Fresh Graduates Struggling to Find Jobs

They are happy to graduate, but many grads don't have jobs 

I'm not envious of university graduates trying to find a job now.

Many in the Gen Z cohort interviewed by the media have said they have not found work yet, and add they have applied to over 100 jobs with no response.

"It's disheartening," said Thivian Varnacumaaran, an electrical engineering student in his final year at York University. He estimates he's applied for 400 to 500 jobs since December and not one job prospect.

Aside from the pandemic, young Canadians aged 15-24 are facing the highest unemployment rate since the mid-1990s of over 10 percent in the first quarter of this year, according to Statistics Canada.

Mid-1990s -- interestingly is when I graduated... and headed straight to Hong Kong.

But now there are other factors in play: post-pandemic businesses have had to cope with fewer staff; a surge in population with fewer jobs available; and thanks to US President Donald Trump where his announcements are unpredictable and arbitrary when it comes to tariffs, Canada's economy is weakening and could fall into recession.

Young graduates not being able to get their foot in the jobs door is not a good sign of things to come, according to one academic.

"It's kind of an early warning indicator," said Tricia Williams, director of research at Future Skills Centre, a Toronto Metropolitan University lab dedicated to studying the future of work.

"It's not just about getting jobs and skills experience. It's about the larger structural supports and the environment that young people are coming into."

In other words, with fewer entry-level jobs available, they are unable to learn things like work ethic, adapting to corporate culture and office politics early in their careers.

And it's not like young people can just go somewhere else to work -- Trump's threats of tariffs all over the world are affecting everyone.

One pointer to try to get some kind of interview is to network -- ask their parents, relatives and friends' parents for contacts or some kind of introduction, so that if a space does open up, they could have a better chance of getting it.

The other is to just be open to doing almost any kind of work just to keep busy, build up service and communication skills. 

Hopefully these kids won't give up and will keep trying to break into the job market. We need them! 

Dr Yuen Warns of Another Impending Pandemic

Yuen warns world leaders must fight infectious diseases

We are still going through waves of the Covid-19 virus and Hong Kong microbiologist Yuen Kwok-yung warns we will inevitably encounter yet another pandemic that will be even worse, he outlines in his latest autobiography.

"Both the public and [world] leaders must admit that another pandemic will come, and probably sooner than you anticipate," he said in an interview.

Yuen has released an autobiography of his career

"Why I make such a horrifying prediction is because you can see clearly that the geopolitical, economic, and climatic changes are changing so rapidly."

In his autobiography, My Life in Medicine: A Hong Kong Journey, Yuen warns politicians must "come to their senses" and solve "global existential threats".

He says world leaders seem more focused on "national or regional interests", when a rapidly changing climate together with emerging infectious diseases should be a top priority.

"This is something so important that we should not ignore."

Over 20 years ago he and his team isolated and identified severe acute respiratory syndrome known as SARS that started in southern China and spread to Hong Kong and globally. The virus killed nearly 300 people in two months.

So it's not surprising he was on guard when the first reports of a mysterious virus was spreading in Wuhan, China.

Yuen's team tackled SARS in 2003

"We benefited from the 20 years of study that followed the SARS outbreak," he wrote in his book. "Until factors beyond our ability to stop or overcome -- fear, ignorance, poor messaging, and deliberate misinformation -- the measures were effective" in buying Hong Kong time until the vaccines were developed.

During the Covid-19 pandemic in Hong Kong, more than 13,800 people died and recorded some 3 million people, almost half the population. 

Yuen still thinks it's important to find out the origins of Covid-19, saying it is "important to properly do an investigation in a very open, transparent manner" so lessons can be learned for future pandemic prevention, he said.

"If we do not talk about it... then another pandemic comes, we have to pay a huge price again."

Don't say we haven't been warned...

AG Finds ArriveCan App a Waste of Money

Hogan could not find out the true cost of the ArriveCan app

Remember during the Covid-19 pandemic when some governments developed apps for displaying your vaccination status and for travel?

It turns out the ArriveCan app was not only full of holes in terms of being easily hacked into, but also its true cost is not clear because of the Canadian government's poor record keeping.

In a scathing report out today, Auditor General Karen Hogan found the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), and Public Services and Procurement Canada "repeatedly failed to follow good management practices in the contracting, development and implementation of the ArriveCan application."

All travellers to Canada had to use the app

"This is probably the first example that I've seen such a glaring disregard for some of the most basic and fundamental policies and rules," Hogan told the House public accounts committee today.

She said there were many omissions in record keeping and said she was "deeply concerned".

