Sheepish on Charging for Garbage in HK

Residents will be charged for their garbage in August now

Hong Kong was going to finally implement its municipal waste-charging scheme on April 1, but apparently the public is still unsure about how it all works and so it will be delayed by another four months to August.

The public's lack of understanding is apparently the fault of the Environment Bureau and Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has asked the bureau to work harder on how to educate people on how to dispose of their waste properly.

Shouldn't that have been done ages ago? Or did the bureau -- and by extension the government -- assume everyone knows what they're supposed to do?

There are nine different sized garbage bags

From August, Hong Kong residents can't just throw their garbage into random plastic bags -- they must use designated ones that they can buy at supermarkets, convenience stores and pharmacies. They come in nine different sizes and the cost of these bags will pay for handling the trash in the landfill.

The scheme is in the hopes that people will find it expensive to pay for their trash to be processed so they will be incentivised to reduce their waste by recycling paper, plastic, and glass, or even do the dirty deed of separating their food waste and disposing of it in a special food waste bin.

But does the government have enough capacity to handle so much recycling? And does the general public know what can and cannot be recycled? 

The current state of awareness of separating waste is horrendous just by looking at the garbage boxes on the street with several different slots for paper, plastic and metal. Many people just randomly throw their garbage into any slot! More education should have been done ages ago.

Do people even know how to use this properly?

Nevertheless the fact that the new garbage scheme will be delayed another four months is pathetic -- why not start it anyway in residential areas because there is a six-month grace period? People will learn very quickly on how to use the bags and reduce their waste by recycling. There will be growing pains, but people learn by doing.

For restaurants there has to be a way for them to collect and dispose of it efficiently. Simon Wong is the honorary chairman of the Institute of Dining Professionals and says sorting out food waste means restaurants will have to hire more staff to do this when it's already hard enough to find dishwashers.

There is also the valid concern about preventing mosquitoes and food odours when dealing with food waste.

Restaurants don't have the time or energy to take out food waste and dispose of it elsewhere. The government has to make it easy for them to do this.

Sadly it seems the officials who thought of this waste-charging scheme don't have any idea how to put this in practice because they don't even do this at home! Someone else takes out the garbage for them so they have no inkling of what is involved. Have they ever separated their garbage and taken it to recycling spots? If only they knew... 

Snow Day in Vancouver

Trees covered in snow made for a beautiful sight today

We were warned ahead of time there would be a big snowstorm starting at midnight on Wednesday and the weather forecast was correct. Late in the evening Vancouver started to get a dusting of snow that continued for hours and hours... 

This morning we woke up to the white stuff -- a lot of it. 

Vancouver got a record 28cm today

Schools, including post-secondary ones closed for the day, much to the thrill of students. Today was the start of Dine Out Vancouver, where restaurants offer set meals at discounted prices. But the terrible road conditions caused some restaurants to close for the day, while some shops and museums closed early.

Around 9am I went out to start shovelling the snow off the sidewalks around our house and there was over 20cm accumulated already. It was tough going because the snow was already so thick and still coming down fast. 

Today we got a total of 28cm, a record for January 17, smashing the 1962 record of 13.5cm!

After I managed to clear both sidewalks and walkways to our home, I was dismayed to find there was already a light layer of snow covering the area I had just shovelled earlier.

So about an hour later I went out again, and after lunch, and one more time in the late afternoon with the shovel. By that time it was much easier to clear the walkways, but it had to be done to prevent it from accumulating too much.

By late afternoon the snow stopped falling for a bit and I tried to go out for a walk. Some neighbours did shovel the snow, doing an even better job than me, while others completely neglected this chore and it was difficult to walk at times. 

A smiling Henry Moore-like snow sculpture

Nearby is a park and it was nice to see young children having fun tobogganing down the slope, or making snowmen. One of them looked like a Henry Moore statue. It was quite a sight to see snow on the tree branches creating a beautiful scene.

The park is next to a main road and it was mostly cleared of snow, though the dirt from the cars had already turned the snow on the street into an ugly brown slush.

And tomorrow's weather will not be pretty -- tonight the temperature drops below zero, causing everything to freeze into ice, and then in the early evening on Thursday there will be freezing rain at 1 degree Celsius.

Already some post-secondary schools have cancelled classes again tomorrow. Better safe than sorry.

2,000 CCTV Cameras Watching Hong Kong

Cheuk says cameras to be placed in high-flow areas of people

Hong Kong is getting the surveillance treatment, with 2,000 CCTV cameras that will be installed around the city this year.

Deputy Chief Secretary Warner Cheuk Wing-hing made the announcement, explaining the CCTV cameras will help deter crimes even though he says Hong Kong is a safe city.

