I was going to write that Hong Kong was the last place on earth to mandate using a Covid-19 tracking app, but just a few hours ago the government has decided residents don't need to scan the dreaded QR codes everywhere they go, but must show their vaccination records at restaurants.
Not only that -- when people arrive in the city and test negative, they are free to go anywhere they wish -- no more getting takeaway food and staying at home for three days.
The Hang Seng Index immediately shot up to over 19,000 points upon news of the announcement.
Lo looks silly for defending the unnecessary app |
Christmas and New Years is going to be bustling business for Hong Kong, but restaurants and retail have been badly battered by the last three years, some barely surviving, others going gangbusters.
Now the next question is when the border between the mainland and Hong Kong will reopen, and at this rate one may assume before Chinese New Year (January 22).
Another person desperately trying to show his faithfulness to Beijing is Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung. He accused Google of "double standards" when the tech giant refused to ensure the Chinese national anthem is at the top of the search result following several blunders in international rugby matches where they played the 2019 protest song Glory to Hong Kong instead of the Chinese anthem, March of the Volunteers.
Tang insists that Google obey HK government |
Why not spend money on buying adverts on Google then? The Hong Kong Tourism Board has been desperately throwing money around to promote the city as being back in business...
Or as activist investor David Webb has suggested, as Hong Kong has its own flag and currency, why not give the city its own anthem?
Tang's flogging a dead horse -- time to move on. No one is listening.
Meanwhile it is heartening to hear the former editor-in-chief of the now defunct Stand News is out on bail after being remanded in custody for almost a year on sedition charges.
Ex-Stand News chief editor now out on bail |
However his travel documents were suspended and he is not allowed to give media interviews.
His lawyer, Senior Counsel Audrey Eu Yuet-mee said in court that Chung would not be a flight risk as his wife, Chan Pui-man was also remanded in custody regarding the now defunct Apple Daily on charges of collusion with foreign forces.
Chung's colleague, former acting editor-in-chief Patrick Lam Shiu-tung, 35, and Stand News' holding company Best Pencil (Hong Kong) Limited are accused of conspiracy to publish seditious publications. Lam was granted bail last month.
But things are getting worse for Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, founder of the defunct Apple Daily.
Lai's NSL trial not until September 2023 |
He was sentenced to 69 months (five years and nine months) and a HK$2 million fine for breaching a commercial lease contract that somehow has morphed into criminal fraud.
Not only that, he has received word that his national security trial won't be heard until September next year, as the Hong Kong government is waiting on Beijing for an interpretation of legislation on whether Lai is allowed to have foreign representation in court.
Meanwhile his son Sebastien, who is based in Taiwan, is calling on the UK government to take action, as his father is a UK national.
"My dad is a British citizen who has done nothing wrong. I call on the UK Government to take urgent action to protect my dad immediately and secure his freedom. The UK must do all it can to stop this, and do it now," he wrote in a statement.
Unfortunately Lai is at the bottom of the UK government's to-do list but will Lai make it through mentally and physically? Not everyone has his patience and determination.
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