A Disappearance on the Bridge

A Hongkonger disappeared Friday while at a checkpoint on the bridge

Chinese President Xi Jinping is visiting Macau on Wednesday to mark the 20th anniversary of the handover of the the city from Portugal back to China. And as with all state visits, security has been stepped up. Way up.

Friday marks the 20th anniversary of Macau's handover

So much so that a middle-aged Hong Kong man has been reported to have disappeared when he was traveling by coach on the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge when he was stopped at a security check point manned by mainland officials on Friday afternoon.

The checkpoint is on an artificial island on the bridge, which is the world's longest sea crossing.

The man's son received a text message from him saying he had been arrested at a new checkpoint set up by the Zhuhai Public Security Bureau. His family lost contact with him after he sent this message.

His son went to Macau to look for his father, but was told by local police there was no record of him entering the city. As a result the son returned to Hong Kong and reported his father's disappearance to the police.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Macau this week

The Hong Kong Immigration Department has confirmed it had been contacted by the family and is offering support.

"The Immigration Department is following up the case through the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Guangdong," a spokeswoman said. "We're also offering advice and assistance in line with the family's wishes."

The Zhuhai public security bureau revealed the temporary new security arrangements earlier this month to "maintain the order of the bridge and create a good social environment" for the 20th anniversary celebrations.

"From December 10-22, 2019, the public security bureau will set up a security checkpoint at the eastern artificial island to undertake security checks on people and vehicles from Hong Kong to Macau and Zhuhai via the bridge," the notice said.

The Immigration Department is following the case closely

Needless to say this yet another reason for Hongkongers to not take the bridge.

We hope this man will be returned to his family soon... another disappearance is another reason why people are protesting against China's encroachment onto Hong Kong freedoms...

What's Xi's Response to Hong Kong?

What instructions will Xi Jinping give to Carrie Lam this time around?

All eyes are on Beijing these few days as Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor arrived in the Chinese capital for her regular duty visit to report back to the senior leadership.

Carrie Lam arriving in Beijing today for meetings

This evening she had dinner with Vice-Premier Han Zheng, the state leader overseeing Hong Kong and Macau affairs. Zhang Xiaoming, head of the State Council's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office was to attend the dinner too. Any guesses on what was discussed?

She will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang on Monday, and again what will she say, and how will they advise her on how to proceed?

According to a report by Reuters, back in August Lam tried to persuade senior leaders to meet some of the protesters' demands to diffuse the political crisis, but it seems that suggestion was not accepted. Further reports on the story were deemed "fake" by a state-run newspaper.

Excited voters on hearing results of the District Elections

And now following the results of the District Council elections, where 17 of the 18 districts were swept by pro-democracy candidates, what will Beijing do now, not only to win the hearts and minds of voters, but also to rebuild relationships with pro-Beijing politicians?

This is certainly territory China has never gone through before, but at the same time it cannot ignore the results. It was a clear referendum on the government's handling of the protests and by extension Beijing.

So now the ball is in Xi's court. How will he play it?

Will he continue his hard line stance or will Xi finally concede and allow an independent inquiry into the police force's handling of the six-month long protests?

Hong Kong has turned very yellow since November 24

And will Lam be CE for much longer? There is talk of not only removing her, but also shuffling the cabinet which definitely needs a shake up. These government officials are living in a parallel universe with no empathy or understanding of what is going on in Hong Kong for the past half year.

The people have spoken. A response is long overdue.

Whopping Police Overtime Bill

Police are being paid almost HK$1 billion in overtime working the protests

Working as a policeman during this year's protests has been hard work. Not only is it physically exhausting chasing those pesky protesters every week for six months, but also tiring from wearing all that fancy gear...

They work long hours, but get to fire tear gas at protesters

Today the Hong Kong government revealed it has spent almost HK$1 billion (US$128.2 million) in overtime pay to 11,000 officers in the past six months. The force overall has 30,000 officers, though it claims it is overstretched and has been recruiting "special constables" from other departments like the Correctional Services Department.

The Security Bureau revealed HK$950 million was given to 11,000 officers as Disciplined Services Overtime Allowance, which amounts to HK$14,394 a month on average in overtime pay since June. The overtime pay is calculated per hour and depends on their salary level.

Pro-establishment lawmakers like Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee believe the police deserve the extra pay for all the hard work they have done, saying, "... it is only reasonable that people are compensated for the work they do. I believe police would rather society was peaceful and they worked less overtime."

Occasionally they get overwhelmed by a lot of protesters

Meanwhile opposition lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting says the pan-democratic camp will "use all means" to stop the government from paying the overtime allowance to police or give them a pay rise.

"Over the past six months, police have been involved in numerous incidents of abuse of violence and power," the Democratic Party lawmaker said. "It is absolutely unacceptable for the public that the government now requests that police are paid an OT fee with public money."

Indeed.

The pan-democrats are trying to hold the police to account in the Legislative Council by asking that they appear before the Legco Finance Committee to address their concerns.

Lam Cheuk-ting says police should answer for overtime pay

However, Secretary for the Civil Service Joshua Law Chi-kong rejected the proposal, saying this matter was not about the police force's work performance.

"Lawmakers have other channels including the civil service panel to follow up on the performance issue," he said. "We are handling a livelihood issue here, the issue of the pay scale for all of the civil service."

Pan-democrat Gary Fan Kwok-wai urged citizens to recognize the faces of pro-establishment lawmakers who rejected the need to have police attend the meeting.

"It is you who are sending bullets to police who shoot Hongkongers and create a humanitarian crisis in the city," he said.

Joshua Law says overtime pay is not about work performance

In the end the pan-democrats were unable to pass a motion to get the new chief of police Chris Tang Ping-keung to appear before the committee.

But in the meantime, let the amount of HK$950 million sink in... that's a lot of money -- our money -- paying the police to shoot 16,000 rounds of tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets, live rounds, water cannons at protesters...

Picture of the Day: Cross Harbour Tunnel Overpass

The empty overpass at the cross harbour tunnel towards Poly U

This morning I went to Hung Hom to attend the funeral of my parents' friend.

The funeral parlour is conveniently located near Hung Hom station and the bus stop for cross harbour tunnel buses. So when the service ended at 10.30am, I needed to take a cross harbour tunnel bus to get to the office.

Usually the overpass has lots of people walking across it at all hours, but this morning there was no one.

The overpass is lined with yellow water barricades to deter anyone from doing anything. But to see no one walking along the passageway was very eerie, following protesters' clashes with police in mid-November that led to a standoff for almost two weeks at Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Yesterday the campus reopened certain sections of the campus that have been cleaned up. Other areas will be opened in phases later this month and in January depending on how the clean-up goes and safety inspections.

The second semester will start January 13, though the first two weeks will be scheduled with exams that were supposed to be taken last semester, and then classes start again February 3.