"We didn't find records to accurately show how much was spent on what, who did the work, or how and why contracting decisions were made -- and that paper trail should have existed," Hogan said.

While CBSA said developing the app cost around C$54 million, the auditor general estimates it was possibly higher at C$59.5 million -- based on the information she was given.

"We found that financial records were not well-maintained by the Canadian Border Services Agency. We were unable to determine a precise cost for the ArriveCan application because of [the agency's] poor documentation and weak controls," the report said.

In addition, C$12.2 million of the estimated C$54 million could have been spent on something other than the app, so the actual cost of developing the app could be lower.

Poilievre blasted the Trudeau government

Part of the reason for the ballooned costs is that CBSA relied on third-party contractors, and the auditor general's report says if there was less reliance on them then the app would have cost much less. 

However, the agency defended its move, saying the app needed to be rolled out as soon as possible during the pandemic.

"The CBSA was working as quickly as possible to replace a paper process that was not meeting public health needs and was also impacting the border with significant wait times that disrupted the essential flow of people and goods," the statement said.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre criticised the government over the app's cost and blamed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of "wasting [taxpayers'] money." He promised to cut back on third-party outsourcing if his party formed the next government after the next election.

"Public servants do the work more accountably and they do it more affordably," Poilievre told the media outside the House of Commons on Monday.

Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said ArriveCan's "contracting process was unacceptable" and said the government had already taken corrective measures.

"The Trudeau government accepts that taxpayers' money needs to be treated with the utmost respect. in no way are we going to defend this particular contracting process," he said. 

Another white elephant that was a waste of money that the government won't get back... I used the app when I moved back in April 2022 and then it was unnecessary to use it again the next time I traveled the month after!

Japanese Restaurants in HK Struggle to Survive

Hongkongers now go to Japan for food at cheaper prices

It is really sad to read that Japanese restaurants in Hong Kong are being decimated by the government's ban on importing Japanese seafood from specific prefectures for fear of contamination from the release of radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

Almost one-third of all Hong Kong's Japanese restaurants have shuttered this year not only because of the ban, but also the drop in tourism in the city.

Radioactive water is being released at Fukushima

High-end omakase restaurants are hit the hardest, as Hongkongers are opting to head to Japan to take advantage of the low yen and eat there instead.

It was the complete opposite during the Covid-19 pandemic, when diners had no choice but to patronise Hong Kong-based restaurants.

It used to be that the city had the most Japanese restaurants outside of Japan with 1,400 as of last year, but now many of them located in Causeway Bay and Tsim Sha Tsui have closed.

If people aren't traveling to Japan, they are certainly ordering the seafood online from prefectures not affected by the ban, and isn't very expensive.

Or they are throwing caution to the wind and eating in the banned prefectures, which include Tokyo.

Michelle Chiu of global real estate service JLL, said she noticed a trend of Japanese and Western restaurants having to close down or change their business operations to stay alive.

High-end omakase restaurants being hit hardest

"Some of our clients who operate omakase restaurants need to switch to more affordable meals," she said, adding her restaurant clients had found business was "worse than during the pandemic".

Hopefully the employees of restaurants that have shut down have found work elsewhere... parlaying their experience into something else! Other restaurants could use a helping hand or two...

Day Trip Kayaking at Bowen Island

Our group kayaking around the coastline of Bowen Island

This morning I got up bright and early -- before 6am to catch a bus in order to catch a ride to Horseshoe Bay Ferry Terminal to go to Bowen Island.

We made it there an hour early than the ferry sailing at 9.05am for a trip that took 20 minutes. 

As soon as we arrived, we stepped onto a place that lives by "island time"... kind of reminded me of Hong Kong's outlying islands like Lamma and Mui Wo.

Many multimillion dollar homes by the water

Not far from the ferry terminal was the place where we had reserved a three-hour kayaking tour. We were suited up with a life vest and given a paddle before we were given a quick lesson on how to kayak before walking down to the dock and getting into our kayaks.

I'd been kayaking once before in Hong Kong last year when my friend took me to the Ho Hai Wan Marine Park in Sai Kung. The water was very calm and we would land in various beaches and get in and out of the water so we were quite wet by the end of it.

Here we were in kayaks that were a bit more protected from the water, though we did get wet in the groin area and the legs. By the end of it salt crystals stuck to my legs!

I really enjoy being out in the water and kayaking gives you the best opportunity to be really close to the water without jumping in. Kayaking is also not difficult to do once you are taught the basics. This kayak also had a rudder that could be controlled with foot pedals, whereas in Hong Kong we had to rely on our ability to maneuver the kayak with just our paddles.

