Stranger Eyes is on the strange side! (Film review)

  

Seen on the screen before the final 2025 Hong Kong

International Film Festival screening I attended 

 

Stranger Eyes (Singapore-Taiwan-France-USA, 2024)

- Yeo Siew Hua, director-scriptwriter

- Starring: Wu Chien Ho, Lee Kang Sheng, Anicca Panna, Pete Teo

- Part of the HKIFF's Cinephile Paradise program 

 

While the Hong Kong International Film Festival was in progress, two friends and I discussed our fest picks. Upon hearing that Stranger Eyes was among my selections, one of them jokingly asked me, "Are you sure?  Lee Kang Sheng's in it!"  Whereby I pointed out that although he's been in a number of films I've disliked (including Goodbye, Dragon Inn and I Don't Want To Sleep Alone), all of them had been directed by Tsai Ming Liang -- unlike this one!

 

Post viewing this Yeo Siew Hua directorial effort, however, I must say that I get the sense that Tsai Ming Liang is a filmmaker that this work's helmer admires though; and not just because of the Singaporean director-scriptwriter having got Tsai Ming Liang's favourite actor to appear in his movies.  Among other things, the slow and methodical pacing appears to be influenced by Tsai Ming Liang too; and ditto re the film's improvisational style, which lends it a quirkiness and unpredictability that seems rather, if I were to culturally stereotype, un-Singaporean!

 

Despite being a multi-national co-production, Stranger Eyes' setting is entirely in Singapore though.  Also recognisably Singaporean are elements such as the film's focus being on individuals who live in apartments -- one group in a three-generational household, the other in a two-generational one.   

 

Initially, Stranger Eyes centers on the former.  Junyang (played by Wu Chien Ho) and Peiying (portrayed by Annica Panna), their baby and his mother (who comes in the form of the un-grandmotherly appearing Vera Chen) live together in an apartment.  Or, rather, did -- as baby Bo has disappeared.  One moment, she was at a playground with Junyang.  Then, when his attention was focused elsewhere, she seemingly vanished from sight.      

In an apartment in a block facing their apartment live supermarket manager Wu (portrayed by Lee Kang Sheng) and his elderly mother.  Unbeknownst to Junyang and Peiying, their paths have crossed with Wu -- who, it turns out, has been effectively surveilling them at work and from his home; in part because he is fascinated by Peiying, seemingly in part out of boredom and, also, because it's easy enough to do!      

For reasons that never seem to have been made clear, Wu decides to drop off DVDs of recordings of his surveillance "work" at the home of Junyang, Peiying and co.  Whereupon the young couple -- and Officer Zheng (played by Malaysian actor-singer-composer Pete Teo), the cop investigating the disappearance of baby Bo -- get to suspecting that Wu may have kidnapped their young child.  

A strange psychological thriller-drama, not least in that much of the psychological dispositions and quirks of everyone concerned seems to be left to interpretation, Stranger Eyes was most interesting to me in terms of showing the surveillance devices and opportunities to observe others that various people, police but also civilians, neighbours and strangers have at their disposal in today's world.  Videos taken on phones and surveillance cameras are utilized but we also see how, and how much of themselves, people reveal on social media and such.  And how people can stay anonymous in crowds or when in uniform or just carrying out the kind of work and duties so routine that folks barely notice the person doing them.

 

Ironically, even while the people in Stranger Eyes are shown doing things, we actually don't hear them speaking, never mind actually qualitatively conversing, all that much.  So is the message of the movie that we can see but still not understand others around us, including those we live in close proximity to?  Maybe.  For the director -- rather frustratingly to my mind -- appears to have sought to keep his cards close to his chest as well as not wear his heart on his sleeve! 

 

My rating for this film: 6.5

Snow in Midsummer gets critical acclaim and screened outside of Malaysia -- but will it get what it deserves in its home country? (Film review)

  

Poster for Snow in Midsummer on display

at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre during

the 48th Hong Kong International Film Festival

 

Snow in Midsummer (Malaysia-Singapore-Taiwan, 2023)

- Chong Keat Aun, director, scriptwriter and co-music composer (with Yii Kah Hoe)

- Starring: Wan Fang, Pearlly Chua, Pauline Tan, Lim Koet Yenn

- Part of the Hong Kong International Film Festival's Firebird Awards: Young Cinema Competition (Chinese Language) program

 

In my previous blog post (and review of Hollywoodgate), I mentioned there being a number of Hong Kong films that cannot be screened in national security law era Hong Kong -- yet my (still) being able to view many works from elsewhere that are banned in their home territories.  Snow in Midsummer may be one more such cinematic effort.  At the post screening Q&A I attended, its director-scriptwriter, Chong Keat Aun, said that he had submitted his drama about what he's called "a hidden wound in Malaysian history" to the Malaysian film censorship board -- but, as yet, had not heard back from them.

 

The same day that it screened at the Hong Kong International Film Festival, Snow in Midsummer was named as the winner of the Firebird Award in the Young Cinema Competition (Chinese language) section of the fest.  And it is set to begin its Hong Kong theatrical run tomorrow -- four days before the 55th anniversary of what's now known as the May 13th Incident (which I used to remember hearing about as the May 13th race riots -- since, in the Malaysian worldview, Malays, Chinese and Indians are different "races" (as opposed to ethnic groups) -- for what seemed like the longest time).   

