This is the place where random thoughts and observations are posted. Usually I don't have enough material to expand what are written here into articles. (In most cases, it is probably a good thing that I don't). Usually I make a post whenever some interesting notions hit my head.
Be warned! This may (and probably does) look like an on-line confessional and the things I post here may be even more confusing than my articles and can be quite depressing. So for the sake of your mental health, please set aside your faith in others and optimism before reading these posts.
Enjoy these "short" musings. Hopefully they won't make your head spin or drive you sleepless or confused.
June 11, 2025
The "national security" police issued a statement warning the public that anyone who publishes content of a Taiwanese mobile game may be accused of inciting secession and inciting subversion (likewise for anyone who provide funding to the developer). The game allows players to play as members of the resistance (in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Tibet, Mongolia, Uyghurs, among others) or communist (Chinese) forces. Naturally, a game giving players the opportunity of defeating China would hit the "national security" police's nerves, but they could have approached the game a different way. The game was not widely know in Hong Kong before the annoucement, so the police have in fact promoted the game and piqued the public's interest in it — searches for the game in the city skyrocketed after the annoucement. Since the game allows player to assume the role of communists, the government should have mandated to have the game pre-installed to every phone sold in the city to show Hong Kong the futility of fighting the communists. Perhaps this the way "national security" bureau of saying "there are still threats lurking somewhere. Pay up or the city will descend into a haven for separatists."
June 4, 2025
36 years ago today quot;nothing happened" in Beijing. The authorities in Hong Kong, as usual, remind us that today is "special" by deploying hundreds of police officers near Victoria Park (to check if there are anyone holding flowers/candles), standing in silence, wearing clothing with "sensitive" messages/colour), inspectors of various departments visiting stores run by former (pro-democracy) district councilors (and checking if candles are being sold), flying services and officers deployed to inspect the top of Lion Rock. With the Tiananmen Square Masscre is no longer discussed in school and the candlelight vigil last legally held 6 years ago, there may now be tweens who have no knowledge of what happened. What happens if they are caught doing/wearing/holding something the authorities deem "inappropriate"? (The list apparently now includes bananas as well, especially if someone eats one slowly.) Wouldn't they have to be told why they are being stopped? Can they use ignorance as a defence?
May 27, 2025
Recently a few journalists (as well as members of their families) working for independent media outlet claimed that they have received government tax demands, asking for business records even though they were never registered any businesses. Tax authorities have asked them to pay extra salaries tax, assuming that the journalists' income is multifold of what their actual salary. The head of the revenue department stated that the figures estimated "on the fly" as the statue of limitations is about to expire. The mayor added that the journalists "have no privilege to evade taxes". (Why did he assume that they are guilty without any proof? Because he assumes anyone who disagrees with him is guilty.) The journalists never claimed that they are trying to evade taxes — they were only puzzled by the tax authorities of demanding taxes for money that they did not earn. Interestingly, none of the journalists involved worked in pro-government media outlets. Perhaps they wouldn't have been audited had they worked for the Beijing mouthpieces. Perhaps this is the government's latest scheme to generate revenue — by collecting extra taxes from individuals and corporations they consider "unfriendly" to increase the revenue for the present, then "writing them off" in later years.
May 21, 2025
This year's Europa League final will be contested between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, two teams immediately above the relegation places in the Premier Table table. (They were never in danger of being relegated, though, as they have almost twice as many points as the teams that do get relegated.) For two clubs of such statute, this is a massive disappointment. However, one of them will be rewarded a berth in next year's Champion League by winning the match (while the other, free of commitment to European competition, will have a lot more training time). One can reasonably say that neither team is worthy of playing in the Champions League, but it seems they, at least for this season, are still capable of winning matches. Have they given up on winning Premier League matches? If so, perhaps fans who attended the teams' Premier League matches in the past couple months (or have tickets to today's match) should demand a refund?