This seal was snorting at me taking his picture!

Here we had two to a kayak which was fun and allowed for more conversations with others in the group. We followed a guide around the coastline, but when we got to more open water, it became quite choppy, which is when water started sloshing into our kayak. Also two people on separate kayaks became seasick and had to get to shore.

We took a break while they did that and their partners could team up in one kayak for a last spin around. We went across to one area and got very close to the edge where we could see harbour seals hanging out. They barely moved which made my friend wonder if an artist had painted eyes on rocks! haha. As I took a picture with my phone, one of them snorted at me. Or maybe he just happened to have nasal issues.

Below them were tons of mussels clinging to the rocks and below them near the water were bright purple star fish! Above us we saw some bald eagles and someone in our group joked they were circling around for us... on the water we saw a flock of Canadian geese too.

There were many homes by the waterfront complete with their own docks. These are multimillion dollar homes and it's interesting to note their water comes from wells dug on the property, while sewage is dealt with in a septic tank that is pumped out every decade or so.

The water was very clear but didn't see much

And as should be expected, everything on the island is expensive because it must be shipped in. There's two and a half police (they are on part time schedules), and all the firemen are volunteers (residents on the island). Normally there are 5,000 residents on Bowen Island, but it doubles in the summer when people come to occupy their holiday homes.

A member of our group lives and works in Vancouver during the week and comes back to Bowen Island on the weekends. She told us during the Covid-19 pandemic, people discovered Bowen Island because it's relatively easy to get to and not too far, and as a result property prices have gone up. 

While it's possible to stay in an airbnb, it is impossible to rent a place, especially for seasonal workers. One of the guides told us they were here working for the summer and had no place to live so they are living in their van -- which is illegal!

Giant purple starfish clinging to the rocks

Our three-hour tour was a bit too long for some people, but weather-wise in general it wasn't too hot though it was windy at times. Having booked this weeks in advance we were lucky the weather was perfect. 

After some lunch and drinks, we were too late for the 2.45pm ferry so we had to wait until 4pm for the next one. Then coupled with traffic getting onto the Lions Gate Bridge, we didn't get back until 5.45pm.

Chief Executive Dismisses Call for Independent Covid-19 Inquiry

Lee says the government is constantly reviewing its policies

"Nothing to see here" is what Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu says in response to the proposal of holding an independent inquiry into the Hong Kong government's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.

At a press conference he dismissed the call made a week ago, saying there is no textbook solution on how to deal with the health crisis.

"The epidemic situation has been changing rapidly, and local governments respond in real time according to the situation. There is no recognised best or standard solution," he said.

Yuen called for independent inquiry last week

"I agree that we must sum up experience to ensure that we can effectively respond to different threats, and that is what the government has been continuously doing -- to sum up experience and optimised measures to ensure we have the ability to respond."

Infectious diseases expert Yuen Kwok-yung floated the idea several days ago and only now has the government responded, perhaps waiting for Beijing to craft what to say?

Yuen was hoping the inquiry would look into the government's deficiencies in areas such as virus-tracking, isolation and testing in the early stages of the pandemic, as well as review the large-scale outbreaks in elderly care homes.

It's a way of making the authorities accountable for how it managed the pandemic, but Lee shot this down, claiming the government is constantly reviewing its processes and improving them.

He said since taking office last July, he launched mechanisms to constantly review and improve the administration's pandemic policies, such as setting up a command group to lead government departments' response to the crisis. 

Lee also said he strengthened the public healthcare system and made decisions based on scientific evidence, among other measures.

Hong Kong focused on luring visitors to the city

And anyway, Hong Kong is moving on from the pandemic.

"We have been planning to reconnect with the international world, as well as fully reopen the border with the mainland. These are the results of the government's continuous review and continuous optimisation of policies," he added.

The two main goals are to focus on promoting Hong Kong to overseas and mainland visitors, while also planning for the return of full normality while constantly reviewing the city's capability in handling crises.

Basically, nothing to see here, move along.

Lee said he also assigned Deputy Financial Secretary Michael Wong Wai-lun to conduct a full review of the use of isolation and quarantine facilities, and to decide when the land could be released for new developments in phases, while reserving enough space for possible future crises.

Basically there will be no airing of dirty laundry in public -- it will all be done internally. You'll just have to trust that we are doing this in your best interests...

Yuen seems to be throwing out his last political salvo in an attempt to get the government to face up to its failings during the Covid-19 pandemic. Will he be thrown to the wolves or given the cold shoulder? Stay tuned!

