HK Golf Course Won't be Turned into Housing

High Court ruled the golf course not be turned into housing

When there was a consultation that recommended the government to take over the Hong Kong Golf Club at Fanling and build housing on the land in 2018, it immediately sparked a debate between the haves and have nots, as members, who are part of the elite class wanted to keep their prestigious club along with the green space, while those who waited for a roof over their heads are still waiting with no end in sight.

But it was finally decided when the High Court ruled against developing the city's oldest golf course into public housing. One could probably audibly hear the sighs of relief of Fanling golf club members.

That means 9.5 less hectares of land for flats

That means the government will have 9.5 less hectares to build housing, though Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu believes this setback won't have a significant effect on the overall housing supply, even though that means 12,000 fewer flats that were planned to be built on the golf course.

He spun it as a proposal by the previous administration.

"Now that the environmental assessment report is overturned, the government must do a comprehensive assessment and public consultation again," Lee said before meeting with the Executive Council.

"This will greatly affect the number of flats, the density and the completion date of the project."

But Lee believed the government was still on track to build 300,800 homes over the next decade.

Lee says the govt has enough land for housing

"The government has sourced enough land to construct more than 308,000 flats," he said. "The single change in the site's development will not have a huge impact on Hong Kong's overall housing supply."

So where else is Lee going to find more land to develop flats? It's an ongoing refrain that the city has numerous brown sites, land that has buildings that were for previous uses like schools or warehouses, and yet the government has not considered these, perhaps because they are too small.

But Hong Kong is not a place where it should neglect any possible sites -- land is scarce and any that is left vacant should be considered. Beijing is putting pressure on the Hong Kong government to house its citizens and in this case should comply with some creative solutions.

Louis Koo's Alleged Loan Default

Koo is being sued by his business partner for HK$8.3 million

Earlier I wondered why actor Louis Koo Tin-lok was hired as the face to help rehabilitate the Hong Kong taxi industry, and now we may know why.

A few days ago it was reported that Koo is being sued by his business partner for allegedly failing to repay a HK$8.3 million (US$1.1 million) loan from a fashion joint venture a decade ago.

Film producer, investor and chairman of entertainment group Sunny Side Up Culture Alex Dong Choi-chi also asked the High Court to order the 53-year-old to surrender half of the stakes in an offshore company investing in a Chinese restaurant in Causeway Bay.

In a business deal gone sour, Koo didn't have enough money to pay his shares of the HK$16.6 million invested at the time so Dong loaned him HK$8.3 million interest-free to be repayable within five years, but according to the writ, none of it has been repaid.

No word from Koo yet, but perhaps we can assume he'll be working in the next few months?!

Grandpa Chan Faces Hefty $510K Legal Bill

Chan hugs a protester, worried about his safety in 2019

The Hong Kong Department of Justice has no qualms about weaponising the law in prosecuting as many people as possible related to the 2019 protests, and even before that in the Umbrella Movement in 2014.

One senior tried to use the law to hold the Hong Kong Police Force to account by legally challenging it over displaying identification during the 2019 protests.

Chan Ki-kau is known as Grandpa Chan, and he and his group, "Protect Our Kids" made up of other middle-aged and elderly people, tried to stand between the protesters and the police for several months in 2019. 

"Raptors" did not wear identifiable ID numbers

He would wear a cylindrical hat around his head that he fashioned himself out of paper, googles, and a plastic raincoat as he and others tried to convince the police not to physically harm the young people on the streets.

Sometimes members of the group would get tear-gassed and pepper sprayed, and young protesters would help them, including Chan get medical attention. "Protect Our Kids" and Chan also got a lot of attention, showing that even seniors were out on the streets.

One observation during the protests was that the police Special Tactical Contingent (STC) also known as "raptors" did not wear their individual identification badges -- only vague code numbers. That made it impossible for residents to file complaints about specific officers -- and Chan felt this was illegal.

In June 2019 he filed the initial challenge and alleged that it was "unlawful and/or unconstitutional" for the police STC not to display their unique identification numbers during operations on June 12, 2019.

Chan's legal challenge was dismissed

However, in November 2020, Judge Anderson Chow dismissed Chan's application, citing evidence that STC had never been required to display individual identification.

Chan was later ordered to pay the Department of Justice's court fees by January 17 this year.

The DoJ initially asked for HK$510,000 in legal fees, though Master Dick Ho at the High Court decided Chan should pay HK$2,000 less.

Does Chan even have that money to pay such hefty fees? Did the DoJ really spend over half a million dollars in preparing for this case?

Even if people tried to crowdfund to raise money to help Chan pay the fees, it might be considered an illegal act.

That was demonstrated in February last year when an expat wanted to help domestic helpers pay Covid-19 fines for gathering. The fines were HK$5,000, more than the monthly salary of these helpers, but the then secretary for labour and welfare Law Chi-kwong said helping to pay these fines could be considered as "abetting a crime".

Many seniors tried to mediate with the police

There is no word on how Chan will pay this massive legal bill, but the heavy-handedness of the punishment seems overboard to the extreme. The case wasn't even tried in court...

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....