"The surveillance cameras will be installed in places with a high flow of people and places evaluated as high risk by officers. But the cameras may not be put there permanently; if needed, they may be moved to other places too," he said.

"This can also improve governance at the district level. If someone wants to commit a crime, can they dodge so many surveillance cameras?"

Cheuk sayd another 600 cameras will be installed by mid-2024.

He added that while he understands some people may have privacy concerns, Cheuk's reasoning is that there are other cities with more CCTV cameras than Hong Kong.

So apparently hiring more police officers isn't enough to make the city safer so they need several hundred "electronic eyes" to watch for anything suspicious going on... 

Hongkongers Swarm Costco

Massive crowds waited over an hour to get into Costco

Costco has just opened its first location in southern China in Shenzhen, and on the first day, it was overwhelmed mostly with shoppers from Hong Kong. The pictures of the massive queue of people made the Hong Kong news.

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The most popular items? Boxes of 30 strawberries for 95.90 yuan (US$13.50), 2.5kg of Chilean cherries at 249.90 yuan, and a box of 30 eggs for 1880 yuan.

Many shoppers bought boxes of strawberries

Also a good deal was the two-piece of hard-sided Samsonite luggage at 769.90 yuan at Costco, which costs between HK$1,888 and HK$1,980 in Hong Kong. The luggage was snapped up within minutes of the store opening and would be very useful carrying purchases later.

Another popular item was a giant stuffed Disney teddy bear called Lotso from the animated movie Toy Story. 

Shoppers who were interviewed all said they would come back probably once a month because of the good deals. One reported they enjoyed the shopping experience on the mainland compared to Hong Kong, saying it was "livelier"... does that mean shopping in their hometown is depressing?!

Did it ever occur to the Hong Kong government that it should try to lure Costco or Sam's Club to set up shop in the city? Or its hands are tied because billionaires like Li Ka-shing would threaten to retaliate if it did?

Giant Lotso from Toy Story was also a big seller

Either way Hong Kong is losing out on its status as a shopping mecca...

Vancouver's Unusual Deep Freeze

Patches of ice in this running stream in the forest

Since Thursday, Metro Vancouver has been in a deep freeze, with temperatures well below zero not only overnight, but during the day as well.

The snow on the roads disappeared somehow, resulting in the city experiencing a dry cold winter. It was so cold that people were skating on some local ponds.

To walk outside, one has to seriously bundle up with a toque, scarf, puffy jacket, long johns, sweater, socks and boots. Oh yes and gloves too. Anyone wearing less than that would be considered mad, like the guy I saw this afternoon wearing shorts.

In the early afternoon there was a weather alert to say the arctic outflow warning had ended, and that warmer temperatures were coming. 

That means tomorrow's temperature will be a high of -2 degrees Celsius during the day, and -6 degrees at night.

Whoohoo!

On Tuesday things get interesting with the possibility of snow in the afternoon or evening until Wednesday morning and then it will warm up to 6 degrees!

And then rest of the week will be raining... back to regular Vancouver weather...

Taiwanese Vote for Self-Determination in DPP Win

Lai of the DPP will be the next President of Taiwan

Before the Taiwan election on January 13, the People's Republic of China had warned voters to "make the right choice", and the Taiwanese heard it loud and clear -- re-elect the Democratic Progressive Party back into office, this time with Tsai Ing-wen's deputy Lai Ching-te as the next leader of the island.

Lai won about 40 percent of the vote, followed by the Kuomintang's Hou Yu-ih at 33 percent, and Ko Wen-je of the Taiwan People's Party with 26 percent.

Although votes still need to be counted, Lai will become the next President of Taiwan, though the DPP may not have full control of the legislature with a projected 51 seats out of 113, while the KMT is expected to have 52 seats, eight for the TPP.

KMT is projected to have more seats in parliament

Nevertheless, the third consecutive win for the DPP shows the island is keen on standing its own ground and does not want to be usurped by Communist China, particularly by force. 

There are concerns former KMT president Ma Ying-jeou should not have said that Xi Jinping should be trusted, which may have turned off voters; but after the Taiwanese had front-row seats watching what happened to Hong Kong in 2019 and 2020 with the imposition of the national security law, they don't want the same thing to happen to them.

Meanwhile Hongkongers wistfully looked to Taiwan and watched its residents able to freely exercise their right to vote, and wondered if the city would ever achieve universal suffrage.

Lai is 64 years old and a former doctor turned politician, whose party is pushing for self-determination, social justice and rejection of China's threats. 

However, Beijing painted Lai as a stubborn "Taiwan independence worker", a "destroyer of cross-strait peace", and potentially a "creator of a dangerous war". 

