Hong Kong's new "normal" is not what people who care for human rights and freedom think is normal

Is this a seditious image in Hong Kong now?

 

As the blogger behind the Big Lychee, Various Sectors noted this morning: no sooner does the flooding subside than it’s back to "National Security" concerns.  Yesterday, the rain stopped long enough so that there was a beautiful sunset over Hong Kong.  Yesterday also saw exiled former legislative councilor Ted Hui’s parents- and siblings-in-law become the latest to be accorded the ‘taken in for questioning’ treatment. 

 

This ploy has become so familiar that it's no longer news as far as many foreign news outlets appear to be concerned.  Okay, thus far, the relatives of the eight people on whose heads the Hong Kong government have put HK$1 million bounties "only" end up spending a number of hours in police stations without ending up being arrested for the most part.  But how terrible is it that this is something that appears to have become so "normalised" and that we're becoming used to?

The worst thing about this "normalisation" is that like the slow boiling of the frog who doesn't notice what's happening to it, the ante does get upped over time.  Just look at what's been happening with regards to the government's views and actions against people who commemorate the Tiananmen Square Massacre -- something which had been assumed for decades to have been entirely within the right of people in Hong Kong.

For yesterday also saw a law PhD student from Mainland China being sentenced to six months’ prison for sedition over a plan to display a banner featuring the Pillar of Shame sculpture. Yes, 23-year-old Zeng Yuxuan was imprisoned for PLANNING to display a banner of a piece of art that previously had been installed, and stood for decades, on the University of Hong Kong's main campus.

 

As was reported in the Hong Kong Free Press: "The postgraduate student was said to have obtained the [nine-meter-long vertical] banner through mainland Chinese human rights activist Zhou Fengsuo, a former student leader during the 1989 democracy movement who is currently based in the US.  The banner display was part of a global campaign led by Danish artist Jens Galschiøt, whose eight-metre sculpture commemorating the victims who died in the 1989 crackdown – the Pillar of Shame – was quietly removed by the University of Hong Kong citing safety concerns in December 2021."

 

Note: in December 2021, the pretext for removing the Pillar of Shame involved safety concerns. But now we're talking sedition for displaying a banner of the same piece of art. For shame!

 

Quoting again from the Hong Kong Free Press piece: "Police found the Tiananmen monument banner inside a parcel from the US at Zeng’s residence following her arrest. Printed on the banner was an image of the Pillar of Shame with phrases including “The Tiananmen Massacre 1989.  The magistrate said the content of the banner was “pointed” and could “evoke emotions,” especially when its target audience was “like-minded individuals” whose “emotions could be easily triggered.”"

 

A reminder: Large, PEACEFUL events were held in Hong Kong to commemorate the June 4th Massacre for 30 years.  The emotions triggered at the candlelight vigils involved sorrow, remembrance and solidarity. I guess they aren't the kind of things the Hong Kong government wants from Hong Kongers -- pretty sad, and ironic when you consider that the solidarity includes that with Mainland Chinese people: that is, the very people that Hong Kongers have often been accused of not having familial feelings for! 

 

Something else worth noting: Zeng Yuxuan originally hailed from Mainland China but chose to come over to Hong Kong to study law.  I've friends of Mainland Chinese origin who came to Hong Kong to study journalism.  These are people who felt that they would be more free and have more (human) rights in Hong Kong.  Sadly, even though/if this is still the case, it's still not as much as they probably thought or wanted for it to be so; a sentiment they have in common with many Hong Kongers, of whom I also would not be surprised that they now would consider themselves to be too.

Shame on the University of Hong Kong for its disrespect for the Pillar of Shame!

 

No longer to be found at the University of Hong Kong

 

After blogging about a Hong Kong movie I had enjoyed viewing last night (i.e., Amos Why's Far Far Away), I went over to Twitter to catch up on the news.  In retrospect, I wish I hadn't -- for I found AFP's Xinqi Su Tweeting about something that we knew was but a matter of time but still hurt when it finally did happen: the removal of the Pillar of Shame from the University of Hong Kong (HKU) campus; and not in one piece to boot.    

Earlier this week, outgoing HKU council chairman, Arthur Li, had brought up the subject of this eight meter tall memorial to the victims of the Tiananmen Square Massacre created by Danish sculptor Jens Galschiøt in 1996 that was installed at the HKU campus on June 5th, 1997, after being silent about it for a couple of months.  In particular, he wondered who it actually belonged to -- something which was rather suspect since Galschiøt has been stating for months now that he is the statue's rightful owner.

