Sombre Hong Kong Election Day

Do these ballot box mascots entice people to vote today?

Today over 4 million Hongkongers can vote in the Legislative Council elections. One would have to be living under a rock not to know this, as there have been posters all over the city featuring three cartoon ballot boxes, and if you happen to walk along the harbourfront in North Point, those ballot box mascots are in statue form, as if voting is a kids' exercise.

There are 161 candidates vying for 90 seats, and what's interesting about this year's election is 12 lawmakers have declined to run again because they are over the age of 70. They include big names like the convenor of the Executive Council, Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, council president Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen, and Michael Tien Puk-sun.  

Tommy Cheung Yu-yan isn't running again for the Catering functional constituency -- perhaps there will finally be someone who will be more passionate about advocating for the restaurant industry that is being depleted because of people going to Shenzhen regularly.

With so many retiring, is there enough new blood to get people's vote? One candidate people are watching is Vivian Kong Man-wai, former gold Olympic fencer who is looking for a seat in the Tourism functional constituency (one of the 12 functional constituencies that allow those with foreign passports to run), even though she is renouncing her Canadian passport.

However, the bigger question is, how many people will show up to exercise their right to vote?

In the previous election four years ago, there was a record low turnout of 30.2 percent of the over 4 million eligible voters who cast their ballots, despite the government spending HK$1.28 billion on advertising an increase of 50 percent.

That's because this is the second "patriot-only" election after the electoral system was completely revamped where only pro-Beijing candidates are allowed to run; the vast majority of pro-democracy politicians were banned from even running.

After the Wang Fuk Court fire that erupted on November 26 and has sadly claimed 159 lives, many Hong Kong residents are probably not in the mood to vote, despite the government claiming the election must take place today.

Five days ago Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said it was important to vote in new lawmakers to help launch reforms and to hold the government accountable with relief work following the devastating fire.

"The partners I need most importantly are lawmakers," Lee said on December 2. "To hold the election as scheduled is to respect the constitutional order and rule of law ... it is also to safeguard social stability as it serves as a strong support to the post-fire work."

Nevertheless, John P Burns, emeritus professor and Chinese politics expert at the University of Hong Kong expects voter turnout to be low, partly because of the Tai Po fire.

While those in the pro-establishment camp may be impressed by how quickly the authorities have re-housed victims and provided financial aid, Burns says others "may stay away from the polls" as they are "disappointed, even angry, by the governance problems the fire as exposed." 

In that vein it is possible the election results could be interpreted as a referendum on the government's handling of the Tai Po fire...

Hong Kong's Footie Fiasco

Messi (in pink hoodie) didn't even bother to suit up for game

Hong Kong has a lot of egg on its face after superstar football player Lionel Messi didn't even bother to play in a friendly match of Inter Miami against Hong Kong XI. It was so bad that 40,000 fans who had paid a lot of money to see their idol were booing and jeering, and some demanding refunds.

The event was organised by Tatler Asia and in a contract with the government there was a stipulation that Messi would play for 45 minutes on the pitch. But 10 minutes before the game officials were told he was sidelined because of an injury.

However, he seemed to be fine walking on and off the field, which angered fans, some of whom flew in from China and around Asia for the chance to see Messi play. The event was supposed to be one of several mega events to entice visitors to Hong Kong.

The match was organised by Tatler Asia

Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Kevin Yeung Yun-hung claimed the government did not know about Messi's injury or that he would be benched for the game.

"We immediately requested them to explore other remedies, such as Messi appearing in the field to interact with his fans and receiving the trophy," he said. "Unfortunately, as you all see, this did not work out."

What makes the debacle even bigger is that the government gave it "M mark status", meaning it was considered a major sporting event that deserved more official funding and official backing.

Tatler Asia received HK$15 million (US$1.92 million) for the event and another HK$1 million venue subsidy. Well Yeung says the government hasn't paid Tatler Asia yet, so the authorities will be grilling the company about who knew what when.

Inter Miami even cancelled its tour of the Kai Tak Sports Park on Monday. 

