Two Verdicts, One in Hong Kong, the other in New York

The UK called for the release of the 47 defendants

Yesterday there was an historic verdict in Hong Kong, with 14 convicted of subverting the government by holding an unofficial primary election in 2020; two were acquitted.

The government denounced foreign countries for criticising the ruling, calling them "malicious smears", and that western governments, as well as "anti-China organisations" to stop interfering in domestic affairs, and refrain from making "false reports".

Trevelyan said NSL stifled opposition

Meanwhile, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the United Kingdom's minister for the Indo-Pacific, described the saga a "clear demonstration" of how the Beijing-imposed national security law was used to "stifle opposition and criminalise political dissent".

She also called for the Hong Kong authorities to release all those charged under the legislation that was implemented in 2020.

"The [47 defendants] are guilty of nothing more than seeking to exercise their right to freedom of speech, of assembly and of political participation, as guaranteed under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and promised in the Sino-British Joint Declaration," she said.

"[Thursday's] verdict will only further tarnish Hong Kong's international reputation. It sends a message that Hongkongers can no longer safely and meaningfully participate in peaceful political debate."

Halfway around the world, the debate and analysis was alive and well after 12 jurors in New York found former US President Donald J Trump guilty of all 34 counts of falsifying records to cover up his affairs with porn star Stormy Daniels in the lead up to the 2016 election.

The media repeated over and over how Trump was a "convicted felon" and how this was unprecedented in American history. 

The headline of the NYT after the verdict

The jurors only took 10 hours to decide Trump was guilty, which shows the prosecution presented a convincing case that they were able to follow; they did not seem to care about the defence's concerns that fixer Michael Cohen was not a reliable witness -- he had all the documents that lined up with the prosecution's story.

Trump will make a statement tomorrow morning and there are guesses he will announce an appeal, though some legal experts believe his chances of overturning the verdict are very slim. When it comes to the upcoming election, will Republicans accept a convicted felon as their presidential candidate?

Sentencing will be on July 11. 

The attention to Trump's verdict wiped away any interest in what happened in Hong Kong, to the dismay of pro-democracy activists, while the Hong Kong government was probably secretly pleased the verdict quickly disappeared from the news cycle. 

Nevertheless there will be more opportunities to talk about Hong Kong again...

14 Convicted of Subversion

Leung (in black) was convicted of subversion today

Over two days in July 2020, the pro-democracy camp in Hong Kong held an unofficial primary to help determine who to run in its slate of candidates for the Legislative Council elections that year. It was hoped this would help increase the pan-democrats' chances of winning more seats in the legislature.

Organisers expected around 170,000 but over 610,000 local residents took part in long queues to vote in polling booths that were held in various locations in the city, including a shop selling lingerie and a defunct bus.

Diplomats attended the verdict earlier today

For that exercise, 47 people involved were arrested and in 2021 were charged with conspiracy to commit subversion under the national security law that was implemented a year earlier.

Most of them were remanded in custody ever since.

Of the 47 charged, 16 pleaded not guilty, the others pleaded guilty in a bid to receive shorter prison sentences.

After a 118-day trial, the verdict for the 16 was announced a few hours ago -- 14 were convicted, two were acquitted, but prosecutors have already announced they will appeal.

Those convicted include: Leung Kwok-hung or "Long Hair", Lam Cheuk-ting, Owen Chow Ka-shing, Gwyneth Ho Kwai-lam, Raymond Chan Chi-chuen, and Clarisse Yeung Suet-ying.

They believed they didn't do anything wrong, but the handpicked judges did not see it that way.

The convicted will be sentenced at a later date and could face life in prison.

Chan was also convicted of subverting the govt

Meanwhile, those who have pleaded guilty already are Claudia Mo Man-ching, Benny Tai Yiu-ting, Joshua Wong Chi-fung, Alvin Yeung Ngok-kiu, and Jeremy Tam Man-ho.

Before the verdicts came down, partners and parents of those remanded in custody talked about the emotional toll the trial has had on them, how they try to live each day. 

Those behind bars and their loved ones are all brave and have the courage to deal with such adversity. Many of them are young, and amazingly are still optimistic for the future.

Housing a Sweet Afternoon Treat

Fancy some afternoon tea in this house?

When my friend and I were walking along Hamilton Street in downtown Vancouver, she pointed out a row of heritage houses that I had never noticed before.

She took me into once of them, which is called Patisserie Fur Elise. On the ground floor was a refrigerated showcase with some macarons and by the windows were trinkets, many of them Sanrio items like Hello Kitty mugs and a golden retriever wearing a beret called Pompompurin.

