Category Archives: Blog

Eddie Chu out

Eddie Chu Hoi-dick, Persian speaker, scourge of white elephant projects and collusion, record vote-winner and the greatest environment/lands/housing minister Hong Kong never had, is released from prison. He served four and a half years for ‘conspiring to subvert state power’ … Continue reading

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Show guts when you shoe-shine

Speaking at the opening of the Legislative Council, John Lee urges lawmakers to ‘show courage in reflecting public opinion instead of simply following the tide’. (Standard story on on-line print edition only.) So, after introducing ‘all-patriot’ elections in 2021 to … Continue reading

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RIP David Webb

An authentic Hong Kong hero dies… He addressed pro-democracy demonstrators during the city’s 2014 Umbrella Movement, speaking in favour of a “free market in leadership”. The activist investor also criticised Hong Kong authorities during the city’s huge and sometimes violent … Continue reading

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‘From 18th to 140th’

AP describes the collapse of Hong Kong’s ranking in RSF’s World Press Freedom Index in the last 20 years… Behind the decline are the shutdown of pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, more red lines for journalists and increasing self-censorship across the … Continue reading

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Standard fare

The Standard celebrated the new year by having a re-design/makeover. As well as a new – and far less eye-catching – masthead, the paper has introduced a new font for its headlines. It’s a skinny-looking serif thing that experts will … Continue reading

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Mainlanders keen to grasp Hong Kong opportunities

Another case of Mainland fraudsters thinking ‘you might as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb’. From the Standard… A mainland woman was arrested Thursday afternoon at a bank in Admiralty after attempting to use a forged document to … Continue reading

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A Hong Kong conundrum: should causing 160 deaths be a crime?

Didn’t have ‘Ronny Tong does something useful’ on my 2026 bingo card, but there you go. Far less shocking (you sort of suspected it even if you didn’t know for sure): the sort of bid-rigging that went on before the … Continue reading

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Go west, young man

To a fanfare of scraped barrel bottoms, the Commerce and Economic Development Secretary Algernon Lau encourages Hong Kong’s young entrepreneurs to explore new opportunities in Central Asia, Latin America and Africa… Speaking at a luncheon hosted by the Chinese General … Continue reading

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The correct answer is ‘yes’

Should the government end the civil service pay freeze imposed last year? Several lawmakers think it should (stories in HKFP, Standard). Persistent budget deficits suggest that expenditure needs to be trimmed, or revenues increased. It would be useful to know … Continue reading

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For your viewing pleasure…

For diehard enthusiasts of scandal/serious murk, or those who have a taste for the surreal: kung fu movie star Lau Kar-leung’s widow Mary Jane Reimer delivers a one-hour video on the theft of her husband’s remains last year and the … Continue reading

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