Review: 2026 Oscar-Nominated Documentary Shorts

Perfectly A Strangeness follows three donkeys

The Oscars, one of the biggest film events of the year is fast approaching on March 15, and art house movie theatres around town are showing the nominees for Best Live Shorts, Best Documentary Shorts and Best Animation Shorts.

I hunkered down for the Best Documentary Shorts, which turned out to be 157 minutes long, screening all five docs one after the other. 

Perfectly a Strangeness by Alison McAlpine (15 mins)

This Canadian entry seems strange at first -- why are we following three donkeys as they slowly walk up a hill. Where are they going? The sweet docile trio end up by an unmanned astronomical observatory that opens up at night and reveals some amazing footage of the universe, and a juxtaposition of nature and technology. 

The Devil is Busy by Christalyn Hampton and Greeta Gandbhir (31 mins)

I quickly surmised this film was about an abortion clinic and it was sad to see the measures the staff had to take to ensure their clients, who they call guests, feel safe and supported during their visit. The main character is Tracii, who is the first to arrive at the clinic and explains how safety is so crucial, as well as her own personal story. Viewers also meet the doctor who performs the procedures and says how politics is making it harder for women to have control over their own bodies. She never imagined it was easier for her to get access to this kind of healthcare when she was young than her daughter today. Meanwhile outside there are male protesters who use religion to try to guilt the women from going in. The filmmakers don't speak to them directly, but Tracii gives the audience the backstory on one of them. The Devil is Busy is a highly emotional film, showing how women are losing their reproductive rights today, and that there are people who are trying to help them.

Armed Only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud by Craig and Brent Renaud (38 mins)

The brothers from Little Rock, Arkansas were only two years apart and older brother Brent became a video journalist going to war zones and his younger sibling Craig followed him. But Brent became the first American journalist to die soon after the Ukraine war broke out in March 2022. Craig is determined to bring his brother's body back, and reminisces about the places they covered, from Afghanistan to Somalia, Haiti, Iraq and Mexico. Some of the footage is frightening to watch, but that is what Brent wanted to show people, that war is horrific and we cannot pretend it doesn't happen. The documentary is a tragic tribute to Brent, and ends by letting viewers know that hundreds of journalists have died trying to report the truth.

All the Empty Rooms by Joshua Seftel (33 mins)

Journalist Steve Hartman was known on CBS Evening News as the guy who would find human interest stories to lighten the end of news casts. But in 1997 he was assigned to cover his first school shooting, and it wasn't his last. He said he became numb reporting them as was the rest of America was hearing them. So he started his own project of contacting families whose children had died from school shootings and got his photographer friend Lou Bopp to take pictures of the kids' bedrooms. It's absolutely devastating to get an idea of who these children were through their bedrooms, and how their parents and siblings are coping. 

Children No More: "Were and are Gone" by Hilla Medalia (36 mins)

After the October 7 attacks and Israel retaliates with attacks on Gaza, a large group of protesters in Tel Aviv stand silently and stoically holding candles and pictures of Palestinian children killed in the war. Week after week they stand and sit in public places to get attention, which leads to emotionally charge scenes. Some passersby tell the protesters they are delusional, or that the priority should be the Israeli hostages, not children in Gaza. 

China's Birthrate Continues to Fall

China's birthrate made a record 17 percent drop last year

China's birthrate has dropped for the fourth consecutive year, despite government efforts for couples to have more children.

Last year registered births fell to 7.92 million, down 17 percent from 9.54 million in 2024, the biggest drop since the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949.

Yi Fuxian, a demographer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison was quoted in The Guardian that births in 2025 were "roughly the same level as in 1738, when China's population was only about 150 million."

The government's incentives aren't enough

The falling birthrate is not news the authorities were hoping to hear after years of trying to encourage couples to have more kids.

One of its initiatives that begins this year is 90 billion yuan (US$12.9 billion) poured into the first nationwide childcare subsidy program for children under the age of three. There are also plans to expand national healthcare insurance to cover all childbirth-related expenses, including IVF treatment.

