NYC Mayor Speaks Mandarin!

Mamdani makes a video announcement in Mandarin

A few hours ago, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani released a video -- in Mandarin -- and makes a damn good effort.

He starts off by introducing himself and says he doesn't know how to speak Mandarin, but he wants to try.

Then Mamdani announces the city is giving away over 2,000 free tickets to high school students on August 17 to watch Broadway shows. 

While some criticise his staccato delivery, fans are thrilled that he even attempted to pronounce the tonal language relatively well for a beginner.

As one person said online: "Is there anything this man can't do?"

We also have to give kudos to his language coaches, as Mandarin pronunciation along with the tones aren't easy.

Maybe there will be a BTS or behind-the-scenes video of how Mamdani had his crash course in Mandarin?

In the meantime, this video throws the gauntlet down for Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim to try to woo the Chinese vote by speaking Cantonese in time for the October 17 municipal election... 

When a Malaysian Meddles in Hong Kong Affairs

Kuok became CEO of Shangri-La hotel group last August

The debate of whether Hongkongers should learn more Mandarin than Cantonese has erupted again after the scion of the family that owns a chain of luxury hotels weighed in on the topic at a business summit in the city.

"We should really revamp our public education system. Our next generation has to be much more connected to China in terms of language and culture," said Hui Kuok, chair and group chief executive of the Shangri-La luxury hotel group.

She is the daughter of Robert Kuok, founder of the hotel group and Malaysia's richest man. At one point she was the CEO and managing director of the South China Morning Post newspaper, which was owned by her father until he sold it to Alibaba in 2016.

"One way to do this could be over time to make Putonghua the main medium of instruction in schools," she said, speaking at HSBC's Global Investment Summit in Hong Kong.

"Another way could be for Hong Kong to invite some of the best public schools in China to open campuses here, just like we have done for international schools for decades."

Needless to say there was a lot of outrage over her remarks, in particular that she has a privileged background and attended international schools and has a degree in East Asian Studies at Harvard. She became CEO of Shangri-La Asia Limited last August, and is the wife of Bryan Gaw, an executive director of Kerry Properties, another Kuok company.

Many commenting online say Hongkongers should continue speaking Cantonese, Mandarin and English, and not specifically cater to China. However, for the Shangri-La hotel group, China is its greatest source of revenue, with an equity interest in 50 hotels out of 82 worldwide.

Besides, Mandarin is already taught in Hong Kong schools as a requirement. What more does Kuok want?

It's quite strange for her to speak out on a topic like this when she herself had an international education, having grown up in Hong Kong and then studied in the United States.

Some people online have called to boycott the hotel chain, and if -- a big if -- there are enough of them to make a serious financial dent in the company's bottom line, we may know why...

The Bay May Live On Through Canadian Tire

Canadian Tire to buy The Bay's intellectual property for C$30M

Hudson's Bay isn't dead yet.

Canadian Tire is paying C$30 million to take over Hudson's Bay's intellectual property, including the iconic four tripes motif, and the retailer's coat of arms symbol.

While the deal needs court approval, it's a positive sign the department store will continue to live on through another Canadian brand.

The Bay's IP includes iconic HBC Stripes

"Some things are just meant to stay Canadian and we are honoured to welcome many of HBC's leading brands -- including the iconic HBC coat of arms and the Stripes -- into our Canadian Tire family," said Greg Hicks, Canadian Tire CEO and president in a statement.

"It's disheartening to witness the final days of another great Canadian retailer, and while the circumstances are unfortunate, we're proud to step in for customers."

Some shoppers eyeing deals, were visiting the department store a few times to pick up bed linens that were going for 50 percent off in recent days.

In March the 355-year-old retailer was granted creditor protection, and began selling its assets; according to court documents, there are 12 bids for 39 of its stores.

It is believed one of the bids may be from Liu Weihong, a billionaire who owns three shopping centres in British Columbia.

Back in April, on Xiaohongshu, Liu posted several videos saying she wants to "restore The Bay to its former glory."

