Quote of the Day: Tung Chee-hwa

Tung Chee-hwa was "shocked" to hear a woman's housing plight - really?

Hong Kong elites are really out of touch with reality.

We have the Financial Secretary claiming that paying HK$12,000 a month for a dishwasher is outrageous, when in reality no one is willing to do this tough job and so the wage has to be that high or even higher.

And now we have our former chief executive, Tung Chee-hwa very surprised at how expensive housing is in Hong Kong.

Hello? Do we not live in the same city?

Grandpa Tung now runs Our Hong Kong Foundation, a think tank. And he said he was "shocked" when a woman told him she planned to buy a 170-square foot home for more than HK$3 million for her family of three.

"It was shocking to me -- a small flat to live in does have a negative effect on a person's dignity," he said, recalling the encounter with her when he was strolling around The Peak.

"I think people in Hong Kong are facing a difficult choice," he said. "Should we make sacrifices to have a more decent life?"

Uh yeah, but that's the reality of the situation.

These government officials (and former ones) are working for us, the taxpayers, and yet these bureaucrats are completely clueless about how difficult it is to buy a decent-sized flat.

They obviously don't visit the everyday man to see what challenges they are going through, let alone care.

And they wonder why the Umbrella Movement exploded impromptu last October?

Instead they are condescending towards young Hong Kong people, telling them to temper their rebelliousness, and that more Communist doctrine will keep them in line.

Being completely out of touch with what's really going on is going to be the Hong Kong government's downfall -- its arrogance and preference for the rich and powerful will further increase the wealth gap.

The government can very easily impose regulations on the minimum size of flats, or that developers must build a certain number of low-income flats, but it doesn't, citing Hong Kong is a capitalist society.

But we need more low-income housing for people. They need decent places to live in. Cramped quarters like what Tung said, is a detriment to one's psychological outlook.

For Tung to realize this now is sad and pathetic.

We need help now and fast.

Quote of the Day: Hong Kong's Catholic Church on Gays

Bishop John Tong Hon claims gays are like drug addicts

Pope Francis has been hinting he is more open to homosexuals in general. But the Bishop in Hong Kong is dead fast against anyone who is gay.

Cardinal John Tong Hon has suggested to his flock of 379,000 Catholics here that when they vote on November 22, they should keep in mind candidates' views on gay rights.

Tong wrote a pastoral letter on November 5, lamenting that the city's core values on marriage and family "are continually being challenged and misinterpreted" by sexual liberation and gay rights movements.

Speaking in defense of Tong, Auxiliary Bishop Michael Yeung Ming-cheung equated homosexuals with drug addicts.

"The church doesn't have any enemy and it wouldn't criticize anyone. It was only talking about a wrongdoing. For example, it was wrong to take drugs and we would say no, but we still love drug addicts."

He added Tong was not suggesting who the pastoral flock should vote for, but that it is their responsibility to vote.

Uh huh. And saying that voters should keep in mind which ones are for or against gay rights isn't really instructing them when they cast their ballot, then what is the church saying then?

Why are they politicizing the gay rights issue?

And where do they get the idea that gays are like drug addicts? Where does it say that in the Bible?

Homophobic rants don't help unite the community but instead divide them further. And is that what the church wants people to do?

Can someone please tell Tong we're in 2015...

Rallying Voters

The DAB rally supporters to vote in the upcoming local elections

I received my voter registration card the other day -- we have the District Council Ordinary Election on November 22!

While the elections in the United States are hyped two years in advance, and in Canada as soon as it is called by the Prime Minister, here there isn't much awareness for it save for hearing candidates on bullhorns giving speeches on street corners to anyone who will listen.

However, this morning on the way to Kennedy Town Swimming Pool, I walked through Belcher's Bay Park and heard clapping and then eventually saw the crowd in an amphitheatre area.

It turns out the DAB or Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, a strong pro-Beijing party, had taken over the area in a rally for its candidates.

One of them is the incumbent for my constituency, Kennedy Town and Mount Davis, is Chan Hok-fung, 39, who is running for re-election this year.

His two challengers are 21-year-old Sin Cheuk-nam of The Democratic Party, and probably the youngest candidate to run in an election. The other is Chow Sai-kit, 23, with a new party called Youngspiration, that was formed after the Occupy Movement in a tactic to try to make a difference in the political level.

Interestingly Kennedy Town is known as a DAB stronghold (maybe because of the large elderly population?!) so the chances of Chan being re-elected are very high.

But as Kennedy Town gentrifies, and more younger people moving in, perhaps it'll be more interesting to see how the voter population develops in the next few years.

Many senior voters who traditionally vote DAB may be annoyed with them for bungling the electoral reform vote back in June, when a number of them walked out just as the vote on the package was taking place; as a result the government-proposed package was soundly defeated.

So many political parties have sprouted since the Umbrella Movement that while it's great to see so many young people keen on doing their civic duty, they will be splitting the vote... did they not consider that?

Nevertheless it will be interesting to see what happens come election day -- it will be a barometer to measure people's opinions on where they want politics to go in Hong Kong -- do they want more of the same or shake up the establishment?

November 22 -- get out to vote!

First Historic Step

Ma Ying-jeou and Xi Jinping give each other firm handshakes today

The highly anticipated meeting in Singapore between Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou and Chinese President Xi Jinping has come and gone.

What came out of it? The media scrutinized every single aspect of the event, from the 80-second handshake between the two leaders and that at the dinner table, their name cards were written in simplified Chinese for Xi, traditional for Ma.

How diplomatic.

The actual meeting lasted about an hour, though they had dinner for about another hour after two separate press conferences.

It was also noted that during the photo call just before the meeting, Ma's speech was censored by the mainland's CCTV. Was it when he said, "Both sides should respect each other's values and way of life"?

The two leaders talked in a closed door session, touching on issues such as Xi's "One Belt, One Road" campaign, threats to cross-straits relations (for China it's Taiwan's independence streak, and for Taiwan it's China's missiles aimed at the island), and the possibility of setting up a cross-strait hotline to clear up misunderstandings economic integration.

How much can you discuss in an hour anyway?

It was a good start, though we're guessing not too much was accomplished because both sides still have their fundamental differences.

Still, makes great fodder for political pundits who are curious to see how this meeting unfolded.

It's doubtful this event will help Ma politically, because for the most part, people in Taiwan don't want to be closer to the mainland. Taiwanese people want to retain their independence, their ability to vote, and their way of life.

They are already disturbed by how mainlanders behave when visiting the island state and the thought of further economic integration worries them.

For Xi, this was an excellent political opportunity to reach out to the "renegade province" and quietly reel it closer to the mainland.

At least that's the plan...