A server asked us if we were interested in afternoon tea, but we declined, as we already had lunch and just finished a refreshing lemonade drink.

She suggested next time we could come try the afternoon tea at C$49 each and includes items like a proscuitto croissant sandwich, pork terrine cone with balsamic vinegar, smoked salmon on brioche, buttermilk scone with an almond struesel, and desserts like panna cotta, lemon yuzu tart, dacquoise and macaron.

We were also advised to make a reservation, as there are only eight seats upstairs where the afternoon tea is served.

Sounds very exclusive!

Patisserie Fur Elise

847 Hamilton Street

Vancouver, BC

(604) 684 1025

Dallas Stars has Asian Talent on Fire

Robertson celebrates after his goal against the Oilers tonight

The Stanley Cup playoffs are on and last week the Vancouver Canucks were sadly eliminated by the Edmonton Oilers, now the only Canadian team left vying for the giant trophy.

However, in the third round of the playoffs, the Oilers are wondering what hit them tonight as they were winning 2-0 in the first period and then by the end of the second period it was 3-2 with their opponents, the Dallas Stars catching up.

By the third period the Oilers tried to regain the upper hand, but the Stars clinched two more goals, including an empty netter to win 5-3, leading the series 2-1.

Three of the Stars' goals were from Jason Robertson, who scored a hat trick for this game.

Robertson looks Asian and yes he is -- half Filipino and half... Scottish!

The 24-year old is from Arcadia, California and his younger brother Nicholas was a second-round draft pick for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

There are currently four players of Filipino descent in the NHL -- Robertson, his brother, Tim Stapleton  and Matt Dumba. 

Stapleton is the first player of Filipino heritage to play in the NHL, and is half Filipino and half Irish, while Dumba is Canadian and his father's background is a mix of Romanian, German and Russian.

Tonight Robertson was on fire and it was impressive watching him play. His teammates call him Robo. I was rooting for the Oilers, but now things are looking interesting with Robertson on the ice!

Lee Kum Kee's Easy Char Siu Recipe

The char siu turned out delicious and not dry at all

We made char siu today!

The result is tender barbecue pork that isn't dried out and easy to make when you have Lee Kum Kee Char Siu Sauce (Chinese barbecue sauce).

Lee Kum Kee prides itself for creating sauces and condiments to make it easy for home cooks to replicate restaurant flavours in their own kitchens. And char siu is one of them.

Get 350g of pork tenderloin with some fat on it and marinate it with a combination of four tablespoons of the Lee Kum Kee Char Siu Sauce and one tablespoon of the brand's premium hoisin sauce.

The marinated pork loin

The recipe suggests marinating the meat in this thick sauce overnight before roasting it in the oven at 350 degrees F for about 20 minutes and then turning it over and roasting for another 20 minutes.

We weren't quite sure the marinade was that easy and consulted another one that suggested adding a tablespoon of light soy sauce and some five spice; the soy sauce made it too salty and we had to balance it out with some agave syrup and honey.

So perhaps best to just stick with Lee Kum Kee's recipe to ensure the best results!

The Library's Lovely Views

A gorgeous view of Vancouver from the library's rooftop

This afternoon my friend and I went to a book talk at the Vancouver Public Library's central branch downtown and the event was located on the 8th floor.

We were in a hurry so we took the elevator and rushed into the small auditorium and when we sat down it just started. Phew!

Hulls (left) chatting with Jen Sookfong Lee

The book talk was presented by the author and artist Tessa Hulls, who wrote and drew a graphic novel called Feeding Ghosts that talked about the intergenerational trauma that her grandmother, mother and herself experienced due to Chinese history, with themes of immigration, Chinese culture, and filial piety.

I first met her in 2016 when she was in Hong Kong to research the book with her mother, and wrote about what Hulls was doing. I continued to follow her and the book's progress on Instagram until finally last year after seven years of research, traveling to Hong Kong and China, learning Mandarin and lots and lots of drawing and writing, she completed the book.

When the book was released, I interviewed her again, in awe of what she had accomplished in weaving together modern Chinese history and how this impacted her family, as well as analysing her relationships with her grandmother, mother and herself.

It's an intense, honest and emotional book sprinkled with a few funny scenes. Hulls remarked at the talk that she felt that she had appeased her ghosts and is glad the book is done and doesn't wish to look at it again.

Lovely open space to read and think

After the talk was over and we had our books signed and pictures taken, we wandered outside and saw there was another floor of the library -- with a small outdoor rooftop area!

