Quote of the Day: Leung Chun-ying's Twisted Words

Leung Chun-ying influences young minds about flats in country parks

Hong Kong's Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying did some major spin on some young people the other day, making us wonder if they had critical thinking skills to know he was talking complete nonsense.

At an inter-school debate competition held in Sham Shui Po -- where the media weren't allowed to attend -- Leung told the students there that the government would offer residential flats for free if it was allowed to reclaim land and develop country parks.

Excuse me?

"Assuming there was a site in country parks deemed by everyone to be of low ecological and sightseeing value, the government would build flats on the site and their selling price would be lower than that of ordinary Home Ownership Scheme flats," Leung said in a hypothetical scenario. "But the price tag would only be enough to cover development and construction costs."

What kind of ludicrous example is this? Every part of the country parks are supposed to be protected by the government, and yet Hong Kong officials are trying to make it look like environmentalists are the evil ones. And besides there's a lot of illegal construction projects going on in the country park areas and the authorities aren't doing much to stop them...

And anyway, where would these areas of "low ecological and sightseeing value" be located? Probably no where near any kind of transportation route. Why would anyone want to live there unless they wanted to be hermits?

"Would you consider buying such flats when you're 30?" he asked.

As the students said it would take too long to wait 15 years for these affordable flats to be completed, Leung added: "Even if I promised you today that the government would provide residents aged 30 with free residential flats 15 years later, the government would still need to have sufficient land to build the flats."

He further told the students, "If we are not allowed to reclaim land, level mountains and develop country parks, we would face an even bigger problem 15 years from now."

The "wolf" is at it again -- trying his wily tricks on youngsters who think turning 30 is really old.

The truth is that there are a lot of brown sites around the city that haven't been considered for alternative use, particularly schools that have been abandoned for years. Why not develop these areas? Or why not mandate developers to not only build residential flats for the rich, but for low-income too?

Leung's short-sightedness demonstrates how this administration has no vision for Hong Kong, nor any kind of creativity in its thinking.

We need someone who cares deeply for the city, not someone who twists words for short-term gains.

Picture of the Day: Nature Calls

The kid looks unfazed as he does a No. 1 in a plastic bag

I'd read lots of stories about mainland kids peeing in the MTR, but I had yet to see it with my own eyes -- until today.

This morning I was on my way to Tuen Mun, when on the train from Central to Nam Cheong, I could see a mainland family, with the grandparents looking over a boy who looked around three years old.

And then the grandparents started rifling through their bag and took a bowl and spoon out of a plastic bag, while the mother, who was sitting in the seat across came over the started undoing the child's pants.

I thought, No! This cannot be happening!

Soon the pants were down to his ankles and the plastic bag placed in front, that collected the bright yellow liquid...

Interestingly no one said anything -- the woman nearby didn't even notice -- too busy looking at her phone, while others just tried to mind their own business.

I just happened to practically have a front-row seat at this spectacle.

OK nature is calling, but I don't recall any Hong Kong kid doing this in the MTR. Ever.

Their parents would have already trained the child to go to the bathroom before getting on the train, or making them hold it until they arrived to their destination. That would teach children to make sure they do their business at the right time.

But not mainland kids.

If nature calls, then just let them go wherever they happen to be.

In the countryside this would not matter -- natural fertilizer is good anytime.

But we're in the city. In a fast-moving train.

Is it too much to ask for children of a certain age to be toilet-trained before they come to Hong Kong? Or elsewhere for that matter?

Rain, Rain Go Away!

Yesterday Hong Kong had so much rainfall -- and of course it would hit the hardest during the evening rush hour.

It took me an hour and 15 minutes to get from Taipo to Causeway Bay on our company shuttle, that usually takes 45 minutes on a good day.

There was so much rain yesterday, that it was measured to be a month's worth of precipitation in less than 24 hours. 

The Hong Kong Observatory measured 44.6mm of rain on December 9, almost double the 26.8mm average of monthly rainfall measurements since 1981.

"The rainfall was caused by an upper air disturbance, which spread across our territory yesterday... but it's not uncommon in December to have such rainfall," he said.

Hmmmm I don't quite remember it being this bad...

Apparently the observatory is forecasting more roller coaster weather in the next few days, with temperatures going up in the next few days before plunging again on Wednesday.

No wonder it's hard to figure out what to wear in the morning these days!

Hawker Stalls to Make Way for Food Trucks

Will we soon see food trucks inspired by the movie Chef in Hong Kong?

A few months ago our ever thoughtful Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah came up with the brilliant idea of Hong Kong having food trucks after watching the comedy Chef starring Jon Favreau and Sofia Vergara.

It's about a down-and-out chef who realizes his dream of making Cuban sandwiches that are a hit in Los Angeles. And during this journey he teaches his son his passion for food and rekindles his love for his ex-wife.

The food truck idea came from official John Tsang

What a perfect ending.

But food trucks in Hong Kong?

We already have local hawker food. Well, we used to have a vibrant hawker food scene until the government decided to clamp down on the stalls for fear of hygiene issues. The authorities stopped issuing dai pai dong licenses and so they are dying out because the next generation isn't interested in such hard work, nor can these licenses be sold either.

And also last month the Michelin guide introduced a list of street food places and now some are reportedly under threat of greedy landlords who want to raise the rent to squeeze more profits out of them.

So why doesn't the government scrap its food truck idea and instead revitalize areas for hawker stalls and be the landlord so that the rent is controlled and everyone -- locals and tourists -- not only get authentic cuisine but at value for money prices!

What a novel concept!

Can you imagine food trucks parked right here in Wan Chai?

Oh wait -- maybe that's too complicated for the government to understand.

So instead we'll be stuck with food trucks in bizarre locations like by the ferry piers in Central, Bauhinia Square in Wan Chai, Ocean Park and Disneyland, serving "gourmet" food at expensive prices. That's because the operators need to shell out at least HK$600,000 for a food truck and they need to make a profit too.

Just boggles the mind how our senior officials come up with such ideas. And they are supposed to be working for us, the taxpayers...