But when the economy is slowing down coupled with high unemployment -- particularly among fresh graduates, people don't feel it's the right time to have kids, who have also become a very expensive investment.

The average cost of raising a child in China until the age of 18 is 538,000 yuan -- more than 6.3 times as high as the country's GDP per capita, compared to 4.11 times in the United States, and 4.26 times in Japan, according to a Chinese population think tank.

It's also a big problem when companies frown on young women getting married and having children, overlook them for career advancement, and society still expects women to do the household chores.

Instead women are pushing back, choosing either to remain single and childless, despite calls from the government, including Xi Jinping, for Chinese people to "actively cultivate a new culture of marriage and childbearing and strengthen guidance on young people's view on marriage, childbirth and family."

The drumbeat has already begun, with women receiving calls from community workers asking about their plans to have children. But dangling 3,600 yuan ($500) a year for families with children under the age of three is hardly much of an incentive, particularly for those living in cities. 

So... perhaps a re-think on how women are treated before coming up with plans on bumping up birthrates?

All About Love

What would you type on a Smith Corona typewriter?

I saw something poignant on social media today that ironically made me think about life before social media.

Literati Bookstore is an independent book shop in Ann Arbor, Michigan, that was founded in 2013 by a couple who are book lovers.

Literati Bookstore in Ann Arbor, MI

They posted a thought-provoking video with these words:

When we first opened Literati Bookstore, we put out a typewriter anyone could use, had a blank piece of paper, and that's it.

No internet, no social media, no delete key.

And I was curious -- when forced with a blank page, what would people type? 

Nonsense? Mean, biting comments? Vitriolic attacks?

But what happened over the past 12 years has been amazing, most of the time.

More often than any other topic, people write about love.

Love gained, love lost, love missed, love yearned for.

Love for parents, love for kids, love for someone else, love for lost love.

Love wanted, love needed.

Typing out some lovely advice

And I learned something when we are left alone with our thoughts and just a blank page, we take away social media and followers and comments and the cruel cough in this megaphone that is the internet.

When we have a quiet moment in a bookstore to simply leave something anonymous and permanent about anything we want.

More times than not, we write about love, and while there is so much wrong in this world, in the end, after pouring through tens of thousands of anonymous notes, I truly believe we are more alike than we think.

💕

Hong Kong's Sexist Attitudes Persist

Lee and his wife Janet attracted to the colour red

Women are on the Hong Kong government's mind these days.

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu equated trying to seal some deals to attract mega events to the city was akin to chasing women.

In an interview with Sing Tao newspaper, Lee admitted there was stiff competition in trying to lure overseas performers to Hong Kong.

Last week Lo compared women's fertility to soil

"It's like how I used to chase girls. For the good ones, of course everybody will chase them, [we] must work hard and fight," he said in Cantonese.

Then Lee added he would not disclose their strategy of attracting big events to Hong Kong.

In the case of Lee's personal life, he was 22 years old when he chased his then girlfriend Janet Lam Lai-sin who became his wife at the age of 16 in 1980...

Then last week Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau compared female fertility to soil, in that they should not delay having children and that freezing their eggs now would not necessarily help them conceive either.

"It's not just a problem with the eggs, it is also a problem with the soil. Even if you have frozen your eggs, when you have reached 40, the chance that the egg could become a healthy baby will drop substantially," he said in Cantonese.

"Freezing the eggs could not revert the physiological limit on women's reproductive age," he added.

Lam said not all women can give birth early

Lo was immediately criticised by lawmaker Nixie Lam, who opted for assisted reproduction and gave birth to her first child last year, said his remarks were a "heavy blow" to all women in the city.

"The way the minister spoke just now, is it that I couldn't give birth because my soil was bad?" she asked. 

"I believe the minister's remarks would deal a heavy blow even to women without childbirth issues. You are telling them... they cannot get pregnant because the soil in their bodies is bad, and they should give birth naturally whilst they are still young," Lam continued.