Called the Phillips, Hager and North Garden, it's a nice quiet outdoor area with trees and shrubs planted. Looking south you can admire the view of BC Place and lots of condo buildings!

Reading the VPL website, people are allowed to bring food and drink on the rooftop, and no smoking allowed. Also, it cautions visitors not to take pictures of others unless given permission. Fair enough.

The other day the rooftop area was closed when they found a family of ducks there and staff waited for wildlife conservationists to come and collect them and relocate them elsewhere before allowing humans to use the rooftop again.

What a beautiful space along with the 8th and 9th floors! A nice place to escape to when near the library.

Vancouver Public Library (central branch)

350 West Georgia Street

Vancouver

Instagram Eats First

Instagrammers focused on getting cool shots at the bar preview

The other night I attended a media preview of a bar opening in the basement of the Rosewood Hotel Georgia in downtown Vancouver.

The bar is cryptically called Prophecy, opened by some guys at At Home Hospitality. When they got this space, they immediately decided they wanted it to be sophisticated like New York and Chicago, so they went there to do their research... as if it was a prophecy... get it?

Inside it's a bit on the dark side, but the space is classy, not pretentious, and comfortable. It's nice to know there's live music in the evenings too -- and in our case we were treated to some jazz.

Three of the people seated with me were Instagrammers. They brought a lot of equipment with them, in particular hand-held lights to ensure they took good pictures and videos of the cocktails and food. They spent a lot of time doing this, so a guy seated at our table and I had to patiently wait until they were done before we could sip our libations and tuck into the dishes (some good, some were disappointing like the wagyu sando where they scrimped on the wagyu).

But I am grateful we had to wait because that guy and I struck a fun conversation and he was pleased to meet another writer and talk about what stories we've written, what we like to read; I even encouraged him speak to his editor if he didn't like how she edited his pieces.

As I don't go to these press events often, it made me realise how tedious they can be with Instagrammers, as they aren't critical about anything and are more focused on getting cool shots just for likes from their followers...

Messi a No Show in Vancouver

The promotional poster for the game this Saturday

Well, looks like superstar footballer Lionel Messi isn't coming to Vancouver either.

Following the debacle in Hong Kong in early February, at least host Vancouver Whitecaps FC are managing people's expectations by releasing a statement two days before the game against Inter Miami CF on May 26.

Messi and two other players are a no show

"While we haven't received an official update on the availability of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, and Sergio Busquets for this weekend, we understand they will not make this trip. Unfortunately, we have no control over who plays for our opponent, and it was important for us to communicate to our fans as soon as possible," said Axel Schuster, Whitecaps FC CEO.

"We always want our best players going up against our opponent's best players, and facing players of the highest pedigree was especially exciting for our team. We know that there will also be a lot of disappointed fans. We remain committed to making this a special experience for everyone. It is still going to be an incredible atmosphere and celebration of soccer for our city. We have amazing fans, we have a good team, and Saturday's match is a very important home game for us."

So there's going to be a lot of disappointed fans come Saturday, because as soon as the game was announced, tickets were immediately sold out, with some being resold for up to C$10,000 several months ago.

Some tickets as high as C$10K were resold

But there is a bit of compensation for ticket holders, as the Whitecaps FC said in the same statement that the club will sell all in-stadium food and beverages for this match at 50 percent off, and youth 18 and under will get a free kids meal combo.

Given the circumstances the Whitecaps FC probably learned from the Tatler Asia disaster and tried to be as transparent as possible about Messi's status. So cheer up! If you have tickets to the game, at least you can nurse your disappointment in half price food and drinks...

Review: July Rhapsody

Marital tensions bubble to the surface in July Rhapsody

Last night VIFF had a showing of July Rhapsody, or in Chinese 男人四十 "man, 40", a 2002 film by Ann Hui so we checked it out, despite the pouring rain.

Armed with a bag of popcorn we settled in to watch the movie and not being much of a Hong Kong movie watcher, it was my first time seeing Jacky Cheung Hok-yau on the big screen and a young one at that! 

He's Lam Yiu-kwok, a high school teacher passionate about Chinese literature but his students think it's a boring subject. However, there's one female pupil, Woo Choi-lam, played by then newcomer Karena Lam who has potential and a crush on him.

Lam is married to Anita Mui Yim-fong's character, Chan Man-ching, who were high school sweethearts. It transpires that their Chinese literature teacher has returned from Taiwan, elderly and frail, and Chan wants to help him in his last days. It's a source of tension between Lam and Chan, revealing the truth about the origins of their eldest of two sons.

