After Hong Kong starts allowing up to 100 private cars a day to enter the city from the Mainland, a lawmaker complains that some are breaking local rules on tinted windows. That’s not the worst of it. Social media now feature videos of these vehicles (identifiable by special plates) parking illegally and driving badly around town.
A drop in the ocean, perhaps. But you have to ask why we should add to the city’s existing traffic mess at all. Is the idea to get more vehicles onto the HK-Zhuhai Bridge? Is it just about symbolism – a contrived display of ‘integration’? Or, like the mass-tourism obsession, could it be a form of punishment? (And why on earth would any Mainlander want to go through the hassle of driving here?) The lateral thinker in me wonders if the idea comes from Shenzhen, eager to encourage Hongkongers to spend leisure time over the border, away from their overcrowded and overpriced home?
How long before there’s a fatality involving one of these cars?
The Guardian talks to director Kiwi Chow about the Tai Po fire and the banning of his latest movie.
“With collusion between officials and businesses, shoddy workmanship, lax oversight, rampant corruption and an unbalanced system, Hong Kong could not uphold professional standards,” he has said. “How long must Hong Kong endure this?”
The construction company that was doing renovation work on the compound at the time of the fire has not commented publicly on the tragedy. The consultancy in charge of the renovations reportedly closed down in the weeks after the fire. Directors from both of the firms have been arrested.
A Hong Kong government spokesperson said authorities were “going all out” to investigate the cause of the fire, and that several people had already been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter.
The fire was the biggest test of Beijing’s grip on Hong Kong since the 2019-20 pro-democracy protests, which were ultimately quelled by the imposition of a fierce national security law. The first sign that Chow was not going to be silenced by this came in 2021, when he released Revolution of Our Times, a two-and-a-half-hour documentary filmed from the frontlines of the protests.
The film, which premiered at the Cannes film festival, took its name from the banned protest slogan: “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our time”.
Now Chow’s latest film, which stars the legendary Hong Kong actor Anthony Wong, has in effect been banned from public screening.
In theory, Deadline, which was filmed in Taiwan and partly funded by the government there, isn’t as politically sensitive as his earlier works. Set in an unnamed Asian city, it tells the story of an elite private school where students buckle under the heat of intense academic competition. It was released in Taiwan on 7 November.
But Chow believes the authorities are trying to make an example of him personally by refusing to grant approval for the film. “They don’t want to arrest me, but they want to destroy my creative career,” he said.
In answer to the obvious question…
…Chow remains undaunted. He thinks the authorities are unlikely to arrest him, lest they bring more attention to his films. He concedes it could still happen, though. He’s discussed the possibility with his wife and says he would rather use his freedom to speak out while he can.
“Even if we left Hong Kong, the fear would linger,” he says, referring to Beijing’s increasing practices of targeting critics overseas. Instead, he says, “I want to stay in Hong Kong and get used to living with fear.”
Anime Festival Asia (‘Japan Pop Culture Now!’) cancels its planned February convention in Hong Kong. No explanation, but its annual and other activities in Singapore, Jakarta and elsewhere seem to be going ahead with no problem, while Mainland and Hong Kong authorities have been on an anti-Japan kick recently. (No Japanese costumes allowed at a Hangzhou manga exhibition, for example.)
Hong Kong – Asia’s (Non-Japanese) Events Hub.
The Hong Kong government releases a mildly phrased press statement objecting to the World Bank’s Business Ready 2025 Report, in which the city falls out of the top 10 locations. (Report here. Haven’t read it. Looks like a big snore.)
“Instead, he says, “I want to stay in Hong Kong and get used to living with fear.”
Indeed. But our right to freedom of expression is not confined to threat from local parties, we now have pro-Israeli thugs roaming our streets and abusing local citizens with impunity.
The 70-year old and slightly built local lady who displays the Palestinian flag on Nathan Road is being subjected to increasing levels of violence. Recent reports are of two assaults in which she was knocked to the ground in front of Chungking Mansions and there have been numerous other encounters.
Pedestrians caught one of the assailants and he was forced to kneel down and beg forgiveness
TST is awash with surveillance, cameras, drones, you name it. So why are foreign agents not arrested immediately for assaulting a local?
If response to a slogan on a t-shirt can is immediate, why are these assaults ignored? At the very least the Israeli Consul should be warned that aggressive behaviour on our streets will not be tolerated.