*Now* you tell us there are zero ferries today

Recovering from a traumatic trip to Macau. The time in the erstwhile enclave was great; the journeys there and back, fairly horrendous. For example…

So just some quick late midweek links…

Some bureaucrat trying to be ‘creative’ decrees a new font for Hong Kong’s semi-iconic street signs. Such signage serves (obviously) an important purpose. But even if it were purely decorative, you wouldn’t use this nasty typeface. For example, to anyone with poor eyesight, the ‘e’ is indistinguishable from a ‘c’. And – as we all know – san serif is used on road and other signs for a reason: it is clearer. If the government backtracks on one thing this year, it could be this. 

The Guardian on mutual recognition of civil and commercial court judgements…

There is concern that the new ordinance will damage Hong Kong’s reputation as a global wealth management hub. Asset managers may no longer be able to advise wealthy clients with total confidence that their investments would be protected in Hong Kong. “Wealthy Chinese and foreigners alike have been concerned about their personal safety and the security of their assets in Hong Kong, and these judgments will convince many more to move to Asian or western destinations,” [financial research firm boss Andrew] Collier said.

From the CMP’s newsletter, a look at the HK Federation of Journalists, the United Front versio of the HK Journalists Association…

Li Dahong wears many crowns in Hong Kong. As well as chairing the HKFJ, he is the chairman and editor-in-chief of the Ta Kung Wen Wei Media Group, which combines the city’s two biggest state-run newspapers, the Ta Kung Pao and Wen Wei Po. He is also a delegate to the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (中國人民政治協商會議全國委員會), the CCP-led political advisory body. Li is a prominent representative, in other words, of a model of state-led journalism that doesn’t question political power but serves as its megaphone.

…Tellingly, the HKFJ gala dinner on January 17, where John Lee gave media their marching orders, also served as the launch ceremony for a new body in the ACJA’s mold: the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area Media Federation (粵港澳大灣區媒體聯盟). As Li Dahong addressed the crowd, he said in a nod to one of Xi Jinping’s key propaganda phrases that this new mega-group would endeavor to “tell Greater Bay stories well,” and that it would share the HKFJ’s foundational mission “to support the SAR government.”

The (paywalled) Economist looks at changes in Hong Kong’s population…

The demography of Hong Kong (with a population of 7.5m) is changing as the city tries to reverse a brain drain that has seen around 200,000 workers leave in recent years. In 2023 the government lifted strict pandemic controls and announced a slew of new visa schemes. But this “trawl for talent”, as the city’s chief executive, John Lee, calls it, has netted a rather homogenous catch. The city granted just 8,000 visas to Westerners between January and November 2023. Ten times as many went to people from mainland China.

… says a woman who trained as a lawyer in Britain, but moved to the city to work as a financial analyst … “Now all the business and corporate work is Beijing-focused. Singapore is really the hub for international work in Asia.”

…Some residents think that the authorities are actively trying to replace more liberal residents with mainlanders.