Compared to his friends in business and the stock market, Lam makes a lowly salary but keen to prove he can afford to pay his share of a fancy dinner. 

The film reveals the mundane life Lam and his family live, reflective of most middle-class families in Hong Kong, living in cramped flats, shopping for food in the supermarket, but making enough to put food on the table and hoping for their children to have a slightly better future.

Perhaps it's because of this situation that Lam is drawn to Woo, and Lam is fantastic as this character, a confident teenage girl who has no fear in flirting with her teacher; he tries to play it straight with her, but she lures him in with her cockiness.

There's a lot of insinuation in July Rhapsody -- when the eldest son realises who his father is, there isn't much of a reaction except for crying in his pillow. What's his say in all of this? How does he feel about being led on that Lam is his biological father? He's a flat character that could have been further developed.

Meanwhile, a lot of poetry is recited in the film, many related to the Three Gorges and talking about how it will soon be flooded and how they should go visit it before that ominous deadline. It also reveals how many Hongkongers haven't been to China before, and as a result have no relationship with the motherland, post 1997 handover. 

Mui looks sad in the film most of the time -- it was her last one before she died of cervical cancer in 2003. She also looks particularly skinny... did she know at the time she was sick?

It's an interesting juxtaposition between her character who feels compelled to look after her teacher and former lover, while Woo is keen to start a business and travel to India and Kashmir to find goods to sell in her store. Is it a generational thing? Or there are opportunities if you take risks?

Perhaps there are more questions after watching July Rhapsody!

July Rhapsody

2002

Directed by Ann Hui

Jacky Cheung Hok-yau

Anita Mui Yim-fong

Karena Lam

Man Charged with Spying in UK Found Dead

Trickett was found dead on Sunday in a park

It was shocking news that one of the three men involved in allegedly spying for Hong Kong was found dead in a park on Sunday.

The body of Matthew Trickett, 37, was found in Maidenhead, Berkshire, and the Thames Valley Police are treating the death as "unexplained".

Trickett was out on bail last week, along with Peter Wai Chi-leung, 38, and Bill Yuen Chung-biu, 63, pending their next court appearance which was scheduled for Friday.

The trio were charged with assisting an overseas intelligence service and foreign interference, which violates the National Security Act 2023.

Yuen is of particular interest because he is an employee at the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in London.

As Trickett's family has asked for privacy, his solicitor, Julian Hayes said the defence team was "naturally shocked" at the news and was supporting the family "as best we can".

His death is being investigated and an autopsy will be performed  in "due course".

This only leaves more questions than answers, and the immediate one is if the court hearing will still go ahead on Friday...

HK Taxis Still Attacking Popular Uber

When will the government finally decide on Uber in the city?

It is really quite amazing that the Hong Kong government STILL has not resolved the issue of having ride-hailing apps in the city ever since Uber entered the market in 2014.

How can it be that the so-called "world's international city" has made ride-hailing services like Uber illegal?

Residents prefer taking Uber over taxis

As a number of people take Uber, they like the service because the vehicles are clean, the drivers are courteous and get them from point A to point B without the smell of cigarettes, listening to taxi drivers' rants and uncomfortable seats. Oh and they have seatbelts that work too.

Everyone is also made accountable -- the customer can rate the driver and vice versa. And the rides are paid via credit cards. Only a few Hong Kong taxis are accepting Octopus cards...

When it comes to taxis, there is no outlet to complain effectively and in a timely manner. Nor is there any kind of punishment let alone motivation for taxi drivers to improve their behavour and the condition of their vehicles.

The biggest complaints of taxis are refusing to take a potential customer, and overcharging; and why is it that they all seem to be unavailable at 4pm?

And yet the authorities seem to be at the mercy of the taxi industry. Recently, some taxi drivers have posed as Uber customers and instructing them to drop them off where the police are to get the ride-hailing drivers into trouble.

The public finds this tactic reprehensible and more annoyed with taxi drivers in general, and yet the government has not stopped them, or found a viable solution.

Taxi drivers worry about value of licenses

For taxi drivers it boils down to how much they had to shell out to buy a taxi license, which is now valued at HK$3 million (US$384,490); there are concerns that legalising Uber would devalue the taxi license.

Some say there is enough room for everyone to co-exist, while others say the government is reluctant to affect the value of the taxi licenses. Why is it that a taxi license has become an investment commodity? And we're in 2024, taxis do not have the monopoly when it comes to getting around, with the MTR, bus, tram, Star Ferry and now Uber.

