Early BC Voters Came Out in Droves

Over 600,000 people have already cast their ballots

The BC provincial election is this Saturday, but a lot of people have taken advantage of advance voting from October 10-13, and then October 15-16. Apparently over 600,000 people have already voted today, which is considered a very good turnout.

Today was the last day of advance voting and so we went to cast our ballots at the Dunbar Community Centre after lunch.

A long line ahead of us this afternoon

We were shocked to see a long line that had formed in the long corridor, but the line was moving, ever so slowly.

A few minutes later we got to the point in the line where the poster read that we were 20 minutes away from voting, and then another one saying 10 minutes to go. Luckily for the elderly there were folded chairs available to sit on if they couldn't stand too long. We even bumped into some friends in the line ahead of us.

Finally we made it to the front, where we could see the hold up -- only three volunteers were registering voters, while a few others were milling around. 

Our photo identification was matched with the voter card and then we were formally told a ballot was being prepared for us. We were instructed to take a Sharpie pen and either fill the circle or draw an "X" and not to vote for more than one candidate. Then we were told to put the ballot in a black folder and take it to the person who would insert it into the ballot counting machine.

Personally I was surprised to see two pairs of voting booths were next to each other and not separated! In any event I brought my ballot to the guy who slipped my piece of paper into the machine that looked like a printer and a few seconds later my vote was counted, #5842. So up until the point when I voted there were 5,842 of us who had voted in the advance polls in this polling station since October 10.

Cute signs hinting the length of time

Coming out of the voting area there was still a very long line of people waiting to vote, and the queue snaked all the way down the corridor to the entrance of the community centre!

I heard yesterday there was no line at all! Perhaps voters woke up today, worried about long lines on Saturday and wanted to cast their ballots earlier; it's going to be a nail-biter of an election which is heartening to see so many people coming out already!

CE Lee's Proposals to Prop up Hong Kong

Lee promoting a green Hong Kong with his policy address

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu just finished delivering his Policy Address which clocked in at 2 hours, 31 minutes and 25 seconds, which is longer than it took 30 runners (25 men, 5 women) to complete the 2024 Hong Kong Standard Chartered Marathon.

The speech was filled with ways to bump up the economy, from developing the city into an aerospace research hub, cutting liquor taxes, attract more investment from the Middle East and Asean member states, and develop the Northern Metropolis.

Many in Legco wore green in support of policy

There's a lot of unease about Hong Kong's economy, with shops announcing their closures, people going across the border on the weekends for cheaper dining and retail experiences, and not many tourists coming back, particularly long-haul ones who spend more.

So there was a lot riding on Lee's shoulders in delivering this speech which had a green theme, and so many pro-establishment politicians sported green dresses for the ladies, and ties for the men, including the chief executive.

There were concerns about reducing the duty on liquor (priced over HK$200) from 100 percent to 10 percent. Those opposed were in the public health sector, including former secretary for health Sophia Chan Siu-chee, saying this only encourages people to drink more alcohol and will lead to more health problems; however, doctors in the Executive Council agree with the proposal, saying this will lead to people drinking higher quality alcohol.

Meanwhile Lee says Hong Kong should promote itself as an international hub for post secondary education. One way is by offering scholarships to 1,200 students enrolled in post secondary programs, and to entice students from Asean and Belt-and-Road countries to come to the city to study.

Can West Kowloon bring in droves of tourists?

But if many foreign professors have left Hong Kong because of national security fears, how will the city be able to lure students to study?

While Lee wants to promote the West Kowloon Cultural District as a must-visit landmark, and for the area to work with the Hong Kong Tourism Board to get more visitors to the district, the arts hub could run out of money by next year. Its budget of HK$21.6 billion is almost all spent, which is why Lee wants more tourist dollars flowing into the area. However, is the HKTB going to move fast enough to get visitors to the area when admission to M+ starts from HK$120, when it's free going to the Hong Kong Museum of Art...

And speaking of tourism, effective today, travelers going in and out of Hong Kong will no longer have to fill out those arrival and departure forms with pen and paper! Finally!

Shrinkflation Hitting Hong Kong Consumers

Shoppers are seeing shrinkflation in many items they buy

How is it only now that the Hong Kong authorities realise that consumers are suffering from shrinkflation, where they pay more for less volume or weight of a product?

The Consumer Council has found a number of supermarket products have shrunk by as much as 30 percent, with 16 products having price increases of up to 26.2 percent.

The consumer watchdog released its report on Tuesday and said retailers had the responsibility to let shoppers know of the changes in packaging and price.