Taiwan has over 19 million eligible voters

Nevertheless, Lai took a less radical approach during his campaign, saying Taiwan did not need formal independence, and in his victory speech said he would seek "cooperation with China", following the path of of his predecessor Tsai. 

This seems to have appealed to voters, much to the chagrin of Beijing, which does not seem to understand how it is perceived on the island.

It's a well-known trend that the older generations are generally more supportive of the KMT, as they were the ones who moved to Taiwan after 1949 and want to see some kind of reunification. However, the younger generation voters identify themselves as Taiwanese. They are well aware of the existential threat that Beijing imposes, but they do not align themselves with China.

Beijing will have to recalibrate its response to the election results as Lai is signalling his willingness to have some kind of balanced approach to cross-straits relations. Constant threats by China have had the opposite effect and made the Taiwanese more interested in controlling their fate the best they can. 

Picture of the Day: Cold-temperature Walk

This morning was a lovely but very cold day!

Yesterday was a beautiful winter day in Vancouver, blue skies and radiant sunshine that so many were in disbelief when it started to snow around 2pm.

I was watching the four-hour documentary I reviewed in the previous post so when we emerged from the theatre at 5pm, it was dark and there was snow on the ground.

Even though there was only 2cm of snow on the ground, it was somewhat perilous driving home. My relative and I went south on Granville Street and turned right onto 12th Avenue going west. Not long afterwards our car began to slide which left us unsettled and drove in silence. And the car in front of us had just bumped into the one in front of it.

To avoid further traffic woes, my relative dropped me off and I walked a short distance back home. 

An invigorating walk in the forest

It was already dinnertime when I got back so we ate and after washing up, I put on some warm clothes and headed outside to shovel the sidewalk. But the snow had already stuck to the concrete so I tried to remove as much as I could and threw salt on it in the hopes it would melt somewhat.

Overnight it was -12 degrees Celsius.

This morning was a beautifully sunny day, but highs of -8 degrees!

After breakfast I bundled up again wearing long johns and fleece-lined waterproof trousers along with sweater, scarf, puffy jacket, hat and gloves, and headed out for a walk. The roads were very quiet with students at school and some people opted to stay home to work. I headed to Pacific Spirit Park and enjoyed hearing the crunch of the snow under my boots. 

I did a 52-minute walk and my face was very cold. I stopped around half way to take sips of hot water from my thermos and it warmed my face and throat up right away. My only complaint was that I wished I had worn mittens, but after a while my hands warmed up nicely. I saw a Chinese couple not wearing gloves and wondered why they didn't wear any. The woman was rubbing her hands constantly...

When I got back home my cheeks were ruddy red! Next time wearing a mask would keep my face warmer!

Tonight it's -14 degrees, and tomorrow's high is -6 degrees! It won't be 1 degree until Tuesday!

Review: Menus-Plaisirs -- Les Troisgros

Michel (left) discusses a dish tasting with son Cesar (right) 

In February 2019 chef Michel Troisgros came to Hong Kong to cook at Epure restaurant in Harbour City. He brought his younger son Leo, who at the time together with his brother Cesar looked after their restaurant, Le Bois Sans Feuilles (The Forest without Leaves) in Ouches, in Loire, France.

The family is famous, with four generations of chefs starting with Jean-Baptiste Troisgros in 1930 in Roanne, and in 2017 his grandson Michel moved the restaurant to the countryside in Ouches where they also have a boutique hotel on the property.

The restaurant, which has changed names several times, received its first Michelin star in 1956, and has three stars every year since 1968. This is quite the feat for any restaurant, let alone a family.

Michel and Leo (left) in Hong Kong in 2019

Michel and Leo cooked a delightful lunch for Hong Kong media, and we marvelled at how simple the dishes looked, but were full of flavour and elegance. 

So when the documentary Menus-Plaisirs -- Les Troisgros came out, I had to watch it -- even though it was four hours long!

Director Frederick Wiseman has created a gem of a film, capturing the sights and sounds (though sadly not the smells) of how this three Michelin-starred restaurant runs. There is no narration or captions to explain anything -- we are a fly on the wall and get translated subtitles.

Structurally the documentary starts off with buying ingredients in the market and receiving goods from suppliers. The chefs take them into the kitchen and break them down, from ribs and filleting turbot, to tempering chocolate and preparing the numerous garnishes that need to be used while plating dishes.

Michel goes over the menus with his sons. Cesar looks after Le Bois Sans Feuilles, while Leo has moved to La Colline du Colombier, a more casual place. 

From there we watch the wait staff get a quick rundown of the menu and the guests with their preferences, while it is interesting to see the restaurant wants to address any kind of harassment of any staff working there, though nothing more is reported.

