Tumultuous Start in Legco

Yau Wai-ching displays a banner before taking her oath -- but was rejected

If today's swearing-in of the legislators is a sign of Hong Kong in the next four years, it's going to be a rocky one to say the least.

As promised, some of the localists, Youngspiration's Sixtus "Baggio" Leung Chung-hang and Yau Wai-ching were rejected when they each had a blue banner with an outline map of the city that said "Hong Kong is not China".

Legco secretary general Kenneth Chen Wei-on pointed out what was written on the banner went against the oath the lawmakers had to take and also criticized the way both Leung and Yau pronounced China as "Cheena". Yau was asked to retake the oath two more times and even said "the people's re-f***ing of cheena"...

Sixtus "Baggio" Leung wears the banner and is rejected too

Another localist, Lau Siu-lai added a mini speech before taking her oath:

"I will walk with Hong Kong people, link up the inside and the outside of the legislature, and resist the autocratic regime," she said. "We must live in truth and integrity, and break the coldness and timidity of our society. We must also seek hope in the dark, and open the path of democratic self-determination. We must topple the high wall, and determine for ourselves and strengthen ourselves."

It took her eight minutes to read out her oath, pausing five to eight seconds between each word. Pro-Beijing lawmaker Junius Ho Kwan-yiu called out, saying her approach was "stupid".

Then when Nathan Law Kwun-chung had to take the oath, he demanded Chen explain why the three localists before him were rejected and had to take the oath again, but Chen refused to answer, saying it was time to take a break.

All the localists will have to retake their oaths again next week, but they were also trying to delay the vote of Lego president, but to no avail.

Andrew Leung was voted in as Legco president, but not by all

The front runner was pro-Beijing lawmaker Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen, but there were questions days before about his nationality because he was carrying a British passport.

Today he announced that the paperwork to rescind his citizenship was underway, but had no physical proof that he was not British anymore, and thus the tactics to try to delay the vote for Legco president.

However through political manoeuvering, Leung was voted in 38 to 0, with the localists ineligible to vote and pan-democrats ripping up their ballots in protest because they felt Leung's citizenship status was not clarified.

Many lawmakers also feel that when Leung was acting president, he operated more like a dictator. But it seems like the matter is done and now we have a Legco that is even more divided than before.

But this is what the people wanted in the election...

Which is probably why in other news, one in four people are looking to emigrate from Hong Kong, with one in 10 already moving towards that goal.

Can we not find some kind of middle ground and get things done for the best interests of Hong Kong? Or will today be an indication of what every Wednesday will be like in Legco for the next four years?

Who do You Swear Allegiance to?

Tomorrow legislators swear allegiance to the HKSAR... or won't they?

Tomorrow the newly elected legislative councillors will begin their first day in office by taking the oath in the Legislative Council. Article 104 of the Basic Law says oath-taking legislators must swear to uphold the Basic Law and allegiance to Hong Kong as a special administrative region.

However there are fears some of them, especially the localists, may give their own version of the oath, and the Hong Kong government has already warned that any deviation may result in losing their Legco seats.

"Legislators must take their oath in a manner and form that is lawful," the government said in a statement on the eve of the first meeting of the new Legco.

Sixtus "Baggio" Leung plans to do his own version of the oath

"If a member swears his or her oath in a manner or form that is inconsistent with the ordinance... the oath offends the Basic Law and will therefore be unlawful and of no legal effect," the statement read.

"Any person who declines or neglects to take an oath duly requested which he or she is required to take shall vacate office or be disqualified from entering it."

The government stressed taking the oath was a "constitutional requirement" and the form of the oath was prescribed by the Oaths and Declarations Ordinance.

Despite the warning, Sixtus "Baggio" Leung Chung-hang from Youngspiration was defiant.

He said he still planned to get around the rules by still fulfilling the oath requirements and standing up for what he believed in.

But fellow activist Eddie Chu Hoi-dick didn't want to make much fuss. Chu obviously has other battles to fight than over the wording of the oath.

Ta Kung Pao (front) warns punishment if not following rules

The pro-Beijing side will be carefully watching the proceedings tomorrow and if they feel anyone has violated the oath will bring it up with the Legco secretariat.

Ta Kung Pao, a pro-Beijing newspaper also hinted consequences if the localists didn't follow the rules.

"No one should underestimate the central government's determination in getting rid of 'Hong Kong independence'," the report quoted an "authoritative source" as saying.

