‘Possession of books’

The mustn’t-call-it-Kafkaesque Stand News trial continues, with the prosecution expecting the outlet’s former editor to read large amounts of freshly submitted evidence, plus the minds of its past contributors.

Activists being prosecuted for ‘unauthorized display of posters’. Is this about posters, or the messages they carry? (How come businesses can clutter up sidewalks with ads with impunity?) 

But the creepiest news of the day is that people in Hong Kong are now being arrested for alleged possession of ‘seditious’ books. The children’s sheep-cartoon book is, of course, online – can you be arrested for looking at the website? What other volumes on our shelves (or screens) might be seditious, and get us arrested? Will the government place bins in public places for people to dispose of illicit printed material (as with CBD gummies)? Or organize book-burnings in the streets?

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8 Responses to ‘Possession of books’

  1. Ho Ma Fan says:

    Whilst browsing in Bookazine, just yesterday, I saw a copy of Ray Bradbury’s excellent Fahrenheit 451. It’s a work of fiction but feels more like a reference book now.

  2. Sid Gozzer (Cab Fahrenheit 451) says:

    I read a book once.

    Lock ‘em up. It’s the only language they understand.

    I had that Ray Bradbury in the back of the cab one evening and he lit up!

    Geddit???!!!?!?

  3. dopey says:

    Nothing to see here. Everything is FINE!

  4. GOP Spokesman says:

    Florida governor Ron DeSantis heading to HK for a fact finding mission and picking up tips on governance, persecuting lady boys and book censorship…

  5. Stanley Lieber says:

    Beware the Ides of March. Shakespeare will be next.

  6. Mary Melville says:

    How come businesses can clutter up sidewalks with ads with impunity? Indeed.
    Check out Sai Yeung Choi Street any day of the year, lined with “illegal occupation of government land”. I previously mentioned the telcom tout vehicles parked all day beside the municipal building on Pei Ho Street.
    Last Sun I spotted and took images of vehicle with number plate CSL illegally parked on Argyle Street covered in posters and with various stands littering the pavement.
    Most of these illegal operations are subsidiaries of large property developers that charge an arm and leg rent for occupation of their own premises.
    And nary a cop or FEHD worthy ever in sight.

  7. Paul says:

    Amongst the books that I possess is one called “We Deserve Better – Hong Kong since 1997”. It seems to me that this title has seditious intent. Should I expect an early morning knock on the door?

  8. Young Charles says:

    @ Paul

    Yes.

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