Cooking crayfish before shelling them

But it looks like everything is moving smoothly, the dishes are quickly prepared and carried out, and we watch the guests marvel at the food and wine. It is fascinating to see how the French appreciate the art around them, from the culinary arts to the interior decor and art on the walls. A male guest remarks to Michel's wife Marie-Pierre about how she had made the place lived in with the decoration she chose.

Then there are visits to a cow farm to understand how they are raised, and learn when goats begin lactating to make cheese, there's a visit to a fromager or cheesemaker, but at this point I began to nod off, as his voice was monotone and they were looking at endless wheels of cheese!

While there is no visit to a winery, we watch a wine tasting take place, and a beekeeper checking up on the industrious insects making honey.

We also visit Leo at La Colline du Colombier, which is a much tighter operation, where several people help with wrapping dumplings and plating desserts, but when it comes to service, it's only a handful of people cooking the dishes. He also has a food truck making gourmet sandwiches and panna cotta that draws a long queue.

Two pastry chefs preparing the desserts

Most interesting was watching Michel in the kitchen, teaching the staff with a firm hand. One cook prepares veal's brains incorrectly. He doesn't severely scold him, but tries to teach him through his mistakes -- which means reading the recipe very carefully before going ahead. In other words, drain the blood first before poaching them otherwise it coagulates...

Michel also tries a new dish by Cesar that has Sriracha in it, along with passion fruit. After a bite, Michel says it has too much Sriracha in it, and takes another bite, adding his tongue is burning. But he doesn't stop eating. Cesar and another chef think it's fine, but Michel says that's because you're just having a bite, which is funny, because the father continues eating the dish even though he claims his mouth is on fire, but loves that the passion fruit flavour comes through.

Menus-Plaisirs -- Les Troisgros unfortunately doesn't give more context, and we as viewers have to hang on what Michel tells his guests to get snippets of the restaurant, how his sons are taking over, but that is he still has the final say, and that the dishes on the menu are constantly evolving.

Nevertheless, it's a fascinating look at what makes a three Michelin-starred restaurant and probably for most people, a greater appreciation for what goes into making your meal a divine experience.

Menus Plaisirs -- Les Troisgros

Directed by Frederick Wiseman

240 minutes

Barely Recruiting Hong Kong's Finest

The force is actively looking for applicants at home and abroad

The Hong Kong Police Force is still desperate for recruits, despite dangling very good salaries and benefits. It's now gotten to the point where the force has lowered its requirements to make it easier to get more applicants.

It happened last May, when height and weight minimums were scrapped. Previously men had to have a minimum height of 163cm and 50kg, and 152cm and 42kg for women. They could also wear corrective lenses.

Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung gave an update on the recruitment situation in the Legislative Council on January 10.

Tang gave an update at the Legislative Council

He said: "The Hong Kong Police Force has been adopting proactive recruitment strategies to attract high calibre candidates who have the competence to become a police officer, the affection for the Motherland and Hong Kong, and the passion to serve the public so that the force can continue to demonstrate its professional capability and maintain Hong Kong as one of the safest cities in the world."

While he says there has been no change in the language requirements of all police officers (should read, write and speak fluent Cantonese), the force has developed its own Chinese and English proficiency test "to suit the police officers' practical needs in communication and comprehension when performing their day-to-day duties".

What were the results?

On December 31, 2023, Tang says 87 applicants took the General Chinese Test, and 623 the General English Test, and 14 took both.

University recruitment poster in China

"The passing rates for the General Chinese Test and the General English Test were 49.4 percent, and 27.6 percent respectively," he said.

Those rates don't really bode well for the force or Hong Kong.

In addition, Tang says the force is recruiting applicants on the mainland, specifically looking for Hongkongers studying in China with 23 successfully hired, as well as students in overseas cities like London, Toronto and Sydney, where 40 who joined the HKPF.

"It is the HKPF's initial plan to resume publicity and recruitment campaigns overseas later this year," he said.

Good luck Mr Tang.

Looking for Ways to Generate More Money for HK

Did this help get Hong Kong out of its financial doldrums?

Hong Kong's coffers aren't as flush with money as it used to be, spending freely for things like tourism campaigns with the slogan "Happy Hong Kong", and "Night Vibes Hong Kong", and buying plane tickets to give away. Oh and what about that wall-to-wall advertising reminding people to vote on December 10 while making public transportation free?

So now the city is desperate to find ways to get rid of its budget deficit and some pro-Beijing legislators have a great idea -- tax people when they leave Hong Kong by air, sea or land.