 

Snow in Midsummer begins on May 13th, 1969. Ah Eng (played by Lim Koet Yenn) is a young girl of ethnic Chinese parentage who's a bullying victim at her Malay language (and presumably majority ethnic Malay) Kuala Lumpur primary school.  Her Nyonya mother, Su Mei (portrayed by Pauline Tan), wants her husband Kooi (essayed by Peter Yu) to get Ah Eng blessed by a medium of Datuk Kong -- but he chose to have a ritual performed on their son Yeow (played by Teoh Wei Hern) instead.

 

The relationship between Su Mei and Kooi appears on the strained side. So it came as no surprise that when Kooi gets two tickets to go watch a movie at the Majestic cinema that evening, he elects to take Yeow with him. The snub ends up saving Su Mei and Ah Eng's lives. Because, the Majestic cinema ends up becoming a massacre site that night -- while Su Mei and Ah Eng, who had contented themselves with going and watching an open air Cantonese opera performance by the temple where the medium of Datuk Kong had effectively held court, were saved by members of the Cantonese opera troupe (whose leader is played by Pearlly Chua) who let them hide backstage with them while others ran riot and murdered or were murdered.

 

Fast forward 49 years and Ah Eng (now portrayed by Wan Fang) is now a middle-aged woman living in Penang. After she learns about a soon-to-be demolished "513 cemetery" on the Kuala Lumpur outskirts, she decides -- over the objections of her husband (who comes across as rude and domineering as her father) to go there on the anniversary of the riots -- to see whether she can find the graves of her father and brother; something her grieving mother had been unable to do all these years. 

 

Snow in Midsummer's director, Chong Keat Aun, spoke about the difficulties of finding Malaysian actresses for his film on account of the continued sensitivites over the May 13th Incident.  And I can't help wondering if the character of Ah Eng would have been more loquacious  if she had been played by a Malaysian actress as an adult rather than a Taiwanese whose lines were largely in Mandarin (despite the film being multi-lingual -- using Hokkien, Cantonese and Malay (as well as English? I forget!) dialogue (whose English subtitles don't quite do them justice).

 

Alternatively, it might have been Chong Keat Aun's intention all along to get the audience figuring a lot of things out for themselves via visual and other cues.  Frankly, I think this is a big ask of Snow in Midsummer's audience since there really are a lot of things that require prior knowledge: of not only Malaysian history but Malaysian ethnic relations, local ethnic traditions and Cantonese opera.  

 

As an example: The movie's title refers to the Cantonese opera performed in the film whose theme concerns a grave miscarriage of justice -- something that Chong Keat Aun clearly believes has taken place not only with regards to what happened on May 13th, 1969, itself but, also, the neglect of its victims over the years. (On a perhaps related note: I also felt that Ah Eng and Su Mei were women who their husbands sought to control -- even oppress -- them, yet were actually strong characters in their own way, even while being much put upon!)

 

In any case, the work does appear to have struck a chord with film festival programmers and audience members at such as Venice (where it had its world premiere), Taiwan (where it was nominated for 9 Golden Horse Awards) and now also Hong Kong.  Still, I do believe that it's in Malaysia where Snow in Midsummer would most resonate.  We can but hope that it will be allowed to be screened there at some point in time -- and without the damaging cuts that removed its essence, the way that has happened to Cannes award winner Tiger Stripes!  

My rating for this film: 8.0

Oasis of Now is the kind of fest film that can send audience members to sleep! (Film review)

The Hong Kong International Film Festival is one of

Hong Kong's premier cultural events

 

Oasis of Now (Malaysia-Singapore-France, 2023)

- Chia Chee Sum, director and scriptwriter

- Starring: Ta Thi Dju, Aster Yeow Ee, Abdul Manaf bin Rejab

- Part of the Hong Kong International Film Festival's Global Vision program

 

There's been many a year where I've not seen a Malaysian offerings at a Hong Kong film festival.  However, in the past year or so, both the Hong Kong Asian Film Festival (HKAFF) and now the Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF) have featured Malaysian movies in their program.  But while Amanda Nell Eu's Tiger Stripes and Jin Ong's Abang Adik went on to get Hong Kong theatrical releases after the HKAFF, I can't see this happening for Chia Chee Sum's Oasis of Now; this not least because this spare, slow-paced effort comes across as the kind of work that can be appreciated only by film festival audiences, if that!

 

Oasis of Now revolves around Hanh (portrayed by Ta Thi Dju), a casually multi-lingual female who is gradually revealed to be an undocumented Vietnamese immigrant doing odd jobs for different residents of an old housing estate where the film's director-scriptwriter used to live. She also turns out to be the mother of a young girl called Ting Ting (played by Aster Yeow Ee), with whom she occasionally meets up, and hangs out, with in a stairwell of the housing estate; something that's not immediately clear because, among other things, when we first see Ting Ting, she is being treated as a daughter by another woman.

Very little is explicitly spelled out in Oasis of Now; and this can lend proceedings an intriguing air of mystery.  Initially, I was fine to go with the flow and spend time observing what the filmmaker chose to impart more by way of the film's atmospheric cinematography and sound engineering than narrative plotting.  But after a period, I found myself looking wishing for more clarity with regards to a number of details.  

 

Also, I found it difficult to figure out how much time had passed in the movie -- for even while Hanh's wardrobe never seemed to change and night didn't seem to dawn in the film, it did seem that some days must have passed to accomodate all the things that went on in the story.  Even more problematically, I found myself unable to resist checking my watch more than once to see how much time had passed and was left before this minimalist movie ended.  In addition, I found myself wanting to look around the cinema to gauge the reactions of my fellow audience members -- over the course of which I saw that a number had nodded off mid-viewing!

