Maria Ressa Warns Democracy is Fragile

Ressa (left) shared the stage with CBC anchor Arsenault

Last night I had to opportunity to listen to journalist and Nobel Laureate Maria Ressa speak at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

Held at the Chan Centre for Performing Arts, the almost sold-out audience gave her a standing ovation as she walked on stage, and she was so excited by the warm reception.

It's not easy to have Ressa come half way around the world, when she still has charges in court to fight; Ressa explained to CBC host Adrienne Arsenault that every time she wants to travel, she has to ask the courts for permission.

The talk was held at UBC in Vancouver

She didn't explain whether all her travel requests are granted or not, but we were thrilled to have the democracy activist and tech geek on stage.

The first time I heard Ressa speak was in 2018 at the SOPA or The Society of Publishers in Asia, where I received an Honourable Mention for my story. As the keynote speaker, she talked about her media company Rappler and how they use Facebook to disseminate their stories.

However, they found there were opposition voices on the social media site, proxies that would spread disinformation about their stories on Facebook, and those posts got more attention, thanks to algorithms. This created distrust in Rappler, and media in general. It was frightening to hear.

While Ressa and her Rappler team have been able to systematically analyse how this all happened, things have gotten substantially worse in the virtual world, as she outlined in last night's lecture.

Through her powerpoint presentation, Ressa showed how the opposition created horrible memes of her -- putting her face on top of a scrotum -- and showed us the image -- though she joked that her skin wasn't that dry.

The intensity of the personal attacks have gotten worse, and her team has found that it is particularly bad for female journalists, and even worse for female journalists of colour.

Ressa's 2022 book

She also talked about how seeds of disinformation are planted years in advance in social media, and then constantly repeated; once a real event happens, those bogus seeds quickly sprout and spread online like wildfire and it's near impossible to rectify the situation.

Why is this all important? Ressa believes facts, truth and justice are crucial in a democracy. When you have the facts you have the truth, and when you have the truth, you can pursue justice.

However, why is it that over 70 percent of countries today have authoritarian governments? And just south of us, Ressa noted that Donald Trump has turned the United States into a dictatorship within his first 100 days in office. She said former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte did it in six months.

Sounds chillingly familiar to Hong Kong after the national security law was enacted in 2020.

In the case of Trump, he has managed to sideline the media, senate and judiciary, and use social media to promote his policies without any checks and balances. He signed 142 executive orders in 100 days; in his first term he signed 220 EOs.

Already in the first term Trump discredited the media, saying they were fake news. Now he just disseminates his thoughts on his own social media platform, Truth Social.

Ressa asks why Canada has not built its own social media platform! Why rely on tech bros like Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk to spread journalistic stories online? They had prime time seats during the inauguration! 

Zuckerberg removed fact checkers from Facebook too, and refuses to allow people to post legitimate media stories online. What we are left with are opinions of people that are without integrity.

More people joining No Kings protests

But there is some optimism. Ressa says the No Kings protests are getting bigger each time. she cited Harvard political scientist Erica Chenoweth's research that it takes around 3.5 percent of the population actively participating in protests to ensure serious political change.

Last week some 8 million Americans took part in the latest No Kings protests in all 50 states; perhaps the next one will galvanise 12 million people, or 3.5 percent of the US population...

Ressa says we are lucky in Canada to still have democracy... do we? She warns us to be vigilant and to stand up to things we believe are wrong, otherwise it will be normalised.

Many in the audience bought a copy of her 2022 book, How to Stand Up to a Dictator, and they quickly lined up after the talk, waiting for her to sign their copies.

A Very Chinese Time in People's Lives

Jellycat's red plush horse with a golden mane 

Everyone's getting into the Year of the Horse -- Snoopy, Mr. Men, Sesame Street's Elmo, Miffy, Paddington Bear, even Jellycat issuing a red plush horse with a golden mane.

Are they all in a "very Chinese time in their lives", or Chinamaxxing? 

Or is it all a marketing ploy to appeal to Chinese fans that they are wishing them all the best in the Lunar New Year?

In some ways it's amusing to see non-Chinese recently discovering the benefits of drinking hot water, or demonstrating that they know to take off their shoes once they enter a home, and these days posting on social media, "Kung Hei Faat Choy"!

Snoopy celebrating the new year

It's great people are more accustomed or accepting of Chinese habits, but it doesn't make them experts on Chinese culture overnight.

It was brought to my attention that a guy from San Francisco on Facebook was explaining or maybe "mansplaining" that people should say "Lunar New Year" instead of "Chinese New Year" to make it more inclusive, as people from Korea, Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia also celebrate. 

He even talks about how this year is the "Fire Horse", elucidating about the five elements of water, wood, metal, fire and earth, and that a "Fire Horse" only comes around every 60 years...

Hence Chinamaxxing or being in a "very Chinese time in my life" is so bizarre. The latter assumes that one is Chinese for a period of time, unlike say ethnic Chinese who are Chinese their whole lives.