Covid-19 Inquiry Welcome, but with Caveats

Many agree to an inquiry, but after the pandemic is over

After infectious diseases expert Yuen Kwok-yung pitched the idea of an independent inquiry into the Hong Kong government's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, others are putting in their two bits as well.

Fellow experts David Hui Shu-cheong and Leung Chi-chiu agreed, but said the inquiry should start later.

Meanwhile professor Lau Yu-lung in the University of Hong Kong Paediatrics agrees in principle, and adds the inquiry should be headed by a judge and that it should start after the World Health Organisation declares the pandemic over.

Hui says inquiry should start later, not now

However, Executive Council convenor and chairperson of the New People's Party Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee threw in her opinion and as expected, she had many caveats. 

She did not like the idea of independent judges heading the inquiry because they are not policy experts, but isn't that the point?

Ip also said the inquiry should be held after the WHO declares the pandemic over, as there are still new variants. But as they are not as life-threatening as the original Covid-19, there is an argument to have it sooner rather than later.

Nevertheless, she did acknowledge there was a lack of support for infected patients at the peak of the crisis last year, saying the review should look into how to better mobilise social resources and how to maintain medical services when handling a large number of infected residents.

In addition Ip suggested looking into ways to make good use of technology and mobilise civil servants in handling major crises -- isn't that what they did in the latter half, when there was not enough manpower for essential services? 

Ip says officials should not be targeted

But perhaps most importantly, she stressed the inquiry should not target government officials who she says worked hard over the past three years.

"Everyone was handling it hand learning along the way, as well as optimising measures. We should not hold anyone accountable for everything, but should instead look for shortcomings and optimise procedures," she said.

While a blame game is not productive, an inquiry needs to uncover what happened and why, and how to make things better in the future.

But in some cases, there were things the health experts suggested and the government did not take the advice, or processes were completely mismanaged or incompetent. The design of the LeaveHomeSafe app comes to mind... 

Most would agree the community vaccination clinics were well organised, but did the government do enough to encourage people, particularly the elderly to get jabbed? Why did the authorities not clamp down on mis- and disinformation on vaccines and how many vials of vaccines were wasted? 

Taxpayers deserve to know what happened, and an inquiry -- if it ever happens -- is a good place to start. But caveats aren't very helpful when the government lacks integrity and transparency...

Dr Yuen Calls for Independent Inquiry into Handling Covid-19

How well did Hong Kong handle the Covid-19 pandemic? 

Infectious diseases professor Yuen Kwok-yung is calling for an independent inquiry into Hong Kong's handling of Covid-19 so that the city can better prepare the next time another pandemic comes around.

During a radio program, Yuen explained that after the 2003 SARS outbreak (20 years ago this March!), an inquiry was held, which led to the establishment of the Centre for Health Protection. 

Yuen and his duck mask that made him endearing

The centre has since put more resources into research and this helped to fight against Covid, he said.

Yuen said there was definitely room for improvement in contact-tracing and isolation arrangements during the current pandemic.

"We saw 12,000 to 13,000 deaths. Why don't we conduct a thorough investigation and clarify what we should do in the future? Speaking for myself, if I'm lucky, as an infectious disease expert, I might see a third pandemic during my lifetime. Hong Kong must be prepared for it."

Does Yuen realise the political implications of calling for an independent inquiry and where it will go? If the government agrees to it -- and that's a big IF -- the scope would probably be so limited to ensure the authorities look good.

An independent inquiry is definitely needed -- not only in the medical handling of this pandemic that led to one of the highest death rates in the world, but also the cost from the financial handouts, to the construction of those isolation units that are now collecting dust all over the city.

Hospitals overwhelmed with infected elderlies

How many of those pandemic kits were handed out, that had N95 masks, rapid antigen tests and that Chinese herbal medicine Lianghua Qingwen? How much did that cost? And the PCR tests conducted in the community testing centres. How many vials of vaccines were wasted?

The inquiry could also give insight into the communications between the infectious disease experts like Yuen and the government, and possibly hints if Beijing played a role in Hong Kong shaping its Covid policy.

We await to see the response...

In the meantime, Yuen is suggesting that masks come off at the end of March when the weather gets warmer and the virus has a shorter life cycle.

He warned there could be another surge of Covid-19 and other respiratory disease infections after people take off their masks, but says this is an inevitable part of opening up.

Get boosted in October, November says Yuen

"Once we take off our masks, the situation may get quite serious. But we have already said in February and March 2020 that this virus will stay with us... We have to open up sooner or later, and it's better to open up sooner after enough people are vaccinated," he said.

