Panda formerly known as ‘An An’ to be called ‘An An’

The Hong Kong government launches a competition to find new names for a pair of pandas hitherto called An An and Ke Ke, and then scraps it… 

…the judges … selected the suggestion to keep the original names of the five-year-old pandas, as the Chinese pronunciation of “An” and “Ke” together resembles the word “encore,” symbolising ongoing good fortune for Hong Kong.

Doesn’t sound much like ‘encore’ at all, but we’ll believe you. RTHK finds supportive public feedback…

“I think it is so meaningful. There is more of a sense of belonging by keeping their original names,” said a woman surnamed To.

Another woman surnamed Li said she fears people might confuse the new An An with the previous panda of the same name, who passed away in 2022.

“I think it’s fine, but some people might think of the old An An. That An An lived in Hong Kong for a very long time, so we were really sad when he passed away. It should be fine to reuse the name because the new panda is used to this name anyway. It should help him adjust a lot easier,” she said.

CE John Lee adds…

“The government will continue to seize the opportunities presented by the giant pandas, actively collaborating with various sectors to organise more related activities and launch locally themed panda products, providing visitors with a unique panda experience and boosting Hong Kong’s tourism and retail industries.”

Reports say the competition attracted 22,600 responses. There are widespread suspicions that many citizens submitted ideas like Jimmy, Long Hair, Joshua, Gwyneth, etc.  

An HKFP op-ed asks why protests are more tolerated in the mainland than in Hong Kong these days…

In October this year former Hong Kong minister Anthony Cheung advised the government to relax its de facto ban on public protest. ‘If I were government, I would encourage certain groups to assemble. [To win back international support] you have to prove that assembly is still possible.” That is, authorities should indicate their willingness to consider applications for demonstrations on a wider range of issues than is currently the case.

When asked to comment on Cheung’s advice, Chief Executive John Lee said such a view was narrow-minded. “There are many ways to express an opinion such as through seminars – there is no single avenue.” Some protests had been hijacked in the past, he said. “The most important thing is to ensure that others are not affected.”

The police caution that protest must not violate “the rights and freedoms of others.” What does this mean? Not creating a traffic disturbance? Not occupying public space that others could use? Not calling attention to an issue or cause with which others (including the authorities) may disagree, find obnoxious, or distasteful?

If being supportive of some, rather than virtually zero, freedom of assembly is ‘narrow-minded’, what does a ‘broad-minded’ person think?

The Financial Secretary says it is ‘too early’ to consider pay cuts for civil servants to fix the government’s budget deficit. Good phrase! It could mean that things aren’t that bad yet, so it might not be necessary. Or it could mean that yes, we are in a mess – but are still too terrified to admit it. Either way, Paul Chan’s comments seem to imply that current public-sector salary levels are in some way related to high land valuations/revenues.