What’s the last thing Hong Kong needs right now? Yes – Regina Ip getting in everyone’s face. So here she is, offering to help sue hospital staff for striking, and getting slapped down by the government after claiming officials will use price controls to fix the city’s surgical-mask shortage.
The lawmaker, Executive Council member, Belt and Road fan club founder, and former Security Secretary’s hyperactivity is due to a sad delusion. She believes that her politician’s biological clock is still just about ticking and there is a chance that Beijing might yet make her Chief Executive.
Or maybe it is not a total delusion. Carrie Lam is currently lying flat, strapped into the execution machine in Kafka’s Penal Colony, which slowly etches the name of the crime into the prisoner’s body. This is to punish not so much Carrie as the whole of Hong Kong. The pain continues for what seems an eternity, but at some point death finally comes. Beijing will have to appoint someone else. It could be someone new, to symbolize a fresh start. Or – you may feel more confident in imagining – the CCP might just inflict a new round of suffering on the city. Reg could still have her day.
Elsewhere… For a moment there, Singaporeans were mocking Hong Kong for stripping shelves bare of rice and toilet paper. Then the contagion of fear struck the Lion City too – despite its 1,500-mile distance from China, oh-so competent governance and soothing words from more-charismatic-than-Carrie Prime Minister Baby God.
And the dirty little secret/twist in the tale: it was – Singapore’s Malay and Indian citizens noted – ethnic Chinese who were freaking out in the supermarket aisles. Years of contradictory ruling-party brainwashing about being both obedient and venal combine with ‘race-based stress’ to create anarchic mayhem. In the noodles section at least. It says here. I really, seriously, couldn’t possibly comment.
China will start an incident in the Taiwan strait before they finally put an end to Carrie Lam’s sufferings
Shelf strippers might have legitimate concerns. Once the daiguo get their act together and set up new supply channels certain items could go down the milk powder route.
The Indians and Malays are not as familiar as the Chinese diaspora with the speed and tenacity of these operators. With Taobao, Alipay and far reaching delivery services even under quarantine ambitious operators are probably already setting up networks.
Remind your family members back home that some prudent shopping might pay dividends.
Wuflu bonus no. 2 – Vag Ip in a mask.
My god, that does us all a favour.
On a slightly different note, whereas some medical types have been suggesting that the weather/seasonal change will help end the virus outbreak, has anyone factored in the addition of the mosquitoes that the warmer weather will inevitably bring? For a virus that is already extremely contagious, wouldn’t the addition of numerous vectors make it a whole lot worse?
Also, how long will it be before some of Hong Kong’s more extreme anti government types manage to weaponise the virus by lobbing bottles of phlegm instead of petrol?
To put it all in context, since mid January more than 60 people in Hong Kong have died from seasonal influenza. And if you take the statistics from 2018 8,437 people, or on average 23 a day, died from pneumonia.
It was/is the second most common cause of death, after cancer in its many forms.
How many of us neglected to get a ‘flu shot this winter?
About that dubious quarantine scheme: I was in the gym today and I saw a regular member from Mainland China. He tends to come to HK for a couple of months, go back to China for couple months, and so forth. I had not seen him for quite a while, so if he has just returned from China, why is he not in quarantine?
If I were you I would be scared.
Throughout the troubles in HK we have been told that these were all instigated by ”foreign forces” determined to de-stabilise the SAR (even though no-one seems to have any firm evidence). However it is becoming clear that the one person hell-bent on destroying the place and everything on which is based is Carrie Lam…. Just a minute, strong UK connections… husband and kids there, house there… is she perhaps an MI6 ”plant”? It seems the only explanation for her behaviour which makes sense…
@Des Espoir – not the only explanation. Both her husband and one of her sons do business in the Mainland. This gives the Beijing government some leverage over her.