"How can you give birth when you are 18 and still studying?" Lam said. "Not everyone is like the minister yourself, who met your match in your 20s, got your degree, got married and had a kid, all in a row."

How much more sexist can this administration get? Perhaps that's why they aren't attracting any big acts either? It is 2024, not 1980...

Hong Kong Policy Address A Buffet of Words

A record-long policy address with few highlights

Yesterday Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu delivered his policy address in the Legislative Council, which took him a record three hours and 22 minutes to deliver -- sitting down.

One person on X, formerly known as Twitter, compared this number to the statistics of runners in the 2023 Standard Chartered Marathon. It seems 377 runners were faster than Lee giving his speech.

CE supporters wore green ties and scarves

Another observation was that the pro-Beijing camp wore green neckties or scarves as a show of solidarity with the chief executive.

Some critics described the policy address as lacking focus, comparing it to an all-you-can-eat meal.

"It is like a buffet dinner, it needs a theme such as Tasmania Oyster or Argentinian steak to attract diners. If the investment theme is about everything, it is hard to attract investors," said Simon Lee, co-director of the International Business and Chinese Enterprise program at Chinese University.

Centrist lawmaker Tik Chi-yuen described the policies for the welfare sector as "putting old wine into a new bottle."

"It seems like the city leader copied and pasted welfare measures proposed by different parties and NGOs to his policy address. You cannot see a well-designed strategy, with timetable and priorities, presented inside the blueprint," he said.

Tik says Lee's speech on welfare had no strategy

One policy that shows how out of touch the Lee administration is, is the attempt to boost the city's birthrate by promising parents of newborns will be given a one-off amount of HK$20,000 and would be prioritised for subsidised housing (as long as they don't make more than HK$62,000 a month).

Compare this proposal with Singapore, which is handing out the equivalent of HK$62,000.

Does Lee not know how much it costs to raise a family, or how much rent is these days? HK$20,000 is a drop in the bucket and will hardly push the birthrate up...

VIFF Review: Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe

Coombs with Casey and Finnegan by the treehouse

The Vancouver International Film Festival has kicked off and I saw the Vancouver premiere of the documentary, Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe.

Inside the Vancouver Playhouse, practically every seat was taken as everyone in the audience was ready to walk down memory lane.

Rogers (left) was a visionary

Mr. Dressup was a part of children's lives for almost 30 years, encouraging them to play, make crafts, sing songs, dress up into various characters and most of all, be kind to others. He hung out with two puppet characters, Casey and Finnegan. No one could figure out if Casey was a boy or a girl, and a culture critic points out that Casey was probably the first non-binary character ever on television! Finnegan was a dog that only whispered to Casey.

That's the Mr. Dressup that I knew, I had no idea of the origins or what happened after I grew up, and this documentary traces the whole career of the man behind Mr. Dressup, Ernie Coombs.

He was originally from Maine, and knew Fred Rogers, who was passionate about changing children's television into something more educational as well as entertaining. Rogers was lured up north to Canada to work at the children's TV department of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and he got Coombs to come along with him.

Rogers created the pre-cursor to Mister Rogers' Neighbourhood and it was very successful in Canada, and Coombs helped out as a puppeteer and one of the human characters on the show. 

However, after his contract ended after a few years, Rogers moved back to the US. Who would replace him? Coombs, with his own show, first called Butternut Square. 

Coombs created the character Mr. Dressup

After a while it was suddenly cancelled, but the show's producer managed to get part of a studio and they created Mr. Dressup. He had what he called the Tickle Trunk, where he stored all his costumes to dress up in, showed children how to draw (from his experience of painting background sets), made crafts with toilet paper rolls, and hung out with Casey and Finnegan who were in a tree house (which still stands in the CBC Toronto foyer). 

At first the show was very scripted, but Coombs had trouble following it, and so they began ad-libbing most of it, but with clear concepts decided beforehand. It was rehearsed twice before taping live. He got on tremendously well with the puppeteer, Judith Lawrence, who incidentally was from Ballarat, Australia. 