 

All in all, I think it's fair to conclude that I don't think many in the audience were captivated or enthralled by this movie that also feels far more emotionally distant than it could and should have been. And it's indeed so that I didn't find Oasis of Now particularly to be my taste.  More specifically, I think of it as yet another entry from a school of Malaysian cinema that looks to have been overly inspired by Tsai Ming Liang (who, for those who didn't realise, is Malaysian born) in my not so humble opinion.  

 

To be sure, I've been okay with a few such efforts (like Woo Min Jin's Days of Turquoise Sky, which I viewed at the 2008 Hong Kong International Film Festival).  However, I've not cared for a number of others, including one by Tsai himself that I viewed at the 2007 Hong Kong International Film Festival: I Don't Want to Sleep Alone, which, actually, may be the cinematic effort that holds the record for sending the most audience members to sleep that I've ever seen at the Hong Kong International Film Festival!

 

My rating for this film: 5.0    

The Goldfinger is not a film I value all that much! (Film review)

  

Officially opening later this month but I've already seen it!

 

The Goldfinger (Hong Kong-Mainland China, 2023)

- Felix Chong, director and scriptwriter

- Starring: Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Andy Lau, Simon Yam, Charlene Choi, Alex Fong Chung Sun

 

Tony Leung Chiu Wai and Andy Lau reunite in a blockbuster (whose HK$350 million budget makes it one of the most expensive Hong Kong movies ever made) directed by one of the scriptiwriters of Infernal Affairs, the 2002 crime drama they starred in that Martin Scorsese remade into the multi-Oscar winning The Departed.  Glossy looking and beautifully shot by cinematographer Anthony Pun (who also lensed Hong Kong's current all-time box office champ, A Guilty Conscience), this Mainland China-Hong Kong co-production looks to aim to be a major crowd pleaser but I can also see its clearly ambitious makers expecting critical acclaim and have the film be the Federation Of Motion Film Producers of Hong Kong's next Best International Feature Oscar nominee. 

 

But like Where the Wind Blows (2022), another big budget period crime drama which stars Tony Leung Chiu Wai and was indeed the Federation of Motion Film Producers of Hong Kong's official Oscar selection last year, The Goldfinger left me cold and feeling it's yet another style over substance offering which won't win over that many Hong Kong viewers (though it could maybe satisfy Mainland Chinese ones).  And, sorry, having the Independent Commission for Corruption (ICAC) as the movie's good guys (rather than the cops) is not going to cut it these days; especially since the ICAC are among the organizations involved in making political arrests these days (along with the Hong Kong Police Force and National Security Bureau)!

Speaking of the police: The Goldfinger begins with police officers rioting(!) and threatening violence against unarmed individuals(!!).  Early on in the film, it also is revealed that Lau Kai-yuen (played by Andy Lau), the ICAC officer in charge of a major investigation against businessman Ching Yat-yin (portrayed by Tony Leung Chiu Wai), is a former police officer -- something which might be expected to explain his doggedness in pursuing his prey over a lengthy period of time during which Andy Lau morphs into an older man who, rather disturbingly, resembles Hong Kong's Financial Secretary Paul Chan!

 

For his part, Tony Leung Chiu Wai remains recognisably himself over the course of proceedings -- but his Ching Yat-yin character does radically change in circumstance and clothing style: from a poor, out-of-work engineer who looks to have been smuggled into Hong Kong by boat to a money-making genius who many were wont to believe had the golden touch and sat atop an international finance empire.  (Cue lots of work for -- and great work -- by such as the film's costume and set designers and art director!)  

 

A note for those who didn't realise: The film's titular character is based on George Tan, the ethnic Hokkien head of the Carrian Group whose fraud case has a large section devoted to it on the official ICAC website.  The following are quotes from it that can serve to outline part of The Goldfinger's plot: 

 

"In 1972, a 37-year-old Singaporean civil engineer arrived in Hong Kong to work as a project manager in a subsidiary company of a land developer. Soon the engineer was the land developer’s ‘hotshot’ and was even given the financial backing to establish a joint enterprise with the developer. Following the stock market slump in 1973, signs of rapid recovery in the Hong Kong property market began to emerge in 1976. The engineer saw a window of opportunity and started to purchase land in the New Territories with the intention of becoming a major property player..."!

 

This same engineer (who some people also had thought was Malaysian) went on to establish the Carrian Group.  In The Goldfinger, the conglomerate in focus is known as the Carmen Group.  In 1980, the Carrian Group acquired a high prestige property in Central called Gammon House.  In The Goldfinger, the Carmen Group acquired a high prestige building in Central known as Golden House.  And so it goes.

 

Watching The Goldfinger and the antics of its money crazy characters (who excessive money also turns them into pretty crazy people in general) can sometimes be akin to viewing -- not so much Crazy Rich Asians as The Wolf of Wall Street!  I know some people can derive some fun from doing so but for me, it can get too sleazy to seriously enjoy.  

 

Something else that I don't enjoy is the elements of the film that smack of casual racism, including casting terrible Caucasian actors to perform alongside a stat-studded and generally pretty capable group of Hong Kong thespians, and having one of them play a Southeast Asian presumably because he (Philip Keung) has darker skin than the average ethnic Chinese Hong Konger.  And then thre's the anti-British swipes that can feel like cheap shots and that I'd expect more from Mainland Chinese sources than contemporary Hong Kong movies. 

