Singapore-HK Travel Bubble Off Again

 

In November the travel bubble was postponed, and now again

The Hong Kong-Singapore travel bubble is on hold -- again.

Today it was announced the arrangement where Hong Kong and Singapore travelers would not have to quarantine in each destination was called off due to the rising number of cases in the Lion City.

In the past week Singapore reported 42 cases, including 11 on Monday, which went over the threshold for holding the travel bubble. The city has banned dining in at restaurants, and limited social gatherings to two people in a bid to contain the virus.

Singapore saw a spike in cases this past week

Originally the scheme was supposed to happen on November 22, but it was cancelled the day before when Hong Kong went through a fourth wave. Now both cities have caused postponements.

Those who were keen to travel were booked for the first flight that was planned for May 26, but now will have to wait until at least June 13 to see if the travel bubble will be back on.

Nevertheless, Hong Kong officials said in a statement that both governments remain "strongly committed" to launching the scheme "in a gradual and orderly manner".

"The two governments will continue to closely monitor the epidemic situation in both places, including the effectiveness of the enhanced anti-epidemic measures introduced by the Singapore government, which has taken effect from yesterday (May 16) and would last till June 13," the statement said.

"During this period, both sides will continue to maintain communication, exchange relevant data and statistics, and review developments closely before deciding on the way forward."

HKers would rather go to China, not Singapore

Tommy Tam Kwong-shun, chairman of the Society of IATA Passenger Agents, a coalition of the largest travel agents in Hong Kong, estimated about 4,000 travellers from both cities were affected by the travel bubble busted again.

"The bubble is fragile," he said. "Singapore is not the biggest tourist destination for Hong Kong people, after all the industry is more keen on having a travel bubble with mainland China or Macau."

He urged Hongkongers to get vaccinated to help make the cross-border travel bubble a reality.

And watching the spike in cases in Taiwan should also be another wake-up call for people to realize that the best way to control the pandemic is to protect themselves by getting the jab. We cannot keep borders shut down forever...

 

Govt Overwhelmed by Trade Union Applications

Trade Unions were set up following the 2019 protests

 

Following the 2019 anti-government protests, people found another way to voice their disappointment with the authorities by forming trade unions.

Under Article 27 of the Basic Law, Hong Kong residents have the freedom of association, and the right and freedom to form and trade unions.

So now the Labour Department's Registry of Trade Unions is overwhelmed in processing the number of applications it has received.

Law warns trade unions must follow the law

In 2018 there were 16 applications, and then a whopping 1,578 in the first quarter of last year. Currently there are 1,140 registered trade unions as of the end of last year.

Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi-kwong admitted 80 percent of the 4,289 applications or 3,450 had yet to be processed.

"We can't mobilize 100 times more manpower to handle the tsunami-like increase in applications. We can only work in the middle ground by reorganizing limited internal resources," he said. "But we will step up law enforcement to ensure every union abides by the Trade Unions Ordinance."

That's because previously conventional unions proposed economic demands, but now many new groups have called for an investigation into alleged police brutality against protesters, and to defend the city's rights and freedoms.

However, some of these unions became inactive after the national security law was passed in late June last year amid fears of government retaliation.

Health workers demanded China border be shut

The labour minister noted 247 applications were withdrawn last year.

Law warned the organizations must stick to the city's laws or face the consequences. 

"When registered unions breach the Trade Unions Ordinance, the Registry of Trade Unions will follow it up and will not rule out cancelling the affiliation," he said.

Ironically this coming from someone who used to be a member of the Democratic Party who was appointed by the government.

Guess once you go to the dark side you can't go back...

Vaccine Hesitancy Drags HK Down

About 17 percent of Hongkongers have gotten at least one jab

 

It is shocking to discover less than 30 percent of full time staff at the Hospital Authority have gotten the vaccine for the coronavirus.

The authority's chairman, Henry Fan said on RTHK that around 24,000 staff members had been vaccinated, 70 percent of whom got the BioNTech jab. He said this was in spite of the authority offering half days off and shuttle buses to vaccination centres.

HA admitted less than one-third staff vaccinated

Tony Ko, the authority's chief executive, also said on the same program that while Hong Kong's case numbers are very low, he warned the vaccines had a limited shelf life.