Four lawmakers from the Liberal Party met with Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po on Monday about their expectations for the upcoming budget.

How about a departure tax on permanent residents

Among the 40 policy suggestions, one was a departure tax on permanent residents to generate more income.

"We do not support a departure tax levied on everybody. Instead, we support one that is imposed on Hong Kong's permanent residents -- whether they leave the city by flights, by vessels, or by cars. We support a short-term tax income to compensate for the current deficit," said Tommy Cheung, after meeting with Chan.

Last month the finance minister had to backtrack on an earlier projection that the government would be in the black in the next fiscal year, saying Hong Kong could expect another year in the red in 2024-25.

Chan believed it would take an extra "one or two more years" before the city would turn a profit. Government reserves were expected to fall to HK$720 billion at the end of the 2023-24 fiscal year.

Gone are the days when Hong Kong had a whopping HK$1.835 trillion in reserves in 2018.

A good chunk was used to build the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge that is hardly used, millions spent on the Hong Kong Police especially during the 2019 protests, and then the Covid-19 pandemic for vaccines and doling out handouts to people and businesses.

Chan open to ideas to generate more money

Another great idea that was pitched was to further develop the "Night Vibes Hong Kong" campaign... does that mean extending night vibes to during the day? Don't people have to work?

If these ideas are from the best and brightest legislators, the city will have to do a lot more to stimulate the economy...

 

Cronut King Leaves Hong Kong

Ansel at the Harbour City store in Dec 2019

Another eatery is shutting down in Hong Kong after four years in business. Called Dang Wen Li, it is the Chinese name for star pastry chef Dominique Ansel, best known for his creation of the cronut, a cross between a donut and croissant.

However, unlike his bakery in New York City where a new flavour is unveiled each month, Dang Wen Li only had the cronut available once a year in Hong Kong.

The classic pastries and HK-inspired cakes

Ansel came for the opening of the first location in Harbour City in December 2019, a fun small cafe that was very Instagram-friendly and was easy to get to from the Star Ferry in Tsim Sha Tsui. Most memorable was the hot chocolate with the marshmallow flower that "blossomed" as soon as it was placed in the hot drink.

The dessert creations were linked very closely to Hong Kong, with a cake that was shaped like the lemon tea juice box, but is actually Earl Grey bergamot cake, a "pineapple bun" that was actually a coconut pineapple passionfruit cake, and a raspberry mousse Japanese cheesecake that looks like a package of haw flakes.

In explaining the Hong Kong-inspired cakes, Ansel said he wanted to create "pastries that are inspired by the cultures and traditions of Hong Kong". 

However, they seemed quite gimmicky and I wondered how long they would last. In the beginning there were long lines at the store and the one at IFC that quickly opened soon after. And then a lot of money was poured into the flagship store on Queen's Road Central with its high ceiling and lots of seating.

Guava mousse cake for Christmas 2020

To entice people to stay longer, the newest location offered savoury dishes, including sandwiches and even a char siu egg croissant, and borscht soup. But people really came for the desserts.

One Christmas I ordered a guava mousse cake that had gorgeous red swirls much like a massive peppermint candy. Sadly it was only offered for one year. 

The gimmicky products continued to grow, and would include pecan and apple pies for Thanksgiving, and even a rectangular loaf of bread that was made with layers like a croissant and seasoned with sea salt. 

Meanwhile the viennoiserie (traditional pastries) did quite well, from croissants to pain au chocolat.

After I left Hong Kong, there are only two locations now -- the one in Central and another in Pacific Place in Admiralty.

Dang Wen Li is encouraging anyone holding its vouchers to use them before it closes at the end of January. It's too bad the bakery didn't even last for Chinese New Year and Valentine's Day... it's the cruel reality of business that it's got to cut its losses.

One wonders how the local partner, Upper East Holdings is doing. It also brought Sugarfina, Lady M and Tiffany Cafe to Hong Kong.

Some Golden Globes Winners

Murphy giving his acceptance speech at the Golden Globes

The awards season has begun and tonight the Golden Globes were held in Los Angeles. It's hard to believe it's been a year since Michelle Yeoh won best actress for Everything Everywhere All At Once, and from there the multi-genre film went on to win big at the Oscars. She has had an amazing year flying everywhere all at once, getting married, having a grandchild -- on her husband's side -- and releasing a series called The Brothers Sun on Netflix.

This past year I saw a few films and was pleased to see some of them do well at the Golden Globes.

Yeoh on the red carpet earlier this evening

Oppenheimer, about the father of the atomic bomb won five Globes for best drama, best director nod for Christopher Nolan, best actor for Cillian Murphy, best supporting actor for Robert Downey Jr, and original score.