The former are those who look at all the cool things about China -- electric cars, high-speed rail, online payments, AI and Shein, without taking into account or even knowing about, say, the lopsided ratio of men to women, the high unemployment rate for fresh grads, and the restrictions of living in an authoritarian environment.

Elmo with his Korean and Chinese friends

All this just only a few years after China finally lifted its draconian lockdown measures to control the Covid-19 virus from spreading. People were literally sealed in their own apartment units, while everyone else got bags of food delivered to them, and people queuing up and opening their mouths to have their saliva swabbed.

And now China is super cool?

Quite the transformation, but now that Canadian and UK passport holders can travel to China visa-free until the end of the year, it would be great for people to see the country for themselves and then figure out of they really are Chinamaxxing.

If anything, they would be able to legitimately say their visit was a "very Chinese time in their life."

What is Enshittification and What to Do About It

Doctorow (right) at the Vancouver Writers Festival tonight

The Vancouver Writers Festival started earlier this week that features over 85 events talking books with authors, workshops for aspiring writers, and encouraging kids to read and write more.

I just came back from a book talk with Cory Doctorow, Canadian journalist, author of fiction and non-fiction and activist in the tech realm about his latest work called Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What To Do About It.

He is quite the prolific person, who says his anxiety keeps him up and so he channels that nervous energy into producing a lot of work. In 2020 alone he published four books. What was I doing in that same period?!

The crowd at the Arts Club Theatre in Granville Island was all excited to hear what he had to say and you really had to focus because he said so much because he added context and explanation to be able to answer questions or expand on an idea.

While he and the moderator sat on stage, above was a giant screen and on it were projected hilarious Photoshopped collages poking fun at the tech world, with lots of sh*t emojis, and how the world is going to sh*t.

Back in 2022 he coined the word enshittification, which was declared Macquarie Dictionary's word of the year in 2024. According to the dictionary, the definition is: "The gradual deterioration of a service or product brought about by a reduction in the quality of service provided, especially of an online platform, and as a consequence of profit-seeking."

Sound familiar? 

Twitter, or rather X is a good example, so is Facebook, Google, and Amazon.

On Facebook we used to see pictures our friends posted or their dogs or their trips and birthday parties, but now we see more ads from companies promoting products and services we don't want. Or how you look for something on Amazon and the first things it lists are items that aren't what you want but you have to keep scrolling down forever just to find something resembling what you want; meanwhile for the company selling on Amazon, they are constantly undercut by the behemoth making it less feasible to do business online.

This is enshittification.

Doctorow says part of it is due to monopolies these tech companies have on us; they suck us into buying their products and services and we're so invested it's hard to get out, or we can't gain more control over our gadgets like iPhones.

He says on the App Store there used to be an app where people could post information they had about ICE agents to warn others to avoid being "kidnapped and sent to a gulag", Doctorow says. But now Apple has removed this app, presumably to comply with Donald Trump...

Meanwhile Doctorow also talks about companies like John Deere that have agricultural machinery that practically all farmers use and fix themselves. But now these machines are so hi-tech that they can't be turned on or work again unless a John Deere technician goes to the farm to type in a special code to unlock it, and each visit costs thousands of dollars.

At one point Uber was toying with the idea of charging people more if their phone batteries were low on power. That's because Uber found that those customers were more willing to pay for surge pricing. It denied this and then later quietly dropped this extra charge all together.

The other problem is that Canada does not have enough competition nor regulation to rein in these companies. Doctorow personally blames former Conservative heritage minister James Moore for not doing enough to help consumers have more control over technology they use.

While Doctorow thinks we should have fixed things a decade ago, he says now is the time to act. The Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) is up for renewal and Canada should demand more instead of just rolling over to get any deal from the US. 

He says the average person can get off Twitter (or X), but are others going to join you on another platform? It's hard. But Doctorow says it's time to become an activist and join a movement to oppose enshittification of companies and demand that governments give us back control of the technology we use. Write to your Members of Parliament about this issue, and support the Canadian anti-monopoly project, Civic Open Media, and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, he says.

"The way you get rid of them [people like Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk] is by fixing the politics, not by reforming or replacing Elon Musk. The problem with Mark Zuckerberg isn't that the wrong person is the unelected social media czar for life of 4 billion people. The problem is that that job exists. We don't need to fix Zuck. We need to abolish Zuck," Doctorow said, to applause and cheers in the audience. 

Review: The Sirens' Call

Hayes says attention has become a scarce commodity

On CBC Radio's The Current, I heard an interview with Chris Hayes, the author of The Sirens' Call: How Attention Became the World's Most Endangered Resource. He is an American commentator, news anchor, and hosts a weekly podcast on MSNBC.

He gives the perspective of someone who works in the media of how it's so crucial to have the attention of the audience all the time, and how reporters and editors try to sustain that attention through breaking news, a ticker tape running at the bottom of the screen, or the stories they choose to cover.