Decades later, Lawrence decided she'd had enough and retired -- CBC even dared to claim that Casey and Finnegan were the property of the broadcaster, but she had created them herself and so Lawerence, Casey and Finnegan left the show.

Coombs continued and the show had more learning opportunities with various rotating characters (and puppeteers).

Coombs with puppeteer Lawrence at the CBC

The documentary also delves into Coombs' personal life, his wife Marlene (Lynn) who he met on the TV set, and his adult children talk about their father and what he was like at home (no different). They also talk about the tragedy of losing their mother in a car accident, and later how Coombs died after a massive stroke around 9/11.

I had completely forgotten or not known that Coombs had died a week after that horrific day. Losing Coombs was also sad, as he had influenced so many children who are now adults. 

Pop culture historians note in the beginning, the CBC was the leader in children's television, pouring in so many resources into it and drawing in some half a million kids watching everyday. What happened? Sesame Street (only a temporary drop in numbers), but also the Conservatives won the federal election and began cutting the CBC budget. We can blame former prime minister Brian Mulroney for that!

So Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe is a nostalgic remembrance of Coombs, a comprehensive look at his career, and his contribution to Canada and children's television, and how he influenced millions of children across the country. Even in his later years he easily drew a crowd on college campuses and in pubs!

What a lovely tribute and many in audience were weeping by the end.

Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe

Directed by Robert McCallum

90 minutes

2023

China's Low Birthrate Blamed on West

China alarmed at low birthrate, but it's a global trend

The Chinese government is desperately trying to get its young people to marry and mate, but they aren't buying it.

After decades of the one-child policy and in the last several years the rising costs of raising a child along with education costs have made people think twice about getting married, let alone having babies.

So Beijing is trying to blame Western culture for influencing young women to focus more on their careers and not interested in having children.

India is overtaking China as most populous nation

Professor Zeng Yi, a population expert at Peking University's National School of Development, says the growing number of adults living alone was "very worrying".

He urged the media to stop promoting such lifestyles because it would lead to "a large group of empty-nest elderly people" and an "accelerating decline in the working-age population".

A similar appeal was made by Wang Peian, party secretary of the China Family Planning Association. 

"We should greatly promote the traditional virtues of the Chinese nation and the social respect for producing offspring, encourage couples to share child-raising responsibilities, and eliminate bad customs such as high bridal prices," he wrote in a journal published in March.

"In the late 20th century, with the rise of individualism, feminism and materialism, the second demographic transition, featuring a disconnection between marriage, family and procreation, started taking place in Europe," he said. "It had an extensive impact on the younger generation in China in the new century via globalisation and wide internet coverage."

How can he blame the internet when there the Great Firewall is in place in China?

Nevertheless, Yu Hai, a professor from Fudan University's school of social development and public policy, said low birthrates were a global and irreversible trend as more people say no to marriage and children.

Officials call for more traditional family values

"It's not something that can be changed by cultivating a new culture, or refusing Western values," he said.

"You may be able to make people not have babies, but it's hard to force them the other way round," Yu said, referring to the one-child policy enforced between 1980 and 2015, which resulted in numerous abortions.

"Besides, it's unfair to say Westerners do not value families. As far as I can see, family is of similarly high importance whether in the West or the East."

He said there were many reasons why young people were not having children, the top two are the financial burden and the education system focusing on exams and not encouraging creativity.

Meanwhile a single Chinese woman is appealing in a legal battle for the right to freeze her eggs to possibly have children later in life. Single women are currently not allowed to do this unless they get married, whereas single men can freeze their sperm. Why the double standard? And if a woman can afford to raise a child on her own, why not let her?

The ball's back in Beijing's court...

Store Supporting Protests Shuttered

The last Chickeeduck store closed in Tsuen Wan yesterday

Hong Kong brand Chickeeduck sold mostly children's clothing with cute cartoon designs, but also adult tops such as T-shirts and sweatshirts. 

