Xi Jinping says the Belt and Road Initiative is headed for its next golden decade. John Lee says Hong Kong serves as a key link for Belt and Road. CY Leung says BRI is about enhancing people-to-people connectivity. Allen Zeman declares youngsters can help reboot Belt and Road and it’s a game changer and we must ‘grasp the opportunity’. (Did anyone say it needs rebooting?) Aron Harilela says BRI ‘provides a framework that can address the economic, social and environmental issues facing the world today’. And there’s more from representatives of the ICAC (‘clean Silk Road’), Cathay Pacific (‘our ambition is to become the connector, really, between Hong Kong and the whole of the GBA and the Belt and Road market’) and CLP (nothing very quotable).
Apparently, next week’s Policy Address will feature measures to boost Hong Kong’s birth rate. The Standard reports the thoughts of DAB lawmaker and new mother Nixie Lam…
Lam said many Hongkongers are developing their careers in their 20s and 30s, but those who do not want to have kids due to political reasons “have cognitive problems.”
But she agreed that the social environment during the 2019 anti-fugitive bill unrest was not appropriate to raise children.
“Some parents even brought their children to protest sites. Their behavior should be regarded as child neglect,” she said.
“Hong Kong is definitely not ‘unlivable.’ A person can remain safe after getting drunk in the streets, which is definitely impossible in the Western countries,” she claimed.
At least she’s not going on about Belt and Road. Remember, it’s pretty much DAB or nothing. As the Standard editorial on the vote-urging District Council elections/’Night Vibes’ multitasking effort puts it…
A higher turnout will give the government a solid foundation to speak about an electoral reform that has transformed local politics from a system of pluralistic participation to a new mode of homogeneous involvement of patriots only.
There is something worth reading: @NotNuryVittach – one of the better Twitter accounts out there – is back, after being blocked following a mysterious complaint about impersonation.
I thought getting drunk in the streets wasn’t the way to be a role model while raising a child, apparently I’ve been doing it wrong.
John Lee was also on RTHK yesterday saying that the government will commit to LOTS on money (HK$5 billion – peanuts in the overall picture) to OBOR stuff. Exactly what the government will be spending (presumably) the taxpayer’s money on, or why, was not clear. But I am delighted to see my tax dollars to well applied and GBA and ohhh, it’s all wonderful.
Looks like that DAB princess has never been to Scotland.
Dollars for doughnuts the DAB mummy has a Canadian or Australian passport, a few empty condos in Toronto or Vancouver, and junior will be off to the Australian international school or an expensive boarding school in the UK.
@Casira, presumably that was the prelude to Nixie getting pregnant
@the real dr yes she an Aussie
On another matter, I couldn’t help but notice the FCC is screening a film about a character called Odell. Surely not Hemlock’s wild ex-Mormon friend of days past? I often wonder how he’s doing, although not so much as shapely administrative officer Winky Ip
I suspect that many of the perpetual moaners and protest supporters who don’t like post-clampdown Hong Kong hang around solely because of the ‘safe when inebriated’ situation.
In case you missed it, another example of the cavalier approach of HKSTP execs towards lease conditions. Inspection of his Redhill pad revealed that:
“Chai purchased the Redhill Peninsula house for over HK$96.25 million in February 2020. Upon reviewing aerial photographs by local media HK01, it was discovered that prior to Chai’s purchase, the government land in question did not feature a garden. However, a high-altitude image from July 2020 revealed that construction work on the encroached garden had commenced after Chai acquired the property.
In addition to the encroached garden, there are several other instances of illegal construction within Chai’s house. A comparison of approved plans and neighbouring independent houses indicates that the bottom floor of Chai’s house exhibits clear signs of expansion towards the garden. The expanded half-floor, which connects to the original staircase and features a black railing, has been converted into a balcony with a few chairs placed on it.
The bottom floor of the house, where the self-made balcony is located, has a higher ceiling height. The approved plans indicate that the bottom floor is the master bedroom and does not include a loft. However, the self-made balcony on the middle level of the house, adjacent to the master bedroom, has an exterior wall with a floor-to-ceiling glass window that is large enough for people to pass through.
Chai Ngai-chiu, the honorary chairman of the Federation of Hong Kong Industries and the nephew of Li Ka-shing, chairman of CK Hutchison Holdings, has been serving as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation since 2018. He was reappointed for a second term last year, which will end in June 2024. In March of this year, Chai was also appointed as a member of the Chief Executive’s Advisory Council’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Group.”
“We have extremely good hotels… From a hospitality angle, people can come into Hong Kong and then to the mainland, to the many cities, the many sites. Hospitality is not just for Hong Kong, it’s [for the] whole of China,” [Michael Kadoorie] said.
I’m taking it that the reporter didn’t just turn up with a hand mike and ask him for his thoughts; probably he knew what the questions would be beforehand. So I can only say, in all seriousness, WTF are you gibbering on about.
@Nixie Nickers
Re: shapely administrative officer Winky Ip
Phwoar!
A refreshingly upfront take from whoever is ‘Mary Ma’ today:
“patriots” and “establishment” are now interchangeable terms.
Vacuous Vibes is off the boil (was it ever so much as warm?)
The Democratic Party don’t stand a cat in hell’s chance of even joining the ‘election’.
Will the turnout hit a new low?
Will the turnout hit a new low?
There are many ways in which folk can be ‘persuaded’ that it is in their interest to show up at the polling station. Reports from previous elections re pressure on employees of blue firms to prove they had participated is just one route. And we all remember the Alphard door to door service provided to elderly homes.
With the high level of surveillance now in place and all those district committees whose members operate under the radar on the prowl, some will consider that it might be prudent to be shown to participate.
The turnout rate could be substantial.
@Mary Melville
I reckon that now the whole “political” system is so comprehensively rigged, they probably won’t actually care enough to budget for a pretend turnout to their pretend election. Far cheaper to just report the percentage of votes, and maybe make the total turnout a National Security secret. But I suspect they won’t even do that.
In fact, now that it’s basically a cargo cult version of an “election” for entirely ceremonial jobs, a low turnout serves a big part of the overall message they’re putting out: we’re not going to listen to you, your opinions don’t count, you’re not allowed to change anything and we emphatically don’t care what you think about that.
@John additional benefit of producing a watered-down version of elections is that the CCP can point to the absolute shambles of the system and use it as proof for the talking points of ‘see, democracy doesn’t work!’ or ‘Chinese people cant do democracy!’ etc.