While a few decades ago TV viewers were pretty much rapt with attention, these days people -- like himself -- are watching television but also scrolling on their phone and watching a video on their laptops.

How did we get this way?

Hayes is a commentator and podcaster

This is what Hayes tries to explain in his book, and believes attention is fast becoming a scarce commodity thanks to technology. Because of smartphones, the internet and social media, our attention spans have become shorter and shorter; conversely there is so much information out there thanks to the internet, we are overwhelmed and can't learn or absorb as much, or there is so much choice, we don't know where to begin and flail. 

He points out the biggest companies in the world are tech firms: Microsoft, Apple, Alphabet (Google's parent company), Meta and Amazon. They are all making money from us -- from monopolising our attention. But it started further back with slot machines, and then video games and now the limitless scroll on our phones.

Meanwhile the media try to grab attention with horrific news like plane crashes, or wars, and if that's not happening then salacious content called clickbait. Yes the media is guilty of trying to get our undivided attention too.

Not only are companies vying for our attention, but we ourselves want attention too, called social attention. Hayes says humans need to interact with each other and explains that prisoners in solitary confinement can't stand being alone

However the other extreme is social media like Facebook is selling users' attention to advertisers. Instead of seeing posts of what their friends are doing, they see a lot of advertisements, and that is a waste of time and energy. But that's how social media monetises our attention and makes a lot of money from it.

The same goes with Google. It became really good at finding information we needed, but now when you search for something, the top four entries are advertisements that are somewhat related to what you were looking for. Hayes cites in 2004, 99 percent of Google's US$3.2 billion in revenue came from advertising.

Then there are people who crave or demand attention and here Hayes apologises in advance for discussing Donald Trump (the book was written before he was elected a second time), and Elon Musk.

Hayes says back in 1858 there was a political debate on slavery by Democratic senator Stephen A Douglas and Republican Abraham Lincoln. They debated seven times in seven towns. The format? The first speaker talked for an hour, then the second one rebutted for 90 minutes and finally the first speaker gave a 30-minute rebuttal.

How did people in the 19th century have the attention to listen to a three-hour debate? Today the presidential TV debate is less than an hour. Hayes adds Trump either avoids debates and when he does, he shows no debating skills and can't even string a proper sentence together. 

Finally towards the end of The Sirens' Call, Hayes explains three negative things that are happening today: trolling, where people behind screens can provoke online; whataboutism, where those being attacked deflect criticism and turn the tables; and conspiracism, which is total disinformation, but appeals to many because they neatly explain things (incorrectly). 

So what can we do to retain our attention? Hayes harks back to the time when we made trips to the video store to rent a movie, we made a commitment to focus on the task at hand. And he gives the example of how vinyl records have made a big comeback, as not only is the sound quality better, but also makes the choice of music for us. 

Other examples are print newspapers, where editors have carefully curated the news according to its importance in terms of length and pictures, and group chats which have zero advertising and people can keep up with others in real time.

Will people actually follow through with his suggestions? Not really. His book has a lot of examples and points, but are already preaching to the choir who are looking for more concrete ways to safeguard and focus our attention. Maybe that's his next book?

HK Media Facing Harassment, Threats

Dozens of journalists have been intimidated and harassed

In what the Hong Kong Journalists Association describes as a 'systematic attack against media workers", the group says dozens of journalists in the city are being harassed, as well as their family members, employers, neighbours and landlords.

Reporters from at least 13 outlets, such as Hong Kong Free Press, InMedia, and HK Feature have been targeted through emails and letters containing defamatory content sent to their home addresses, workplaces and other venues.

Cheng said threats interfered with press freedom

HKJA's chair Selina Cheng condemned the harassment as "a serious interference with press freedom", and said the matter had been reported to the police.

"Since June, self-proclaimed 'patriots' have sent anonymous complaints by email or letter to at least 15 journalists' family members and their family members' employers, landlords and related organisations, including charities, schools and private businesses," she said.

"The format of each email or letter is similar but tailored to the different identities and characteristics of a given organisation or individual."

Cheng said many of the letters and emails warned recipients that if they continued to associate with the journalists in question or their family members, they could be violating the domestic national security law.

"Since at least August, users of several private Facebook groups have also posted hateful content against certain media outlets and journalists, portraying legitimate reporting as problematic or illegal, and baselessly accusing articles of being inflammatory," Cheng said.

"According to HKJA's investigation, at least 36 journalists were identified in these Facebook posts, from multiple different outlets, education institutions and the HKJA itself."

Cheuk was unaware of harassment

Some of the messages included threats of violence and death threats.

It is unclear how the journalists' private contact information was found, though the HKJA suspects personal data had been leaked from "government or other private databases" and urged law enforcement agencies to launch and investigation.

Cheng said she too was a victim, with employers of her family members receiving letters containing accusations and false claims about her in late July.

Undersecretary for Security Michael Cheuk Hau-yip said he had not heard about the harassment and doxxing raised by the HKJA, but stated Hong Kong was a city that followed the rule of law.