It became even more famous when its owner, Herbert Chow Siu-lung openly supported the anti-extradition protests in 2019, even placing a "Lady Liberty" statue of a female protester complete with a yellow hard hat and gas mask in his store.

Chow with the Lady Liberty statue in his store

The store also sold protest paraphernalia, like tote bags showing five cartoon ducks swimming on one side, and a flag-bearing chicken on the other, directly related to the slogan, "Five demands, not one less". 

While those supporting the protests flocked to the brand's several locations to snap up clothing from the stores, Chickeeduck also faced a lot of harassment, causing Chow to announce in November 2021 he was going to close his stores the following year.

"In the past 18 months Chickeeduck has been suffering unprecedented harassment by unidentifiable malicious forces," Chow wrote in a statement in November 2021.

"Instead of wasting time, energy and resources to fight against unidentifiable malicious forces, which have caused personal risks against the company's staff, artists and local collaboration brands, we would rather take one step back and exit."

The shop sold protest-related products

At the same time mainland manufacturers producing goods for Chickeeduck were pressured to stop, while shopping malls and other landlords either did not renew leases or demanded to end the contract earlier.

Yesterday was the last day of Chickeeduck's operations at its Tsuen Wan store. People not only visited the store to buy up the last of the merchandise, but also the media were on hand to record the event. When the shop was about to close for good, a large crowd had gathered outside on the street to witness the end of the brand's brick and mortar shop.

The sign on the door? In Chinese it reminded people: "We must not get used to this."

The day before I left Hong Kong, almost a year ago, my friend YTSL took me to the Chickeeduck store near where she lived (now closed). 

"We must not get used to this" says the sign

When we got there, the young woman was about to lock the door for the night when we begged her to let us in. She told us to come back the next day when I said, "But I'm leaving Hong Kong tomorrow!" 

She didn't hesitate to let us in.

I didn't want to take too much of her time and quickly decided on a T-shirt, which YTSL gave me as a farewell present.

Moments like these you will never forget.

Review: Porco Rosso

Porco Rosso saves the day with his ace flying skills

This afternoon I returned to the Vancouver International Film Festival theatre to catch the ongoing Studio Ghibli Forever! festival, for the screening of Porco Rosso.

The 1992 animation by Hayao Miyazaki seems like an adult show at first, but really it's suitable for kids. Even the English dubbed version has witty dialogue that kids around 7 years old can appreciate.

Not many people watched this screening compared to My Neighbor Totoro last week, but it's too bad they were missing out.

Porco Rosso sizes up his rival, American Curtis 

Porco Rosso is a World War I flying ace who left the air force and kept busy as a bounty hunter. He has gained a reputation for not only his piloting skills, but also his pig-headed face, caused by some kind of curse that isn't really explained. He also seems to smoke a lot!

But his cynical attitude and one-liners quickly make him endearing to the audience, not to mention his ability to fly circles around his rivals, a rag-tag bunch of dim-witted air pirates.

These pirates team up with an American pilot called Donald Curtis, who also immediately reminds us of Gaston in Beauty and the Beast -- so full of himself and in love with any woman who walks his way.

In the skies Curtis sneaks up on Porco Rosso and believes he has downed the porcine pilot, but instead has severely damaged his beloved plane.

Fio holds her own against the air pirates...

Porco Rosso brings his wing-less into Milan to have it fixed by his mechanic, who happens to have a smart aviation engineer granddaughter named Fio.

She makes his plane even better (and costs even more), but Porco Rosso needs to get out of Italy to evade the Fascists who know he's in the country. His famous line is: "I'd rather be a big than a Fascist."

There's also a love interest -- Gina -- who is uber rich from selling drinks at her bar to those air pirates. All her previous husbands were pilots and she cares deeply for Porco Rosso, but he selfishly -- our out of self preservation -- cares only for himself.

Fio and Gina are strong women characters who reveal Miyazaki's feminist side, and these two balance out the male chauvinism very well. Gina and especially Fio are precursors to Disney's Belle in Beauty and the Beast and the red headed Princess Merida in Brave.