However, many believe the localist legislators would not want to jeopardize their hard-earned seats over the wording of the oath.

So we'll have to see how it goes tomorrow, but it sounds like one side is trying to vilify the other before things have officially started.

Cracks in Heung Yee Kuk?

Heung Yee Kuk chairman Kenneth Lau will be sworn in as a lawmaker...

Are we seeing weakness in the notorious rural force known as Heung Yee Kuk?

Its chairman, Kenneth Lau Ip-leung was elected uncontested last month in the Legislative Council elections, and he will take the oath of office on Wednesday.

It was suggested in their internal meeting that 10,000 rural villagers show up to Legco to demonstrate their support for Lau, but now that has drastically been scaled back to a few hundred at most.

While Li Yiu-ban, a kuk ex-officio executive councillor who is helping to organize the rally, says it's better to have less people at Tamar because it "may cause inconvenience to others", others say Lau isn't taking a strong enough stance on rural issues like his father, Lau Wong-fat, who stepped down for health reasons after running the kuk for 35 years.

... and so will Eddie Chu (left) who exposed the kuk's violations

The rally was also meant to protest against incoming legislator Eddie Chu Hoi-dick, who has single handedly exposed kuk members bullying the Hong Kong government in the Wang Chau development in Yuen Long.

The Wang Chau site is a brownfield site the government had wanted to take back to build some 17,000 flats, but some kuk members are using it -- and profiting from it -- and refuse to hand it back, forcing the authorities to retreat and instead develop a green-belt area nearby and evict residents of three villages.

This whole fiasco has made the kuk realize they need to revamp their image and plan to hire a public relations firm to help them.

While the Basic Law protects the traditional rights of indigenous rural residents, rural leaders says it should include hillside burials, the right to build small houses and exemption from government rent.

Perhaps the strongman days of Lau Wong-fat are over?

At the same time there is no official figure on the number of indigenous residents in Hong Kong who can trace their male ancestry back to residents of the New Territories in 1898, though some rural leaders estimate it could be at least 300,000 of them.

So while the Heung Yee Kuk wants to put a positive spin on its image, who is going to believe it?

Peter Lam Yuk-wah, a public relations consultant, said rural leaders should give up the idea of a PR campaign to get people to accept their views and instead be prepared to make compromises.

"A campaign is more than forcing your views on others. There will be feedback. And how are you going to deal with that feedback is more important. Otherwise, you can make things worse," Lam said.

Perhaps members of the kuk need to realize Lau Wong-fat's strongman days are long gone and the only way to repair the PR damage is to do the right thing and return the land to the government...

One Less Deli in NYC

This famous New York deli will be closing its doors on December 31

The news came over a week ago but only now do I have time to write about it -- Carnegie's Deli in New York City is closing at the end of the year!

The second generation owner, Marian Harper Levine decided it's time for a break and announced the news to her staff on September 30.

"At this stage of my life, the early mornings to late nights have taken a toll, along with my sleepless nights and grueling hours that come with operating a restaurant business... I'm very sad to close the Carnegie Deli but I've reached the time in my life when I need to take a step back," she told the New York Post.

Inside the walls are covered with framed pictures of celebrities

While most locals didn't dine there -- it's mostly filled with tourists -- New Yorkers are sad to see the 79-year-old institution close soon.

Granted I have only been there once a few years ago when my New Yorker friends took me there for lunch, it was quite the dining experience.

The entrance is narrow and packed with customers. On the walls are framed pictures (some signed) of almost every celebrity you can think of from the Western hemisphere through the decades.

Inside the restaurant is quite deep and we sat near the back, with hardly any space between tables. We saw the very tall pastrami sandwiches and thought we could share, but there on the menu it warns customers are not to share and if they do, they will be charged more. There was also a minimum charge of US$12.50.

Enough pastrami for you? That's only half a sandwich!

This is the first I've heard of it and what's wrong with sharing?

In the end the three of us had two half sandwiches to doggie bag for dinner. The pastrami sandwiches were more on the fatty side, though I quite liked the matzo ball soup (the size of a tennis ball) in chicken broth.

If we could have shared the stacked sandwiches, we would have ordered dessert too. But the surly waiter (he was Chinese American!) was impatient and seemed to want us out of there so once we were finished eating, it was time to vamoose.

While Levine plans to keep the business going by licensing the name with outlets and products, it won't be the same without its New York eatery.