While we're on the subject of cheapness: I don't think a mega budget Hong Kong movie should be so carelessly made that not only is it way too obvious that scenes supposedly set in an overseas prison actually were shot in Tai Kwun but, also, that exhibit labels in its former prison cells be visible on screen!  Honestly, the more I think of The Goldfinger, the more problems with it I can finger.  I could go on but I think you already get the picture (i.e., I did not like this movie!), and thus will stop! 

 

My rating for this film: 5.0 

Hong Kong to end its Covid-related hotel quarantine requirement (but not much else) on September 26th

A measure of how abnormal things currently are in Hong Kong:

The closed off Airport Express check-in area at Kowloon MTR station

 

The big news this morning in this part of the world was that Singapore had overtaken Hong Kong to become Asia's top financial centre - and the third in the world after moving up three places -- according to a new Global Financial Centres Index report that puts New York and London in the first and second spots.  As per a Bloomberg report (which has appeared on other news media sites, including Singapore's Straits Times), this was not least because "Hong Kong is struggling to revive its role as a global finance hub as it continues to follow China's lead in trying to keep Covid-19 cases to a minimum, while the rest of the world opens up." 

 

Seemingly as a direct reaction to this news, word soon came that Hong Kong's Chief Executive, John Lee, would be holding a press conference at 3.30pm today and there were hopes hat he would make the sort of announcement that the Japanese government made just yesterday: i.e., that the country would be dropping all restrictions on tourism effective October 11th.  And by drop, I mean: the dropping of quotas for travellers; the reinstatement of visa-free travel (for those people for which this had applied pre-pandemic); the dropping of Covid testing requirements (which, actually, is already the case for those who have been triply vaccinated); there being no quarantine requirements for arrivals to the country; and, also, there no longer being requirements to use the country's (unpopular) trac(k)ing app.

 

As it turned out, John Lee did make an announcement that appeared aimed at the easing of travel into Hong Kong.  The problem though is that it's really won't be enough to satisfy many people, including most international tourists of the sort that used to come to Hong Kong pre-pandemic (i.e., those who liked to spend a few days in Hong Kong as part of an Asian vacation that often would also include visits to at least one other city and/or tourist destination on the continent).

 

More specifically, it was announced that Hong Kong will axe its hotel quarantine requirement for inbound travellers from September 26th (next Monday) but -- and this really is a big but here --  inbound travellers still will have to undergo three days of “medical surveillance” at home or at a hotel, during which they will be allowed to go out, subject to PCR requirements, but not be allowed into restaurants, bars, cinemas, museums, performing arts venues, gyms and a host of other places.  Oh, and arrivals into the city also are expected to take four PCR tests in their first week in the city; and if a test is positive, it'll be off to a Community Isolation Facility one will have to go!

Contrast this to Singapore which, like much of the rest of the world, has considerably fewer Covid restrictions and regulations in place.  Oh, and there remains an outdoor as well as indoor (bar for when you are eating or drinking) mask requirement in place in Hong Kong -- something which many Hong Kongers are okay with but many non Hong Kongers would not be.  And don't forget such as the required use of the hated LeaveHomeSafe trac(k)ing app, and a ban on public gatherings of more than eight people.  

 

With regards to the latter: Today also saw 14 student union members of the City University of Hong Kong getting fined a total of HK$98,000 (HK$7,000 each) for “breaching [the C]ovid public gathering rule” on February 14th of this year when they took a farewell group photo in front of the university's Democracy Wall.  As more than one person has generally observed, and one person did state about this particular action: In Hong Kong, "Covid rule[s are] used as a weapon of political clampdown".

 

When will we see the end of the public gathering ban that's contrary to Article 27 of the Basic Law (i.e., "Hong Kong residents shall have freedom of speech, of the press and of publication; freedom of association, of assembly, of procession and of demonstration; and the right and freedom to form and join trade unions, and to strike")?  Who knows -- and I have a feeling this will be the last Covid restriction/regulation to go.

 

What we know though is this: Today, Hong Kong (finally announced that it would end) 644 days of required centralised hotel quarantine and 922 days of required quarantine in some form of facility for arrivals to the city; "despite the fact that for the past 200 days, or so, we have had sustained community transmission of Covid", as public health professor Karen Grepin noted.  Or as one Hong Kong Twitter wag put it: "The self-styled “world city” has effectively been closed for 922 days".     

 

Cue celebrations from some circles and a rush to book flights to leave Hong Kong to do such as visit family and friends living abroad, or just go on holiday.  Truly, it doesn't seem to take much for some people to feel happy, ecstatic even.  Witness Danny Lee, an aviation reporter with Bloomberg, Tweeting the following: "With air travel restarting in Hong Kong: WHEN WILL IN-TOWN CHECK-IN RESUME! WHEN! Then I will count this as normalised"! 

 

In contrast, Kevin Carrico had this position: "Sounds like HK gov finally scrapping ridiculous quarantine but I could not care less. Scrap the ridiculous National Security Law to regain your appeal and dignity as a city"!  And no prizes for guessing which opinion I am more in line with!

 

I've also got time for this statement by Aaron Busch: "Time for Debbie Downer to appear. Ending mandatory quarantine is the tip of the iceberg; we still have pseudo-vaccine mandates, mask mandates, closures of public facilities, isolation orders, CTNs..." And Busch it was who also pointed out that the "Hospital Authority just dumped another 153 COVID-19 deaths into the system from February to April" today, making it so tha the total number of Covid deaths in Hong Kong is now over 10,000 -- 10,099, to be specific, as of today.

