Just two days into 2024 and I already worry that it won't be a happy new year!

I like the color of these flowers I spotted on a hike

yesterday (New Year's Day, 2024)

 

It's just the second day of the new year and I don't want to be a kill joy but I worry that 2024 may be worse than 2023.  Some portends that are not good: the killing of Palestinian civilians continuing on New Year's Day; ditto the war in Ukraine caused by Russia's invasion in February 2022; ditto the civil war in Myanmar which massively escalated in May 2021; etc. And to add to it, there being a massive earthquake in the Noto Peninsula of Ishikawa Prefecture in Japan yesterday -- though, thankfully, all tsunami warnings issued in association with it have now been lifted.

 

And then there's Hong Kong where, as per an RTHK report: "Safeguarding national security will continue to be Hong Kong's top priority, Chief Secretary Eric Chan said on Monday [i.e., New Year's Day], as he vowed to complete work for Basic Law Article 23 security legislation within this year."

 

A reminder: China imposed a national security law on Hong Kong on June 30th, 2020, which remains very much in effect and has sowed so much fear along with actual political persecution in the city. Basic Law Article 23 would effectively be Hong Kong's domestic version of a national security law -- one which has been opposed for decades by Hongkongers. Indeed, back on July 1st, 2003, over 500,000 people took part in a protest march against it -- and in the aftermath, the then Chief Executive of Hong Kong, Tung Chi-wah, felt obliged to resign, as did the then Security Chief, one Regina Ip.

 

Back to yesterday's RTHK piece: "On social media, Chan said the upcoming legislation, together with the existing national security law, will more effectively prevent, stop and punish acts endangering national security." So... Chan thinks Hong Kong is still not... secure?! (In other words: Hong Kong is still not back (to normal)? Re that last bit: if so, he and I are in agreement; albeit for different reasons!) 

 

Another bit from that piece: "Meanwhile, the number of visitors to Hong Kong topped 30 million in the first 11 months of last year, Chan said, adding that the government will continue to hold different international events and drive the local economy." 

 

While at first glance, that sounds impressive, do bear in mind though that that's still just around half of the number of visitors attracted to Hong Kong in 2018; and that the vast majority of Hong Kong's visitors, then but especially now, are from Mainland China rather than the rest of the world. So I really am not so sure how valid Hong Kong's description of itself as "Asia's World City" is anymore.

 

One more quote from the RTHK piece: "He also called on new district councillors to respond to people's urgent needs and concerns." Note: That would the new district councillors who gained seats in the District Council "election" last month which only 27.5% of registered voters decided to take part in -- as opposed to 71.2% for the 2019 District Council election -- for whatever reason (e.g., they couldn't be bothered to take part in something they considered a sham, couldn't find any candidate they actually believed would help them/Hong Kong, etc.)

 

So... happy new year? I would love for it to be so. But I already worry. And I think I have good reason to.  Still, if I were to look for a good portend: yesterday saw Hong Kong beat China 2-1 in a football match; the first time Hong Kong's footballers recorded a victory over China's in 29 years (or is it 38? -- in any case, it's a pretty historic victory!)  And granted that China had two players sent off (and an assistant coach) over the course of the game -- so were handicapped by having two players fewer than Hong Kong for part of the game.  But in some ways, that makes the whole thing even more hilarious (and yes, it's indeed good to have something to laugh about -- and so early into 2024 too)! :)

The latest works by VA Wong Sir and Ah To say so much about the situation in Hong Kong, and "the Far East"

Remember VA Wong Sir and Ah To?  The two talented political cartoonists may have left Hong Kong but they are keeping their eye on what's happening in the city they love and continuing producing works that are say so much about the situation in this part of the world.  And in recent days, both of them have produced illustrations that I think are very much worth sharing with others.  

 

So without further ado, I present to you this from VA Wong Sir (who now is on Twitter as well as Facebook as well as Patreon) which points out that Hong Kong is not (yet) "back to normal" like the Hong Kong government (including the Hong Kong Tourism Board) would like you to believe due to existing pandemic regulations and restrictions (never mind the national security law):

 

And this from Ah To (who has a Twitter account but appears to be more active on Instagram), produced to "celebrate" the 73rd anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st of this year, which was inspired by -- and updates -- Tse Tsan-tai's "The Situation in the Far East" of July 1898: 

N.B. To appreciate the details of the illustrations, particularly Ah To's, click on the images to view enlarge versions of them!