"Any individual should be free from threats, free from fear and free from harassment," he said. "So if any individual, irrespective of who you are, if you are receiving such threats and harassment, please come out and report [it]."

He did not believe the association's claim that personal data had been leaked, or that the city's press freedom had further eroded.

Meanwhile the police force spokesman said: "Hong Kong is a society underpinned by the rule of law. If members of the public suspect that they are being intimidated or harassed, they should report the case to the Police. Police will handle each case in accordance with the law and actual circumstances."

Hong Kong's Problem of Closures

FB Concern Group documents shop closures in Hong Kong

A Facebook group called "HK Business Closure News Concern Group" started documenting all the shops and restaurants that shuttered recently. Members could post pictures of places they saw that had closed or were closing, and others would comment that they shopped there, or ate there.

The Facebook group quickly garnered 100,000 members, then 200,000 then up to 315,000.  

But then on Wednesday the Facebook group announced that it would be "closing down" to the shock of many.

However the administrator clarified later that the group wasn't closing down, but in fact changing its name to "Hong Kong Stores News Awareness Group", changing the tone to be more neutral.

Some say this is because someone related to the Hong Kong government complained the group was focused on bad news stories and should stop doing this...

But what is wrong with documenting the fact that shops and restaurants are closing down? It is a public service announcement... 

Hong Kong Deluged by Flooding

A bus submerged in the torrential rains that flooded HK

A few hours ago pictures and videos of the epic flooding in Hong Kong were posted all over social media -- the muddy waterfall pouring into Wong Tai Sin MTR station, vehicles plowing through water in the Cross Harbour Tunnel, a woman still holding onto her umbrella as she slid about 50 metres along a street, trying to grab onto the railing.

The city is still under a black rainstorm warning 14 hours after it was posted, with rain falling 158.1mm deep between 11pm and midnight last night, an unprecedented amount since records were kept in 1884. In total over 400mm of rain has fallen.

Needless to say today schools are closed, and most people are working from home as the black rainstorm warning is expected to continue until midnight this evening.

Wong Tai Sin MTR station deluged by water

Chai Wan seems to have received the brunt of the intense rain left over from Typhoon Haikui. The New Territories also suffered with the Shenzhen government giving very little notice to its Hong Kong counterpart that it would discharge water from the reservoir -- that knock-down effect left 15 minutes for residents in the area to prepare to evacuate.

So far there are no reports of fatalities, but residents are not impressed by the government's response, with the Chief Secretary Eric Chan Kwok-ki holding a press conference right now (2.30pm HK time) to report on what the authorities are doing together with the Security Bureau some 12 hours later.

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu didn't make any public statements and instead published two social media posts urging people to stay safe. Hongkongers bombarded the comments section questioning why the government's response was so behind, compared to the preparations made when Typhoon Saola was approaching the city.

One commenter by the name of Veronica Law wrote: "Not everyone was on Facebook. Why wasn't even an SMS sent to residents in this kind of situation?" Another user named Emi An said: "Is the chief executive sleeping? Are you aware of the severe flooding out there?"

A shopping mall in Chai Wan flooded

At the press conference going on now, acting director of drainage services Chui Si-kay said Hong Kong's drainage system could not cope with the torrential rainfall, and denied that Shenzhen releasing water from the reservoir did not cause flooding in the New Territories, that it was all from the rainfall. 

One may never be quite sure what the situation was there, but for sure the city will have a lot of water and sludge to get rid of in the streets, in shopping malls, MTR stations, and people's flats. 

There are still questions on how the city's authorities and the Hong Kong Observatory did not prepare residents with the possibility of a deluge of rain...

HK$1M Bounty on Eight Dissidents

Official NSL arrest warrants for eight activists 

Just as I was going to bed last night, there was breaking news that the Hong Kong police had issued arrest warrants for eight pro-democracy activists, and that there was a HK$1 million (US$127,600) bounty on their heads.

The eight are: former legislators Nathan Law Kwun-chung, Dennis Kwok Wing-hang, and Ted Hui Chi-fung, unionist Mung Siu-tat, lawyer Kevin Yam Kin-fung, and activists Finn Lau Cho-dik, Anna Kwok Fung-yee, and Elmer Yuan Gong-yi.

Lee said the eight would be pursued for life

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu endorsed the arrest warrants, and encouraged people to come forward with any information of the eight activists' whereabouts.

"Police should do it because that's the message not just to Hong Kong, but to those who try to endanger our national security. And we want them to know that we will not sit and do nothing," he said. "We'll be pursuing the [suspects'] criminal responsibilities for life until they surrender themselves."

However, legally the threat was weak considering the activists are residing in the UK, Australia and the United States, where these countries have suspended extradition treaties with Hong Kong following the implementation of the national security law three years ago.

The US said such an application of the security law was a "dangerous precedent" that threatened human rights, while the Chinese Foreign Ministry's office in Hong Kong warned "foreign interference forces" should stop shielding "criminals" immediately.

