea, because I do not agree with the law itself, nor do I feel I have done anything wrong.

"Simply put, I do not think this is a reasonable sentence. In the eyes of some people, 'the law is the law, and if you break the law, you need to bear responsibility'.

"Others may also believe that the court's ruling proves that the protesters' behaviour is wrong, and their actions in vain. But I believe that authority does not equal correctness.

"First of all, the laws of Hong Kong today are not recognized by its people, nor does society have any space to discuss whether the law is reasonable or not. Second, the Public Order Ordinance is vague by design, to enable the authorities to freely interpret and control it.

She says the law controls people, not for justice

"After 2019, riot cases have increased rapidly, and the courts have given a new interpretation to the definition of a riot, such that increasingly more behaviour is now classified as "illegal behaviour", enabling more and more people to get convicted, and allowing the authorities to further repress dissidents.

"Under a totalitarian regime, the law is only a bloodless but violent tool of the authorities to control the people, and the court is not a place of justice.

"In such a place, only attention is being paid to social order on a surface level, but the root cause of what is tearing the society apart is ignored.

"When the penalties for political cases gets heavier, some defendants will please guilty or appeal to the judge, in order to reduce their sentence, but this does not necessarily mean they agree that the current law is moral or just.

Foo no longer believes in the HK judicial system

"The judge may point out that if you are not satisfied with the ruling, you can appeal. However, I no longer believe in Hong Kong's judicial system, and even the highest courts may not listen to the voices of dissidents.

"I just want to take this opportunity to express my dissatisfaction. If the court hears what I have said, and believes that it is justified in giving me a heavy sentence to make me regret and reflect, then it will be just as it is."

 

法官閣下：

首先表明，我無意以這封求情信來博取法官閣下的憐憫。

我索取背景報告時，我坦言對於自己的行為並無後悔，亦沒有說話要向法官閣下求情，因為我並不認同法例本身，亦不覺得自己有做錯的地方。簡單而言，我不認為這是合理的判決。

在某部分人眼中，示威者「犯法就係犯法，就係要負責」，有些人亦可能認為法庭的裁決證明了示威者的行為是錯誤，是徒勞無功的。但我認為，權威並不代表正確。

首先，香港現時的法律，並非由人民共同認可，社會並沒有空間討論現行法律合理與否。其次，暴動條例的定義本來就模糊不清，以便政權靈活解釋和操控。2019年後暴動案件急升，法庭時而重新詮譯暴動定義，令更多行為被列為「法律不認可的行為」，從而令更多人入罪，令政權得以打壓異見者。

極權下的法律只是政權用以規範人民行為的不流血暴力手段，而法庭也不是一個彰顯公義的地方。這裏只會流於表面地關注社會秩序，並不會著眼社會撕裂的根本原因。

當政治案件的刑罰日益加重，有些被告會選擇認罪或向法官求情，以減輕刑期，但或許並不代表他們認同現行法律具有道德正當性。法官閣下可能會指出，若不滿閣下裁決，大可以申請上訴。然而，本人已不再相信香港的司法制度，再高級的法庭亦不見得會聆聽異見者的聲音。

我只是希望藉此機會表達我的不滿。如果法庭聽畢本人以上的言論，認為可以用重判形式令本人從而後悔及反省，那便悉隨尊便。

 

Carrie Lam Fractures Elbow

Lam's selfie with her right arm in a sling after her fall

This morning Hongkongers woke up to the news that Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor had fractured her right elbow from a fall on a flight of stairs at Government House last night ahead of a banquet with retired colleagues. She was rushed to Queen Mary Hospital in Pokfulam where she spent the night and was discharged this morning.

"At first I thought it was just an abrasion, but then my right arm became more painful and so I decided to seek treatment at Queen Mary Hospital after sending off the guests," she wrote in a social media post on Tuesday afternoon. "It's believed that it will take two or three weeks for recovery."

Lam was discharged from hospital this morning

She added in her post that she had a brain scan and additional check-ups while in hospital. Might as well, right, since Lam is so busy.

The accident was revealed shortly after midnight on Monday to announce she would follow the doctor's advice to stay overnight in the hospital for observation, and that the weekly Executive Council or Exco meeting, and media briefing on Tuesday morning would be cancelled. 

Lam said many of her friends told her the accident was a good opportunity for her to rest.

"I think it is a positive way of thinking as in fact, I have not taken any leave for three years already," she wrote. Well, most of us have not taken a break because of the coronavirus pandemic either. But Lam insists on getting the gold star for being extremely hard working.

Lee will take over as CE, but for how long?

She has proudly told the media before that she is a workaholic, and doesn't even have time to talk to her husband.

However, she admits she now finds it hard to get dressed and write. Who writes these days? And if she's resting for a few days or weeks, nothing wrong with wearing T-shirts and sweatpants like all of us did last year.

In the meantime Chief Secretary John Lee Ka-chiu will be serving as acting chief executive but speculation is rife over how long it will be before Lam takes over the reins again.

National Security Law Hovers Over Marathon

The Standard Chartered Marathon will be held this Sunday

 

The national security law affects all aspects of life in Hong Kong, even running a marathon. The Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon 2021 will take place this Sunday, the first time a mass sporting event is held in the coronavirus pandemic era, but also participants will bear full responsibility if they violate the national security law.

At a briefing session today, organizers said they would check every one of the 18,500 runners for the 10K, half-marathon and full marathon to make sure the outfits are "safe", in that they don't interfere with other participants. Only a handful of people wear wacky costumes dressed like dinosaurs or giant candy bars.

Organizers will check all 18,500 runners

However, organizers admitted they have no control of runners if they have political slogans on their race gear.

"We are running a sports event and will focus only on the sporting aspects," said Kwan Kee, chairman of the Hong Kong Association of Athletics Affiliates.

"We have no restrictions on the use of colour (of the apparel), but we can't comment on if any slogans on their clothing would be banned as we haven't seen the slogans [yet]." 

For example they suggested instead of writing 加油 or "add oil" on their T-shirts, they could write "Runners add oil" just to be clear...

All the participants must be fully vaccinated at least 14 days before the race, submit a health declaration form that they have not traveled outside of Hong Kong in the past 21 days and the must take a Covid-19 nucleic-acid test when they pick up their running kits between Thursday and Saturday.

The Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon 2020 was called off two weeks before the race last February citing the pandemic, and this year's edition was postponed from January to October with a fraction of the runners from 74,000 down to only 18,500.

Runners on the hook for illegal political slogans

While spectators are allowed to attend, they will have to abide by social-distancing measures (ie no more than gatherings of four), while runners will be exempted from these measures for this particular event.

If a runner has an illegal political slogan will they be tackled along the course by the police? Or will they save their energy and arrest them at the finish line?