Praising Macau Over Hong Kong

Li Gang praises Macau for adhering to "one country, two systems"

In the run-up to the 15th anniversary of Macau's handover back to China on December 20, Chinese government officials are praising the former Portuguese colony as a role model for basic, law, fully adhering to the principle of "one country, two systems".

Last week it was Li Fei, deputy secretary general of the National People's Congress Standing Committee who said this, and yesterday it was Li Gang, Beijing's liaison office director for Macau.

Li also urged the SAR not to rely so much on gambling and diversify its entertainment offerings to visitors.

"The whole community adheres to, supports, learns and promotes Basic Law," Li said. He added Macau was a place where "anyone who says the Basic Law is not good will be [as despised as] a rat on the street"... People in Macau thank the central government and thank the Basic Law."

Macau CE Fernando Chui was re-elected without challenge

Talk about putting words in people's mouths...

But also the platitudes are a strong hint that Beijing is not happy with Hong Kong's Occupy/Umbrella Movement, where civil disobedience is being played out (though they will be cleared out tomorrow morning).

Is this China's way of praising the younger brother for being obedient to shame the older rebellious one?

If you ask the protesters, especially the younger ones, they really don't care.

And it is ironic that Beijing is praising a small city that makes the vast majority of its revenues from one of the vices communists despise.

Also, this year has been one of the rowdiest to date with a number of protests in Macau over wages and in particular people's dissatisfaction with Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai-on's leadership.

Protests this May forced Chui to do a U-turn on his proposal

In May he had tried to pass a bill in the legislature that would give former chief executives a stipend of 70 percent of their monthly salary as long as they were unemployed. It would also grant them immunity from criminal charges.

Retired ministers would get a one-off payment of up to 30 percent of their monthly wage for every year of service.

But a massive protest, the largest since the handover in 1999 forced Chui to scrap the idea two days after he proposed it.

So it seems both Chui and Hong Kong's Leung Chun-ying are just as oblivious to reality in their hometowns, though Macau hasn't staged an Occupy protest yet...

Last Look at Admiralty

Day 73 at Admiralty, two days before there are plans to clear the area

A court injunction has been approved for Admiralty to be cleared on Thursday morning.

Lawyer Paul Tse Wai-chun, representing Kwoon Chung Bus Holdings subsidiary All China Express, made the announcement this afternoon.

Many visitors wandered around for one last look of the site

He did not say how many police officers would be involved, only saying he estimated it would take two hours to clear Admiralty.

That seems like an underestimate, but we shall see...

They may also clear Causeway Bay on the same day, though no court injunction was posted in that protest site.

In addition Tse asked that those who wished to keep their belongings should remove them before Thursday morning, and so they had time to retrieve them.

A lit-up umbrella

Tonight I made a last visit to the area that has been occupied for 73 days and the mood was sombre but there was still a fighting spirit among those who spoke to crowds of people scattered through the area.

Some speakers advised that on Thursday they be peaceful and not provoke the police, that there will be another time to fight again for universal suffrage. Others remarked how amazed they were that they had been protesting since September 28, that it will be something they will not forget.

Meanwhile many visitors were trying to get the last of their souvenirs -- there was a massive line for a leather bracelet signifying the Umbrella Movement, while others like myself were taking photos of anything we felt we had missed.

Since the clashes with the police on November 30-December 1, some areas were barricaded like one side of the escalator closest to Admiralty Centre, and then the escalators near the government building were completely blocked off.

Admittedly the site was looking tatty, some garbage on the ground that had been trampled on and no one had picked up, and tents looking worn. Some tents had disappeared, particularly those on the overpass, and at the entrance to the Legislative Council.

An elaborately decorated tent complete with HK skyline!

But a lot of the artwork was still there in various forms. Tonight I saw a lit up outline of an umbrella, a glittering beaded yellow umbrella next to the cardboard cutout of Chinese President Xi Jinping, and a tent decorated with drawings of people holding umbrellas with "I want universal suffrage" and below Hong Kong's skyline. Impressive.

A keyboardist was playing ditties on his electric keyboard, and a guy gave a middle-aged man a haircut while an elderly woman looked on.

People were still gathered in groups to chat, some political, others not. Some emerged from tents, while others got ready for the night. Police officers patrolled the area in pairs, mostly from the bridge between the government building and Admiralty Centre.

The past 73 days have been a very exciting though at times violent ride no one expected.

The escalator barricaded on one side

I remember standing outside Admiralty Centre on the Sunday afternoon with hundreds of other people, demanding to be allowed to go over to Civic Square to see the students who had stormed the area.

Many of the people were armed with goggles and umbrellas and they sure came in handy when the police fired tear gas at them in the early evening.

No one will forget those images, the crowds trying to shield themselves with umbrellas and fleeing from the smoke. But most impressive was seeing even more people come out into the streets to vent their anger at the police.

And then it was the stoney silence of the government that revealed its ineptness, particularly that of Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying who seemed to hide and give video messages denouncing the occupation as being illegal.

He further shot himself in the foot by admitting universal suffrage would mean the poor would have greater say in Hong Kong's agenda which added more oil to the flames of discontent.

Lennon Wall still has many visitors, not many new messages

Meanwhile the explosion of art, from satire to cartoons was unprecedented. The umbrella was quickly adopted as the symbol of the movement and the creativity was amazing to see. Everyone contributed with messages on the "Lennon Wall", to posters and pictures, sketches... the people's gallery right there for anyone to take part in.

