Government U-Turns on CNY Fairs

Flower markets will be open before Chinese New Year

 

Is the Hong Kong government really serious about fighting Covid-19? 

Today it flip-flopped on a decision to cancel the annual New Year fairs because of the pandemic and instead is now allowing to happen -- but at 50 percent capacity.

On January 8 the government announced the fairs would not go ahead, but then this evening -- at a 6.30pm press conference -- Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee said they would go ahead in all 15 locations in the city, but with restrictions.

Chan says the fairs will operate at half capacity

There will only be half of the stalls operating and a lottery will be held to see who gets to have these stalls at no charge. Those who had applied for multiple stalls will only be able to have one. 

Interestingly there will be hi-tech crowd control measures in place. Director for food and environmental hygiene Vivian Lai said each fair will be split up into smaller areas and "infrared sensors will be installed at the entrance and exit of each individual enclosed area so that the number of persons could be computed, and if the capacity is exceeded, an alert will be disseminated to the public on site, on a dedicated web page, and through radio [and] television if needed."

A "traffic light" system will be implemented at the fairs to either allow, slow or stop people entering specific zones.

When an area is full, people will have to line up in waiting areas and be socially distanced.

Gone are the politically satirical stalls... for good

This plan sounds completely daft. First of all a large swathe of people won't even bother to attend because the stalls of political parties will not be allowed to operate and thus no sarcastic products will be on sale like last year. 

Second, does the government think people are going to check a website to make sure they can get into the fair? They are either going to go and try to wait patiently, or not go at all because of this bizarre system. Any hi-tech plan the government implements always fails. May I reference you to the January 1, 2020 lucky draw online? It crashed magnificently.

Finally Chan says all flower vendors -- no other vendors, like those selling drinks and snacks -- will be tested before the fair. 

She also encouraged people to download the "Leave Home Safe" app, the government's effort for people to do contact-tracing by scanning QR codes -- if they remember to.

Will this year's turnout be like last year?

When the government first announced the cancellation of the fairs, the flower farmers were in an uproar, saying they had prepared millions of dollars worth of flowers, particularly orchids to sell. 

The flip-flop is pathetic to say the least. We would all understand if it was cancelled because of the pandemic, but now the government is pandering to flower farmers. Will people really come out to the fairs with the chance of catching the coronavirus? The government's integrity has sunk even lower...

Growing Infection Clusters in Yau Tsim Mong

Mobile testing is set up in Yau Tsim Mong for mandatory tests

 Hong Kong can't seem to get its coronavirus case numbers down with a whopping 107 reported today, and health officials are blaming ethnic minorities for the explosion of cases in the last week or so.

Of the cases reported today 28 are from the Yau Tsim Mong district -- now totaling 160 -- cover a large area northwest of the Jordan MTR station, bordered by Nathan Road, Jordan Road, Kansu Street,  and Ferry Street. The streets affected within this area are Temple Street, Reclamation Street, Shanghai Street and Canton Road.

SCMP map showing the affected area

Many of the residents who live in this area are South Asian, and don't have particularly good living quarters like sub-divided flats, and as a result many share facilities like washrooms and kitchens.

"They have many family gatherings and like to gather with fellow countrymen," said Raymond Ho Lei-ming, head of the health promotion branch at the Centre for Health Protection. 

"They like to share food, smoke, drink alcohol and chat together. If it is without masks, the risk is high. They also need to share sanitary facilities with neighbours if the living condition is crowded."

Ho's comment is culturally insensitive and assumes all ethnic minorities drink and smoke and don't wear masks religiously. Hong Kong Chinese people do this too. And they also live in subdivided flats. How are they any different? It is not their choice to live in these conditions, but this is all they can afford.

In fact one has to wonder if the affordable housing issue was considered more of a priority years ago, and shutting down subdivided flats, would we be having these clusters of infections spreading so quickly now?

Regardless, it also seems like health officials did not take the initial cases from this area seriously and only later decided the people in this area have to be tested. 

People lining up for mandatory Covid-19 testing

Since there are so many people involved, they have tried to get people to isolate themselves in the area, but residents seem to be freely going in and out which is concerning. 

Health officials are also offering free Covid-19 tests to food delivery drivers, as many of them are South-Asian. It's all a mess really.

