The death toll at Tai Po reaches 94.
The Labour Dept last year said the netting used in renovation at Wang Fuk Court complied with fire-safety standards…
…as public anger grows over a resurfaced 2024 email in which the department described the fire risk from such nets as “relatively low”.
…In its reply on October 4 last year, the department explained that the primary purpose of installing the net is to limit the falling range of objects and stated that current regulations enforced by the department for construction sites contain no provisions covering flame-retardant standards for safety nets or any materials.
The department subsequently received a complaint arguing that this response was incorrect. After the investigation, it concluded that the initial reply “was unclear and had led to misunderstandings.”
DAB district council member and (I think) advisor to the owners’ committee Peggy Wong ‘dismissed fire safety concerns about the Wang Fuk work as malicious rumours misleading the public’. Is anyone looking into the tendering process for the project?
ABC of Australia on the community-run Google spreadsheet that updated the known status of apartments’ residents during the Tai Po fire.
HKFP guide to funds and charities aiding the Tai Po victims.
What happens to the site now? I guess they tear it down.
Oiwan Lam at Global Voices on the Hong Kong government’s attempts to boost voter turnout at the LegCo election in two weeks. She quotes a pan-dem now in the UK…
At the local level, high voter turnout can be seen as a vote of confidence in the John Lee administration, especially against the background of the Chief Executive election in 2027. […] The embarrassment is that Macau’s Legislative Election in September this year saw a high turnout of 53.35 percent, prompting Beijing officials to compare which ‘child’ performed better. In fact, Hong Kong officials reportedly visited Macau to study its voter mobilization tactics, fearing that low turnout in Hong Kong could be interpreted as public skepticism toward the political performance of Lee’s administration and the Central Government’s Hong Kong Liaison Office.
The government is thinking of postponing the election after the Tai Po fire.
Bitter Winter on a Chinese movie designed to push the idea of unification with Taiwan…
…“The Battle of Penghu” (澎湖海戰), a state-backed historical epic slated for release in 2026, dramatizes the Qing dynasty’s 1683 defeat of Ming loyalists in Taiwan. The film’s promotional trailer features the slogan “Unifying Taiwan is unstoppable”—a blunt encapsulation of Beijing’s political messaging. However, the backlash that followed suggests that even in tightly controlled media environments, history resists being reduced to propaganda.
The film centers on Shi Lang, a Qing admiral who led the conquest of Taiwan, defeating the forces of Ming loyalist Zheng Keshuang … Critics on Chinese social media questioned why the narrative glorifies the Qing, a foreign dynasty, while vilifying the Ming loyalists, who are often seen as defenders of Han Chinese sovereignty. Some even sarcastically proposed that Beijing’s next cinematic venture might celebrate Wu Sangui, the infamous Ming general who betrayed his dynasty to the Manchus.
…in attempting to draw a straight line from Qing conquest to modern-day claims over Taiwan, the state risks alienating those who see the Ming loyalists as patriotic resisters. The backlash was swift—and swiftly censored. Negative comments were scrubbed from Chinese platforms, leaving only official narratives and supportive voices visible.
…By weaponizing history through cinema, Beijing risks undermining its own credibility. When propaganda masquerades as art, and when dissenting interpretations are silenced, the result is not unity but skepticism. As the reaction to “The Battle of Penghu” shows, even carefully curated narratives can unravel when confronted with the messy truths of the past.
The barbarian Goths and Vandals who took over parts of the Roman Empire were already familiar with Roman culture and embraced it after taking control. Roughly similar story with the Manchus, who further Sinicized after defeating the Ming in order to consolidate their power. But to Southern Chinese, in particular, they were foreign invaders and the Ming who fled to Southeast Taiwan true Chinese. (Fascinating history, starring mostly Fujianese Ming loyalist Chinese, Dutch, Manchus and Taiwanese aborigines, with a guest appearance by the Spanish.)
The Qing established control over the western lowlands of Taiwan to suppress rebels. But they didn’t claim the mountainous regions in the middle and east until around the 1870s just a couple of decades before signing the island over to Japan. The only other arguable period of Chinese ownership of Taiwan would be when the KMT took over the place – more brutally than the Japanese did – and established a rump ‘Republic of China’ on the island after 1949. That became defunct in practice after democratization in the 1980s.
So there is something awkward about the movie’s basic premise. Presumably, it’s the best they could do to claim some sort of historical ‘Chinese’ ownership of Taiwan. The only remaining argument is that Taiwanese are Han who speak Chinese – but that’s like saying the Irish, New Zealanders, Australians, etc are white and speak English, so their territory must be British.