Consumer watchdog released report Tuesday

"The council is of the view that consumers are the ultimate stakeholders affected and the party to pay, and agents have the responsibility to clearly state volume or weight changes of goods on the packaging or at the point of sale," said Victor Lam Hoi-cheung, chairman of the publicity and community relations committee.

In its report the Consumer Council chose 62 products from its "Online Price Watch" tool with volume or weight changes between January 2021 and July 2024, with products ranging from food, daily necessities and pet food.

Of the 62 products, 58 had downsized by 1.3 percent to 30 percent, and 25 items had a reduction in content by at least 10 percent.

Kellogg's Frosties cereal had downsized the most, from 250 grams to 175 grams, a change of 30 percent. 

This cereal had the biggest drop in size

Another was Tulip's Hot Dog Skinless Sausages, where the mass of the sausages dropped from 250 grams to 200 grams, a change of 20 percent.

Meanwhile McVitie's Club Orange had its price per millimetre had jumped 26.2 percent; its content was reduced from eight sticks at 176 grams to seven sticks at 154 grams, and the price increased from HK$33.50 (US$4.30) to HK$37.

Responding to the council's findings, McVitie's distributor said the price of Club Orange increased due to the rising cost of ingredients, logistics and other factors.

Shrinkflation seemed to happen a lot during the Covid-19 pandemic, but the Consumer Council only made a report about it now? While it is understandable that practically everything costs more, it is also understandable why Hongkongers are flocking across the border to Shenzhen to shop, causing shops in Hong Kong to close because they don't have enough business.

It's a vicious cycle and it's a race to the bottom that's happening very quickly...

Grocery Chain Closes in Hong Kong Adding to Retail Woes

Uselect supermarkets will be closing across Hong Kong

More closures happening in Hong Kong with supermarket chan Uselect closing all of its locations because of the city's retail slump.

Uselect is owned by state-owned China Resources Group, and its closure comes days after its health product business CR Care announced it was shutting all 19 of its shops in November after 13 years in Hong Kong.

Uselect offered many UK-imported goods

Before the 2019 protests, Uselect opened in good locations and offered things like a large selection of cheeses at decent prices aimed at expats. It was also open later so I would sometimes pop in to buy something, or look around for discounts.

The supermarket chan had 100 locations in the city as recently as last year, but when it announced its closure on Sunday, only 40 were listed. 

When the 2019 protests broke out, some protesters targeted mainland Chinese businesses, but they managed to survive through the Covid-19 pandemic too. But perhaps shoppers would rather patronise local businesses.

Other closures:

An American brand called Garrett Popcorn is closing all of its locations as well after calling it quits on Hong Kong after 13 years.

UA Cinemas has also shuttered its six theatres across the city, unable to recover after there were mandatory closures of the theatres in 2020 for 190 days. 

The opening of Abercrombie & Fitch in 2012 

Dessert shop Holly Brown that served unusual ice cream flavours and specialty coffee, closed last June, while its subsidiary Cabin Crew Coffee also closed in August last year.

Grocery chain Dah Chong Hong (DCH) Food Mart announced in March it was closing all 28 branches after 39 years in Hong Kong. 

That said, Abercrombie & Fitch is coming back! There will be two locations, in Hysan Place in Causeway Bay and New Town Plaza in Sha Tin. The American fashion brand returns to Hong Kong eight years after it left Pedder Street where it paid an exorbitant amount for rent.

Everyone wants to know -- will they be bringing back the shirtless young men too?

Controversial Conservative Remarks Before Election

Brodie is third from the left, flanked by Greens and NDP

There are only days left until the British Columbia provincial election and already advance voting has seen the highest number of people coming in to cast their vote before October 19.

It's a highly contentious election with the New Democratic Party and in the latest polls the Conservatives are neck-and-neck. Earlier this week there was a televised debate between the three parties, NDP, Conservatives and the Greens.

That 90-minute debate revealed Conservative leader John Rustad not looking confident, hardly looking at the camera and having to go on the defensive as incumbent Premier David Eby launched numerous attacks, sometimes in concert with Green leader Sonia Furstenau.

But Eby was unsettled too, having to defend his record and not having much to show for his two years in power. Rustad said that Eby inherited a province that had a healthy bottom line of C$6 billion, but now is C$9 billion in the red, and what did he have to show for it?

The sniping between Rustad and Eby made Furstenau look like the only adult in the room, using the opportunity to explain the Greens' platform.

Then on Thursday evening, the neighbourhood I reside in held a Q&A with the candidates running in our ridings. Eby is in Vancouver-Point Grey, while Vancouver-Quilchena was the left-leaning stronghold of the BC Liberals, which morphed into BC United led by Kevin Falcon.

