Satisfying Sweet Tooth

The warm brownie pudding with chocolate sauce. Yum!

Cafe Causette in the Mandarin Oriental is a great go-to place when you can't really decide what you want to eat. And most of the time it's not too busy so you can get a table.

The menu for a hotel coffee shop is quite gourmet and has a number of healthy dishes on the menu like salads, detox juices and vegetarian mains, as well as indulgent items that are either Asian or Western.

You can dine on nasi goreng, Hainan chicken rice, and prawn masala, or have risotto, steak or pizza.

But be sure to save room for dessert -- and there are too many options to choose from!

Three of us this evening opted to try the warm brownies pudding (HK$108), a dark chocolate brownie baked in a ramekin topped with a scoop of peanut butter vanilla ice cream with a side of hot chocolate sauce.

Sound delicious?

It tasted divine.

The dark chocolate brownie was slightly bitter, but combined with the sweetness of the ice cream and a touch of chocolate sauce was a perfect combination. The ice cream had a flavourful peanutty taste that wasn't overpowering, but more than a hint.

But oh that brownie... nom nom...

Cafe Causette

M/F, Mandarin Oriental

5 Connaught Road Central
Central
2825 4005

mandarinoriental.com

Mixing Religion with Politics

The installation of Archbishop Paul Kwong (left) in 2007

The campaign against Occupy Central continues, and this time it's Reverend Paul Kwong, the Archbishop of the Hong Kong Anglican Church.

On Sunday he spoke to his congregation and gave a sermon on how to be a Christian.

He could not help but wade into politics, and perhaps it's not surprising that as a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, he would have a particular slant on the July 1 march and Occupy Central.

"Whenever people see me, or other church leaders, they will say, 'We must speak up! Speak up at all times, on everything, understand? It is a must to fight'," he said.

"For what do people have to speak up so much? [It appears] as if they wouldn't have another chance, as if they were dumb otherwise," Kwong said.

He then talked about the virtues of silence, citing a Biblical story of how Jesus behaved when he was sentenced to death by Pontius Pilate.

"Jesus remained silent in the face of Pilate. He was like a lamb awaiting slaughter. Sometimes we don't have to say anything. Silence is better than saying anything."

Kwong also made a dig at the young protesters who were arrested on Chater Road in Central the day following the July 1 march.

"Last week some students arrested by the police told reporters: 'We had no food to eat. We had to queue up for the toilet'. I would say, 'why didn't they bring along their Filipino maids to the march'."

But perhaps the best part was when he said the city should keep quiet, just as "Jesus remained silent" in the face of crucifixion.

Not everyone was a fan of Kwong after he made these remarks.

A female caller told RTHK today that she was outraged by his sermon and that she now "needs to join another church".

"He is really outrageous," she said. "He has changed since his CPPCC appointment. He feels the need to speak for the central government. Does he know what the 'one country, two systems' policy is? He doesn't even know the Basic Law. How can he be a religious leader?"

It's interesting that Kwong is a member of the CPPCC as Beijing doesn't look too kindly on religion unless it's government sanctioned. Perhaps the Hong Kong Anglican Church is "harmonized" or politically correct towards the central government?

And since when does a religious leader (other than the Pope) make political comments?

And why is Kwong making fun of people who felt strongly enough to spend most of their public holiday to come out and march in the heat and rain with hundreds of thousands of other people to peacefully express their outrage about Beijing's white paper?

Some of the students may have been young and didn't know or think about what they were getting themselves into when they decided to stay overnight in Central. But the July 1 march is a good introduction to civic education, to exercise their right to express themselves and be part of a congenial atmosphere that is rare in Hong Kong the other 364 days of the year.

Kwong's most egregious comments are telling people not to speak up, and that they should be docile, like a lamb to the slaughter.

If we don't speak up and push back, then our freedoms and rights will be infringed upon even more -- no one is looking out for us -- the pan-democrats are too busy bickering amongst themselves, or throwing things in the Legislative Council. And so it is up to us to say something.

We understand that Beijing has some jurisdiction over Hong Kong -- but not all. The city still has rule of law that is unique as well as freedom of speech and the press.

The last I looked it's not 2047 yet...