 

I'll end today's blog post by sharing Dr David Owens' definition of a malady he's christened "Hong Kong syndrome": "A psychological response characterised by progressive desensitisation to damaging public health regulations Presents with irrational euphoria in response to potential relaxation of restricted civil rights regardless of ongoing harm to the young + vulnerable".  And yes, he is of the opinion that there are many in Hong Kong afflicted with it, and who presented symptoms today!  

Bombshell revelation by John Lee about unvaccinated Mainlanders being able to obtain Hong Kong vaccines passes!

If  the Hong Kong government were serious about getting the elderly

vaccinated, there would be more of these PSAs about than

HKSAR 25th anniversary and China 73rd anniversary banners!

 

I felt very hot earlier today; and not just because Hong Kong recorded its highest temperatures ever in September (e.g., 35 degrees Celsius at the Hong Kong Observatory in Tsim Sha Tsui) today.  Rather, it's because at his weekly press conference this morning, Chief Executive John Lee was reported to have said things like, as turned into Twitterspeak by Tripperhead, "Need to raise vax rate. Covid isn't the flu. Six times more deadly" that got more than one person thinking of the infamous saying that "There are lies, damn lies, and statistics".

In response, another member of the Twitterati, Joel Chan, was moved to supply some contextual as well as comparative statistics.  Among them: "Case fatality rates: Seasonal flu (US CDC, 2010-2019): ~0.097%-0.2% ; Covid-19, Hong Kong, 6th wave (estimate): 0.096% (432 deaths and 448121 cases since May 31)."  Also: "Case fatality rates, Covid-19 Singapore (since 2019): 0.086% Hong Kong 6th wave only: 0.096% Hong Kong 5th & 6th wave: 0.62%" as well as pointing out that "The reason Covid’s death rate during the 5th & 6th wave is 6 times higher than flu is because the elderly weren’t vaxxed and the hospital system crashed".

 

Still, THE point from today's conference that nearly caused me to pop a vein was this: "Unvaccinated individuals travelling from mainland China to Hong Kong can obtain a Vaccine Pass after entering the city because of the low Covid-19 infection rate across the border, Chief Executive John Lee has said, adding that the policy had been in place “for a long time."  Here's the thing though: the policy may have been in place "for a long time" but the first time that I -- and many other people -- heard of it was today!  In other words: a major bombshell just dropped as far as the likes of us were concerned!

 

"“The main reason is that the risk of Covid-19 infection in the mainland is the lowest in the world,” Lee said. “Its risk, when compared with Hong Kong, has been much lower.”"  Really, now?  I mean, sure we have official statistics from the Chinese government -- but how trustworthy are those?  We're talking, after all, about the government in whose country the Wuhan coronavirus was first detected and who sought to suppress this news for a time!

The Hong Kong Free Press piece I previously quoted goes on to state this: "As per a government statement published on May 5, arrivals from the mainland or Macau who were not required to undergo compulsory quarantine have been allowed to obtain the provisional Vaccine Pass by completing a declaration form as well as presenting their identity document and “other relevant proof” at a designated post office. The provisional pass remains valid for 180 days."

 

So... there have been who knows how many people from Mainland China and Macau coming to Hong Kong for some time now who are unvaccinated yet can get a Vaccine Pass.  Semantics aside (think about it: they managed to get a vaccine pass without getting vaccinated), why the hell have they been allowed to do so but similarly unvaccinated Hong Kongers not?!  

And health concerns aside, I foresee some negative reactions to this disclosure today by John Lee.  One involves Hong Kongers now feeling they have health reasons to discriminate against any Mainland Chinese person -- even though some of them may be/are vaccinated and some of them actually Hong Kong (permanent) residents who have had to adhere to the same rules and regulation as other Hong Kong residents.  Another involves those exempt Mainland Chinese feeling that they are, in fact, "cleaner" and more superior than Hong Kongers.  A third involves even more Hong Kongers now not wanting to get vaccinated, boosted and/or double boosted.  And a fourth involves even more Hong Kongers not wanting to use the Leave Home Safe app that's part of the whole Vaccine Pass thang!

 

Some more from the Hong Kong Free Press article: "Meanwhile, those who visit the city from overseas must have received at least two jabs to obtain the provisional pass. International arrivals must also quarantine at a designated hotel at their own expense for three nights upon entering the city, followed by four days of “medical surveillance,” during which they will be issued a yellow code in their LeaveHomeSafe app that bars them from entering restaurants and other premises under the vaccine pass scheme."  And remember, these include Hong Kongers returning from other terrritories (besides, we now know, Macau and Mainland China).

Another famous quote comes to mind as a result: "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."  Yep.  From George Orwell's Animal Farm -- much of which, together with his 1984, often resonates a lot for those of us living in Hong Kong 2022.

Reflections on Taiwan and Nancy Pelosi's visit to it

View of Taipei 101 from Maokong

 

Back in December 2007, I visited Taiwan for the first -- and, thus far, only -- time.  In recent years, my interest in the country has increased and I got to thinking that I should pay another visit to it.  Indeed, just before the Wuhan coronavirus came to Hong Kong (in January 2020), a copy of a Taiwan guidebook that I had ordered online had arrived and I was perusing it to figure out which part of it I wanted to visit on my second trip there.

 

Thanks to the pandemic and Hong Kong's continued pursuit of "Zero Covid", however, I've not left Hong Kong since my October 2019 trip to Japan (which I've still NOT finished blogging about!).  So there's a bit of travel envy mixed into my reaction to seeing Nancy Pelosi visiting Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and Japan in recent days.