Beckham's rep has plunged since the debacle

It looks like Inter Miami pulled the wool over Hong Kong's eyes, and while the government blames Tatler Asia, officials didn't escape scathing criticism, and neither did the football club's co-owner and president David Beckham, who was booed in the stadium. 

Him plugging The Venetian and egg tarts was bad enough, but his reputation won't recover after this public relations mess.

Lawmaker Michael Tien Puk-sun described Sunday's incident as "outrageous" and that it hurt Hong Kong's reputation as a mega-events hub.

So... how's the pitch to Taylor Swift going?

Patriotic Candidates Need Only Apply

The District Council Election is Dec 10

The Hong Kong District Council elections will be held on December 10 and the candidates have been decided.

Since the rules for these elections have been overhauled, only "patriots" are eligible. 

In order to qualify, hopefuls had to get nine nominations from area committees by Monday Hong Kong time. 

Lee says only patriots qualify to run in electon

That resulted in 171 candidates vying for 88 directly-elected seats in 44 constituencies. Some 4.3 million people are eligible to vote.

"The purpose is to select the best people... You have to convince the public and ensure they agree you are qualified and competent to serve the district," Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said.

"Those securing the nominations should be capable people who truly love their country and Hong Kong."

Perhaps that explains why none of the six hopefuls from the Democratic Party got any nominations?

Even pro-establishment lawmaker Michael Tien Puk-sun's Roundtable Party had only one of five get enough nominations to become a candidate.

Nevertheless, Lee claimed the system was fair regardless of their background.

"I think that is the most important, the system has to be fair and applies to everybody in the same way," he said. 

All six of Lo's party hopefuls were shut out

"That is the most important principle for all elections to be considered -- fair and equal application. A candidate will have to respect the decision of the person he seeks the nomination from... it is up to you to ensure that you can convince the person you want to convince."

Keep in mind the main role of district councillors is to talk to residents in the area about making roads safer in the neighbourhood by proposing more stop lights or crosswalks be added, help residents with any bureaucratic problems they face, or suggest more green spaces for residents to enjoy.

Back in 2019 Hongkongers used the District Council elections as a referendum on the government's handling of the protests because they had no other way to voice their concerns.

And now four years later the government is using these elections to ensure only select voices are heard.

A friend wrote on social media about being surprised no representatives from the Democratic Party or "centrist" party could become candidates, because if they lost, they would lose more face in an election than being disqualified.

However, it seems Lee or rather Beijing wants to ensure nothing goes wrong December 10 and only have sure winners.

But perhaps more telling will be the voter turnout...

HK Authorities Gaslighting and Other Travel Snags

Lee (middle) claims Covid-19 changes are not abrupt

The border between Hong Kong and China will finally be lifted on January 10, while from December 29, the city will follow the mainland with no mandatory polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test on arrival, a complete scrapping of the Leave Home Safe app, and quarantine for close contacts.

Mask-wearing in public is the only thing that remains.

After years of "following the science", everything is suddenly scrapped, even though the infection numbers in Hong Kong have surged. When asked about this abrupt U-turn, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu thought the change in direction was anything but startling.

"We have always been preparing [ourselves] for normalisation," he said in a press conference. "I have to do it progressively, orderly and under control, so we can assess the risk and go on... It's not rapid. It's not sudden."

Lo says it's time to put onus on HK residents

Lee added about 2.5 million people had been infected with Covid-19 and the vaccination rate had reached 94 percent for two doses, so the pandemic risks were manageable.

However, government pandemic adviser David Hui Shu-cheong, who is a member of a chief executive-appointed advisory panel, said the group had not been consulted on the decision -- and warned the local healthcare system could be overburdened after the border reopened.

In an abrupt turn of face, Secretary for Health Dr Lo Chung-mau said it was time for Hong Kong residents to take on responsibility with regards to the pandemic.

"It's time for change -- from the government controlling the situation to handing over the responsibility and power of quarantine and infection prevention to residents. It's up to them to decide whether they have symptoms to see a doctor or take sick leave."

What?!