Who will snap up the Granville department store

"Knowing that The Bay, this national brand that carries Canada's history, will collapse, I can't stand by and watch, you must do your best to do something, to save it, to let the Canadian spirit continue," she said in Mandarin. "Let the young generation in Canada fall in love with The Bay again."

But that might be difficult for her to revive The Bay now that Canadian Tire has bought the Canadian retailer's intellectual property.

Apparently Liu had also talked about buying up several department stores in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario, and then splitting up the spaces into mini shopping malls, similar to ones in China. However, that's what The Bay had tried to do, giving brands an opportunity to set up their own boutiques within the department store.

That did not work for The Bay, and besides, people's shopping habits have changed that most people don't shop in physical stores much anymore. You can thank the internet and Covid-19 for that.

In the meantime shoppers have until June 1 to snap up whatever else they may want to buy at The Bay. When I was there last month, there was tons of merchandise still on the racks...

Tokyo: Looking at the Japanese Capital from Up High

Looking up at Tokyo Tower at night

A good way to have a grasp of a city you're visiting is to see it from up high, and Tokyo, a metropolis built vertically, has not one, but two towers from which you can perch from and look down. 

When I went to Tokyo for the first time in the mid-1980s on a school trip, going to Tokyo Tower was a big deal. I still remember the guide book I bought and some souvenirs like key chains. 

Fantastic night scenes of the city

Shaped like the Eiffel Tower in Paris, but 9 metres taller, Tokyo Tower was built in 1958 and stands 332.9 metres and has an observation deck at 150 metres, and a higher one at 250 metres. We went after dinner and were surprised to find there was no line up. We just bought tickets and went up the elevator to see Tokyo at night. 

Admittedly it was difficult to make out everything in the dark, but it was enjoyable with less visitors. As it is sakura season, the observation deck area was decorated with a fake sakura tree and pink petals decorating some of the windows (making it harder to take pictures). Nevertheless it was a clear night and so our night pictures were pretty good.

A day later we had afternoon tickets for Tokyo Skytree, which is also a broadcast and observation tower, the tallest in Japan at 634 metres. And because it opened in 2012, visitors are more interested in coming here than Tokyo Tower.

Women in kimonos at Sensoji Temple

We first went to Sensoji Temple and it was packed with people, as it was a Sunday and beautiful weather, and most importantly sakura or cherry blossoms had bloomed. Many young women were dressed in kimono, but we could only tell where they were from when they opened their mouths -- some spoke Cantonese, others Mandarin. Then there were a few non-Asians who managed to squeeze into the kimonos, and one guy went barefoot, perhaps because there were no socks in his size...

They rented these outfits in order to have their pictures taken by professional photographers. 

Looking across the river we could see Tokyo Skytree in the distance and began walking towards it. Along the river are restaurants and cafes, while others sat on the grass or ground and had hamani, or picnics to appreciate the cherry blossoms.

We walked around 20 minutes and arrived at the base of Tokyo Skytree, which includes a shopping complex with various brands, and yes McDonald's, and other cafes.

Walking towards Tokyo Skytree

Luckily we decided to line up "early" for the 4pm slot because others had already begun standing in line. We soon realised that it zig-zagged around and it was quite the ordeal waiting for one of three or four high-speed elevators to get up to the observation deck. 

Finally after 4pm we finally made it to the front and allotted to an elevator where we had to wait for it to go up and then come down before opening its doors to collect us. We got the combo tickets where we could visit both observation decks at 350 metres and 450 metres. 

I could see how tiring it was for the staff to corral people all day, repeat the same spiel about Tokyo Skytree every 10 minutes or so and to bow as the elevator doors closed, then repeat. Again and again.

There was a tour group from India and they were able to bypass lines to get their own elevator spot; the Tokyo Skytree staff were used to this and gave them priority, making the rest of us wait another several minutes.