 

Of course, Nancy Pelosi's Asian tour has not been all fun and games.  And the Speaker of the U.S.A.'s House of Representatives' visit to Taiwan, in particular, has sparked quite a bit of ire from China and also well-meaning -- but, frankly, quite clueless -- left wing Westerners who don't seem to get that her visiting Taiwan should not be a trigger to World War III and that if China were to decide to invade Taiwan tomorrow, it won't be because she paid Taiwan a visit!  

 

On a related note: The Guardian is probably my favorite newspaper in the world but I am unimpressed with its coverage of Speaker Pelosi's visit.  This is not least because its analysis was written by a Mainland Chinese individual (Vincent Ni), an opinion piece by a Briton (which I think is super off base), it had more coverage on Taiwanese Americans thoughts about the visit than actual Taiwanese (since the piece about what things were like on the ground in Taiwan was written by a Taiwanese American (Brian Hioe), albeit one who was a resident there)!  Put another way: Western coverage of Nancy Pelosi seems to exclude Taiwanese opinions by and large at the expense of fixating on what the Chinese and Americans (and nationals from each media outlet's country) think of it all.

 

Unexpectedly (because affairs not involving Hong Kong shouldn't be their concern), Hong Kong officials also weighed in with condemnations of Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan that echoed those of the (Mainland) Chinese.  We're talking about not only Chief Executive John Lee but also Chief Secretary Eric Chan, Finance Secretary Paul Chan, Justice Secretary Paul Lam and -- talk about overkill -- the ministers for environment and ecology, housing, labour and welfare, and transport!

 

In contrast, the Taiwanese people and government seem pretty happy that she visited their country.  (And yes, I'm going to stick my neck out and say that Taiwan seems very much a country to me.  After all, when I visited in 2007, I did notice such things as Taiwan having its own currency, flag, laws, culture, etc., etc.!)

 

Also, here's echoing the following statement by Samuel Bickett: "For those saying this visit has no upside: respectfully, you’re wrong. It’s meaningful to people in Taiwan, Hong Kong, the East Asian diaspora & all those fighting for a just world. Morale matters. Solidarity with friends matters. And the world’s attention today helps our fight." 

 

More than by the way, it's noteworthy that during her visit to Taiwan, Nancy Pelosi met -- at its Human Rights Park, no less -- with Lee Ming-che, a Taiwanese activist detained by Beijing; Lam Wing-kee, a Hong Kong bookseller kidnapped by the Mainland Chinese authorities who subsequently escaped from their grasp and moved to Taiwan; and Wu'er Kaixi, one of the student leaders at Tiananmen Square in 1989.  As Taiwanese graduate student Joshua Yang opined: "It sends a strong message: Taiwan is a beacon of human rights & it is worth supporting."

 

In contrast, the Chinese ambassador to France announced on French television yesterday that China's plans for Taiwan would involve "re-education" in the wake of succesfully invading it.  As a member of the Twitterverse who goes by Aunty Alice Tweeted: "No surprises here, it’s same process used in Xinjiang, Tibet, and now in process in Hong Kong".  Nonetheless, it's chilling all the same.  

 

I'll leave the last words to Nancy Pelosi.  Specifically, the following is from her piece in the Washington Post earlier this week entitled "Why I'm leading a congressional delegation to Taiwan":  

Taiwan... is an island of resilience. Taiwan is a leader in governance: currently, in addressing the covid-19 pandemic and championing environmental conservation and climate action. It is a leader in peace, security and economic dynamism: with an entrepreneurial spirit, culture of innovation and technological prowess that are envies of the world.

Yet, disturbingly, this vibrant, robust democracy — named one of the freest in the world by Freedom House and proudly led by a woman, President Tsai Ing-wen — is under threat....

Thirty years ago, I traveled in a bipartisan congressional delegation to China, where, in Tiananmen Square, we unfurled a black-and-white banner that read, “To those who died for democracy in China.” Uniformed police pursued us as we left the square. Since then, Beijing’s abysmal human rights record and disregard for the rule of law continue, as President Xi Jinping tightens his grip on power.

The CCP’s brutal crackdown against Hong Kong’s political freedoms and human rights — even arresting Catholic Cardinal Joseph Zen — cast the promises of “one-country, two-systems” into the dustbin. In Tibet, the CCP has long led a campaign to erase the Tibetan people’s language, culture, religion and identity. In Xinjiang, Beijing is perpetrating genocide against Muslim Uyghurs and other minorities. And throughout the mainland, the CCP continues to target and arrest activists, religious-freedom leaders and others who dare to defy the regime.

We cannot stand by as the CCP proceeds to threaten Taiwan — and democracy itself...

By traveling to Taiwan, we honor our commitment to democracy: reaffirming that the freedoms of Taiwan — and all democracies — must be respected.

Disasters strike and shock Hong Kong two evenings in a row

View from a sampan of a floating restaurant 

that's now under the sea!

 

For the second evening in a row, something's happened that shocked Hong Kongers.  This evening saw a fire break out on a power cable bridge in Yuen Long and this causing not only to the spectacular collapse of the bridge itself but also a massive power outage in the northwestern section of the New Territories (including Yuen Long and Tin Shui Wai new towns) that lasted for hours.  

 

As a result, people got stuck in lifts of high rise buildings; traffic lights stopped working; and MTR services between Tsuen Wan West and Tuen Mun stations were briefly disrupted, and Tin Shui Wai station was temporarily closed.  In addition, services at a number of area hospitals were affected, as the power supply was unstable, and there was talk of a need to transfer patients to other hospitals. 