It will be strange to see the area after it's cleared. It was nice to be able to walk around with no traffic and enjoy the space and the atmosphere. How are we all going to move on from this is anyone's guess and a lot of healing will be needed on both sides.

Nevertheless, what has happened these 73 days have been an awakening for many in Hong Kong who have had these pent-up frustrations for years and needed to express themselves.

A reminder of the climbers and their banner at Lion Rock!

We may not get more engagement with the government, but at least we now know what Hong Kong people are capable of and most importantly, they are proud to be Hong Kong Chinese.

How Beijing will deal with the city post Occupy will be intriguing -- it's territory senior officials have never tread before...

Youth on his Side

Yu Jiawen boldly challenges conventional China

Yu Jiawen is 24 years old and brash. But he can be because he's one of China's youngest internet tycoons.

He created a mobile social networking app called Super Curriculum two years ago which attracted more than 10 million mainland university students.

Last month the Guangdong native sparked an uproar last month when he appeared on CCTV's Voice of Youth where he encouraged his peers to rebel from society's expectations and embrace the internet.

He said the web offered opportunities to those who were brave and creative. But what really got viewers' attention was his boast of thinking of handing out 100 million yuan in bonuses to his staff next year.

Needless to say reaction online was swift. "Why is this little kid so arrogant?" one person wrote on Yu's microblog. "A 100 million yuan bonus for employees? That can only be a lie."

But the young entrepreneur is unrepentant. "I spoke on the show because I wanted to encourage Chinese people my age who do not have rich or powerful parents. I wanted to share my story, to let them know that we too can succeed without a strong family background," he said. "We just have to be creative and brave to catch the trend of the era."

On the show Yu explained he was born into a poor family in Chaozhou, Guandong in 1990. His parents were pork sellers, but he wasn't interested in following them and at 14 set up his first enterprise, an online social platform for local students. Two years later he sold the website for an undisclosed sum.

Then in 2012, while studying in third year software development at the South China Institute of Software Engineering, he launched Super Curriculum.

The app allows students from more than 3,000 universities in China to connect and share information about their courses, notes and other study materials. It was the first of its kind in the country and became an instant hit, drawing 10 million users. The app is now ranked fourth place of free apps in China's Apple Store.

Some venture capitalist firms have invested, including Alibaba Group; he wouldn't say exactly how much, but said it was less than $30 million.

Yu calls himself a "wild child" and demands that his employees be like him and channel their boldness to beat their rivals. He said few companies could do this because their leaders lacked audacity.

While some appreciate his confidence, others are skeptical, wondering if Yu can really be as good as his boasts.

But Yu doesn't regret what he's said. "If I had to do it again, I would repeat my speech without changing a word... Society and adults impose too many shackles on the post-90s generation. We have to have a decent job, an expensive apartment and follow various social rules. We must break free of these shackles. Only then can we be young and fearless, to have more freedom to do what we really want to do.

"The true value of Super Curriculum lies in our [potential] users -- tens of millions of college students across the country. There are millions of freshmen each year, many of whom will use our app," he said. "Our success lies in the fact that my team and I are all young and creative people and we know what kinds of apps and services the young really need. Young people will look for friends and job opportunities, pay loans and spend money through our app."

There are many post-90s young people who talk big like Yu or think they have every right to push their agenda or think they know everything.

But they are not like Yu, who backs up his audacious words with an actual service millions of students enjoy using across the country. He is entitled to say what he wants and adults should be listening to him.

However like every other person though, he too will age and it will be interesting to see how he can continue to make himself relevant in the next 10, 20 years.

Nevertheless, for now he deserves his moment in the spotlight because young people in China need someone like him to look up to and see it's really possible to be successful without guanxi. How refreshing.

HK$10M Donations for Police

Almost HK$10 million was raised for police officers, but for what exactly?

It is very interesting to read almost HK$10 million has been donated to the Hong Kong Police into a special fund that was set up in October. Some of the money was given by the public, the rest internally through fundraising efforts.

The fund was set up by two unions to support officers whose livelihoods are affected by the Umbrella Movement protests.

But what is the money going to be used for? And what is the definition of how officers were impacted by the protests?

"So far, we have received no inquiries or requests for help from anyone," said a source, adding that officers of all ranks were eligible to make donations or request aid.

A six-member committee -- half from the Junior Police Officers Association and the rest from the Police Inspectors' Association -- would assess the needs of those who applied before allocating funds, the source added. "The fund will be used mainly for providing financial assistance to the injured or suspended officers and their families," the source said.

However, not many officers have been injured (overall), and there is talk of using the funds for the seven police officers who allegedly beat up Civic Party activist Ken Tsang Kin-chiu in October.

As a result the seven were suspended, which means they can receive as little as half their salary.

"We've made it clear from the outset that the fund will not be used to subsidize the legal fees of any officers involved in court cases," a second source said.

There is quite a lot of support for the officers from the public -- those wearing blue ribbons at one point -- and so it's even more interesting to see them encourage the officers though monetary donations.

Meanwhile Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying has not said when Admiralty will be cleared, but hinted the area may be taken back by force. He warned that youngsters and students should retreat as soon as possible to ensure their safety because there will be resistance from "radical" elements...

"I think we should be prepared, both psychologically and operationally, that towards the end of the illegal occupation, there will be less people taking part and they tend to be more radical. This seems to be the pattern in illegal social movements in other countries," Leung said.

Hmmm he seems to be "studying" other movements/revolutions around the world. That doesn't mean the one in Hong Kong is going to end the same way.

There's word clearance of Admiralty will happen on Wednesday... we will watch and see...