 

In retrospect, Arthur Li's utterances can be seen as an assertion that, with the ownership of the Statue of Shame not being clear, the university felt able to do with it what as they willed: and, as was stated back on October 8th, what the university's authorities were seeking was the removal, if not outright destruction, of the memorial from its campus. 

 

As for the timing: The suspicion is that it matters less that it came days after a former leader of the now-defunct Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, Leung Kam-wai, was sentenced to three months in prison and more that it's just a few days after the Legislative Council "elections" on Sunday didn't go the way that the Hong Kong government (and, no doubt, Beijing's too) had hoped.  For while the Legislative Council is now a rubber stamp body (thanks to no members of the opposition electing to take part in it), the voting percentage for the "election" was Hong Kong's lowest ever -- with only 30 percent of eligible Hong Kongers deciding to take part in the polls! 

As a member of the Twitterati (who goes by Hintman) Tweeted: "Hong Kong government is sad about lowest ever election turn out and a couple days later the #PillarOfShame gets covered up and something is going down... Destroying art now to wipe out the past and be vindictive?  Wouldn't put it past Beijing and Carrie Lam."

 

On a more general note, as another member of the Twitterati (this one with the handle Tiger Milk Mushroom) bemoaned: "This has been the pattern since 2019. HKers filled with hope for a day or a collective joy about something only for it to be punished or scolded the next day. Whatever it is they are doing to the Pillar of Shame is precisely that.  Punishment."

 

The fact that HKU's shameful action was undertaken under the cover of night and white tarpaulin sheets for the most part points to there being a degree of guilt on the part of its perpetuators.  At the very least, they knew that it would make for terrible optics for, as history professor Jeppe Mulich Tweeted, "an institution of higher learning [to be] destroying a monument commemorating the massacre of students".

 

What they were unable to account for was intrepid journalists (like Xinqi Su) and others who were determined to bear witness to the shameless act being undertaken.  And they couldn't hide the sounds of destruction being wreaked that come across very clearly in such as the video clips shared by Razven on Twitter ((see (and hear) examples here and here).  The result: a lot of people feeling sickened by what they heard alone as well as knew was going on even if they couldn't actually see what was being enacted.

 

One day on, we now have fuller reports of what happened last night and also some remarkable visual images.  And trust me when I say that the sense of sadness and revulsion regarding what has happened to the Pillar of Shame has remained.  As its creator, Jens Galschiøt told the BBC: "This is a sculpture about dead people and [to] remember the dead people in Beijing in '89.  So when you destroy that in this way then it's like going to a graveyard and destroying all the gravestones".  

 

Then there's the matter of what this means with regards to Hong Kong.  The way U.S.-based activist Samuel Chu sees it: "Its creation in 1997 was a touchstone for freedom in Hong Kong; its destruction in 2021 would be a tombstone for freedom in Hong Kong."     

Land of Mine is a powerful movie that can shock and awe (film review)

Consider how the locals would feel if this beautiful beach 
had thousands of mines laid on its surface...

Land of Mine (Denmark-Germany, 2015)

- Screening as part of the HKIFF's Global Vision program

- Martin Zandvliet, scriptwriter and director

- Starring: Roland Mølle, Louis Hofmann, Joel Basman 

The 40th Hong Kong International Film Festival officially drew to a close yesterday but extra screenings have been announced to extend the fest by a day.  For my part, I'll continue to review films I viewed at this year's HKIFF for the next few days; not least because I'd like to do my part to spread the word about those movies that should be best avoided but also those worthy cinematic offerings that can slip under mainstream radars!

Among the better films I opted to check out over the past two weeks was the taut and often tense period drama that went on to become the Signis Award winner at the film festival.  A co-production of two countries that had been on opposite sides during the Second World War, Land of Mine draws attention to two million landmines having been placed by the Germans along the west coast of Denmark during that terribly damaging global conflict and the victorious forces having subsequently decided that prisoners-of-war from the defeated side would be tasked with removing every single one of those mines by hand before they would be allowed to return home to their Fatherland. 