"Of course we know some of the vaccines -- in particular in Hong Kong, the BioNTech -- they've got a limited time when the vaccines are more effective. So I think it is very important that both the public, and of course our colleagues as well, receive the vaccination as soon as possible."

According to government figures, only 17 percent of the city's population have at least one dose of the vaccine. 

One of my younger relatives received his second jab today and is so far feeling well. He managed to persuade his colleagues to get it, after they saw that he wasn't dead yet. Seriously? 

While his colleagues are half joking, getting vaccinated is not to be taken lightly.

Today Hong Kong recorded its first local infection with an unknown source in seven days, while Taiwan is seeing an outbreak of some 180 cases. Singapore's flareup threatens the upcoming travel bubble with Hong Kong set for May 26, while India's situation is out of control and absolutely tragic.

Getting the jab means avoiding tests, quarantine

Isn't that news enough to urge people to get vaccinated?

Unfortunately not.

The argument of getting at least 70 percent of the population immunized to create "herd immunity" is not of interest to them either -- they would rather be the 30 percent not getting the jab, except that they make up over 80 percent of the population.

Excuses abound with hardly any rational reasoning, that the vaccine was developed too quickly, some have serious side effects after getting their shots, or they weren't planning to travel anyway.

People younger than me claim they need to do a health check beforehand is overboard, and it doesn't help that some doctors aren't willing to give definitive advice to their patients to get the jab in case they have an adverse reaction to the jab.

Giving logical explanations doesn't move these vaccine skeptics either, that top infectious disease experts like Yuen Kwok-yung, David Hui Shu-cheong and Ben Cowling have taken the BioNTech jab and recommended it, or that the more people get the vaccine then more restrictions can be lifted, or that getting vaccinated allows them to travel again.

Even the prospect of travel doesn't sway people

The non-vaccinated group is completely unmoved. 

An acquaintance thinks it all boils down to selfishness, that while people were willing to don masks from the beginning of the pandemic, it wasn't to protect the rest of the community, but rather to protect themselves.

Even the argument that more vaccinations will help Hong Kong's economy get better isn't of any interest to them which is strange when people are obsessed about stock and property prices. An even stronger argument of being vaccinated avoids a longer period in the quarantine camp barely moves them to get the jab.

The only good thing is that the number of vaccinations can only go up, though at a much slower rate than we hoped.

Jimmy Lai's Assets Frozen

National security police have frozen Lai's personal assets

 

Around dinner time tonight the Hong Kong government announced the national security police have frozen nearly HK$500 million (US$64.3 million) in personal assets belonging to Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, the first use of such powers under the new law.

The frozen assets include all 70 percent of Lai's shares in Next Digital as well as his holdings in three other firms. 

Next Digital shares fell to 19 cents today

Based on the company's market capitalization of HK$490.3 million, Lai's 70 percent stake is worth HK$343 million.

The police issued the letter regarding the freezing of assets to Next Digital which publishes Apple Daily and its auditors of the move, which came at the end of trading day. Next Digital shares closed down 2.11 percent at 19 cents.

"Apple Daily will be published as usual tomorrow. Don't forget to get a copy," the paper's editor-in-chief, Chan Pui-man, wrote on Facebook on Friday.

Meanwhile chief executive of Next Digital, Cheung Kim-hung, reassured staff earlier in the week on Tuesday.

"We won't shut [Apple Daily] down because it is in a dangerous situation. No, definitely not, I can assure you this will not happen."

CEO Cheung says Apple Daily will continue

The latest news comes as earlier in the day Apple Daily Taiwan announced after 18 years it would stop publishing a print version of the paper, citing readers' consumption of news has changed, and continued operating losses due to low advertising revenue.

It seems Lai may have prepared for this moment if there are pledges the paper will continue to operate.

He is currently in jail, sentenced for 14 months for organizing and taking part in two unauthorized assemblies during the anti-government protests in August 2019.

Last December he was charged by the national security police for "colluding with foreign forces to endanger national security", a crime, if convicted can lead to a life sentence. He was indicted on two other charges last month.

One can expect a repeat of last August when lot of people woke up early to get a copy of the Apple Daily. For the average Hongkonger, this is one of the last ways they can support the paper, a proxy for the city's press freedom.

Expect a lot of people to buy the paper tomorrow

If and when Lai is convicted of breaching the national security law, his assets that are currently frozen, can be by law confiscated by the government. 

HK$500 million is no chump change...