 

Something that didn't escape the attention of the number of people was that this Yuen Long incident occured two years and eleven months to the day of the horror that's known in shorthand among Hong Kongers as 721 (or, more lengthily, the 721 Yuen Long Attack).  Or, if you prefer to look ahead, consider that this disaster occurred just 10 days of the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong's handover by the British to China. 

 

And this comes one day after the occurrence of a way more high profile disaster -- one which many people have looked to as a metaphor for Hong Kong's future: namely, the sinking at sea of the Jumbo floating restaurant which was a fixture in Aberdeen's harbour/typhoon shelter for 46 tears until it was towed away just last week.  I mean, when even Funassyi Tweeted about it...! 

 

If truth be told, I've been shocked by the outpouring of grief at the news of Jumbo's sinking.  One particularly hysterical series of Tweets, to my minds, came courtesy of a Singaporean journalist usually based in Hong Kong and are so histrionic that I think they are worth quoting at length.  

 

I.e., "in between getting covid and having to rebook my flight back to HK and scrambling to find another quarantine hotel i can't believe the fucking Jumbo sinking is my last straw"; "like no kidding i emotionally cannot process this..... I know it's stupid to be shocked by anything absurd happening in Hong Kong any more but this takes the cake for me... for real thought I need to speak to someone i cant process this lol"; "haven't felt this way since Cardinal Zen was arrested but this feels somewhat worse because I just cannot find a way to rationalize this happening lol"; "i wanna scream !!!"

 

In turn, I want to scream back: "Get a grip, woman!  I mean, how can you compare the sinking of a tourist trap with "blue" owners (that I don't think any local regularly ate at) to the arrest of 90-year-old Cardinal Zen?!"  Also why are people mourning the demise of a mere restaurant -- floating or not -- when Hong Kong has lost so much else in recent months and years?! 

 

But another member of the Hong Kong Twitterverse stated something that gave me pause.  Specifically, "I often say that Hongkongers’ relatively strong reactions, from the mourning for Jumbo to the crazy affection to Mirror are a type of projection or sublimation of their suppressed emotion as well as longing for the old, happy days."  

 

Put another way: it seems that the mourning for Jumbo can be put in the same category as the mourning for culled hamsters and wild boar.  Mourning as resistance as well as mourning for what once was but is no more and mourning of what's allowed in lieu of so much other mourning being disallowed in today's Hong Kong.

Avery Ng provides some cheer to what's been another largely bad week in Hong Kong

 

A reminder that Hong Kong is really beautiful

 

This has been one of the weeks with a lot of bad news and developments for those of us who really care about, and love, Hong Kong.  In addition to that which I outlined in my Tuesday post, Hong Kong has also seen such as veteran politician Lee Cheuk-yan being sentenced to three weeks imprisonment for the ridiculous "crimes" of "flying a balloon exceeding two metres in controlled airspace, and obstructing a police officer" and university student Lui Sai-yu being sentenced to five years in prison for committing the national security law crime of "inciting secession" (i.e., he sought to sell weapons on line and post pro-independence messages on social media).   

With regards to Lee Cheuk-yan: it is very much worth noting that he is one of the 47 politicians and activists arrested back on February 28th, 2020, on national security law charges and has been denied bail, and thus been behind bars all this time.  In other words: he's already been in prison even prior to having been sentenced to three weeks in jail this week.  But all the time he's been in detention thus far is deemed to be separate from his newly imposed three weeks jail sentence.

 

With regards to Lui Sai-yu: his case has caused quite the stir because his sentencing involved an about face by presiding judge Amanda Woodcock that broke the "guilty plea discount custom" in Hong Kong courts.  There's a detailed thread about this on Twitter by the Hong Kong Rule of Law Monitor (the account of a group of Hong Kong lawyers based overseas).  And the final Tweet explains things in a way that even non-legally trained individuals like me can understand: i.e., "Once again, this case illustrates how there is a great lack of clarity in the [National Security Law] - which is always used against the accused and never for their benefit."  

 

Also, it's quite incredible to realize that, as Timothy McLaughlin has pointed out: " Last month, a Hong Kong man was sentenced to less time in jail (27 months) for anally raping his underage sister."  Note: both the original 3 years and 8 month sentences that Lui Sai-yu was given after he pleaded guilty (in return for a more lenient sentence) as well as the amended  five year sentence he eventually received are lengthier!

Even away from the courts, bad things have happened in Hong Kong this week.  As an example, consider the death of veteran actor Kenneth Tsang Kong while in a quarantine hotel (while undergoing the mandatory 7 days of quarantine upon returning to the city after a trip to Singapore and Malaysia) this Wednesday.  It's not just that a popular actor who has touched the lives of many by way of his more than 200 film appearances has passed away.  Rather, it's also the circumstances of his death.  And yes, I know some people will look at his advanced age (87) and think, well, it was his time.  But dying alone in a quarantine hotel is a sad way to go. For anyone. Young or old. Celebrity or not.

So I've not been a happy camper for much of this week, to say the least.  And it hasn't helped that yet another friend broke the news to me that he is leaving Hong Kong -- though not until the end of the year.  

 

Yesterday though came a bit of welcome news: the release of political activist Avery Ng from prison.  Adding to the good news: The League of Social Democrats man showed early on that his spirits was undaunted -- by sending out a message of his plans for the day (involving going for a haircut, and eating some siumai and hargow!), and to get back into groove in the coming days.  