But once we were up on the 350-metre high deck, it was quite the sight. Seeing Tokyo by day it made me realise how many rivers there are snaking through the city, and as a result there are numerous bridges. 

The observation tower at 450 metres high

We could barely see what we going on down below, just tons of buildings like Lego bricks poking up from the ground and standing straight, while the curves of the river forced the structures to conform to the shape. The city stretched out as far as the eye could see, with a population of over 14 million. 

There were some glass skywalks inside, where there was nothing holding you up except the thick glass. Some found it scary, others exhilarating. 

One young woman was dressed up in a cosplay outfit so that she could take pictures at Skytree; many were willing to pay for the privilege.

We walked up an incline to get to the next elevator at 450 metres, but here it was even higher and everything looked even smaller down below. There were also more supports on the windows, which didn't give clear views for photographs.

Many rivers snake through the city

Getting back down was also an ordeal, again waiting in line for the next elevator, though once we were in (at the 350 metre level), we were warned we couldn't go back up again, and that was that. Lots of souvenir shops below, though none of them sold any printed guidebooks. 

Finally getting out of Skytree we were relieved to get away from the mass crowd of visitors. It must be so tiring for the staff dealing with so many people everyday.

Kindergarten Numbers Continue to Fall in HK

Kindergarten schools are competing for fewer students

Kindergartens in Hong Kong and desperate for students, as the number of applications is one-third less than last year, due to emigration and the falling birth rate.

Parents need to submit a "Registration Certificate for Kindergarten Admission" in order to get government subsidies, and the number of applications for this designation has also fallen by more than 20 percent in five years according to official data.

Lam says the birth rate continues to fall

Nancy Lam Chui-ling, vice-chairwoman of the Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers and a kindergarten principal says the actual number of kindergarten students is actually even smaller.

"This is because parents will sign up for a few kindergartens to pick from, so the actual number of registrations will definitely be even lower than the number of offers we give out to the applicants," she said. 

"The number will keep falling as people emigrate and tend not to give birth. I do not think the emigration wave will stop."

For example, the number of births began dropping in 2017, from 56,500 to a record low of 32,500 in 2022.

In the first 10 months of last year, the number of registered births fell slightly from 27,823 to 27,293. The final figure will be revealed in February.

A few months ago the government announced it would offer a HK$20,000 bonus to eligible parents with newborns. The authorities project a 20 percent increased birthrate to around 39,000, but that's well short of the more than 50,000 recorded in 2020.

Many young families have emigrated overseas

Lam suggested kindergarten schools offer full-day classes, but are kids ready for that? For some just going to school is traumatic already... That said full-day classes would allow both parents to work.

Nevertheless, kindergartens are trying to entice parents to sign up with them by offering to teach their children other languages, such as Spanish, French and Japanese on top of English, Cantonese and Mandarin.

As if kids don't have enough to learn already!

Review: Fun Hot Pot Experience at Haidilao

Getting the "noodle dance" performance

When I was in Beijing around 2007, a local friend took me to Haidilao for hot pot. The most memorable part was the "noodle dance", where a guy in a tracksuit and cap doing a quasi ribbon dance with a stretched out piece of dough, making circles with it in the air and even snapping it at us. What a spectacle!

Many years later I went to Haidilao again for my birthday and they gave me a paper crown to wear and had a blindingly bright LED sigh that said "Happy Birthday" in Chinese, Korean and English. 

Enough food to eat? The perils of over-ordering

This year I tried the Haidilao in Vancouver and was also treated to a Happy Birthday sign on the wall and even a lit up sign with a handle. They sang Happy Birthday in Mandarin and English, and presented me with a platter that had "Happy Birthday" written on it with a candle, and six small ice cream containers stacked up like a pyramid.

Oh yes we had the noodle dance again! This time with a vegetable-flavoured dough that was green!

The service here (for Canadian standards) is very attentive and friendly and the staff speak mostly Mandarin and English for non-Chinese speaking customers. If you are a member of Haidilao you get lots of freebies, like toys for the kids and we scored some Miffy hats!