Tien worries about unvaccinated mainlanders

Since he was appointed this position on July 1, he has taken a patriarchal approach in saying the government knew best on how to deal with Covid-19 and insisted for example that people still had to use the Leave Home Safe app when his undersecretary admitted the information it had was not used by the authorities.

But lawmaker Michael Tien Puk-sun disagreed with the move to end the vaccine pass scheme. 

"If people coming from mainland China are not required to be fully vaccinated and enter restaurants after the border reopens, once the caseload increases, public hospitals will be full," Tien warned.

He said mainland visitors should be fully vaccinated just like other overseas arrivals.

Meanwhile upon hearing China is allowing its residents to travel from January 8, some countries like the United States, Japan and Italy have immediately insisted that not only mainland Chinese, but also those traveling from Hong Kong and Macau are not allowed into their countries without a negative test within two days of departure. 

Even if people from China, Hong Kong and Macau are travelling through a a third country they still have to submit a negative test.

Chinese need negative test to enter US, Italy

The reasoning is the concern that China hasn't been transparent with its data and it is unclear what kind of variants are in the country now. A news report said about 50 percent of mainlanders arriving in Milan tested positive for Covid-19.

Interestingly Canada has not joined the bandwagon -- yet -- or it is too scared to make Beijing grumble further.

Regardless this testing is prudent from an epidemiological perspective, but from a political one it looks like a tit-for-tat. 

Will this stop people from visiting the above-mentioned countries? 

In the case of Japan, it has upended the travel plans of numerous Hongkongers who have been dying to go to the Land of the Rising Sun, at first only allowing them to land in Narita and Haneda airports in Tokyo, Kansai International Airport in Osaka, and Chuba Airport in Nagoya.

But now Hongkongers can land in three more places -- Hokkaido, and two airports in Okinawa.

Crisis averted -- for now. 

Nevertheless in the meantime, the Hong Kong government should really stop the gaslighting and start admitting they have to follow Beijing. We all know it, just admit it! 

HK's Special Treatment for Unvaccinated Mainlanders Draws Ire

Lee says China is the safest in the world from Covid-19

Yesterday Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu dropped a bombshell during his media briefing.

He admitted mainlanders who were not vaccinated were coming into Hong Kong, but that they weren't the cause of infections.

What?

How can they not be the cause of infections and why are they even being allowed in in the first place when Hong Kong has mandated that all travellers to the city must be vaccinated? Even going out to eat in a restaurant people soon need to be triple jabbed.

Unvaxxed mainlanders come to HK

Why is there a different set of rules for mainlanders when Hongkongers don't get a break going into China?

Lee's explanation? China infection rate is the lowest in the world.

Quite shocking he believes in the numbers...

After the uproar, Dr Joseph Tsang Kay-yan, co-chair of the Hong Kong Medical Association's advisory committee on communicable diseases said the government should stop allowing unvaccinated visitors from the mainland and Macau from coming in.

"The impression is not very good. It makes people think there's different treatment. We are not talking about anyone from any places or countries. We are talking about a set of rules in Hong Kong that are applicable to everyone," he said.

Lawmaker Michael Tien Puk-sun echoed Tsang's comments.

"For many Hong Kong people, they will soon have to be triple-jabbed to have a 'blue health code'. Today, many of them cannot go to regulated premises if they are not double-jabbed. You cannot expect them to accept some people arriving from the mainland can have a 'blue code' without having a single jab. It's about the impression," he said.

Tien also said although people travelling from the mainland are very unlikely to be carrying Covid when they arrive into Hong Kong, they can still get infected while in the city and spread the virus further.

More elderly HKers need to be inoculated

Did no one warn Lee what came out of his mouth would leave a really bad impression and further expose the government's ignorance when it comes to Covid-19?

The authorities are so focused on punishing locals for any kind of Covid-19 infraction, that they turn a blind eye when it comes to mainland visitors. 

How about getting more elderly people vaccinated so that the city can fully open up?

The Lee administration's credibility has plunged even further now (not that it was high to start with).

Was this policy all along since the beginning of the pandemic?