At least 13 Dead in a Massive Taipo Blaze

The fires are still burning in a Taipo housing estate

***As of 10am November 27 HK time there are 44 dead, 279 missing***

Hong Kong is on edge watching fires still raging nine hours later engulfing several buildings in a housing estate in Taipo, where at least 13 people, including one firefighter died in the No. 5 blaze, the highest rating in severity. 

The residential buildings at Wang Fuk Court were covered in bamboo scaffolding when the fires broke out this afternoon after 3pm. Currently there are reports of 70 people still trapped, 200 missing. 

News reports say 128 fire trucks, 57 ambulances, 767 firefighters and 400 police officers were deployed to the scene.

According to the New York Times, a 74-year-old resident heard a firefighter pounding on his door to evacuate after 3pm, but he and his wife refused to move and it wasn't until three hours later they were rescued. 

Andy Yeung Yan-kin, Hong Kong's director of fire services said the heat was so hot inside the buildings it was difficult to rescue people.

The city's residents will not be sleeping tonight; some have brought noodles, bread and water to rescuers and victims.

This fire reminds me of the November 1996 Garley Building fire in Jordan where 41 people died, making it the worst building fire in Hong Kong in peacetime. One of the casualties was an acquaintance's brother who was a firefighter.

However, this Taipo fire may be worse at this rate.

We are all anxiously watching.

HKJA Strikes Out on Two Hotel Venues

HKJA chair Selina Cheng holds Poon's calligraphy at Eaton HK

How hard is it for organisations in Hong Kong to hold a spring dinner for their members? 

Apparently it's near impossible, as the Hong Kong Journalists Association found out.

The Regal Hong Kong in Causeway Bay claimed it had "water leakage causing unstable power supply" and had to cancel the reservation two days before the event. 

In 2019 the hotel seemed supportive of protesters

So the HKJA postponed the dinner and made a reservation at the Eaton HK hotel in Jordan, and paid a deposit.

But then the group got some bad news today.

In an email to attendees, it said in part: 

"HKJA received notice from the new venue, Eaton HK, stating they were 'unable to host your proposed event.' No reason was given," the email said. "It is regrettable that, two times in a row in a short period of time, HKJA has had contracted bookings -- for which deposits were paid and documents signed -- cancelled by the venues."

This is particularly disappointing because the Eaton hotel is known to be more liberal, marketing itself as a safe space for the LGBTQ+ community, and during the 2019 protests put up a billboard on its building that read: "What does your revolution look like?"

So for Eaton HK to cancel the HKJA event shows how much pressure the hotel was under, and this is the new normal in Hong Kong.

In retaliation, people online posted bad reviews of the hotel on Google.

Ironically, one of the items that was to be auctioned off at the dinner is a work of calligraphy by lyricist Poon Yuen-leung.

It reads: "To brave the road ahead together, with wind gusting against us, we share our frustration and our pride. Sweep the dust on my face, empty the sorrows in our hearts, I beat on and stride forward with you."

Handmade Hong Kong Souvenir

My embroidered souvenir from Hong Kong 

Miru Wong gets her entrepreneurial genes from her grandparents. Now in her early 30s, she is the third generation to run a small business making embroidered slippers and shoes in a shoebox store in a rundown arcade in Jordan.

It was started in 1958 by her paternal grandfather, who learned how to make shoes and slippers in a factory and his wife embroidered them with traditional Chinese designs.

This tiny shop is located in Jordan, Kowloon

When she was in primary school, Wong began learning how to embroider from her grandmother and liked learning the craft. After graduating from Polytechnic University in visual communications in 2012, Wong took over Sindart from her parents.

One of her most famous customers was Iris Apfel, the fashion plate New Yorker who was known for mixing and matching accessories, and died in March this year at the age of 102. In 2017 Apfel visited Hong Kong and one of her shopping stops was to Wong's tiny shop where she bought several pairs of footwear.

On my recent trip to Hong Kong I made a quick visit to Sindart. Wong wasn't there, but the shop was busy with a mainland Chinese customer, who called her friend to come too. 

Fashion icon Apfel visited Hong Kong in 2017

Unfortunately there weren't many slippers in designs that I liked in my size, but came away with this pair of pandas. 

Glad the store is still around and happy to support it!

The Last Mahjong Tile Maker to Close

Cheung hopes to continue making mah jong tiles by hand

Another one bites the dust.

The last shop to make mahjong tiles by hand will be closing at the end of this month after receiving an eviction notice from the Buildings Department.

The letter dated from September says Biu Kee Mahjong on 26 Jordan Road will be removed because the store is identified as an authorised building work due to it being located at the foot of the building's staircase.

He is the last tile maker in Hong Kong

In other words, Hong Kong has no interest in preserving its local culture.

Biu Kee's owner, Cheung Shun-king, known as "Uncle King" is still interested in making the mahjong tiles by hand until he gets too old, according to a Facebook post.

The post also says, "We sincerely hope the related government departments can deal with the situation in order to keep Biu Kee Mahjong in its current location and to allow the traditional art form of hand-carved mahjong tiles to be passed on."

Will anyone in authority listen to this earnest plea?

But when the government isn't interested in stepping in to save the Star Ferry which is teetering on the brink, nor giving more breaks to Hong Kong Tramways to keep the tram moving, you have to wonder how the Hong Kong Tourism Board has anything left to promote when old shops, businesses and services that have been around for decades or even over a century are left to die a long, slow death.

He uses traditional tools to carve tiles

Instead the authorities choose to waste taxpayer money on white elephant projects like the hundreds of quarantine units near Disneyland and Kai Tak, and pandemic supplies and vaccines that aren't being used, former chief executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor's cloth masks (remember those?) And those boxes of Chinese medicine Lianhua Qingwen that have been totally discredited by Singaporean health authorities...