The only problem with hot pot is always over-ordering the amount of food to eat. But before you even order there's a salad bar where you can get snacks like sliced oranges and apples, cherry tomatoes, congee and even shrimp chips!

At the same bar area there is an array of condiments to make your individual sauce with soy sauce, sesame paste, chilli oil, sesame oil, coriander, and vinegar, chopped chillis, minced garlic and spring onions.

Pork bone and mushroom soup bases

Then ordering on a tablet one gets carried away ordering as you scroll down and forget what you've already picked out...

And then the food arrives via a feline-shaped robot and you're overwhelmed by the amount of dishes on the table!

Luckily Haidilao let us pack up the cooked and raw food -- we cooked the meat and put them in plastic containers and another for the soup base. 

We were so full afterwards we didn't need to eat dinner! But we did try the soup and it was oh so good.

Until next year!

Haidilao

3204 West Broadway

Vancouver, BC

604 336 2588

The French Food that Chinese Like to Eat

The mini pho bo with a sous vide egg at Linh Cafe

Linh Cafe is popular -- among mostly the Asian crowd.

The vast majority of the customers are Chinese -- both Mandarin and Cantonese speakers to come eat elevated Vietnamese fare and French bistro dishes like steak tartare, escargots, and mussels.

Three mini spicy baguette sticks

However, practically every table has at least one bowl of pho bo -- Vietnamese beef noodle soup with slices of beef brisket and rice noodles in a flavourful broth.

We later saw a Caucasian couple sit down, order two glasses of red wine and a bowl of pho bo each. How romantic.

Another Instagram dish is the spicy baguette sticks. We saw the table next to us had it so we ordered it too.

It comes with a minimum order of three sticks and they are mini baguettes sliced down the middle and filled with pork liver pate and topped with hot sauce that isn't really that spicy. It looked like a curry wurst, but was actually warm pate with a tinge of spiciness. Not something to order again.

We liked the frogs legs that were marinated in a spicy and garlicky sauce before being deep fried. If you were patient enough to extract the lean meat you were well rewarded with small plump bits that had a lingering spicy finish.

Delicious fried frog legs with a spicy finish

The country terrine is a classic dish, though this one was wrapped in a very fatty bacon. Nevertheless the combination of foie gras, Black Forest ham, and liver did give it a rustic texture that went well with the complimentary bread.

And like everyone else, we also ordered the pho bo, though ours was the mini size with a sous vide egg. We marvelled at the broth that had very deep flavours and yet was light and maybe some MSG in it? The beef brisket is a step up from typical Vietnamese pho places that offer thin slices of raw beef. Good to the last drop.

My friend was curious to try the palmier, but it wasn't exceptionally crispy or delicate; perhaps this pastry wasn't made in house? But a disappointing finish nonetheless...

Linh Cafe

1428 Granville Street

Under the Granville Street Bridge

604 564 9668

Eason Chan's Viral Outburst

Chan said he would speak whatever language he wanted

Hong Kong Cantopop singer Eason Chan Yik-shun caused a stir at his concert in Macau on October 13 when he hit back at fans in the audience asking him to speak in Mandarin, saying "so be it if you can't understand".

Some people in the audience could be heard shouting, "Speak Mandarin", to which Chan at first said something in Thai, followed by English: "I love speaking whatever the way and language I want", which received cheers and applause from other people in the crowd.

Then Chan's tone became critical, when he said in Cantonese: "Wouldn't 'could you speak in Mandarin please?' be better than 'speak Mandarin'?" He added he could speak the language [Mandarin] fluently, but it would be nice if people could be polite, which drew more applause.

Chan caused an uproar at his concert in Macau

Chan said he would say "shut up" to anyone who asked him to speak English. "So be it if you can't understand," he added before moving onto his next song.

It seemed as if the singer was venting his annoyance for having to placate Chinese fans who expect the star to speak Mandarin... but did he realise he was in Macau where over 90 percent of its visitors are from the mainland?