And are the authorities hoping people in the respective countries will come forward with information about these dissidents?

Law maintains he is doing peaceful advocacy

Interviewed by a Canadian media outlet, Law seemed to think the chances of that happening were slim, but pointed out if someone actually did do that, then they would be assisting the Chinese regime. There is also no clear information about what informers need to do in order to be eligible collect the money.

It is also worth noting the HK$1M bounty is many times more than for murderers and pedophiles who have only HK$100K to HK$300K on their heads.

Law, who is accused of foreign collusion and inciting secession, said on Facebook that he was again targeted by the Chinese authorities and that he felt "invisible pressure", but would not give in.

"All I did was reasonable, justifiable and peaceful advocacy work," he wrote.

In his interview Law said he would continue to live a discreet life in the UK and hoped he would be able to return to Hong Kong in decades.

"I don't know if it sounds optimistic or pessimistic, but most of us have the determination to walk that through like we are running a marathon, not a sprint." 

Attempt to Hold May 1 Rally is Cancelled

Wong resurfaced after being missing for about four hours

In a frightening turn of events, the two former Confederation of Trade Union members Joe Wong Nai-yuen and Denny To Chun-ho have withdrawn their application to hold the May 1 rally.

Details are slim at the moment, but former CTU chairman Wong was missing this morning Hong Kong time from around 7.30am to 11.30am and then told To he had cancelled the application.

On a Facebook post, To described Wong as being "in a state of emotional collapse and was clearly under great pressure".

"He told me that he had just signed a paper to cancel the march, but could not disclose the details due to Article 63 of the Hong Kong National Security Law. I can imagine what happened during that time because of my past experience," To wrote.

Article 63 of NSL prohibits Wong from disclosing where he was and what happened to him, and anyone involved with the case needs to keep it confidential as well.

Originally the pair had applied to the Hong Kong police about holding a May 1 rally to promote workers' rights. However, Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung warned that others may hijack the event, and that one should not downplay these risks.

Then this morning Wong disappeared.

While he was not arrested or charged, it sounds like he has been severely traumatised for just putting in an application to hold a rally to promote workers' rights.

It is a shocking example of how NSL is used against people -- and in this case with possibly mentally debilitating effects...

Security Chief Warns of Risks at Rallies

Previous May 1 rallies bring attention to domestic helper rights

Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung warns there are elements that may hijack an upcoming rally on May 1 to mark Labour Day, hinting perhaps such a march should not be held for safety reasons.

Two core members of the now defunct Confederation of Trade Unions have met the police regarding their application to hold a rally on May 1.

The security chief said downplaying the safety risks of a public rally was an "irresponsible" act. 

Tang suggested others may hijack rallies

"These safety risks exist. Anyone intending to downplay the risks brought by these activities, saying, 'It's fine, please come, it's safe', that's irresponsible behaviour," Tang said.

The prove his point, he said a public rally on women's rights that was originally set for March 5 was cancelled "responsibly" by the organiser after someone planned to hijack the activity. He gave no evidence to support this claim.

He also claimed the 2019 protests were taken over by others who had a different agenda without revealing further information.

"All people organising these public activities hold a responsibility... to ensure the events are held in a safe and orderly manner," Tang said.

Previously he has said the lanyards marchers must wear are no different than the race bibs marathoners pin on their T-shirts.

To and Wong applying to hold rally on May 1

In a Facebook post on Saturday, Joe Wong Nai-yuen, former chairman of the now-defunct Confederation of Trade Unions, and ex-committee member Denny To Chun-ho, gave an update on the progress of their application to hold a rally on May 1.

They met with police on Friday after applying to hold the event in their personal capacity.

"We sincerely hope that authorities will not exaggerate the risks of a rally being hijacked by others," they wrote.

The pair said they were just ordinary citizens concerned about labour rights and did not have the money to hire marshals to maintain order for the event. The most they could do, they said, was to verbally ask participants to obey the law.

"We believe police are certainly capable of ensuring a rally attended by hundreds of people is held smoothly," they added.

So is this rally going to be held or not?

Xia suggested focus on economy, not protests

The hassles, numbered lanyards and fears of being hijacked all make organisers think twice about holding a march. And when the new director of the Hong Kong Macau Affairs Office Xia Baolong suggests protests aren't a good idea, this gives people the shivers.

How much things have changed since four years ago. Holding rallies used to be a right. Now the authorities instil fear they could stir trouble...

Oops Wrong National Anthem

Players' reactions when Glory to Hong Kong was played

Outraged government officials and claims of a criminal act committed have caused a diplomatic incident at the Asian Rugby Sevens Series in Incheon, South Korea.

Before the match between Hong Kong and host South Korea, the wrong anthem for the former was played. Instead of the March of the Volunteers, China's national anthem, the protest song of 2019 called Glory to Hong Kong was played.

Hong Kong complained to Asia Rugby Union

On the pitch the players don't seem puzzled or freaked out that a massive faux-pas is happening -- they seem more focused on their upcoming game, which they went on to win.