... and so does Gina with the air pirates in her bar

The 96-minute film has lots of action and comedy, as well as touching scenes that the time seems to fly by.  There's more to the plot with a lot of backstory which make the characters more rounded and complex.

The English version is voiced by Michael Keaton as Porco Rosso and Cary Elwes as Curtis. Brad Garrett is the Boss, the leader of the air pirates.

Porco Rosso

Hayao Miyazaki

96 minutes

Review: My Neighbor Totoro

Satsuki meets Totoro in the rain at the bus stop

I FINALLY saw My Neighbor Totoro -- it's a favourite animation movie from people's childhoods, but I watched it now, many decades older...

Because it's spring break here, the Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) decided to hold a Studio Ghibli Forever! festival showing some of Hayao Miyazaki's best animation over the decades.

Most of the audience members were families -- kids with either their parents or grandparents -- the vast majority not Asian. Only a handful of childless adults were in the theatre. And yes many bought popcorn! And there was a Totoro cookie for sale too for CAD$5.

The girls and their father live in the countryside

My Neighbor Totoro, released in 1988, is a heart-warming story about two girls who move with their university professor father to the countryside, where their mother is in the hospital. It's not clear what her illness is, but she seems to have been unwell for a long time.

The house they are living in seems haunted, but the children aren't scared -- which in turn makes the dust-like spirits scared and they go away into the nearby giant camphor tree.

It's there the younger sister Mei discovers two small spirits who lead her to the camphor tree where she meets Totoro and despite his huge size, she is hardly scared of him.

But when her older sister Satsuki finds Mei sleeping and wakes her up, Mei can't find Totoro again -- it turns out it's up to the spirits to decide if they want to be seen.

Eventually Satsuki meets Totoro on a rainy night waiting for her father at the bus stop with Mei sleeping on her back. He only has a leaf on his head for protection so she gives him her father's umbrella. He is so happy that he gives her a small bundle which turns out to be a bunch of acorns. 

The cat bus flies the girls up in the sky

Out of nowhere comes a giant cat -- a cat bus -- that takes Totoro away.

But then there is news that their mother is not well and both girls are upset. Mei runs to the hospital -- which is three hours by foot -- and Satsuki is desperate to find her...

The film is fantastic for the imaginative characters, how humans respect and interact with supernatural beings, and more importantly captures the behaviour of children so well.

The two girls are about 10 and four years old, Mei constantly copying her older sister which is true of most younger siblings. There's also a boy about Satsuki's age who is shy and doesn't know now to act around girls which is also funny but also very realistic.

I watched the matinee showing which was dubbed in English and I was concerned about the translation, but actually the voices were acted very well which was a relief. 

No wonder Totoro is so endearing so so many people and now I know what the cat bus is about!

And why in 2014 during the Umbrella Movement there was a large cardboard cutout of Totoro holding a yellow umbrella...

My Neighbor Totoro

Written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki

89 minutes

HK's Contradictory Covid Messaging

Lee (middle) says masks must still be worn outdoors

While Hong Kong has gone down to "0+3" in terms of quarantine, and 12 to a table and people can meet in groups of 12 in public, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu still insists that the mask mandate must continue outdoors.

In an RTHK phone-in show, Lee claimed the reason was to protect the vulnerable, in other words the elderly and children.

A bar is raided by police, checking Covid-19 app

Hello... it's OUTSIDE.

He added when the vaccination rate for children goes up then perhaps they would revisit the mask mandate, but until then, everyone needs to mask up.

"One thing that has been agreed by all the experts that I have come across, whether they are subscribing to their own school of thought... then there is a very general agreement that mask-wearing should continue," Lee said.

Meanwhile the Hong Kong police continue to raid bars with live performers, shutting down acts by forcing everyone to produce their LeaveHomeSafe app and their HKID. 

Talk about killing the mood -- no one dares say a word in case the police decide to fine someone for not being cooperative.