Meanwhile on the vaccine front, the panel advising the Hong Kong government on the pandemic has recommended using the Pfizer-BioNTech jab despite concerns in Norway 33 elderly people died after getting the shot. They apparently had underlying health issues. Some 42,000 people in Norway have received the vaccine so far.

Hong Kong will start vaccinating people after Chinese New Year, a very late start compared to many other countries like the United States, the UK and Canada.

Scenic Southside Walk

An old battery at the U of Chicago campus

 

Today we played urban tourists and walked over 12k from Kennedy Town all the way to Ap Lei Chau! This is not a route most people would go, but it was time to visit the south side of Hong Kong Island.

Looking at Bel-Air in Cyberport from Victoria Rd

At the start of the walk we visited the University of Chicago campus that was designed by the late Vancouver architect Bing Thom. His signature clean lines, incorporating the building into the heritage site as well as the natural landscape was clear here.

He is remembered with a replica of his drawing carved in stone that says "Tree of knowledge" on it, referring to the campus offering an education to students and faculty. 

The site also includes a battery to hold a gun emplacement looking out to the sea. But the weapon has been long gone, and instead a large deep circular pit is left behind. 

A sculpture of a dragon boat

We then walked to Cyberport for a quick pit stop, a mall in the middle of no where, but offers a hodgepodge of food options for people living in the area. Nearby the grass at the park was downright deplorable, completely dry and dusty. 

Pressing on we walked up a gentle incline back up onto Victoria Road before it merged into Pok Fu Lam Road. We passed by Wah Fu Estate and then soon we were in Aberdeen. The promenade there is short but nice, a bit touristy with a model of a dragon boat and some bronze statues depicting life in the area centuries before that are related to fishing.

Then we found the entrance to the bridge to go further south to Ap Lei Chau and South Horizons. We made it to Lei Tung and then my friend pointed up to a giant hill called Yuk Kwai Shan or Mount Johnston to climb! I was not prepared for that with not enough water and we had already walked 12k! I also had a time crunch to be back in time to eat at 4.30pm (linner or dunch) before the restaurant closed at 6pm.

Lots of boats docked around Aberdeen

So we turned back and caught the bus back to Causeway Bay. Guess we head up to Yuk Kwai Shan next time but perhaps without the prologue of walking all the way there!

Picture of the Day: Lo Pan Temple

The Lo Pan Temple contrasts with highrises

 

Today from Kennedy Town I walked along Victoria Road and the Mount Davis Road. There are many nice flats in the area and I saw some girls in uniform walking down. Turns out they study at St Clare's Girls' School which was founded by missionary sisters from Quebec. That explains the students wearing red scarves with a maple leaf embroidered at the bottom.

Large Chinese-style grave sites at Pok Fu Lam

Down below I could see Mt Davis Road was parallel to Victoria Road and I could have kept going, but then decided to go along a highway overpass that took me to Pok Fu Lam Road. Below the overpass was a hillside with very large Chinese graves. 

Pok Fu Lam Road is very busy and pedestrians only have a few opportunities to cross the road via an underpass. The first one I went into was a maze with no signs for directions and I just chose a path to go on and ended up on the other side of the street! Later one I took another underpass to go back to the other side. 

Then there was a sign for Lo Pan Temple and I decided to check it out. I went down some stairs and saw the temple's roof, an archaic building in modern Hong Kong. Then I went down to see it and it is built for Lo Pan, the patron saint of Chinese builders and contractors.

The temple's curious jagged roof from the back

It was first built in 1884 for Lo Pan, or Lu Ban in Mandarin. He was a Chinese carpenter, engineer, philosopher, inventor, military thinker, and statesman during the Spring and Autumn period in China.

I took a quick look inside, though an elderly man was staring at me and I wondered if I should step inside and thought better not! But inside is a two-hall structure, with an unusual jagged roof and many colourful ceramic figurines decorating the roof.  

A quick walk along the neighbourhood revealed if I walked straight down I would hit Sands Street in Kennedy Town. So instead I took the long way, walking back up the stairs and continued a bit further down to HKU MTR station and then walked down Hill Road to Shek Tong Tsui.

The front of Lo Pan Temple

It was an interesting meander in the neighbourhood.