Yuen said people should get another Covid booster by October and November to prepare for a possible rebound in the winter.

Ah, it's never ending...

Quote of the Day: Lo Chung-mau

The QR code scanning will continue, according to Dr Lo

Hong Kong's Secretary for Health Dr Lo Chung-mau insists that the Leave Home Safe app is still useful in the Covid-19 pandemic, even though Undersecretary for Health Libby Lee Ha-yun admitted the government rarely used the app to track contacts of Covid-19 patients.

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has asked the Health Department to conduct a full review of the app, but Lo seems to think it's still effective, as he told reporters today:

"The Leave Home Safe" has a very important function as our anti-epidemic measures. It serves as a measure for our Centre for Health Protection [of the Department of Health] in contact tracing and also serves a function for individual citizens of Hong Kong to record places they have visited, so that they can take measures to protect themselves.

Lo says Leave Home Safe app is good

"With the evolution of the pandemic, there are changes in various ways: the virus has mutated, our vaccination rate has increased, our immunity barrier has strengthened, so we may have to adjust some of the functions of the "Leave Home Safe" app. 

"But I must emphasise that emerging infectious diseases are something we have to bear in mind: we had SARS before, we have various infectious diseases and now we have Covid-19 which is still evolving. So I would say that we may adjust the functions of the "Leave Home Safe" app, but I think the "Leave Home Safe" app is a very good app which has helped Hong Kong in the fight against the pandemic. 

"Perhaps in the future we may still need to rely on the "Leave Home Safe" to fight against the other emerging infectious diseases. It is still a very good app."

Lo seems hell bent on Hong Kong residents using the Leave Home Safe app forever, because there will be yet another infectious disease to track.

Henry not strongly recommending masking up

Meanwhile across the Pacific Ocean in British Columbia, parents are angry and terrified with the news that at least six children have died of complications of the flu this fall. In previous years the number was two to three.

In these recent cases, one child was under five years old, three between the ages of five and nine, and two teens who contracted secondary bacterial infections which complicated their flu symptoms.

The province's health officer Dr Bonnie Henry is not calling for a mask mandate, nor is she highly recommending that people wear masks especially in indoor settings. She has only advised that everyone get not only the flu shot but the Covid-19 booster as well.

One health official so lax, the other so stern.

Why can't we have a happy medium?

Canada Removes Covid-19 Border Hurdles

From October 1, no more Covid tests, quarantines or masks

After a lot of grumbling with Covid-19 protocols resulting in many American tourists and day trippers staying away, the Canadian government announced this morning that as of October 1, anyone, vaccinated or not can come into the country, are not mandated to wear masks on planes, trains and cruise ships, no more random arrival testing, or even the need to show proof of vaccination.

ArriveCan app will be optional

There is also no need to quarantine or use the ArriveCAN app. The latter was what American visitors grumbled about, particularly those who came for the day, unwilling to fill out the tedious online form on their phones, while others found their app was malfunctioning and told them to self-isolate when they were not infected.

While people are rejoicing and deleting the ArriveCAN app, epidemiologists fear that they are losing crucial information when people are not tested on arrival. They say it's important to know what variants are coming in and from where. When wastewater is tested, it is already too late -- at least when someone is tested upon entering Canada, health experts can be made aware of the situation and react quickly and effectively.

Interestingly, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said Monday's decision was not a sign Canada is out of the pandemic, but that the government's data showed the importation of new variants was no longer having an effect on the evolution of the virus in the country.

Duclos says the pandemic isn't over yet

"If anybody believes the pandemic is over, I invite them to visit a hospital," he said.

"That decision again was driven by the evidence that we have seen over the last few weeks and months, which is that the transmission and cost of transmission of Covid-19 on our healthcare workers, hospitals and including those patients who have seen backlogs in their surgeries and treatments over the last two years and a half... are now almost entirely driven by domestic transmission of Covid-19. That's where we need to invest our energy."

However, while masks will no longer be mandatory, Dr Howard Njoo, Canada's deputy chief health officer, said he still recommends people wear masks on planes and trains.

"The science is clear -- wearing a mask is clearly a means of personal protection that is extremely effective," he said.

Njoo advises people to continue to wear masks

"I hope Canadians will make an enlightened decision about this."

The other issue is that the ArriveCAN app is now optional, but it doesn't mean a border agent will not ask to see it, which makes it confusing at best.

Today some people were still wearing masks on public transport, though the majority chose not to. People seem to have moved on from Covid-19 and don't have the same concerns they had two years ago. Others are still masked up and even wearing gloves. 

It's all relative... and will continue to be.