But then again he is from Hong Kong, and there are many Mandarin speakers who appreciate listening to Cantonese.

Nevertheless some felt Chan was taking a political stance, as language has become a sensitive issue in the city. 

But when it comes to his politics, Chan is not clear-cut. In June, his management cut ties with a concert organiser in China due to a censorship row after the latter replaced the name of a politically outspoken lyricist in the show application to authorities. 

The person in question is Albert Leung Wai-man, known as Lam Chik, who has written many of Chan's hits. However, Leung is also known as being supportive of Nathan Law Kwun-chung, who fled into exile in the UK.

Previously he partnered with Adidas

Chan also outraged many of his fans when he announced he was severing ties with Adidas after it refused to use Xinjiang cotton.

Adidas along with Burberry, Nike, Calvin Klein and H&M publicly said they would not source cotton from western China due to concerns of using forced labour by Uyghurs.

His fans threatened to boycott his concerts and albums, and now he has enraged another part of his fan base. 

Or does he do this just to get attention?

HK Government to Ban Protest Anthem

The song was the unofficial anthem of the 2019 protests

Just to make sure no one will every play the wrong Hong Kong anthem again, the government is seeing a court order to permanently bar anyone from trying to using music related to the song that became the unofficial anthem for the 2019 protests.

On Monday the justice secretary filed an unprecedented application to the High Court for an injunction against Glory to Hong Kong. The writ asked the court to restrain those harbouring criminal intent from "broadcasting, performing, printing, publishing, selling, offering for sale, distributing, disseminating, displaying or reproducing in any way" the protest song.

March of the Volunteers is HK's official anthem

The injunction targets anyone who intends to incite others to separate Hong Kong from China, commit a seditious act, or insult the national anthem, March of the Volunteers.

The court order, if granted, would also prohibit anyone from playing the song in a manner that would cause it "to be mistaken as the national anthem insofar as the [Hong Kong Special Administrative Region] is concerned", or suggest that Hong Kong "is an independent state and has a national anthem of her own."

In addition the thorough court filing listed YouTube videos of 32 versions of the song, from instrumentals to it sung in Mandarin, English, German, Dutch, Japanese and Korean.

This move comes just before the fourth anniversary of the large-scale anti-extradition protests that saw 1 million and then 2 million people out on the streets on June 9 and 16, 2019 respectively.

The wrong song has been played many times

So just to make sure no one will ever mistake Glory to Hong Kong for the official Hong Kong anthem, it will make it seditious to play it in any form.

From now on, any country hosting a Hong Kong team for a sporting tournament will be terrified of playing the wrong song.

How does that inspire anyone to visit the city?

Mocking Incident Puts Cathay Pacific on Damage Control

Three Cathay flight attendants were fired for mocking passengers

Cathay Pacific's problems continue to prevent it from getting itself out of the rut of the pandemic and now it has to do major reputation rebuilding after some flight attendants verbally mocked some Chinese passengers.

On a recent flight from Chengdu, Sichuan province to Hong Kong, three crew members were accused of making fun of passengers' language abilities by saying in English, "If you cannot say 'blanket', you cannot have it."

A Mandarin-speaking passenger complained about the incident which at first led the trio to be suspended, and then fired.

Lee warned Lam not to repeat the incident

But that was not enough.

Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu waded into the issue, saying he was angered and disappointed, and that he had personally instructed Cathay Pacific management to handle the incident seriously, and that the airline must review staff training and improve its customer service culture.

"These disrespectful words and deeds have hurt the feelings of compatriots in Hong Kong and the mainland, and also undermined the city's existing culture and values of respect, courtesy and inclusiveness," he said.

"I am outraged and disappointed by the fact these bad deeds happened on a Hong Kong flight."

He told Cathay Pacific's CEO Ronald Lam Siu-por the incident was serious and had damaged Hong Kong's image, and urged Lam to ensure the incident would not be repeated again.