The reason Macau had a better voter turn out is because even after their “patriots only” revamp which requires a screening mechanism similar to HK, they still allowed one genuine pro democracy party to run (New Hope).
The idiots in HK didn’t consider that and essentially obliterated every pro democracy party and now have a legitimacy problem that Macau doesn’t.
What is the basis for the arrest of the contractors if everything is compliant with the so-called standards?
@casira,
You can be arrested if police have suspicions you have committed a crime. Then they have to have evidence to charge you. Then the prosecution service had to decide they have enough evidence to go to trial. Due Process
Have they also done a movie about how China can lay claim to the south China sea?
@Casira,
Also I forgot to add that once arrested you would be under caution. In the UK that round be:
“You do not have to say anything. But it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence.”
– so the arrest also warns you of your rights at that point.
@ Mark Bradley
Many of us do not want ‘Democracy’. Look at the state of a majority of Western countries. They are an absolute joke, beyond fixable, and bankrupt. Even Switzerland is turning to ratshit. The fundamental problem is that the people standing for office in such jurisdictions are largely from the lawyer class, and they are principally interested in point scoring and showboating. I want those in power to make the place better and improve people’s lives. Consequently, I’d rather have a dull-as-ditchwater technocrats and engineers crack on with things. Also, with an elders and experts system you don’t need your media to be chewing incessantly over matters politic – it’s 4cking boring and it drives me mad.
People talking about rights and due process in Hong Kong is a joke.
Due process is now entirely optional on the part of the authorities.
If they want you, they’ll have you.
And that’s that.
Interesting point online is that apparently the local democratic party representative already had doubts over the building renovation tender, and the DAB district councillor could ignore her, since pro-dems are now either powerless or in jail. Perhaps that is why pre-2020 one didn’t see such incidents to such extent as there was still a form of checks and balances with free press and opposing parties.
Retard # 4
“Many of us do not want ‘Democracy’. ”
Many of us is not most of us fuck face. Most HK registered voters preferred the system in place before 2020. The voter turnout speaks for itself.
You keep parroting the same bullshit you worthless drunk, meanwhile there is zero evidence of massive improvement of governance when you remove democracy from the equation. Hong Kong’s governance has only gotten worse since it became patriots only.
“I want those in power to make the place better and improve people’s lives. “
Such as making stupid comments like these disappear?
“Consequently, I’d rather have a dull-as-ditchwater technocrats and engineers crack on with things.”
The problem isn’t with people being dull. It’s the lack of accountability and ease of corruption.
“Also, with an elders and experts system you don’t need your media”
The same one that allowed SARS and Covid, and perpetuated miasma theory for dysentery etc.?
There are some very dull people indeed that can’t see beyond their own narrow frame.
@ManWithThePlan
That DAB district councilor Peggy Wong must be one of those “elders and expert” that retard # 4 keeps banging on about.
See also: ‘The Deer and the Cauldron’ by Louis Cha
Hong Kong university student urges gov’t to respond to ‘4 demands’ in aftermath of fatal Tai Po fire:
https://hongkongfp.com/2025/11/29/hong-kong-university-student-urges-govt-to-respond-to-4-big-demands-in-aftermath-of-fatal-tai-po-fire/
“ Kwan’s four demands are for the government to ensure accommodation for displaced residents; set up an independent investigation committee to look into potential conflicts of interest; review the construction supervision system; and probe regulatory neglect, as well as hold government officials accountable.”
Considering that in the past a ferry accident warranted an independent investigation committee, it seems logical to establish one for the worst fire in 70 years, especially since the fire from 70 years ago had less deaths plus there is already some evidence of negligence from not just the contractors but the dumbass authorities who were empowered to regulate them but largely dismissed complaints from residents before the fire happened.
“If the government thinks these four very, very basic, fundamental demands are making them sensitive, [that I’m] trying to incite any anger or hatred about them, it would be very oversensitive of them,”
I have a feeling the useless cunts in the government will be over sensitive and will harmonise the situation using Article 23 rather than holding anyone in the civil service responsible.
I would love to be proven wrong as that would actually give me some hope.
@Mark Bradley
Your rants are particularly unbecoming, especially the “fuck” this, “cunt” that bits (see above and previous posts you have made). You should focus on refuting the points I raise, not acting like a petulant chimpanzee in an overcrowded zoo enclosure.