And Lee thinks people want to come back to Hong Kong to visit, or even move back there?

If test positive, bankers can flee by jet or yacht

Meanwhile bankers who attend next month's finance summit in Hong Kong are exempt from being restricted from going to bars and restaurants for three days in order to attend conferences and meet clients, though the visiting bankers must still conduct the battery of RAT and PCR tests.

However, if they do test positive, they won't be forced to isolate until they get better, but instead can leave the city via private jet or yacht -- if they did not fly into Hong Kong on commercial flights.

It has now become one city, two systems.

How is this fair to residents? Is this finance summit really going to jump start the economy?

And these finance types are complicit in presenting the image that Hong Kong is open for business.

But the reality could not be further from the truth...

Getting HK Priorities Straight

Diners are flocking to Tung Po Kitchen for the last hurrah

The famous or infamous Tung Po Kitchen is closing today (September 2 Hong Kong time) after 30 years. It's a dai pai dong in the Java Road Municipal Services Building, in other words, the North Point wet market. 

It took over a big area of  the cooked food area of the wet market, its owner Robby Cheung a charismatic frontman, who entertained guests by opening beer bottles with a chopstick, and joined them in drinking beers in ceramic bowls, along with singing and dancing.

Owner Robby Cheung (left) is a lively character

The Hong Kong Food and Environmental Hygiene Department cracked down on the eatery, saying that in an investigation since May 2021, Tung Po was suspected of having illegal subleases by four tenants, and in fact they did not operate as sole proprietors, and therefore in breach of their tenancy agreements.

Tung Po tried to appeal, but it was rejected and now must close.

I have eaten there twice, the first time with a group of colleagues and enjoyed the delicious claypot dishes like braised tofu or vermicelli with melon and dried shrimp, as well as claypot rice, along with steamed razor clams, and clams stirfried with black bean sauce.

The second time I went with YTSL and I ordered braised eggplant with minced pork. I should have waited for it to cool down and managed to burn my throat -- very painful! I left the next day for New York and even went to the hospital emergency to get it checked out. All I could do was keep gargling some green medicated liquid to keep my throat clean. The only thing I could eat pain-free was ice cream for a few days. 

Seafood dishes well known, lotus-wrapped rice

So while I don't miss the greasy floors and plastic stools, it is infuriating to see the government has suddenly decided to enforce laws now, when Tung Po had been violating it for years.

The same goes for illegal kaito ferry boats, some of which, it has been discovered, are operating without licenses. Some are rented out for outings by customers, others service outlying islands and transport people to and from Hong Kong Island mostly in the evenings.

Apparently the Marine Department conducted over 45 special patrols between 2017 and 2020 and says the number of inspections has to be stepped up to crack down on illegal kaito services.

Does this sudden crackdown on services and businesses using colonial laws have to do with the fact that a former cop is now Hong Kong's leader?

HK can't splurge on BioNTech jabs for kids?

People have complained that groups of police officers are on the prowl for any groups of more than four people on the street together to fine them HK$5,000 each, while four robbers got away with over HK$10 million in luxury watches after robbing a Causeway Bay shop.

What kind of law and order is happening in Hong Kong these days?

Meanwhile the government doesn't seem to value its next generation and won't procure BioNTech vaccines for children six months to three years old because it's "too pricey". Children can only get Sinovac shots.

On Thursday the number of Covid-19 cases jumped to 10,586, the first time since late March when the cases hit over 10,000. 

The percentage of vaccinations in children aged six months to three years is only at 11.7 percent of the total age group, and health officials are urging parents to get their children jabbed as school starts.

Over HK$330M for quarantine camps in Lantau

But why are these kids being treated different from adults, who get to choose between Sinovac and BioNTech?

It's not surprising some parents are cautious about vaccinations and having a choice would motivate them to get their children inoculated.

Meanwhile the government spent HK$330 million on three Covid-19 quarantine camps near Disneyland, and over HK$500 million on PCR tests since July 1 this year.