It's quite an intense movie and if you haven't seen it yet, best to read up on J. Robert Oppenheimer first as the film goes over his background, from being a philanderer to his questionable communist links. It's unfortunate the women in his life don't get more opportunities to reveal more of their characters though. Nevertheless, both Murphy and Downey were fantastic going head to head in this story that is hard to tell, even over three hours.

One can't mention Oppenheimer with out saying something about Barbie. I liked the premise of the film and it started off funny, but then the laughs soon disappeared. Even Will Ferrell did his best to get the comedy going, but it wasn't enough. Yes, America Ferrera's monologue got cheers from women in the audience, but it seemed to be contrived like the rest of the film.

The Boy and the Heron is Studio Ghibli's first ever Golden Globe! And it comes days after Hayao Miyazaki's birthday too! This is also an intense World War II film about coming of age, destruction and reconstruction, where a boy yearns for his mother who has died, and a mysterious heron that speaks may lead him to her. 

Studio Ghibli wins for The Boy and the Heron

Toshio Suzuki is a Studio Ghibli co-founder and producer who posted a message on X, formerly known as Twitter, saying he was very happy to hear The Boy and the Heron won a Golden Globe, that it was "a very special feeling."

"Since the beginning of this year, Japan has been hit by a series of tragic earthquakes and accidents. When I hear the reports of many people still waiting for rescue in the disaster areas, I am filled with a sense of despair. In such a situation, I hope the bright news of winning an award can bring a smile to everyone's face, even if only a little. Together with our U.S. distribution partners, we look forward to further success with The Boy and the Heron. Thank you very much to the Golden Globes for this honor."

From this statement Suzuki must have felt it was not appropriate to go to the awards ceremony, but we are thrilled for Studio Ghibli.

And finally so pleased to see Paul Giamatti and Da'Vine Joy Randolph win best actor in a musical or comedy film and best supporting actress in a motion picture respectively for The Holdovers. This is a film that at first seems like it is a comedy full of wry humour, but it goes way beyond it and has a message for everyone, that we never really know a person until they reveal the truth to you. It ties in very well with one of the most searched words on the Internet -- authentic.

Randolph kisses her award for The Holdovers

The next awards are the Emmy Awards on January 15, Baftas on February 18 and then the Oscars on March 10.

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!

Picture of the Day: Sunshine in the Forest

The sun's rays were playful among the trees

Yesterday I woke up to pouring rain and thought that pretty much dashed the hope of being able to walk outside. The weather report claimed the rain would taper off by early afternoon but it didn't look like it.

However, by 1pm the rain cleared and the sun even made an appearance.

After lunch, I walked towards Pacific Spirit Park and soon saw there was a light fog in the area, casting fantastic rays in the forest.

I couldn't help but take numerous pictures along the way, observing the sun's rays among the trees.

It was a pleasant walk save for the muddy paths in certain points. A fellow walker remarked how nice an afternoon it was but forgot to wear his rubber boots.

Yup, me too...

Hongkongers Flock to Warehouse Stores in Shenzhen

Hongkongers are joining tours that take them to Sam's Club

For Hongkongers, visiting Costco in North America is a wide-eye opening experience. 

The members-only warehouse store sells everything from milk to laptops, refrigerators and roast chickens at very good prices. Hongkongers look in wonder at products stacked on pallets and items sold in bulk or in giant containers that would take a while to use up.

There is no Costco in Hong Kong otherwise Park 'n' Shop and Wellcome would be up-in-arms if that kind of rivalry elbowed its way into the city. People would need bigger flats too to store all this stuff in bulk. 

Everything here is much cheaper than in HK

However, there is competition south of the border, as Hong Kong residents eagerly sign up for shopping tours to Shenzhen, where one stop on the itinerary is at Sam's Club, a warehouse store operated by Walmart, and named after Sam Walton, the founder. 

There are 44 Sam's Clubs in 25 cities in China, including Beijing, Shanghai, Dalian, Hangzhou, Xianmen, Chengdu, Shenyang and Ningbo.

As part of the tour, visitors can get a one-year membership for two people for 260 yuan (US$37), which can easily be made back from buying everything from food to giant-screen TVs.

The tours are especially popular with young people who are eager to find deals, as well as products they can only find on the mainland. 

They can snap up fresh seafood, frozen dumplings, Godiva chocolates, Ippudo instant noodles, and even fresh hairy crabs.

Wandering the warehouse store is eye-popping

Who knew young Hongkongers would be so keen to shop in Shenzhen?

But with inflation soaring in the city, it's become a novelty to discover bargains galore in warehouse stores.