I’m wondering how many pro establishment, pro Beijing, improved democracy governed by patriots would support extradition to the Mainland got any crimes proven outer this criminal disaster.
I’m guessing not any.
Sarcophagus #4
You see „dull-as-ditchwater technocrats and engineers” would be fine.
But „dull-as-ditchwater technocrats and engineers“ lead by „dull-as-ditchwater“ obedient puppets of a yesteryears Marxist- Leninist „dull-as-ditchwater“ dictator – that’s the problem.
The best thing that happened to the West is Xi Jinping.
Unless, of course, you believe that China was a great place to live in 1968.
@retard # 4
I refuted all your points with the following you drunk cunt:
HK governance is significantly worse under the patriots only system. This is an undeniable fact. Even if we don’t factor in this disastrous fire, I don’t think you can name a single way the government improved after 2019 aside from using crude repression of speech and that isn’t an improvement for regular people. It is the opposite.
@Daiichi RPV also provided supporting evidence by noting the sars and covid coverups done by your so called “elders and experts”
Deflecting over my language isn’t going to save you when you had no evidence for your anti democratic position. Your anti democratic position just further enables corruption and you have zero rebuttal. You just hope I won’t reply over the weekend.
Also the “4 demands” university student has already been arrested by the national security police despite this being a perfectly normal and lawful petition elsewhere and there is already circumstantial evidence that authorities were asleep at the wheel.
I am sure retard # 4 approves the arrest since he works so hard to defend this regime despite these so called “elders and experts” failing basic competency.
@Mark Bradley
Sadly, you were not wrong. The young petitioner was arrested for sedition.
https://hongkongfp.com/2025/11/30/hong-kong-man-arrested-for-alleged-sedition-in-relation-to-fatal-tai-po-blaze/
As Hong Kong’s community spirit is stirred by the tragedy, we might remember what befell Chinese whistleblowers in the early days of Covid-19.
Reactor #4.
I agree with nothing you say, have ever said or, I imagine, will ever say.
You do, nevertheless, have a point regarding Mark Bradley’s seemingly endless profanities, which tend, I suggest, to detract from his generally sound arguments.
In Bradley’s defence, I would simply observe that his foul language is, more often than not, directed at you, which is doubtless attributable to the fact that he, like the rest of us, find you and your views repellent.
As for your invitation to engage with you on the points you continually raise, I would only say that experience has taught me that entering into debate with people as firmly wedded to their bigotry as you is an entirely futile exercise.
Accordingly, I would urge Mark Bradley and everyone else to resist the urge to get involved with you and instead ignore you entirely as I try to do with all the other trolls and provocateurs who infest modern life.
Reactor #4.
I agree with nothing you say, have ever said or, I imagine, will ever say.
You do, nevertheless, have a point regarding Mark Bradley’s seemingly endless profanities, which tend, I suggest, to detract from his generally sound arguments.
In Bradley’s defence, I would simply observe that his foul language is, more often than not, directed at you, which is doubtless attributable to the fact that he, like the rest of us, find you and your views repellent.
As for your invitation to engage with you on the points you continually raise, I would only say that experience has taught me that entering into debate with people as firmly wedded to their bigotry as you is an entirely futile exercise.
Accordingly, I would urge Mark Bradley and everyone else to resist the temptation to get involved with you and instead ignore you entirely as I try to do with all the other trolls and provocateurs who infest modern life.
@Red Dragon
Well said and you’re right that it’s better not to engage. He keeps repeating the same false statement as truth: dictatorships have significantly better governance thanks to not having to worry about politicians having to give unrealistic promises to their constituents, instead it is left to the experts who can just get on with it.
But we all have first hand experience with how unelected governments govern and it’s obvious #4 is completely delusional.
The water procurement scandal, the illegal structures at Red Hill that refuse to go away, the ever increasing queue for public housing, the disastrous zero covid policy that saved no lives and wasted massive money, not to mention the recent fire clearly showcase that having an unelected government and an unelected legislature results in no accountability and incentivises corruption and coverups.
@Rectum 4 – Thing is mate, you’ve used coarse language and even violent fantasies in your previous posts, though not to the extent that Bradley does. Each time you pop up here, your turgid nonsense is most of the time refuted.
Your worst comments came in a post in which you referred to women’s (especially those younger) bodies in a crude misogynistic way. That was when I gave up on your tripe, but you hypocritical stance here deserves the rebukes you’ve received.
You” find more likeminded chums on the SCMP’s comment threads.