The other issue is that the government officials who need to decide on this issue have not taken either mode of transport -- they have their own chauffeured cars. If they have experienced what it's like to take a taxi and an Uber first hand, then they will see why people prefer the latter over the former...

Review: They Shot the Piano Player

The documentary delves into what happened to Tenorio

This afternoon I watched an animated documentary called They Shot the Piano Player directed by Fernando Trueba, who co-wrote the script with Javier Mariscal at VIFF. 

However the film starts off with a made-up journalist by the name of Jeff Harris (voiced by Jeff Goldblum), who has a book deal to write about the bossa nova wave in the late 1950s and 1960s that influenced the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Chet Baker, Stan Getz and Frank Sinatra.

Harris is conjured up by the the director as a vehicle to find out more about what happened to Brazilian pianist Francisco Tenorio Junior, who was very much a real person. While he was not very famous, Tenorio was well liked by his fellow musicians, which is reiterated over and over in the film.

Harris is a made-up writer into bossa nova

But when he was visiting Argentina in March1976, he went out to get medicine and sandwiches in the middle of the night and then disappeared and no one knew what happened to him. And so They Shot the Piano Player is an attempt to figure out where he went.

The animation makes the story come alive with the vibrant colours and of course the catchy music that was revolutionary at the time. Trueba conducted numerous interviews that were filmed and then animated, which kind of begs the question, why?

It would be understandable to go back in time by animating them, but was there a need to animate actual people giving their side of the story in the present day? A mix of live action and animation might have been a better way to go -- it just seemed superfluous to animate the interview subjects, and see their true facial expressions, though some includes Harris in the scenes, others don't.

Nevertheless, the story is fascinating in itself to keep viewers interested in finding out what happened to Tenorio.

While he had a wife named Carmen and five children, he also was in love with a woman named Malena -- who he was with the night he disappeared. Harris points out that Carmen did not have a chance to confront Tenorio or divorce him regarding the extramarital affair, but probably worse, because he was not found, Tenorio was not declared dead, Carmen was not a widow and could not access her husband's pension.

Actual interview subjects animated in the film

The film gets darker when the documentary interviews a journalist who wrote about Operation Condor, where the United States was involved in propping up dictatorships in several South American countries, including Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay, and how Tenorio was nabbed despite not being known to be politically active.

They Shot the Piano Player ends somewhat abruptly, with Harris hoping that his "book" will allow Tenorio to remain in people's memories, that he was not forgotten.

We appreciate the effort that went into making this animated documentary, but wonder maybe some parts could have been streamlined. Harris goes to Rio de Janeiro at first to write about bossa nova, and then because he becomes obsessed with Tenorio, the subject of his book changes... couldn't it have just have been about Harris writing the Tenorio book all along?

It still would have covered the music scene at the time, but through Tenorio's life, or perhaps there wasn't enough information about him? Also his voice is never heard throughout the film, so while he is seen in the film, he is not heard which is kind of ironic.

Despite it going into tangents, They Shot the Piano Player is still a marvel to watch, transporting viewers to a bright and glorious time that sadly turned dark and tragic...

They Shot the Piano Player

2023

104 minutes

Directed by Fernando Trueba

Written by Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal

Picture of the Day: Salmonberries Coming Soon

These salmonberries will ripen in about a month

Walking in Pacific Spirit Park I see small fuchsia-coloured flowers popping up which means... salmonberries are coming!

They are native to the west coast of North America, from Alaska down to California. 

The fruits are coming out now and very green, but once they're ripe they have an orangey-red colour that look like raspberries, but are smaller and taste quite tart!

"Digital Parents" Give Emotional Support Online

Jiang (left) and Pan are "digital parents"

There is a huge response on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok on videos of "digital parents". In one video, a middle-aged couple look into the camera and talk to their adult daughter as they visit her and bring her presents, or in another consoling a student on a failed exam, or a teenager dealing with a breakup.

For many young people in China who feel like their parents don't understand them, or are not at home much or perhaps more focused on their work than their families, these "digital parents" are surrogates or ideal versions of who they want their mothers and fathers to be.

"It's very difficult for people to get the emotional support they need, so people turn to digital platforms," said Xie Kailing, an assistant professor in international development at the University of Birmingham in an interview with Rest of World. 

Pan's daughter films the videos

"It's part of the human longing for intimacy within a hyper-individualised, hyper-competitive society."