Statistic of the Day: HK Students Contemplating Suicide

Some 2.8 percent of student surveyed had suicidal thoughts

It's tragic to discover thousands of primary and secondary students tried to commit suicide in the last school year.

The Department of Health released a survey of 233,000 primary and 97,000 secondary pupils, asking them about their growth, vision, hearing, psychosocial health, and behaviour.

In the results the department found 2.8 percent of the children reported thinking about committing suicide in the last academic year, while 1.3 percent -- or almost 4,300 -- said they actually attempted to take their own lives.

Chinese University psychiatry professor Sandra Chan says the resumption of face-to-face classes after the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in increased emotional stress among students.

"You can easily see that in the real-world situation when students' academic demands are rising, especially in the post-Covid [era] and when schools actually are catching up on schedule and the curriculum that they have missed in the past few years... You can imagine the kind of adjustment coupled with academic stress," she said.

Chan said more needed to be done to make mental health services more accessible.

"There must be some multi-level collaboration to prioritise mental well-being as part of the core education initiative, so that will help our family and students address their needs and use the resources available. The priority really is to have policies at school level, at health care level to make these resources accessible and trusted."

While catching up on academics and having difficulty in performing well on tests may be one issue, the other is how the school system has evolved to include more national education, seeing friends and relatives leaving Hong Kong and wondering what hope they have left for their future in the city.

Children are very sensitive, and their emotions need to be recognised and addressed... unless the government doesn't think they are the future of Hong Kong...

Independent Restaurants in HK are Shuttering

This fine dining restaurant offered intricate dishes with stories

A few days ago I saw a social media post from a young chef's girlfriend that he was closing his restaurant in Hong Kong's Mid-Levels in a few days and told people to eat there one more time.

There were a few comments asking what was happening but she didn't reply.

It was a small fine dining restaurant with 22 seats, most of them by the bar where everyone had a front-row seat at the open kitchen to watch the chefs prepare food and have it served personally by the chef-owner. Every few months he created a new eight-course menu with new dishes, each with its own story.

Here diners had a front-row seat of the kitchen

Then today I saw the chef's social media posts saying kitchen equipment was for sale along with all the tableware, dishes, glasses, furniture... 

I messaged him, asking what was next.

He later replied saying he wasn't sure. He explained that he quickly made the decision to close because business was terrible in 2023, from March to November and could not see how 2024 would be significantly better. 

"We see no light at the end of the tunnel of 2024 either. The market is going to crash," he texted.

Crash?!

Rent wasn't an issue in his case the landlord was his partner's uncle. Even though the restaurant had low overhead costs, they could barely make enough profit compared to a restaurant with comparable overheads.

"I even injected capital two times," he added, to pay for food and staff salaries. 

The restaurant closed abruptly a few days ago

Hong Kong has become very expensive to dine in, which has resulted in many escaping to Shenzhen on the weekends for cheap splurges. It also doesn't help that a big chunk of the middle class and upper middle class, as well as expats have left the city too.

Independent restaurants are having a tough time surviving financially, and he observes those who will make it through are the ones within restaurant groups that have deep pockets, or those who have adapted to cater to mainland diners' tastes.

"I can't afford the first, and cannot sleep doing the second," he texted.

One can probably surmise the latter means lots of seafood like oysters, lobsters and sea urchin, truffles and caviar on every dish. 

From a wealthy family, this chef can afford to take a break and not even work, but only in his early 30s he needs to find something to do.

What do you do after you've opened your own restaurant for two years -- during the Covid-19 pandemic no less? Would he be willing to work under someone else again? 

Then a friend just told me that Maxim's, which has a giant chain of bakeries and restaurants is not looking to expand further in Hong Kong or the mainland, but in Southeast Asia instead. 

Even though Maxim's owner is pro-Beijing, it is looking elsewhere to expand. Even correct political leanings won't help you make an extra buck in China...

Review: Rouge

Mui plays Fleur a ghostly courtesan from the 1930s 

To start off 2024, we looked back and watched Rouge, a Hong Kong movie from 1988 starring Anita Mui Yim-fong and Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing at VIFF.

It is sad to note that 2023 was the 20th anniversary of both their untimely deaths, Cheung from suicide on April 1, 2003, and Mui on December 30 that year from cervical cancer.

I had never seen the film before and it was made before June 4, 1989, when Hong Kong was well on its way to becoming an industrious powerhouse, with textiles, film, and finance. 

Cheung's character falls for Fleur in Rouge

Rouge was adapted from Lilian Lee Pik-wah's novel of the same name, and the film directed by Stanley Kwan. The story is set in a brothel in 1934, when Chan Chen-pang, a wealthy merchant's son (Cheung) is mesmerised by Fleur, a courtesan (Mui) and they fall for each other.