But in late August Falcon suddenly announced BC United was suspending its election campaign which resulted in total disarray; BC United candidates were not told of the news ahead of time and didn't know what to do, and neither did left-leaning voters.

In the end some candidates were taken up by the Conservatives, but some chose to run as independents.

So it will be interesting to see who will take Vancouver-Quilchena now that BC United is gone from the slate. 

I was surprised to see a number of Conservative signs up in my neighbourhood and even more so now that the candidate Dallas Brodie has been slammed by an indigenous leader for her racist remarks made at the event I attended.

An NDP candidate fired the salvo, bringing up Brodie's comments about First Nations people who want autonomy and equal footing, those rights come with responsibility.

"When a large percentage of your people are on the Downtown Eastside, it's important that you come and take responsibility for that piece as well. It's not okay to leave your people," she said.

Wade Grant of the Musqueam Indian Band attended the meeting and recorded the video of Brodie's remarks. 

"You could tell there were people in the audience who were uncomfortable with the answer," he said, adding that, "My reaction was one of disbelief for somebody who wants to be a leader in this province."

Many people were taken aback by what she said, as indigenous people in the Downtown Eastside is a complicated issue, and the reason why people end up there are for many different reasons. 

Brodie felt the moderator had cut her off, but he said she could use time in the next question to finish her remarks but she did not.

Nevertheless, it seems most people in the room were more supportive of the NDP and the Greens, and some political pundits are anticipating an NDP minority government propped up by the Greens.

We will find out soon enough...

Last Richmond Night Market of the Year

Not too crowded but a bit chilly at the Richmond Night Market

A friend asked me to go check out the Richmond Night Market, and I can barely remember if I had gone before so a good a reason as any to check it out this evening.

It turns out she had admission tickets and the market ends this weekend so we were able to skip the very long lineup to get in at 7pm when it started. There are a few dragon decorations from the Mid-Autumn Festival, though there are a few dinosaur sculptures standing around which is a bit incongruous, but no one seemed to notice. 

California Roll in seaweed taco

Once we got in we made a beeline for the stalls serving food. It felt like the Canadian version of Ladies' Market in Hong Kong, or maybe what the Lunar New Year festival in Victoria Park used to be like, with the various stalls selling items for impulse buys and mostly deep-fried food to entice your hunger pangs.

We had some Japanese takoyaki topped with large bonito flakes that were not bad, and had some deep-fried popcorn chicken and mushrooms, both were quite good. 

At a dim sum stand I got some pan-fried pork buns and Hong Kong-style curry fish balls that were not bad. By this point we were getting thirsty and had a lemonade drink for C$7, though one could get a giant bucket of a drink to carry around too.

My friend got a California roll taco, basically rice topped with fake crab meat, a bit of mentaiko, sprinkles of sesame seeds, mayonnaise and spring onions in a deep-fried seaweed taco shell; after eating that she was full. I got a giant scoop of pistachio gelato that only had a hint of the nut flavour, but the ice cream hit the spot despite it being around 8 degrees Celsius.

The non-food items ranged from earrings and fake nails to socks, smartphone accessories and even camping gear. As it is the last weekend, some stalls discounted prices to get rid of stock, only with limited success.

A man and his dog hanging out

I was surprised to discover Richmond Night Market has been around since 2000 when entrepreneur Raymond Cheung started it at Continental Centre on Cambie Street. It's now on an empty piece of land that has a lot of electricity to power all the stalls as well as live entertainment.

As we were leaving we discovered the games section of the fair, where people had to throw rings around the necks of bottles or pick up a bottle using a ring attached to a stick. One guy with his dog strapped to his chest hung on a bar; he had to stay there for two minutes, but gave up at the 1.47 mark! 

Would I go again to the night market? Probably not, though I didn't mind spending C$45 for food and drinks to share on a chilly Friday night.

Picture of the Day: The Northern Lights Show Again

Ethereal-looking colours in the sky tonight

Tonight we were able to see the northern lights again after seeing them in May.

It turns out there is a severe geomagnetic storm happening these few days and since tonight was clear, I took the opportunity to check it out.

At first I drove to the outskirts of Pacific Spirit Park, a forest that has no lights. But while it was relatively dark, the trees were in the way!

A colleague took this in Scotland

So I drove to a park and even though there was some light pollution, I was still able to get some decent pictures, including some with the moon hovering very low.

The US-based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center says storm watches this far south are rare, so it's worth trying to see it.

The northern lights are not visible with the naked eye -- you need to use your smartphone or digital camera to be able to see it. People in the UK seem to have more vibrant colours than in Vancouver, or perhaps I need to go to a darker place?

Will try again in the next day or so!