Night Vibes Become Quiet Vibes

Not much activity happening at the Wan Chai waterfront

The Hong Kong government's "Night Vibes" campaign, with evening bazaars in various parts of the city has already fizzled out, as Temple Street is seeing far less crowds than when it started back in January. 

Originally it was launched by Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po to entice visitors and locals alike to spend in the city, but the initial wave of interest has already faded and people aren't coming back.

It seems the government has very little idea of how to promote the city, let alone the logistics of putting these events together. If they don't know how much electricity is needed to power up food stalls and prepare for adverse weather conditions, then how will the authorities be able to handle mega events?

Chan launched the campaign last September

A local businessman who asked to be anonymous was frustrated at how the Wan Chai bazaar was organised last September when the power was cut and some stalls struggled to serve hot food, while others could not collect electronic payments. 

"That's the thing, they talk, talk, talk, but have no idea how to do it," he said.

"They should hire professional companies if they want to organise a great market for Hong Kong because, from the way they handled it, it doesn't even feel like they cared."

Indeed -- the authorities haven't even bother to measure how many visitors attended "Night Vibes" or recorded feedback; Deputy Financial Secretary Michael Wong Wai-lun dismissed the need to analyse attendance numbers, saying it was more important to look at the social impact.

Perhaps it's because they just wanted to tick Night Vibes off their "to-do list" and not be held accountable for how they spent taxpayer dollars?

Interest in the night bazaar has fizzled out

But lawmaker Doreen Kong Yuk-foon said it was necessary to look at the numbers in order to learn from mistakes and improve the next time.

"These things are necessary so we can properly monitor, assess, learn from the experience and avoid repeating mistakes," she said. "If things don't work out, that's fine. It's not that we want to blame authorities for trying something new."

She added: "The problem now is that we never do any reviews, so we keep doing the wrong thing once, twice, and a third time."

Kong's other piece of advice was for the government to listen to the public.

"If you want to gain the trust of Hongkongers and increase their happiness, public engagement is very important," she said.

Unfortunately that's not what motivates government officials these days, but rather praise from Beijing. Yet another sign of how things operate in Hong Kong...

Luxury Brand Dior Postpones Fashion Show in HK

Dior has postponed a mega fashion show in Hong Kong

Uh-oh. Hong Kong's plans of hosting numerous mega events continues to deflate with French brand Christian Dior postponing its highly anticipated fashion show that was originally scheduled for March 23.

A source familiar with the company said the luxury brand decided to postpone the show due to China's economic uncertainties.

The show was to be at Kai Tak Cruise Terminal

The announcement was made on Friday, when invitations should have been sent out. Around 1,000 guests were expected to attend including VIPs from overseas, and the show was anticipated to cost about HK$100 million (US$12.8 million).

While the company claims the show is postponed indefinitely, Dior did not say when it would be rescheduled. 

Dior's artistic director Kim Jones was supposed to be in Hong Kong to present the men's autumn collection at the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal.

While the show was not going to get any government funding like the Lionel Messi debacle, the postponed fashion show doesn't look good.

Lawmaker Doreen Kong Yuk-foon was not impressed. "Why would there be a delay at such a critical moment?" she said of the last-minute delay.

"I hope the secretary of the [culture bureau] or Dior can give an explanation regarding the delay. The lack of an explanation is not good for Hong Kong. It's like Hong Kong is being fooled. This will generate a lot of speculation.

Dior's Kim Jones was to come to Hong Kong

"If Hong Kong wants to be a hub of mega events but they are all postponed or the stars don't make an appearance, who will visit Hong Kong for its events? It would be very uncertain for tourists," she said, referring to Messi's no-show on the football pitch.

Nevertheless, culture and tourism minister Kevin Yeung Yun-hung is trying to downplay the postponement.

"Large-scale events are postponed from time to time, and we continue to welcome large-scale events to take place in Hong Kong," a spokesperson for Yeung's office said.

So... what's next?

Government Union on Defence in Enforcing Hawker Rules

Kong (right) looks over Chan's paperwork

A government union has come out in defence of confiscating a 90-year-old's hawker cart and arresting a 29-year-old man who was helping her.

Hong Kong Food and Environmental Hygiene Department Staff Rights Union vice chairwoman Li Mei-siu said itinerant hawkers like Chan Tak-ching could not hire assistants to tend to their stalls. Only fixed-pitch ones can have hired helpers. 

Chan had gone to the washroom and when she came back she found the man arrested and her cart seized by FEHD. She pleaded to the officers to give her a fine instead, but they ignored her.

Chan was distraught when her cart was seized

"If she was there, she might only be prosecuted for obstruction of streets because she has a license. But another individual man with no license was doing business, that's why he was prosecuted for unlicensed hawking," she told a radio program.

"When it comes to unlicensed hawking, we always seize the tools as evidence."

Ah, playing by the book.

However she added that FEHD officers will have a "relaxed stance" towards hawkers when enforcing the rules, saying the public might have "misunderstood how we would handle a situation like this."

"Sometimes even if itinerant hawkers hire assistants to help with their business, as long as the licensees are present to man the stall, we would not prosecute them," she said.

"Some residents do not know that itinerant hawkers are not allowed to hire assistants, so they blame the department for not being humane and tend to bully elderly people."

First off, the rule is unreasonable. How can someone go take a toilet break and have no one manning their stall, or if they are, not be able to serve customers because they don't have a license?

Kong says regulations need to be updated

That's the same question lawmaker Doreen Kong Yuk-foon asked, who is supporting Chan. Kong questioned whether the current regulations were outdated and needed to be updated.

"A fixed-pitch hawker can hire assistants to help with managing the stall but an itinerant hawker cannot? I don't really get the logic behind this," she told the same radio program.

"I hope the authorities are more considerate when handling similar incidents to avoid conflicts. Honestly, how many years have they been doing this? Hawkers need to work with dignity and the government should give them room to make a living," she said.

Kong said Chan is still very upset about her cart being confiscated and is worried the chestnuts and quail eggs will go missing or go rotten.

"I just don't understand why they seized the whole cart. I doubt the officers needed to move the cart to the courtroom for prosecution and I don't believe the judge needs to physically see the cart to make a verdict."

Has there never been a previous case where an itinerant hawker was away from their stand and an assistant was caught for handling a transaction in the decades since hawker licenses have been issued? 

Perhaps this is the new "Happy Hong Kong" where the law is enforced to a T because the city's leader was a top cop...