Finding beautiful things to (temporarily) focus on and enjoy still in Hong Kong (Photo-essay)

There is so many terrible things happening in so many parts of the world.  I think many people (especially in the West) are focused on what's happening in Ukraine as well as their respective homelands.  But I find myself thinking from time to time re the troubles in places like Tibet, Xinjiang, Myanmar and Thailand too.  And if all our human-made problems (which I'd consider Hong Kong's fifth coronavirus wave to partly be) weren't enough, Mother Nature's been getting into the act too.  

 

Very early this past Monday morning, there was an earthquake in Guangdong Province which was felt by the likes of me in Hong Kong!  But although it was shocking for its rarity (as in it's only the second time that I felt tremors in the Big Lychee), it was nowhere as serious as that which shook much of the Japanese island of Honshu late last night (and got people worriedly recalling the Great Tohoku Earthquake that occurred 11 years and five days previously).    

 

Amidst it all though, I got a reminder (via WholesomeMemes over on Twitter) that even when things aren't going well in our world, we have to try to find something beautiful.  So here's sharing photos from yet another spring day stroll along the Victoria Harbour-front that I hope will provide you with a visual and psychic cleanse:

 

The past few days have been warmer than usual 

for this time of the year as well as welcomingly sunny

 

Perhaps because the weather was truly good, a pair of pet owners

decided to bring their parrots out to enjoy the sun and fresh air

by Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter! :)

 

Yup, there had more than one bird with them! (And yes, it's 

fairly normal for Hong Kong bird owners to take the pets out) :b

Bird number three -- the brightest of the bunch, and also the wildest 

in behavior (I get the feeling that if it wasn't chained, it would have 

flown away and joined the cockatoo crew that lurk about in Victoria Park!)

 

Looking westwards towards the setting sun (with visibility

so high I could clearly see Castle Peak in the distance)

 

If you looked in other directions at this point in the

late afternoon, the sky actually was still on the blue side :)

 

The low clouds over Kowloon Peak were a visual bonus!

 

Still more low clouds over the Kowloon Hills spotted

as I neared the end of my walk that late afternoon/early evening :)c

Hong Kong is still freer than Mainland China but more repression and restrictions are on their way

Scene from what may well be the last June 4th memorial event

I'll be able to get into Victoria Park for (back in 2019)

 

Actually, if the authorities have their way, there won't be pretty 

much any mass protest -- however peaceful -- in Hong Kong again :(

 

For the first time in 52 years yesterday, the Oscars were not broadcast in Hong Kong.  Unlike over in Mainland China (where even having a VPN couldn't help much), however, news of Nomadland director-writer-producer Chloe Zhao winning the Academy Award for Best Director -- as well as her film coming away with the Best Picture Oscar -- was easy to find.  And Youtube videos of such as her acceptance speeches for Best Director and Best Picture (and those of another glass ceiling-breaking Asian woman, Best Supporting Actress Oscar winner, South Korea's Youn Yuh-jung) remain accessible online.

 

The silencing of Chloe Zhao over in Mainland China began after an interview she did (and was published) in 2013 -- which contained a quote about the country of her birth being "a place "where there are lies everywhere" -- resurfaced earlier this year.  At this point in time, there is not even a scheduled Mainland Chinese release date for the triple Oscar-winning Nomadland  (whose leading actress, Frances McDormand, also took home an Academy Award yesterday) -- though, in a show of how Hong Kong still differs in many ways from the land over on the other side of the Mainland China-Hong Kong border, this film is currently playing in cinemas here.

 

I've been meaning to check out this highly acclaimed film for some time now, and its triple Oscar win gave me the extra impetus to finally go and view it.  I'm glad I did because Nomadland is truly a beautifully compassionate cinematic offering.  Honestly, it is so sad to think pretty much a whole entire country (minus Hong Kong and possibly also Macau) will be denied the chance to view it, and learn from it and its director.

 

Having now seen the film, I realize that it was entirely in character for Chloe Zhao to have delivered the beautiful acceptance speech she did yesterday, one in which she: spoke about having learnt from Chinese classic literature that 'People at birth are inherently good"; maintained that "Even though sometimes it might seem like the opposite is true, I have always found goodness in the people I met, everywhere I went in the world"; and said that this award was dedicated to "anyone who had the faith, and the courage to hold on to the goodness in themselves, and to hold on to the goodness in each other, no matter how difficult is to do that."

 

I just hope her faith in people to be good will be returned in kind: if not now, then in the not too distant future.  Sadly, her words actually got me thinking of another beautifully talented and sensitive individual, one who wrote in her diary that "I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart".  And while I don't think Chloe Zhao is in any danger any time soon of sharing Anne Frank's fate, I must admit to worrying from time to time in the past year or so (specifically, since the announcement of China's security law for Hong Kong, never mind its actually coming into being) that Hong Kongers will have fates similar to the Jews and other people condemned by the Nazis as well as the Uyghurs of Xinjiang.  

