Spare a thought for those Hong Kong tycoons who have to attend the National People’s Congress and CPPCC sessions in Beijing during this time of plague.
As there are no flights from Hong Kong to the capital, they must fly out of Shenzhen. Although exempted from quarantine (in both directions), they must undergo a virus test after crossing the border. This apparently involves sitting in a slightly grungy room alone for many hours, with a menu offering three unappetizing choices to eat. They then get their flight, and go through a similar test again in Beijing, which has separate health regulations.
They are not allowed to bring flunkies. Thus Peter Lee, scion of the Henderson Land empire, has to struggle with his bags – and breaks his delicate foot. (He’s the one who acquired surrogate triplet boys to continue the family line.) Note that Victor Li, son of KS, can get away with ‘having a fever’ and staying in Hong Kong. Lesser plutocrats’ kids can only look on in envy.
Once in Beijing, the Hong Kong delegates will be confined to their hotels except when attending to snooze-voting duties in the Great Hall. For some, it might mean long evenings with only Maria Tam for company. She will no doubt regale them with stories about how she convinced Hong Kong officials to use the pattern of her bloomers (known in textiles-design circles as ‘Dongguan Tweed’) for the government’s ugly free face-masks.
The ‘two meetings’ this year will be a bit shorter than the usual two weeks. It will feel longer.
You have to love bureaucrats for their use of language. In relation to face mask registration process where non-mandatory means mandatory:
“It is not mandatory for registrant(s) to provide the personal data as required in this registration. However, if registrant(s) do not provide such personal data, the Government will be unable to process the registration,”
Why are the delegates exempt from quarantine? Do they have magic powers that allows them to avoid contracting Bat Flu? Or is this the usual one rule for the kleptocratic thugs and their cronies and another rule for everyone else?
Check out the headline in the Standard on the Henderson lad link. A quality organ, as the actress said to the bishop.
Victor Li: I gots the rockin’ pneumonia and the boogie woogie blues…
I wonder if the same number of tycoons will return as will go. Some of them are so pampered I doubt they can eat unassisted. As to other bodily functions…
I am glad you said that Maria Tam “convinced Hong Kong officials to use THE PATTERN of her bloomers” as opposed to using her ACTUAL bloomers. Given the size of her backside, the acres of material in just a couple of pairs of her old bloomers would be sufficient to make the 7 million or so masks the government has ordered. Imagine that! Wearing Maria Tam’s old pants on your face. Nightmares don’t get any more terrifying than that, unless you notice those stubborn under-stains. Still, it would probably keep the virus (and every other life form) at a safe distance …
With a bit of luck the hotel laundry may decree that the untested visitors clothes cannot go through their services as they pose an infection risk and our tykes will be reduced to washing their undies in the sink.
Dragging the luggage limits the number of possible wardrobe changes. Oh the horror of wearing the same shirt twice.
Next year half of them will have ‘fever’.
@asiaseen
“You have to love bureaucrats for their use of language. In relation to face mask registration process where non-mandatory means mandatory:”
Here’s another example – “The truth about Hong Kong” means “Government propaganda about Hong Kong”.
Looking forward to the number of times we will hear the phrase ‘rule of law’ and ‘high degree of autonomy’ in the coming days from Carrie Lam and her band of mediocrities if CCP steam roll this security clause into the Basic(ally dead) Law
@Smiley: my favorite is the vague but now disproven “core Hong Kong values”