However, his family vehemently objects to their relationship and so the couple decide to commit suicide to be together forever.

Fast forward to 1987 when Fleur approaches a newspaper guy named Yuen to put an advertisement in the paper for Chan to meet her on a specific day and place. But Yuen soon realises she's a ghost during a comical scene on the tram going to Shek Tong Tsui.

Fleur is so out of place and cannot adapt to the modernity of 1980s Hong Kong. Perhaps it's because she is a ghost and has only one goal in mind, to reunite with Chan.

After overcoming their fears of what Fleur is, Yuen and his girlfriend, a reporter, try to help her find her lover from over 50 years ago, and thank goodness for the antique shops along Hollywood Road because they hold some clues that help them figure out what happened to Fleur decades ago.

Watching Rouge I couldn't help but notice how beautiful both Cheung and Mui were at the time. Her character Fleur has been a courtesan since she was 16 and is well aware of her social standing and fate, whereas Chan only thinks of being with her and becoming a performer on stage.

A newspaper man named Yuen meets Fleur

They are a couple fuelled by romance and idealism, whereas Yuen and his girlfriend are more down-to-earth and honest with each other, perhaps shaped by the different times they live in, or societal values changed in half a century.

Lilian Lee's story is very clever, with lots of opportunities for funny scenes interacting with a ghost and Kwan adapts it with scenes jumping back and forth between 1934 and 1987. The scenes in the past seem to be saturated with colour, whereas contemporary Hong Kong seems a bit drab and dark for the most part! 

There's also a bit part for Patrick Tse Yin -- in his much younger and better-looking years, and interestingly stunts performed by Jackie Chan! 

In any event, Rouge is an enjoyable film that takes its time to reveal the story, making you wonder if you will ever encounter a ghost and if you did, what would you do?

Rouge

Directed by Stanley Kwan

Based in a novel of the same name by Lilian Lee

93 minutes

Review: Long's Noodle House

Chilli wontons, beef noodles, xialongbao, spicy beef noodles

This afternoon we visited Long's Noodle House for Shanghainese food. It used to be located on Main Street and 33rd Avenue, but in May it was shut down after a terrible fire and we wondered what would happen.

But in October it was reported the mom-and-pop shop would open in the food court at Admiralty Centre in Richmond, and then a few weeks ago someone posted on social media that they had visited the stall in the food court.

This place is the only one with a long queue

Luckily traffic to Richmond was very light and we found the mall just off of Garden City Road. There is a parkade but the parking spots are a narrow fit. Nevertheless parking on the first floor means you're already on the same floor as the food court.

It's easy to find Long's Noodle House because it's the one with the queue. Waiting in line we got very hungry and ordered a lot of food -- two steamers of xiaolongbao, drunken chicken, a bowl of five spice beef noodles, a bowl of spicy beef noodles, chilli wontons, beef roll, panfried dumplings, hot and sour soup, and soy milk.

As a result it took a while for our order to come, as we waited for our buzzer to ring.

After about 15 minutes we went over to wait by the stall and saw a middle-aged woman standing next to the staff and wrapping each xiaolongbao by hand. 

Finally our order was ready, though our second steamer of xiaolongbao was not quite ready so we started eating.

The xiaolongbao seemed bigger, but tasted the same. Bite into the skin and the savoury soup spills into your mouth. It can be very hot! But so good. Also delicious was the beef roll, thin slices of beef and coriander wrapped in a fried bread.

Panfried dumplings were hearty

The panfried dumplings had a thick wrapper with juicy minced pork inside, probably better with vinegar but we were too hungry to bother dipping! Disappointing were the chilli wontons, as the chilli was hardly spicy and felt like an afterthought. 

However, the hot and sour soup hit the spot, not too spicy, and choc full of ingredients, thinly sliced tofu, carrots, wood ear fungus, finely chopped meat, and vinegar. 

The spicy beef noodles looked intimidating but was not too spicy, while the five spice beef noodle was simple and comforting to dig into. Needless to say we were so stuffed that we didn't even touch the drunken chicken, which was in its own sealed plastic container.

Perhaps the only downside of this food court is the amount of waste that is generated, from chopsticks to plastic bowls and spoons, while the bamboo steamers are returned to the stall.

It was so interesting to observe the noise level of this food court wasn't that noisy at all -- perhaps everyone was concentrating on their food? While it's not the most comfortable setting to eat at, we're just relieved to know Long's Noodle House is back in business and the queue is a testament to their loyal fan base. We paid C$91 for three adults and a child. Cash only.

Long's Noodle House

#2113 - 8700 McKim Way

Richmond, BC