 

Then, on his first full day out of jail today, he headed to the government offices to hold a one man protest for labour rights — while wearing a Pikachu t-shirt!  (Hong Kong’s soon to be anointed next leader is John Lee's Chinese name is Lee Ka-chiu -- which sounds a lot like Pikachu, don't you think?)  Truly, it's lovely to get evidence so soon after his release from prison that Avery Ng's not lost his courage nor sense of humour! :)

More on Samuel Bickett and Hong Kong's still very serious and politicized pandemic situation

Hong Kong, troubled but still really beautiful

 

I watched and listened to the Hong Kong Free Press' Tom Grundy interview Samuel Bickett last night (Youtube video available here).  This was actually the first time I had had heard him speak at length and 'live', and I must say that he acquitted himself very well; this not least since he clearly was still fatigued and probably also in shock to some extent from his most recent ordeal(s).  And, almost needless to say, I found the close to 40 minute long interview interesting and informative, and moving too.   

 

At various points, the now US-based lawyer -- who first moved to Hong Kong in 2013 -- spoke about planning to provide more details himself on his blog about his most recent prison experience and plans to continue pursuing his case up to the Court of Final Appeal, and I look forward to reading more of his writings in the future.  Mr Bickett also elaborated on a number of points he had made in the message he posted on Twitter two days ago and provided some background about his family -- and it's interesting, even while not super surprising, to learn that he has his parents' support in his pursuit of justice for himself and Hong Kong; and that he was raised by people who took part in civil rights protests in the USA.

 

On the subject of protests: More evidence for how difficult it is to stage them in Hong Kong these days came yesterday after three people staging a pro-Ukraine protest were fined by the Hong Kong police yesterday, and two taken away and arrested.  For the record: none of them was actually fined or arrested for protesting.  Rather, the fines came from their contravening the current anti-pandemic measure involving no public gatherings of more than two people being allowed and the arrests came from those two people not carrying any identification documents (like Hong Kong ID cards or their passports) with them. 

 

Nevertheless, there's no disputing that there is a feeling among many Hong Kongers that anti-pandemic measures, along with the actual Wuhan coronavirus itself, have played a key role in dissuading, even preventing, people from staging and taking part in large-scale protests since 2020.  As Quartz's Mary Hui wrote back in April of that year (i.e., some three months before China imposed a national security law on Hong Kong): "Since January, as the novel coronavirus spread rapidly in China, large-scale protests in Hong Kong have taken a pause as people called on each other to avoid crowds"; and a "Hong Kong regulation banning public gatherings of more than four people, enacted [in March] in an effort to combat the coronavirus pandemic, immediately stoked fears that it might be used to crack down on political dissent—and it appears to be happening already."

 

Speaking of the "novel coronavirus" that's now not so novel: Hong Kong's daily new Covid cases dropped down to a one-month low today.  Even so, it's still over the 10,000 mark (specifically, 10,401; with only four of the cases being imported ones) -- a far cry indeed from the 0 or even single digit figures Hong Kong had become used to for much of last year.  Also, the number of fatalities is still way higher than should be the case: with 192 deaths reported today (162 new; 30 backlogged); bringing the number of fifth wave deaths to 6,749 and total Covid deaths in Hong Kong to 6,962.  

And while the number of new daily cases are expected to keep going on a downward trajectory (as per the pattern of Omicron variant waves which sees the coronavirus spread easily and quickly but then appear to naturally burn out faster than that of other variants), the number of Covid fatalities are  expected to be high for a time.  And it most certainly doesn't help that the Hong Kong government appears to be sticking to a pandemic strategy that's far more guided by politics than science -- with today's major pandemic announcement by Carrie Lam involving the planned distribution of Covid kits next month that will include boxes of "traditional Chinese medicine" (TCM) along with N95 masks and rapid test kits (all of which will doubtlessly have been made in China).    

 

While the "traditional Chinese medicine" in question, Lianhua Qingwen, is promoted by the Chinese government as an effective treatment against Covid, it's actually been banned in Australia and back in July 2020, Hong Kong companies were warned by the USA's Food and Drug Administration against stating that any traditional Chinese medicine products, including Lianhua Qingwen, can treat or even mitigate the effects of Covid!  It also is not approved for treatment against Covid in Singapore; with Singapore's Health Sciences Authority (HSA) having issued an advisory which specifies that: "there is no scientific evidence from randomised clinical trials to show that any herbal product, including Lianhua Qingwen products, can be used to prevent or treat COVID-19." 

 

Scarily, not only has Lianhua Qingwen been adjudged to be ineffective by various government agencies but it in fact can be harmful.  Earlier this month, there was a reported case in Hong Kong man having  experienced acute liver failure after reportedly consuming painkillers and Lianhua Qingwen capsules! And while one doctor was quoted in local media as saying that overdosing on paracetamol can damage the liver, a professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s School of Chinese Medicine also went on the record to state that Lianhua Qingwen "contains a level of toxicity that can be harmful to the liver"!

 

Almost needless to say, Carrie Lam and her administration's reluctance to listen to actual medical experts here in Hong Kong greatly frustrates and upsets said medical experts (among them, at least one RNA virologist, professor of public health and medical practitioner).  As for the public: ignore this linked The Standard article's headline and note the line in it that "Respondents rated the SAR government 2.68 out of 10 in terms of their efforts in terms of curbing the fifth wave of pandemic"; and that, for many people, that rating is already way higher than should be the case!