The "digital parents" are Jiang Xiuping, 48, and husband Pan Huqian, 50, and they are parents of an influencer who sells clothes on Douyin. Once she invited her father to be on her livestream as a guest, and so many viewers commented on how the father-daughter relationship was so close. 

That sparked the idea for the daughter to create videos of her parents to speak directly to the camera as if they were addressing the viewers as their children. "We don't write any scripts," explained Pan. "We are simply recreating how we brought up our own daughter."

The family has filmed various scenarios, like going shopping in a supermarket from the point of view of a toddler, and teaching a child how to ride a bike, with the camera being shaky, as if the child was losing his or her balance.

While the couple pitches products like food, skincare products and homeware which has earned them several thousand yuan or a few hundred US dollars, it's the scenarios that have touched a nerve.

"I felt like a stray cat that got picked up and kissed," says one comment that was liked 26,000 times. "Thank you for letting me know what it's like to have a mom," said another.

Some address Pan and Jiang as "dad and mom" while calling their own parents "father- and mother-in-law". 

The couple are idealised parents to young viewers

Jiang says there are children as young as 12 years old who have reached out to the "digital parents", saying they suffer from depression.

Assistant professor Xie says many children feel they missed out, particularly those from rural families, as their underprivileged parents did not have the time or financial resources to meet their needs. There is also the additional issue of not enough mental health resources in China, and the family-oriented culture, where children are pressured to do well in life to make their parents proud and support them financially as they get older, putting more pressure on both the parents and children.

But while Pan and Jiang act like the perfect parents, their real lives were not so wonderful -- they had a wedding-planning business that was derailed when the Covid-19 pandemic hit. As a result they had to close their physical shop because they couldn't afford rent.

"People are under great pressure in this society," says Pan. "We should show more empathy to all the parents."

Indeed. While Pan and Jiang might be what young people are pining for in their parents, they should not expect their real fathers and mothers to be like these "digital parents" because it's not reality. People also need to accept their parents and their situations for what they are and make the most of it. Because in the end, everyone is human and have his or her faults.

Promoting Recycled Chopsticks at YVR

Come get your recycled chopstick coasters at YVR!

At YVR or Vancouver International Airport I was surprised but pleased to see a Vancouver business featured in the duty-free gift shop.

The company is called ChopValue which collects used bamboo chopsticks and washes them and repurposes them into all kinds of products from coasters to tables, and wall panelling. 

Need a cribbage board? Here's the one for you

It's the brainchild of Felix Bock, a German wood engineer who was in Vancouver pursuing a PhD in bamboo composites at the University of British Columbia. Living in the west coast city he became addicted to sushi and realised he was throwing away a lot of disposable chopsticks. 

He had wanted to tackle urban wood waste and thought recycling chopsticks would be a good start and founded ChopValue in 2016.

Today the company has recycled some 30 million chopsticks, each week processing some 350,000 chopsticks. Restaurants collect the used chopsticks which ChopValue collects and then processes them. The company works with clients to see how they can design specific furniture or other items for them out of the recycled chopsticks.

ChopValue explains what they do

But in the airport gift shop, ChopValue was selling sets of coasters and cribbage boards. The coasters explain each one is made of 75 recycled chopsticks, and 343 for the cribbage boards.

Still it's a neat way to not only promote what the company is doing, but also showing what recycled chopsticks look like.

Review: Blue Smoke in Singapore

Crispy Iberico pork belly

A restaurant in Singapore I was introduced to is called Blue Smoke, run by chef/owner Ivan Yeo. It's located along Joo Chiat Road, on the east coast of the Lion City. Before dinner my friend and I wandered along the street checking out the various boutiques and shops. 

There were vintage shops selling clothes from the 1980s to antique brooches and jewellery, a biodynamic wine shop where the wines had no sulfites in them, and clothes made by young designers. 

Succulent miso shiitake brioche buns

At the appointed time we reached Blue Smoke, and it's a casual place with an open kitchen at the back. Yeo was there with a bandana on his forehead, as I can imagine it gets pretty hot there as he cooks with open flames and grills.

He's a maverick in that he did not come up through the ranks in the restaurant world -- instead he was in advertising, got jaded, then switched to music, and that was where he saw how restaurants and bars were run from the back-of-house point of view that interested him. Yeo had also had a taste of the restaurant business as his grandparents had opened eateries and he helped out as a kid.

Then he has an uncle who made his own beers and Yeo and his brother were interested in pairing food with these beers, hence Blue Smoke. The concept is that everything on the menu is smoked, but not in the American way of marinating for ages and then smoking it for over 12 hours. Yeo prefers to experiment with various ingredients by grilling them, throwing them on open flames and then seeing what happens.