But back in Hong Kong there were either (private) shrieks of delight of hearing the banned song again, or shrieks of anger condemning the mistake.

A spokesman said the Hong Kong government "strongly deplores and opposes the playing of a song closely associated with violent protests and the 'independence' movement in 2019".

The Hong Kong team had submitted the correct recording of the national anthem to the tournament organiser, but the wrong song was played due to "human error of a junior staffer of the local organiser".

Glory to Hong Kong was protest anthem in 2019

Since then the Hong Kong government wrote to the Rugby Union, demanding they "deal with this matter seriously, launch a full and in-depth investigation and submit a detailed report."

After the song was played, the Hong Kong team told the organisers the song was wrong and then played the March of the Volunteers during the prize presentation ceremony when the Hong Kong team won the final.

Asia Rugby has since apologised for the incident.

Meanwhile some pro-Beijing politicians went ballistic when they heard about the incident.

Ronny Tong Ka-wah, a member of the Executive Council, urged the government to investigate whether anyone in the city was an accomplice to helping or planning the playing of the song in Incheon.

Tong believes there could be criminal intent

"This was surely not a careless mistake. It must be a criminal act with mens rea [criminal intent], and people involved could have constituted sedition under the Crimes Ordinance, as well as secession or collusion with foreign forces under the national security law," Tong wrote on his Facebook.

Lawmaker Junius Ho Kwan-yiu who can be hardline and emotional, suggested dissolving the Hong Kong rugby team and accused the players of "not responding at all" when the song was played.

"They let the country face humiliation. They have completely failed and lost our confidence, and the only solution to this is to disband the team," he said.

Ronson Chan Flies to Oxford, Hui Sentenced in Absentia

Chan is chairman of the largest journalist association in HK

It is a relief to know that Hong Kong Journalists Association chairman Ronson Chan is flying out tonight to the UK to attend a six-month fellowship at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University.

Chan paid a fine related to a traffic charge

Thursday morning Hong Kong time he had to go to court (again) to face a charge of running a red light last year. He was fined HK$2,000.

Outside the court he told reporters he was looking forward to the six-month program as a temporary break from his 18-year career as a journalist in Hong Kong. 

Meanwhile former lawmaker Ted Hui Chi-fung was sentenced in absentia to 3.5 years in jail for jumping bail in cases stemming from his alleged disruptive behaviour in the Legislative Council and for participating in the 2019 protests.

It is the first time a fugitive was sanctioned in absentia for offences allegedly committed in Hong Kong related to the protests.

Hui and his family have settled in Adelaide

The court found Hui guilty of contempt in June for breaching bail conditions. He had given up his passport but then managed to persuade two judges to give him permission to travel on the pretext of attending climate change meetings in Denmark in November 2020.

It was later revealed that Hui enlisted the help of Danish parliamentarians to draft a fake itinerary and invitation to enable him to leave Hong Kong on what was thought to be official business.

Hui's parents, wife and children left the city soon after he did, and they are now settled in Adelaide, Australia.

The judge ruled in June that Hui had consciously abandoned his right to defend himself, pointing to his Facebook posts where he "continued to display his displeasure or dissatisfaction towards the legal system in Hong Kong" and "proclaimed publicly his disdain for the integrity of this court".

Hui was in Denmark in November 2020

Before the ruling today Hui wrote on his Facebook that he would continue to lobby for Hong Kong at an international level no matter what the sentence was.

"The only objective effect of a severe sentence on me is to exacerbate the deterioration of Hong Kong's rule of law, giving the entire world a glimpse on how the Hong Kong court is content with persecuting residents fighting for freedom and democracy in cahoots with tyranny," he said.

Lee Gets Slap on Wrist for Violating Electoral Rules

Lee won the one-man race for CE, but not without mistakes

John Lee Ka-chiu's "election" to become Hong Kong's chief executive had many issues.

For one he was the only person running, and he still had to go through the rigmarole of electioneering. Not going out on the hustings pressing the flesh with the general public, but the over 1,200 in the election committee -- whose members he approved as the then chief secretary.

Then Lee was caught violating the election rules.

His campaign ran three advertisements on his Facebook page between April 13 and 18, in which three public figures, including Olympic medallist and table tennis coach Li Ching, Cantopop singer Alex Fong Lik-sun endorsed Lee.

Lee failed to follow the rules when 

However, he failed to submit copies of the trio's consent of support within one working day after the ads' publication in accordance to the guidelines.

In June Lee asked the High Court to exempt him from liability for failing to follow the Electoral Procedure, and today he was handed the judgment -- Madam Justice Queeny Au Yeung Kwai-yue accepted his fault was "purely out of inadvertence in the midst of heavy workload, tight time frames, limited manpower and lack of communication".

She noted his electioneering team had overlooked only three forms, whereas about 800 similar documents had been published on his online election platform before the discovery of the breach.

"This is not a case where someone turned a blind eye to legal requirements," the judge said.

