Picture of the Day: New Old Coins

Lots of old coins, never used, in a tin box

My relatives have been busy doing some serious spring cleaning in their flat.

They are cleaning out really old magazines, books, clothes and anything else that they don't need; at the moment these items are all stacked up in the living room waiting to be taken away, as they live in a walk-up so they are saving this for the garbage man to manually collect day by day, or to take down themselves to a nearby recycling area or the local garbage dump.

They also found lots of money! Over HK$2,000 in coins! 

Before the Octopus card came out in 1997, people had to have exact change when boarding public transport, from buses to trams and ferries.

So their mother, who passed away several years ago, had gotten coins from the bank to ensure she always had enough change and after the Octopus card came out, the coins were forgotten and so much was amassed that my relatives hauled them to the bank to be counted. They even returned coins with the Queen's head on them (issued before 1997). 

Apparently no one is interested in buying these coins online.

She had also collected stamps and my relatives managed to sell a stamp book or two on an online buying and selling platform called Carousell for about HK$10 each. Who collects stamps these days?

Not only that, she also collected a lot of fresh bills, dating back to the 1970s, all of them from HSBC in a special booklet, and also coins too.

Some date back to 1960 which is quite amazing. They are all rolled up neatly in paper and labelled very clearly. I should also add she used to be a teacher, hence the clean hand writing.

In any event my relatives hope to find a buyer for these coins and bills and I hope they do. One man's junk is another man's treasure!

HK Covid-19 Cases Drop to Below 1,000

Children can soon finally play on playgrounds from April 21

Hong Kong reached a new milestone today -- 946 cases were recorded, the first time in over two months that the number has dropped to below 1,000.

Of the total, 471 cases were detected from PCR tests, 475 from rapid antigen tests, and 11 imported.

There were also 67 people who died, of which 36 passed away in the past 24 hours.

Chuang urges people to remain vigilant at Easter

While the infection number is lower than what it was a few weeks ago, Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection advised people to continue to be vigilant by wearing masks and washing their hands regularly, especially now during the Easter holiday with more people going out there is a chance of cases rebounding.

Nevertheless the drop of cases to three figures also means the end of Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor hosting her daily press conferences.

At times she was combative with the media when it comes to their questions, either asking them to be more understanding about how tough her job was, to blaming them for not bringing up the correct facts in a question (where she was factually wrong). 

Lam ends her daily press briefings on Covid-19

Yesterday when a reporter asked Lam that since the numbers have dropped significantly, when would the government conduct mandatory testing and she side stepped the question completely. 

Inquiring minds want to know, Carrie! It's a legitimate question to ask.

Hopefully the downward trend continues, though there is word the sixth wave could come as early as June...

HK to Fiinally Relax Some Measures April 21

Restaurants are excited to have dinner service next week

Finally the news everyone was waiting for -- DINNER IS BACK ON!

Today Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor confirmed that social-distancing measures will be further relaxed on April 21, with dinner available until 10pm and four to a table, while gyms, beauty salons, religious venues and cinemas will be reopened. The ban on no more than two households meeting together will be lifted too.

However, swimming pools, beaches and barbecue sites will have to wait for the next phase together with bars and pubs...

Lam proudly showing she's got her fourth jab

Interestingly anyone seeing a movie in the cinema or be employed there will also have to be triple jabbed.

"At this point in time and into the near term, Hong Kong is much, much better prepared to handle another wave," Lam said during the daily press conference. "Nobody wants a sixth wave, but if a sixth wave hits us, we are now much, much better prepared, she said, pointing to the sufficient treatment facilities, quarantine centres and ample supply of Covid vaccines.

"With this greater capacity, it will be very, very unreasonable and perhaps unacceptable to the majority of Hong Kong people to continue to close all these premises and allow people no chance to lead a normal life."

Interesting she says this now after howls of complaints and multinational companies fleeing Hong Kong, but perhaps she can now that she's leaving office.

Anyone interested in living in isolation cells?

And yes there are plentiful quarantine -- or rather isolation units, shipping container units converted into cells that Chinese state media like to call "mobile hospital units", when in fact they are just a bare room with four beds. Toilets and showers are elsewhere...

This is what the next phase of Covid-19 will look like in Hong Kong. Any takers?

Activist Jailed for Unlawful Assembly

Commuters were attacked by men in white shirts July 21, 2019

Many Hongkongers will forever remember the Yuen Long attacks on the evening of July 21, 2019, when some 100 men in white shirts with sticks and rods beat people in the MTR station, not only on the concourse but in the train carriage as well.

It was such a shocking incident that people watched the events unfold live, and one journalist, Gwyneth Ho Kwai-lam filmed herself being assaulted by a middle-aged man. Forty-five people were injured, including lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting.

Attackers went into MTR trains to assault people

Only seven people were convicted and sentenced for the assaults.

A week after the horrific incident, activist Max Chung Kin-ping organised a "Reclaim Yuen Long" march on July 27, 2019.

However, the police filed a Letter of Objection, saying the protest may cause traffic disruptions. 

While Chung suggested he would march alone, and urged people not to follow him, some 288,000 people showed up that day to show support for the district, and by 5pm the police started firing tear gas at the protesters.

Today Chung was jailed for 16 months after he pleaded guilty to organising an unauthorised assembly.

District Judge Amanda Woodcock described the atmosphere in Yuen Long in the days after the mob attack as a "tinderbox situation", and the banned demonstration was a potential source of violence.

Chung pleaded guilty to unauthorised assembly

She did not believe Chung did not see emotions were running high and that violence could have erupted easily.

Woodcock noted the defendant used "provocative and inflammatory" language and "covertly" asked people to participate in the unauthorised procession.

"[Chung] made a conscious decision to break the law... actions have consequences for everyone...," she said.

In addition Woodcock disagreed with the defence's argument that the court should not blame him for violent acts that took place adjacent to the demonstration route he proposed.

The court also dismissed the defendant's plea that it was "unfair" for Chung to be prosecuted more than two years after the demonstration took place. The prosecution said it had taken time to look into a high volume of evidence, and Woodcock said relevant parties faced a heavy workload.

"Two years was not a very long time... there was no intentional delay. More importantly, I see no prejudice...," the judge said.

Some 288,000 came to Yuen Long on July 27, 2019

Chung was originally sentenced to 24 months in prison, which was then reduced to 16 months for submitting a guilty plea. 

He was arrested the day of the protest but he was not charged. Chung was later apprehended last August and remanded in custody since.