Hands-down favourite grilled cauliflower

We tried some of his dishes and for the most part they were pretty good. We started with the miso shiitake buns, where brioche buns are cut open and brown butter spread on the insides with smoked shiitake mushrooms. They were a delicious combination.

Next came the crispy pork belly, reminiscent of the Cantonese roast pork. Here they used Iberico pork smoked over lychee wood and then roasted over charcoal, then served with wasabi sour cream to add a subtle kick and attempt to cut the oil. This was a bit too fatty for me but the skin was crispy.

The grilled cauliflower steak was arguably the best dish. It was grilled with miso butter and served over a bed of yuzu sauce and crumbled pistachios sprinkled over it for a bit of a crunch. We all raved about this humble vegetable that tasted so good.

Grilled lamb marinated with a Sichuan spice rub

Another meat we tried was the grilled lamb shoulder that arrived beautifully presented before we attacked it. The lamb was marinated in a mild spicy Sichuan-style spice rub before it was grilled over both wood and charcoal before being served with a side of wasabi sour cream. 

The wood smoked stingray steak was another winner. The fish was marinated with traditional Filipino shrimp paste, homemade sambal belachan (chillis) and then smoked over lychee wood. For me it was at the high end of my spice tolerance, but it was so good that it was addictive and I kept eating it.

Finally the highly anticipated wood-smoked beef brisket... fell flat. Perhaps we were expecting something similar to American smoked meat, but this one arrived at our table looking pale and tasted bland even though it was marinated with garam masala and smoked for 20 hours. 

The smoked beef brisket was bland and flat

Nevertheless the dessert of deep-fried Del Monte banana tempura style with a scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream helped us have a nice finish. The outer layer of the banana slightly crunchy, warm and combined with cold ice cream was just what we wanted.

In terms of Chinese medicine, Blue Smoke is very heaty! We talked to Yeo after who told us they cook Teochew or Chiu Chow off-menu dishes! He described their fish porridge which made us all salivate, but we were too full and the kitchen was closed for the evening.

This is how Yeo entices customers to come back again and now we know!

Blue Smoke

261 Joo Chiat Road

Singapore

  

Sam's Club Muscles its Way into Hong Kong

Sam's Club will extend shopping and delivery to Hong Kong

Hong Kong retailers will have massive competition coming soon, as warehouse megastore Sam's Club, owned by Walmart, will begin offering online shopping and delivery services, with free delivery for purchases over 599 yuan (US$83).

"So far there has not been online shopping for Hong Kong people. There will be a roll-out of such service with direct delivery within two months. But customers need to be a member... and memberships can't be shared with others," an employee familiar with the matter said.

The membership offers a one-year membership for two people at 260 yuan, while a premium membership at 600 yuan offers more benefits.

HKers already shop in Shenzhen for deals

The news of this retail development had some industry observers describing it as "a retail crisis".

Many Hongkongers are going north on the weekends to shop at Costco and Sam's Club already, and the latter's new service will make it even more convenient to take advantage of really cheap goods, from toilet paper to snacks and electronic goods.

The first Sam's Club outlet in China opened in 1996 in Shenzhen, and today it was 44 shops in 25 cities across the country.

Economist Simon Lee Siu-po, an honorary fellow at the Chinese University of Hong Kong's Asia-Pacific Institute of Business believes Sam's Club's new service will be a severe blow to local supermarket chains and HKTVmall, an online shopping platform.

"Sam's Club's offering is bulk purchase with cheap deals. With online shopping and delivery for Hongkongers, they no longer need to stock up food or necessities in local stores," he said.

People buy snacks, toilet paper, electronic goods

"Supermarkets and online platform HKTVmall will be hard hit. Coupled with internal troubles, this will be an aggression from abroad. I am afraid this will cause a retail crisis in Hong Kong."

He believed the only way to protect the local retail industry is to impose a sales tax.

Indeed HKTVmall has already taken a big hit -- its net profit fell 78.65 percent to HK$45.3 million (US$5.8 million) last year from HK$212.2 million in 2022.

In March company vice-chairman Ricky Wong Wai-hay predicted a fall in local consumption amid weakened sentiment.

"In parallel with the influence from the external and global economic and political environment, we anticipate a decline in the local consumer market... growth as in the past will be unlikely," he said.

It's going to be a tough road ahead for Hong Kong retailers. Local residents just want the cheapest stuff they can get as their priority; supporting local businesses has gone out the window...