For his part Lam apologised in Mandarin to passengers who were affected by the incident as well as the wider community, and vowed to prevent a repeat of the situation.

Lam will ensure training and "customers first"

The CEO said he would lead a cross-department task force to enhance the company's "customers first" culture, and ensure its service had a solemn and polite image, and improve its quality.

Does Lee know that Hong Kong residents disparage mainland tourists on a daily basis? Is he going to punish them too?

Post-Covid there are complaints from the tourism sector that the city is getting the cheap Chinese tourists, the ones who have never visited Hong Kong before and don't mind seeing only the free landmarks and eating rice boxes. 

That's because the tensions between mainlanders and locals were never resolved as far back as a decade ago -- remember the term "locusts"? -- and so it's no wonder these situations have flared up again. 

Trying to get Hongkongers to shut up will be very hard, despite the dependence on these cross-border tourists to get the hospitality industry back on its feet again. 

It's a pity Hong Kong has put most of its eggs in this China basket, when all investors know it's better to diversify to ensure more balanced returns...

Education Chief Promotes More Putonghua Learning

Students need to learn more Mandarin for better opportunities

The Hong Kong Education Bureau claims news reports saying the city was considering switching the medium of instruction for Chinese lessons in Mandarin rather than Cantonese are "inaccurate".

However when Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin was interviewed by state-run Global Times, she said that "if conditions are met, schools can use Putonghua to teach the Chinese language subject." 

Choi says Putonghua should be used in schools

In the interview published on Monday, Choi said the young generation in Hong Kong would "suffer losses" in terms of opportunities arising from China's rapid development if they could not speak Mandarin.

Therefore, she said, schools must teach subjects in Mandarin rather than Cantonese. 

But the Education Bureau claimed some media outlets misinterpreted Choi's remarks as meaning Mandarin would be the teaching language of choice for all schools and would be comprehensively implemented.

Instead the bureau clarified that such policies would depend on the school's situation, "including the level of readiness among teachers, the Mandarin capability of students, the language environment on campus, the curriculum, and support available for learning and teaching."

The bureau also said that "teaching Chinese in Putonghua" has always been a long-term target in the Chinese language curriculum since 2002, and this policy has not changed.

However, if Choi is giving this big hint that students should further brush up on their Mandarin in order to compete with peers on the mainland, she should be appealing to the parents, as they are the ones who would prefer their children have good English skills to keep their employment options open.

Students are already learning Mandarin

Also, is Choi also suggesting that the level of Mandarin in schools is bad? Then whose fault is that? Perhaps better teachers should be hired? Oh wait thousands of them have left Hong Kong?

There was also a time when suddenly teachers in Hong Kong had to teach subjects in Cantonese rather than English because the government seemed to think students did not have a good grasp of what was going on in the class. This was difficult for teachers to do, who had for years and decades taught the subject in English. 

And now the government wants teachers to teach in Mandarin instead of Cantonese... 

Going Local Picking Blueberries

 

Blueberries are now ripe and ready for picking at the farm

Every year when I used to visit Vancouver I only had time to see friends and family for lunches and dinners, do a few errands in between and then I had to fly back to Hong Kong.

Now that I'm here I have a lot of time to do some summer activities, like berry picking!

I missed the strawberry season, but now blueberries are ripe and we went to Emma Lea Farms in Delta to pick them.

Blueberry bushes at Emma Lea Farm in Ladner

This farm has been around since 1885 in Ladner. To get there you have to cross an old wooden bridge which is quaint, but can only hold one car at a time.

When we drove there and stopped (because cars were crossing in the opposite direction), a black SUV passed us and my cousin had to honk at them to stop.

The car stopped in its tracks, finally realising what was going on and that we didn't stop for no reason.

And yes, that car went to the same farm as us, and yes they were Chinese...

The farm announced that blueberries were ready to be picked yesterday and we came today, the weather not too hot and a bit of wind, and most importantly we found a parking spot under a tree. We slathered on the sunscreen even though we wore a hat and long sleeves.