From the viewpoint of someone like the powerful film's protagonist, Danish Sergeant Carl Rasmussen (Roland Mølle), it was only right that people who wore the same uniform as the hated invaders who had placed the mines on his country's beaches be responsible for ensuring that that land be made free of explosives that would kill and maim anyone (or thing) which had the bad fortune to step on them.  Even so, the hardened military man was not expecting that the dozen or so members of the defeated force he was assigned to oversee carrying out this dangerous duty would be teenagers who looked, and often acted, more like boys than men.    

Told that "Denmark is not your friend", this understandably fearful group of German prisoners-of-war includes an officer whose fluffy facial hair gives a good indication of how young he still is (Joel Basman), natural leader Sebastian (Louis Hoffman) and inseparable twin brothers Ernst and Werner (Emil and Oskar Buschow).  Initially given hope by Sergeant Rasmussen telling them that they'd be allowed to go home after locating and disarming the 45,000 mines on the stretch of beach they were assigned to clear, the realities of their hellish situation -- one where they are cared for less and treated worse than their commander's pet dog -- becomes clearer and clearer by the day, and with each fatality that slowly but surely decimates their group.

Although the Danes were lauded for their humanism in ensuring that the majority of the country's Jews escape the fate that the Nazis had sought for them, the uncompassionate behavior of many of them against their defeated enemy after the declared end of hostilities also is a matter of record.  As director-scriptwriter Martin Zandvliet shows with Land of Mine, war too often makes people hate, and this enmity can continue even after a conflict officially is over, with many embittered individuals out there coming to believe that two wrongs can make a right.

There may be folks out there who wonder why Danish filmmakers would dredge up this unsavory section of their country's past some seven decades after the events that inspired this work occurred.  The answer may lie in Land of Mine delivering the important and always pertinent message that, amidst the inhumanity and horror, genuine emotional bonds and connections can be forged between unlikely individuals -- and a supposed enemy may take it upon himself to save others lives, even at no great risk to himself.

My rating for this film: 8.5

Spending many happy hours at Beertopia 2015 :)

There were some rum (pun intended!) flavors 

of beer on offer at Beertopia this year! :b

The Kagua Blanc with extra yuzu was refreshing 

and light tasting -- perfect on a hot day! :b

 Two friends from Sake Bar Ginn with matching (temporary) tattoos

enjoy some time out before heading to work later in the day :)

I enjoyed myself so much at Beertopia 2014 that I couldn't help but wail and gnash my teeth upon learning that I'd have to wait six months longer for this year's installment of Hong Kong's largest craft beer festival after the organizers moved its dates from March to October.  

I think the idea behind this decision was that there'd be better weather during this time of the year -- since it often rains a lot in March but less so in October.  So I can imagine that the organizers and vendors weren't too pleased when the heavens actually did open for part of the evening yesterday -- the one full day of Beertopia this year!  

To be honest though, I don't think that the downpour dampened too many spirits -- with the bulk of attendees going over to the covered live music area to wait the rain out rather than decide to cut short their time at the beer fest.  At that point in the day, I had already spent several happy hours at the event, having arrived soon after the second and final day of Beertopia began at noon -- and despite my not having thought that I'd be able to last all that long, I ended up leaving less than an hour before the craft beer extravaganza came to a close at 11pm!

If truth be told, I felt a bit disappointed when I first got to the Central Waterfront -- with Beertopia 2015 looking smaller and quieter than the previous year's edition of the fest.  And while last year, I was happy enough to see over 500 beers available to taste, this year, I was looking for more beers to be available on tap (as opposed to "just" bottles or cans) than turned out to be the case -- along with a greater variety of beers which I hadn't tried or heard of before on the plate.

My spirits perked up though when I saw that this year, Nippon Craft Beers' Kagua (whose Blanc and Rouge versions I've tried and love -- but had only ever drank from bottles) was available in draft form over at the Hop Leaf booth -- and have to admit to having had more than one (4 oz-sized!) glasses of those beers, and would have had even more if the 8% ABV Kagua Blanc hadn't run out midway through the day!  And I also was pretty happy to see Shanghai's Boxing Cat Brewery represented at Beertopia again, and this time around, was able to try their Contender Extra Pale Ale, a 4.9% ABV session beer, for the first time. 

One of the fellows manning the Boxing Cat Brewery's booth beamed with pride and happiness upon hearing me tell a friend that I wished that it were based in Hong Kong because it's so much better than all the Hong Kong representatives I've ever tried.  And once again, I'm sad to say that the worst beer I had at Beertopia was a Hong Kong beer -- with the ones from the Black Kite Brewery that I sampled tasting more watery than a good craft beer should, and its amber ale having an unpleasant metallic first taste.  