Making Dangerous Presumptions

Lawrence Ma Yung-yi is against Occupy Central

In Hong Kong these days, the atmosphere is "you're either with us, or against us".

People are dividing into either the Occupy Central camp or anti-Occupy Central.

And the anti-Occupy Central side is mounting a strong campaign, using big words like "illegal" and "radicals", "dangerous", and "damaging Hong Kong's economy".

If it's going to adversely affect the city's businesses, then why not rally the government and Beijing to have a dialogue with Occupy Central organizers about some kind of compromise?

After all that's what Occupy Central wants -- a rational and productive discussion.

But the anti-Occupy Central group is becoming more shrill in its pessamistic chorus.

The latest to join in?

Lawrence Ma Yung-yi, chief executive of Lee Heng Diamond Group, which includes a dozen enterprises in the diamond industry, such as MaBelle, Mabros and Falconer Jewellers.

He is a member of the National People's Congress and previously been part of several election committees in Hong Kong.

Ma sent out an email to his staff, calling them "children" and advising them not to join the Occupy Central movement.

"Children... you love democracy and joined the July 1 rally. You clashed with the police, occupied roads, stormed the Legislative Council and are at odds with the mainland," Ma wrote on Friday.

"You listen to Benny Tai Yiu-ting [co-organizer of of Occupy Central and a law professor at the University of Hong Kong] and challenge the law," the email reads.

"Students, wake up. Do you see... the children of Tai's Ronny Tong Ka-wah's and Audrey Eu Yuet-mee's [Civic Party politicians] come out? These people only ask other people's children to fight for democracy, paving the road for their children," he wrote.

"I'd like to ask if any of these people were among the 511 people arrested: pan-democratic lawmakers, the three co-organizers of Occupy Central, Anson Chan Fang On-sang [former chief secretary], Martin Lee [Democratic Party founder], and Jimmy Lai Chee-ying [Next Media chairman]. If not, do not ask other people's children to carry out [acts of] civil disobedience and break the law," he said.

In fact three politicians were among the 511 arrested -- Albert Ho Chun-yan, Lee Cheuk-yan and Leung Yiu-chung.

It is highly presumptuous of Ma to assume all his employees joined the rally or support the Occupy Central movement.

One employee who wished to remain anonymous to keep his job said he was disgusted by the email because "whatever political beliefs we hold are not the company's business".

"I was quite worked up when I read it. Both the tone it took and the content were humiliating, not to mention it's none of his business," the employee said.

Ma seems to be appealing for higher moral ground, but in the process has taken on the role of Confucian father instructing his underlings by belittling them.

It wouldn't be surprising if many of them rebelled just because.

And it just shows how the ruling elite are so out of touch with reality for the average person in Hong Kong.

The Continuing Erosion of Press Freedom

Calling for press freedom following the attack on a former Ming Pao editor

This year is hardly over yet but already the Hong Kong Journalists Association is calling 2014 the darkest in decades due to violence, financial pressure and the reliance by the government on anonymous sources.

And the association expects things to get worse.

"We reckon that Hong Kong's press freedom had its darkest year in several decades," said association chairwoman Sham Yee-lan yesterday. "As political pressure between Hong Kong and Beijing increases, we expect further deterioration in press freedom."

She cited such incidents as the meat cleaver attack on former Ming Pao editor Kevin Lau Chun-to, the sacking of Commercial Radio host Li Wei-ling, and advertising boycotts against Apple Daily and am730 as troubling incidents.

Press freedoms need to be protected more than ever

Most recently on July 2, reporters were cordoned off when they tried to report on the arrests the day after the march in Central.

Journalists claimed that when they agreed to go into a press area, police officers formed a human wall around them so that they could not get a clear view of what was happening.

Tensions seem to be rising between society and the authorities and the media is caught in between. Journalists are trying to report on what they see or to verify something and most of the time they are met with silence or prevented from doing their jobs.

The media culture in Hong Kong feels like it is being "mainlandized", where most inquiries aren't even acknowledged and reporters have to read between the lines when officials speak.

The less accurate information that gets out, the less trust people have in Hong Kong, resulting in less investment and confidence in the city. It's a domino effect we can't afford to let happen.

There will probably be more marches for press freedom in the coming months, but in the meantime we must support journalists who are on the front lines who are trying to find out what is really going on for us to know.