 

Of course there are people (still) who think that I'm over-exaggerating Hong Kong's woes.  After all, it's not even currently in as bad a boat as protestors in Myanmar.  But consider that the authorities here have effectively outlawed even peaceful protests by doing such as sending people to jail for organizing and/or taking part in peaceful assemblies.  Hong Kongers may technically still have the right to free speech, assembly and movement (under the Basic Law, no less).  However, all you have to do these days is to open your eyes and observe what's going on to know that's really not the case any more. 

Just consider the following headlines of a trio of Hong Kong Free Press pieces put up online today (and click on the links to read the articles): Fifth senior official quits Hong Kong public broadcaster RTHK; National security clampdown casts shadow over Hong Kong's annual Tiananmen Massacre vigil; and Organizer of Hong Kong's mass pro-democracy demos faces police probe, as force demands financial records.  In addition, tomorrow will see an immigration bill go on the agenda of the now opposition-less Legislative Council that would give the authorities virtually unlimited powers to prevent residents and others from entering or leaving the territory.  

 

If passed, potentially as soon as tomorrow (since there probably won't be that much discussion of -- never mind voiced opposition to -- it), the bill could take effect as early as August 1st.  Which is why I have friends who have talked about it being imperative that they leave Hong Kong before that date.  This in addition to friends who have already left. :(    

Hong Kong is not Myanmar but it's full of people unhappy with its government too

Government messages on an expensive signboard

 

Message from the people freely scrawled on a wall

 

This has been the rare weekend where news from afar have actually upset me more than news of local developments in Hong Kong.  More specifically, I have felt particularly saddened by the news that has come out of Myanmar of more than 100 civilians, including children as young as 5 years of age, being killed by the military at pro-democracy protests yesterday and further news today of troops opening fire on mourners gathered for the funeral of one of the 114 people killed the previous day as well as their having burnt a man alive last night.  Oh, the humanity.  And yes, there have been global calls to stop the violence -- but little meaningful action.  (Surprise, surprise -- not really.)       

 

In Myanmar itself, it appears that fear has turned to fury.  Not so long ago, many Hong Kongers felt anger course through their veins too.  Then the Wuhan coronavirus came to Hong Kong and people (temporarily) switched off their anger and put anti-government protests on hold to combat this new threat from Mainland China.  And, well, I'm not so sure that it's worked out for the best for Hong Kong.

 

To be sure, Hong Kong does appear to have put an end to the really lengthy fourth wave of the coronavirus which had its start back in November.  For the record: the territory reported zero local cases for the first time in more than four months yesterday and today has seen zero new local cases for the second day in a row.

 

But before people start getting too happy about this, it has to be pointed out that this "zero cases" run may well come to an end tomorrow since a preliminary positive case has been reported.  Also, the BioNTech vaccine issue that has caused the cancellation of a number of scheduled vaccinations -- despite both the makers of the vaccine and the Mainland Chinese firm that procurred it for Hong Kong believing there is no evidence to suggest that there is a risk to product safety -- is not looking close to being unresolved.  

 

Oh, a 12th individual who had a coronavirus vaccine has now died in Hong Kong -- and even if it's decided by medical experts that the death was caused by pre-existing conditions rather than the vaccine, the fact of the matter is that news is still going to get me people worried about getting vaccinated.  So yes, there are many folks who are disposed to conclude that "Only in Hong Kong could the government create the greatest vaccination program on the planet, and still manage to fuck it up somehow"!

 

Some more developments which have people further disliking and distrusting the government: activist Andy Li remains missing despite having been brought back to Hong Kong along with seven others of the "Hong Kong 12" at the beginning of this week.  More specifically, Andy Li's family have been unable to trace his whereabouts, with Hong Kong's Correctional Services Department telling them that it has no one with that name in the system and the local police having said they do not know where Li is now.

 

Has Andy Li been spirited away inside the national security office over in Tai Hang?  Have "black jails" been established now in Hong Kong in addition to Mainland China?  Unfortunately, that possibility is no longer something that can be readily dismissed.  

 

Back on August 26th, the woman who goes by the moniker Goose Lee over on Twitter Tweeted the following:

Pls don't think that things are returning to *normal* in Hong Kong. Every day teachers, medics, civil servants are being purged from the jobs, dissidents are being followed, school curriculums are removing critical thinking, gaslighting on an Orwellian scale. It's a horror show. 

Another of her Tweets, this one from earlier that month remains valid too: "The Hong Kong government remains deeply unpopular. Please don’t think that we’re ok with our new authoritarian regime because we’re not out protesting in the streets." To which I will add: Don't think people have entirely stopped protesting.  Period.