"The non-compliance was caused by inadvertence. The inadvertence was not gross as to call in doubt the good faith of Mr Lee or [his] campaign office. The remedy to the non-compliance was prompt. The delay in uploading was a relatively short one. There was no bad faith shown."

For that Lee was punished with a fine of HK$64,289 (US$8,199) towards the cost incurred by the secretary for justice, who took a neutral position on the proceedings.

It would have been awkward for the Chief Executive if he was handed a more serious punishment! God forbid he would have jail time or have to do hours of community service. 

Though many would probably appreciate having him in an orange jumpsuit sweeping sidewalks or folding envelopes....

Pathetic Coverage of Hong Kong Exits

Harris was attacked by Hong Kong and Beijing officials

It seems that whenever someone on Beijing's list leaves Hong Kong, state media ambushes them at the airport and the incident is splashed on the front page the next day.

It happened to Paul Harris, the former chairperson of the Hong Kong Bar Association, who before his departure, was interviewed at length by the national security police at the Wan Chai police station.

Hours later he was photographed at the airport and Harris claimed he was leaving to visit his mother in the UK.

During his time at the Hong Kong Bar Association, Harris endured attacks from Hong Kong and Beijing officials who described him as "anti-China" and was repeatedly attacked in state-backed media.

Vidler at the airport, takes pics of photographers

This phenomenon most recently happened to another lawyer, Michael Vidler, known for his human rights work. He had announced he was closing his office and was intending to stay a bit longer, but the attacks against him intensified and he had to leave Hong Kong quickly.

Again, at the airport, he was ambushed by state media reporters who took numerous pictures of him and asked if was leaving was because he was a traitor.

"The fact that the state media were waiting for me and also published details of other travel plans for my family -- indicates that this confidential information was obtained by state actors and passed to the state media so that they could be waiting at the airport and publish the details right away," Vidler said, adding plain-clothed immigration officers appeared to watch him board his plane.

To leave suddenly and abruptly is very hard to fathom and one wonders how he got his assets out, what has happened to his flat and all the stuff in it... was it packed up for the most part, or was it literally left behind as it is?

Chow (right) captured at the airport with suitcases

Another person getting high profile treatment from pro-Beijing media was Herbert Chow Siu-lung, the owner of children's clothing retailer Chickdeeduck. His shops were supportive of the 2019 protests, as Chow even had a replica statue of a female protestor in his store called "Lady Liberty". 

Someone complained and the shopping mall operator tried to force Chow to remove the statue, but he wouldn't budge. Is it any wonder that pro-democracy supporters patronised his store?

Then it became harder for him to rent shop spaces, particularly in malls. 

"In the beginning, we imagined there would only be a reshuffling... changing the distribution channel from inside shopping malls to on-street shops," Chow said. "As it turned out it was very different.

"When you run a business which you have to rely on a third party to supply products to you, and you cannot be sure what the third party will have the guts to supply to you... then you have to think whether the business model is still feasible."

Eventually in November last year Chow announced his retail company would exit Hong Kong in the second half of 2022, citing "disturbances from unknown evil forces".

He refused to back down on the protestor statue

At the time Chow said he would not leave the city, but in the end he did, with state media reporters on hand to record the moment.

It's upsetting that these people are forced to leave Hong Kong and they are constantly scrutinised until they board the plane. 

There is no dignity given to them, made to look ashamed to flee, when they have no choice but to leave.

This insecurity on the pro-Beijing side is pathetic. Covering these exits gives them the opportunity to gloat, but it's a hollow victory.

Here is Chow's open letter on Facebook, posted April 21:

To all my blue friends at the hk golf club, the hk jockey club, the chinese recreation club, and my close business friends in the last 35 years including my partners Herman Hu, Raymond Hu, Uncle FK (胡法光), my mentors and ex bosses Michael Ying and Michael Tien,

As my business career and my freedom of speech in hk appears to be nearing its end, I felt obliged to speak to you for one last time as we never had a chance to talk about why I did what I did.

I did not do anything out of character. I only chose to stand with the people, the people who served us food at our private clubs, the people who looked after our horses at the hk jockey club, the people who caddied for us at the hk golf club, the people who cleaned our locker rooms and swept our tennis courts, the people who have always looked after us while we were enjoying life.

I chose not to condemn violence of only one side, I chose only to condemn violence when both sides are being held responsible. Unfortunately up until today, only one side has been punished so therefore I continue to refuse to condemn violence of hk citizens who were on the streets to defend the rights and freedom of the majority, including yours.

I will continue to speak out against injustice. Our people have been asking for affordable homes in the CITY for over 40 years while our government has been sending them further and further into the new territories. I continue to believe that we do not need two race courses. I continue to believe that none of our golf courses, far away in the new territories, are the solutions to our housing problems. “Live closer, play farther” have proven to be a successful formula in many countries around the world to create better harmony in society, to allow the wealth gap to narrow, hence creating a solid middle class.