On a more positive note, Nordic beers impressed once again -- and although Denmark's Aarhus Bryghus' beers were only available from bottles rather than on tap, I still loved the ones I had so much that I ended up purchasing two large bottles of the brewery's 9% ABV 1965 Tribute barley wine to share with friends at some point in the near future!  And it's not just me either who fell in love with this Danish craft brewery's beers -- with a friend purchasing a couple of bottles of its 8% ABV Imperial Stout to take home to drink!

On the subject of friends: I arrived at Beertopia on my own but ended up meeting up with three friends there and bumping into a couple of hours.  Funnily enough, while everyone I recognized at last year's Beertopia was a work colleague, this time around, they were either staff or regular customers (including, incidentally, the founder of Beertopia) at Sake Bar Ginn, the bar I've voted as my favorite (see here and here) for the last two years running! ;b

On transit in Penang, Bangkok...and Copenhagen!

Not a sight one is likely to see in Hong Kong...

That's not the original little mermaid statue...

but it still should be easy enough to guess

where Puppet Ponyo had this photo taken! :)

For the better part of this month thus far, I've been traveling about and therefore not had time, inclination or -- at times -- ability to check my emails and blog.  This is a state of affairs that may freak out many people but, in all honesty, I'm fine with -- and could be said to even welcome -- my having periods of "digital detoxification".  (And before anybody asks: no, I still do not have a "smart" phone nor feel inclined to go get one.)

The eagle-eyed among you will have noted an addition to the Where in the world I've been to date map at the bottom of my blog's pages -- and that's indeed where I've spent the better part of the last three weeks or so.  But because my most recent holiday was with my mother and she wanted me to travel with her from Penang rather than meet up in the country where we'd be going on a cruise, I first went to Malaysia for a few days -- and it was indeed from Penang that she and I embarked on a journey that would involve three different flights and several hours of transit in first Bangkok and then Copenhagen before arriving in Bergen, Norway's second most populous city (despite having a municipal population of less than 280,000 people!).

Like Penang, Bangkok is not entirely new to me.  So rather than devote much of my transit time there to sightseeing, I arranged instead to meet up with old friends there.  But while the friend I met up with in the Thai capital city post Norway trip came over for lunch and drinks at the hotel that my mother and I had been put up at by Thai Airways, I ventured out of the hotel when I transited in Bangkok on the way to Bergen -- and ended up strolling around Lumpini Park as well as having dinner at another friend's nearby apartment.

A green oasis in the middle of an increasingly large concrete jungle, Lumpini Park has lovely green lawns, ponds where paddle boats shaped like swans can be rented out for a ride and areas where weightlifters and people into keeping fit can be found.  It's also home to a few statues (including of Rama XI) and shrines.  But what my friend thought was the park's star attractions were its resident  monitor lizards -- which, when in the water, can resemble crocodiles and alligators, and when partially hidden behind rocks, have parts which got me thinking they were snakes! 

Despite their appearance, my friend assured me that these monitor lizards are largely not harmful to humans.  Still, you don't want to be bitten by them because it's said that their saliva's so toxic it can kill people -- and at the risk of sounding like a fraidy cat, I think their stony stares can be rather frightening! 

In retrospect, I wish that my mother and I had arranged to spend more time in Copenhagen.  As it was, both our stops there to and from Bergen were not long enough to venture outside of the airport.  At the same time though, I felt like I did manage to get a taste of Denmark at that facility -- and not just because there's a replica of the Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen harbor there (which Puppet Ponyo of course felt obliged to pose with since Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea was inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's tale)!

Among other things, Carlsberg beer and Lego sets were prominent at the airport.  Ditto re quite a bit of pinewood being used for the floors and walls of the building, and furniture about the place that screamed out "Scandinavian design!"  Then there were the many types of liquorice on sale -- with the salty versions looking to be quite a bit more popular than the sweeter kinds preferred in places like the US, Britain and New Zealand.

Incidentally, I asked a Swedish fellow who lives and works in Norway what it is with Nordic types and liquorice.  He said he had no idea but that it shocked him on his travels to other parts of the world when he went into supermarkets as well as convenience stores and often was unable to find even one kind of liquorice sweet on sale in them!  And yes, he knows to bring his own stash whenever he travels out of the Nordic region now...;b