May 6, 2025
Ronnie O'Sullivan, a snooker player who has won multiple world championships, received residency status in Hong Kong through the Top Talent Pass Scheme last year. Government officials (as well as pro-government media and Youtubers) welcomed the news with great fanfare, even arranging an interview between the athlete and the head of the Immigration Department, in which the athlete praised the city's food scene and nature trails. Last week, fresh off a loss at the World Champioship, the athlete stated that he would take up temporary residence in the Middle East after leaving the UK, without mentioning Hong Kong. Would O'Sullivan be the subject of a smear campaign, accusing him of using Hong Kong as nothing as a stepping stone? (Has he set foot in Hong Kong after the interview with the head of the Immigration Department?) Or has the Hong Kong government recruited O'Sullivan for a mission to go to the Middle East and lure Alira (aka Sheikh Ali Rashed Ali Saeed Al Maktoum from Dubai who promised to open a family office) back to the city. (After all, the Skeikh stated that, without saying which year, that he would return in May.)
May 1, 2025
Yesterday was the birthday of Keung To, the most popular member of the most popular Cantopop group. Similar to previous years, his fans bought ad space at (among other places) prominent locations and trams. This year an exhibition, featuring his work, costumes he wore, as well as protraits of him, was held. It shows how much money his fans are willing to spend year after year to show their devotion to him. With the government troting out various types of flavour-of-the-moment economy, one may wonder why government officials have yet to try promoting "Keung To economy". Perhaps they had considered it, but they dropped the idea after realizing that it would surely draw blowback from the "loyal trash" — not when such people blasted the star (as well as another member of the same group, someone the minister responsible for tourism profess to be a fan of) and their fans for "upstaging and disrespecting the national treasure (baby pandas)" during an event marking the creation of a fan club for the pandas.
April 28, 2025
After the Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series in 2020, detractors (mainly fans of opposing teams) tried to devalue the achievement by stating that the title was not a "real" due to the fact that the season was shortened and that all games were played behind closed doors. So there was a feeling of vindictation from the team's maanger when it won the title last year, a full season with games attending by fans. A similar sentiment emerged when Liverpool FC clinches the Premier League championship, which last won a title in 2020 as well. (The situation was a bit different though — about 75% of the Premier League season was completed when it was halted by the pandemic.) Perhaps the players and management are saying that the they (and the fans) cannot properly celebrate titles won (generall a parade) during the pandemic. Perhaps a title won by a team without any fans in attendance feels "unreal" because there is no pressure from the spectators in the stands (sure, there are pressure from online sources and the press, but the team can tune them out) and the games are no different from those played by weekend warriors.
April 20, 2025
I cast my ballot in the upcoming Canadian federal election through mail. This is the first time I have voted since, well, the last Canadian federal election — I stopped voting in Hong Kong's elections since they were "improved" by the city's government Beijing. Polling has shown the incumbent Liberals have went from 20% behind the Conservatives at the start of the year to being in the lead. If the Liberals go on to win, they should send gift baskets to two people. The first is Justin Trudeau, the previous party leader and prime minister, who finally gets the hint from his party (and the general public) to step aside (some may say he was kicked out the door) at the start of the year to remove the Conservative's biggest selling point. The other is Donald Trump, whose soup tariff-threat-of-the-day and talk of 51st state aggrevated Canadians and changed the narrative from "is it time for a change?" to "who is best to stand up to Trump?" (Even though Trump loves to give himself credit for everything, not sure if he would want to take credit for this development or accept the hypothetical gift basket.)
