Journey to Nowhere

Three Hong Kong journalists were pinned down to the ground, kicked and punched by police when they reported on the recent unrest in Urumqi, Xinjiang province. The insult and assault were captured on the camera. They were later tied up and taken away to a police station.

But according to the Xinjiang authority, their police had done nothing wrong. To the contrary, it was the fault of the journalists because they were found “giving orders” to protesters. Also the three had refused to present their journalist’s licences to police. So they were detained.

The authority came to the conclusion after conducting an investigation, according to Xinjiang information office head Hou Hanmin.

The TV stations which employ the three journalists protested against the claim and the fabrication, saying all their journalists had valid reporter licenses and in fact they showed them in order not to be beaten and detained. As for the claim of the three “giving order” to the demonstrators, that is plainly fabrication no intelligent mind would believe and only the foolish and the shameless would make.

If you want to have a good understanding about China’s freedom of press, about the standard of governance of local governments, about the true nature of China rising as a global power, about the lack of sense of security living and working in the country, look no further than this case.

Good luck travelling and living in China.

This video in Cantonese reveals the shameless lie told by the Xinjiang authority.

Hong Kong’s Victoria Park was so packed yesterday that every inch of its ground was occupied. People gathered there for the candlelight vigil in commemoration of those who died during China’s crackdown on the pro-democracy movement 20 years ago.

The organizer of the rally, Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, said there were 150,000 people in the park. Well, there may be dispute about the actual figure, but by being there myself, I can testify that there has not been a rally in recent years that can draw so many people. Everywhere – the lawns, the football pitches, the park paths – was thronged with people. Many people just stood, against each other, for the whole two-hour vigil.

People stand for the whole vigil. They cannot even see the main stage and big screen. But they stand and just listen.

The big turnout is the pride of Hong Kong, where people demonstrate that a clear conscience is what matters in life – the economic prosperity in China and the prosperity it brings Hong Kong do not mean that the crackdown had not happened, the history should be distorted and the tragedy should be forgotten, as suggested by Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Donald Tsang on the eve of the June 4 vigil.

In his position, Tsang has every reason to say that in order to curry the favor of the Beijing authority who appointed him to the Hong Kong top job. Boss must be flattered, conscience can be sacrificed. That is his credo. I hope he would pray to his God for forgiveness – he goes to church every morning before going to work.

In the rally, around me, I saw faces that are obviously from mainland China. They took photos and sang songs along. I was glad they got the chance to breathe some fresh air of political and speech freedom.

Hong Kong is the only place on the Chinese soil that holds a large rally every year on June 4. In Macau this year, there were only dozens of people participating in a June 4 rally.

If you plan to visit Hong Kong, one of the times of the year you may consider coming is around June 4, when the Hong Kong people attend an annual rally in memory of those killed in the June 4 democracy movement, in defiance of the Beijing government’s wish to silence its people on what happened 20 years ago.

The memorial rally has been going on for the past 20 years, since June 4 1989, with the rally always held in the Victoria Park, on Hong Kong Island. And each year there is always a large turn out. If you want to see the soul of Hong Kong behind all the high rise buildings and busy traffic, you can always find it in the evening of June 4, in the Victoria Park lit up by candles.

This year, a bigger turn out is expected, because of the gaffe of the city’s Chief Executive Donald Tsang. When asked about June 4 in the Legislative Council two days ago, he said, “I understand Hong Kong people’s feelings about June 4, but the incident happened many years ago. The country’s development in many areas has since achieved tremendous results and brought economic prosperity to Hong Kong. I believe Hong Kong people will make an objective assessment of the nation’s development.”

What is more, he claimed his view represents the general view of Hong Kong people. He later apologized, saying that he did not mean what he said.

His remarks and apology is total nonsense and much ridicule, of course. His stupidity is simply hard to imagine. To say that your view represents the view of Hong Kong people, while you are appointed by the Beijing government, not elected by the Hong Kong people?