I hope you will forgive me for wanting to be myself. I hope we can be friends again and can greet each other again when we see each other at our prestigious private clubs and in high society gatherings. I sure hope that we can tee it up again at the hk golf club, enjoy a game of tennis; singles or doubles at CRC, or even own a horse together as a syndicate.

Good health to you all and may God bless your souls.

Yours sincerely,

Herbert Chow

Political Cartoonist Exits Hong Kong

Political cartoonist Va Wong Sir has left Hong Kong

This morning I woke up to look on my Facebook feed to discover an acquaintance has moved to the UK with his family. 

The exodus continues with well known political cartoonist known as Va Wong Sir.

He posted on his Facebook a drawing perhaps of himself wearing a backpack and a suitcase next to him. Behind him is a petal of the bauhinia flower -- the symbol of Hong Kong -- that is red with a gold star, signifying the mainlandization of the city.

"I'm sorry," he begins his message, and says, "I promise myself with guilt, anger and shame to continue drawing for those who have been silenced."

In early April Va Wong Sir did an interview with independent news website FairPlanet, saying he was a target, though it is not clear if it involves the national security bureau or the Hong Kong police.

The visual arts and liberal studies secondary school teacher started drawing political cartoons in his spare time and the Education Bureau sent him warning letters, claiming his artworks contain "groundless allegations towards the police and government", and demonstrate "misconduct behaviour".

After the national security law was implemented at the end of June 2020, schools didn't even want him as a substitute teacher.

Va Wong Sir says after his teaching colleagues were arrested, he started suffering from panic attacks at night. When he tried to sleep he would imagine the police would ring his doorbell to arrest him. That fear was enough to keep him up most nights.

In January 2020, the Education Bureau sent a letter claiming it had received an anonymous complaint about one of his cartoons on his social media account and asked if it was his. A few months later the school Va Wong Sir worked at told that because of budget reasons his his contract would not be renewed. 

But that evening he saw that his position had been advertised in an online recruitment ad.

Then in April 2021 the Education Bureau sent him another letter for his "groundless allegation towards the police and government", while the third letter claimed Va Wong Sir was demonstrating "misconduct behaviour".

"A visual arts teacher drawing pictures in his spare time -- there's nothing wrong with it," he said, and added he never advocated Hong Kong independence, "but right now, it seems that if you oppose the government, that is tantamount to supporting Hong Kong independence. So the space for free speech is very narrow, there's not many things we can say."

While people have suggested to Va Wong Sir to shut down his social media account, he refuses, saying: "Many political cartoonists, like Zunzi and Ah To are still drawing. Why should I give up?"

But while he has given up on Hong Kong and left, we hope to see him continue drawing and reminding us we are all in this together.

HKJA's Chan Plans Overseas Study... Can He?

Chan plans to return to Hong Kong after his studies

The head of the Hong Kong Journalists Association will be taking part in the Reuters Institute's fellowship program at Oxford University in early October. Ronson Chan made the announcement on his Facebook on Thursday and has plans to return to the city afterwards and so he will be laying low, as the HKJA is under pressure from the national security bureau.

"I know many of my friends, citizens, and readers who care about me will hope that I know when to stay or leave, but to use a cliche, I [will] miss Hong Kong, and the program said that they hoped participants will return to their place of origin after the program ended," Chan wrote.

"Therefore, I will speak and act cautiously in the United Kingdom, and return to Hong Kong after half a year's study as planned."

Academic Hui Po-keung was arrested at airport

Since the 2019 protests and the enactment of the national security law, many civil society groups, as well as the HKJA have faced pressure from the authorities as well as criticism from pro-Beijing and state media.

But will Chan even be allowed to leave Hong Kong? He was also deputy assignment editor at the now defunct Stand News.

Earlier this month, Hui Po-keung, academic and trustee of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund, was arrested at Hong Kong International Airport as he was on his way to Germany to take up visiting scholar post. And in March, Paul Harris, former head of the Bar Association was quizzed by the national security police and he left the city hours after.

However, Chan says he's not worried about being arrested at the airport.

"I don't want them to say that I'm absconding, if they want to arrest me they will... It's such a rare opportunity for people like us who only got 14 marks in the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination, [I] have to seize the opportunity. Of course I will go," he told an English-language media outlet.

When asked if he was planning to come back after his studies, Chan replied that he "never intended to leave", and that he was "only going for further studies."

Tang is putting pressure on the HKJA

The HKJA has been under attack by pro-establishment figures including Secretary for Security and former police chief Chris Tang Ping-keung who expressed doubt of HKJA's professionalism and alleged political bias. Tang had hinted that perhaps the government should be the one issuing press identification to weed out those producing fake news.

Is Chan playing with fire or will he really be allowed to leave?

Perhaps with such a public announcement he is hoping the national security police will back off, but who knows... they could pre-empt his departure in other ways...

Chan should try to take this opportunity to study abroad, and he is extremely brave to go for it.

All eyes will be on him in the days leading up to his departure... if there are any decent media outlets left by October...