Three Men Charged in the UK under National Security Act

Three men have been charged under the National Security Act

Three men have been charged under Britain's National Security Act for allegedly assisting the Hong Kong intelligence service according to the London Metropolitan Police on Monday.

The trio are Peter Wai Chi-leung, 38, Matthew Trickett, 37, and Bill Yuen Chung-biu, 63. Yuen is of particular interest because the Hong Kong government confirmed he is an office manager at the Hong Kong Economic Trade Office in London.

Yuen is the office manager at the London HKETO

They are alleged to have carried out surveillance, gathered information, and forced entry into a residential address in the United Kindom.

Yuen is believed to be a former police officer, while Wai is understood to be a city of London Police special constable and the director of D5 Security Limited, and has over 20 years' experience in the British military, police and private security sector.

Finally Trickett was an immigration enforcement officer, and also a director of MTR Consultancy, a security, surveillance and private investigation firm.

With these charges, particularly on Yuen, some countries may review the roles of HKETOs on their soil; in the meantime this latest development could further sour relations between the UK and China.

Nevertheless, pro-China experts were quick to be on the defensive. 

Lau Siu-kai of the semi-official Beijing think tank, the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies, said: "It is indeed reasonable for the Hong Kong authorities to look into the anti-China activists," he said.

Wai has police and military experience

"Britain might want to demonstrate their responsibilities in protecting these anti-China activists now settled in the country, but is this so-called information really that significant which could threaten national security?"

Meanwhile Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu warned countries against their attempts to interfere with Hong Kong's trade promotion outposts overseas.

"Any attempt to interfere with the work of the [HKETOs] in different places will be against free trade and free economy, and will be harming the economy of the countries that try to do bad things to the operation of the [HKETOs]," Lee added. 

"We will of course, do our best to protect the rightful interest and the rights that [HKETOs] enjoy as a result of legitimate officials working for the Hong Kong government, and we'll urge all governments to respect the rightful duty of our [HKETOs] in their economies."

Trickett has a private investigation firm

In the meantime, Tom Tugendhat, Britain's security minister, said Monday that the National Security Act, which was passed last year to target threats from foreign states, was a game-changer in terms of the country's ability to crack down on foreign intelligence services and hostile actors.

Currently Hong Kong has 14 HKETOs outside China, including one in London, three in the United States, and two in Canada, one in Toronto and the other in Vancouver. These offices enjoy some of the privileges and immunities of diplomatic missions.

Spot Prawns Are Back

BC Spot prawn season is on now! Sweet, juicy and plump!

Spot prawns are back!

It's that time of year when these prawns with a distinctive reddish brown body with white spots in their tails, and white horizontal bars on their carapace.

In British Columbia about 2,450 metric tonnes of the spot prawns are harvested annually, about 65 percent of which are caught in between Vancouver Island and the mainland.

Fresh spot prawns with white dots on their tails

Ninety percent of the haul is frozen and exported overseas to Asia. The rest are enjoyed here, with some sold in supermarkets, others in restaurants.

When cooked, the meat has a sweet taste and is perfect when boiled in their shells and then when the meat is extracted, dip it in some diluted soy sauce with ginger and it's even better.

The season is short, about six to eight weeks, so be sure to try some soon!

 

Will Visitors from Eight Mainland Cities Boost HK's Economy?

Can tourists from other parts of China revive HK's economy?

Hong Kong can boost its tourism numbers now that Beijing has approved visitors from eight mainland cities. They are... drumroll please...

These visitors can stay for up to seven days

Taiyuan, the capital city of Shanxi province

Hohhot in Inner Mongolia autonomous region

Harbin in Heilongjiang

Lhasa in Tibet

Lanzhou in Gansu province

Xining in Qinghai province

Yinchuan, capital city of Ningxia Hui autonomous region

Urumqi in Xinjiang

From May 27, residents from these cities will be able to apply for the Individual Visit Scheme to travel to Hong Kong and not need to join a group tour and can stay for seven days at a time.

The Individual Visit Scheme has been around since 2003 post-SARS in a bid to kickstart Hong Kong's economy. 

But will adding visitors from these eight cities help boost the city's businesses?

Does HK need more poseurs on the streets?

Tourism officials are projecting these tourists will visit Hong Kong for at least three days, meaning they will stay in hotels, but will they find the prices acceptable? They might do what others in the Greater Bay Area have done -- spend the day in Hong Kong and stay overnight across the border...

Are these the tourists who will spend money? 

Seems the Hong Kong Tourism Board has given up on long-haul visitors even though they are the ones who have the money to spend...