April 12, 2025
Hong Kong's newest police commissioner stated that, in spite of the national security laws, some individuals remain remorseless and continue to spread "soft resistance" in everyday life. (What excatly is "soft resistance"? Whatever definition that suits them on the day?) He claimed that certain stores have printed seditious messages on receipts in a "clear attempt to incite others". If one rearranges the characters on a receipt (or price tag, guide boards, menu), one is certain to find messages one finds offensive. What about numbers on the receipt — is the storeowner and/or shopper engaging in "soft resistance" if sensitve numbers appear on one? (As a simple example, would the police arrest someone if one buys 7 items, each with a price at $103?) Would the commissioner ask every business in Hong Kong to submit a price list of all its items to check if there are any combinations which sum to numbers sensitive to him or anyone else in the "national security" bureaucracy? With the government budget deficit not going away anytime soon, perhaps this is the commissioner's way of telling his boss not to cut his budget.
April 6, 2025
In the days after "Liberation Day", the day when Donald Trump imposed tariffs on practically every country, the stock markets took a huge hit and countries affected impose reciprocal tariffs. Airwaves and cyberspace are filled with commentaries on how the tariff would harm every country (including, of course, the US) and help no one, hurt US interests by drawing its allies to China's side. With president Trump changing his mind seemingly by the hour (at least by the day), the commentaries have a shelf life of ready-to-eat items in a convenience store. So a few of the Youtubers I follow have posted multiple videos commenting on the latest flip flop per day since "Liberation Day". (Shows what kind of the person I am as well.) Perhaps I, as well as the commentators, should stop wasting time by thinking/talking about something else. Perhaps president Trump is doing this simply to show that he is in charge and everything/everyone revolve around him.
March 31, 2025
Joe Tay, wanted by Hong Kong police for endangering "national security", is running in a Toronto riding the upcoming Canadian election. At first he considered running in a riding in a suburb of Toronto but chose to run in a riding within the city of Toronto instead. It was revealed that Paul Chiang, the Toronto suburb's incumbent MP, told the audience of a press conference a few months ago that they can claim the bounty on Tay by taking him to the Chinese consulate. Chiang has since apologized for the remark, but stated that he would not withdraw his candidacy. Perhaps Chiang's police background led him to believe that the accusations against Tay is legitimate. However, he is condoning, supporting even, handing over a Canadian citizen (and a political opponent) to an unfriendly nation based on flimsy claims. One may wonder if Chiang is in fact influenced by Chinese officials and endangers Canada's national security.
March 19, 2025
Figures of the Little Grape, the anti-fraud mascot, have been installed at a park next to the police headquarters, across the street from the government headquarters. (In Cantonese, grape — 提子 — is short for "be aware of fraudsters" — 提防騙子.) Each of them have its own pose and expression, some of which hold signs stating "check-in hot spot". This looks more of a photo spot than a spot promoting fraud prevention education. Sure, there are signs informing visitors of a hotline for reporting fraud, but most of which are so small that one has to get really close to read the information on the signs. Besides, shouldn't a park featuring anti-fraud mascots depict scenes of common fraud cases, such as calls by fake government officials, strangers (transported to tourist hotspots by criminals) asking for food/change, online shopping scams, business agreements with a sheikh from Dubai (提子 — is also short for "be aware of princes" or 提防王子)? Good thing the park is not frequently visited by foreign tourists, otherwise visitors may wonder if Hong Kong is a haven for fraudsters.
March 14, 2025
In the past week, dozens of students from several schools have suffered gastroenteritis during study tours in mainland China. Education officials stated that preliminary investion by the mainland show that there is no evidence linking the students' sickness to meal arrangements. The Education Secretary also stated that the outbreak may be related to changes in weather conditions. Surely a student or two may have contacted the disease before the trip and infected a few classmates during the trip, but what about dozens of students (who probably sat on different tables even if they visited the same restaurant at the same time) from different schools? Did students from different schools coincidentally fall ill before joining the study tour? If that is indeed the case, why is there no such outbreaks (at least among the students' relatives) in Hong Kong? Are education officials implying there are issues with food hygiene in Hong Kong? (Where are the health officials on this?) Do weather systems (and viruses) know that Hong Kong and mainland China follow different systems and change their behaviour as they cross the boundary between the two? Perhaps the study tours are serving their purpose — to help students gain a better understanding of China " after all.