And what those in the top can do just to curry flavor to stay in power, and as a result make a fool of himself, look nowhere than Mr Tsang.

What is more, Mr Tsang, are you telling us that it is alright that you kill people, as long as you can get rich later?

A leader of no soul and a city of people trying to clinging to their souls. That is Hong Kong. So come to Hong Kong around June 4 to see the struggle.

The other day I saw some one jogging on the side walk in Wanchai, Hong Kong. I was shocked. How could it be that some one chooses to risk his or her life by jogging in a busy area like Wanchai where heavy traffic leads to high levels of pollutants, which are  trapped by high rise buildings, making the air even worse?

I took a closer look at the jogger. It was a foreigner.  Maybe she didn’t know how polluted Hong Kong is. No locals will jog on the side walk in the centre of the city like Wanchai, or Causeway Bay. 

Hong Kong’s air-quality objectives have not changed since 1987, meaning that the city has been adopting a very low standard in defining what the minimum air quality should be. It is now in the process of adopting WHO’s international standards.

But in March, officials disclosed that the government would adopt the WHO’s least stringent emission-control level for PM2.5 and the second-loosest target for PM10. PM2.5 and PM10 are some of the key pollutants affecting asthma patients. 

The saddening fact is the city’s 10% of the children suffer from asthma, up from 4% 15 years ago. 

I hope the government will change its stance and adopt a more stringent international standard when it releases its draft report on air quality objectives next month. Public health should be always on the top of the government agenda.

Recently,  fevered internet chat in Hong Kong has seen both sexes attack each other. 

The “sins” of Hong Kong women and Hong Kong men are summarized as follows:

“Sins” of women: demanding men pay for everything, being late for every date, an unquenchable desire for luxury goods as gifts, lack of knowledge of current affairs and an inability to do housework.

“Sins” of men: low academic qualifications, low income, no confidence, staying at home and overusing the internet. 

These accusations against each other reflect, among other things, an aspect of Hong Kong’s gender terrain:  There has been a rising number of women receiving better education and occupying higher positions, leading to more young women’s choice of not to get married, as they cannot find a man of similar education level and financial clout. Of course, they can choose to marry “downward” – to marry men of lower education levels and with less financial stability- but they don’t want to.

Those beautiful female pop stars marrying into the town’s richest families are viewed with envy by the wider community here and publicized immensely in the media. It is women’s path to happiness, the media frenzy seems to say. 

Maybe Hong Kong women can seek a wider path to happiness in order to find real happiness?

If you want to know a bit more about Hong Kong, other than visiting the sightseeing spots, go to Sham Shui Po. This area, according the latest government census, is the poorest area in Hong Kong. 

The result should not come as a surprise. Sham Shui Po has, as always, gathered many low-income households, including those of immigrants from mainland China and old people. Its household median income is HK$13,800 per month. The richest area in HK – Wanchai – is HK$30,000.

Hong Kong started its compulsory pension fund scheme only a few years ago. For the elderly, they don’t have pension funds to rely on and it is a common scene in Hong Kong that the elderly collect free newspapers/paper cardboards and bring to the recycle shops for a few dollars a day, just to make a living. In Sham Shui Po, you can easily see a scene of this, as elsewhere in Hong Kong.

And if you tour around Sham Shui Po and look carefully, you do feel that the area smacks a bit of poverty. There are shops and stalls that boasts cheap price everywhere. I went into a snack shop for breakfast. For a cup of soybean milk and four rice-dough sticks, I paid only little more than US$1. But I looked at the bottle of black sauce on the table. There was something moving on the surface of the liquid sauce. I could hardly finish my breakfast and I left. 

Tip:

Besides seeing bits of reality of Hong Kong, you can visit Sham Shui Po for another reason – to visit its famous flee market Apliu Street Market, which sells all sorts of electronic stuff, from radios, clocks, to hifi and batteries, at low price.

How to get there:

MTR Sham Shui Po station. 

For going to Apliu Street Market, Exit D2 of Sham Shui Po station.