To keep things consistent, the farm sells different sized buckets for people to pick berries -- they aren't weighed after. A large bucket is over CAD$50, and I got a medium-sized one that holds 7 litres for CAD$42.

Don't forget to pick blueberries near the ground

We walked out to the fields past where pumpkins were being grown -- for the fall. Then there were several rows of blueberry bushes! We immediately got to work and it wasn't hard to find ripe blueberries. Of course the kids had fun picking and eating them at the same time. They also encountered spiders and learned to leave them alone.

Riper blueberries were in the middle of the row and we kept moving along picking as we went. It was also handy the farm had wagons we could borrow for the kids when they were tired.

It wasn't until we were almost finished filling the larger bucket that we found even bigger blueberries. I bought the second bucket and began picking these bigger berries. In a very short time two of us adults were able to fill it very quickly. It was such a fun thing to do with the kids and wasn't too hot either.

Did I mention the vast majority of the other pickers either spoke Mandarin or Cantonese?

Does this look heart-shaped to you?

In under two hours we picked a lot of blueberries. I put mine into four plastic bags and in the freezer.

Nom nom nom all summer...

Lee Sworn in as New Chief Executive

Lee and Xi stand together at the HK Convention Centre

Chinese President Xi Jinping came and went, and left behind a newly anointed John Lee Ka-chiu as the next chief executive of Hong Kong.

The entire swearing-in ceremony was conducted in Mandarin -- not Lee's strong suit -- but with the world watching, or rather the domestic Chinese audience watching, he had to oblige.

So many local Hong Kong and international media were barred from attending the event, and had to reply on pool feeds for pictures and video. This ensured the narrative did not veer from the script.

Lee's swearing-in was in Mandarin

After Lee was sworn in, he gave his first speech as Chief Executive. 

He said he took on the role of Hong Kong's leader with "humility", and thanked the central government for its support, and citizens for their trust, saying he would lead his team to do their best in building an "inclusive and energetic" Hong Kong.

Optimistic words, but hardly reflect the reality. Firstly, he does not have the mandate of Hongkongers, as they cannot directly vote for their leader, and how can he be "inclusive" when he helped former chief executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor shut down any kind of dissent from media outlets to civil society groups and political activists?

Lee added the implementation of the national security law allowed Hong Kong to return from chaos to order, and that the electoral overhaul of the Legislative Council enabled "patriots ruling Hong Kong".

Meanwhile Xi, Lee's boss, said in his speech that the "one country, two systems" framework had proven successful so there was no reason to change it.

He described it as "a great initiative with no precedent to follow", and that it is to uphold the nation's sovereignty, security and development interests, and to maintain long-term prosperity and stability in both Hong Kong and Macau.

Lee's new cabinet is hardly social-distanced...

How are Hong Kong and nearby Macau going to achieve prosperity when China refuses to open the border with Hong Kong and Macau, and that Beijing is cracking down on gambling, the dominant source of income for the former Portuguese enclave?

"Today I wish to highlight once more that the policy of 'one country, two systems' having been tested and proved time and again, meets the fundamental interests of the country and the Chinese nation and those of Hong Kong and Macau," Xi said.

"It enjoys the full support of the more than 1.4 billion people of the motherland, it has the unanimous endorsement of Hong Kong and Macau residents, and it is widely recognised by the international community. There is no reason to change such a good system, and it must be adhered to over the long run."

Ah yes, the support of more than 1.4 billion people! They had no say on how Hong Kong is governed -- they are only told how the city is governed.

But the reasoning goes if it's been endorsed by 1.4 billion people, then "one country, two systems" must be be right, right? 

It's a pity that the British side and the Chinese side have two completely different definitions of "one country, two systems", or perhaps Beijing kept its cards really close to its chest until now?

Either way it's Hongkongers who lose. Those who want to cut their losses are taking a leap of faith to leave Hong Kong and start new lives again. Those who refuse to leave feel that departing would be a sign of giving up.