bc magazine

Editorial – 3 December, 2014

If this is a ‘proper’ (only water, no food or supplements) hunger strike – and that will take some extreme bravery from those involved – then at some stage CY Leung and the HK Government face a massive problem. Do they arrest and force feed the three involved, or do they let them stave to death live on social media and in-front of the world’s press, creating martyrs across Hong Kong and China.

In failing to negotiate, listen and address the real and underlying causes of the protestors – which have nothing to do with the Basic Law, but centre ultimately around the erosion of hope – the government is failing its citizens. Hence the desire to be able to have a say in who’s in charge. If CY Leung and the rest of the government had been doing a good job in recent years in looking after the needs of all Hongkongers, how they’d been chosen/elected would be irrelevant.

Aspiration, hope and hard work have long been the driving force across all strata of Hong Kong. The knowledge that no matter where you were born, hard work would allow you to improve your lot and the only limit to your aspirations was your own ability and effort. Many people’s hopes are focused on simple things like having their own home (rented or bought), being able to offer their children a good education and life… others want to achieve more.

These hopes, aspirations and sheer hard work are the engine room that drive Hong Kong and make it one of the greatest places in the world to live. Sadly the nepotism, greed and incompetence of those regulating Hong Kong’s engine room – politicians and their tycoon cronies is starving it of air and fuel and hope is slowly dying.

Erecting barriers to stifle hope, helps no one – it just destroys the city. CY Leung’s arrogance, incompetence and stupidity have put himself in a lose lose situation – let’s hope that 689’s own ego won’t allow him to go down in history as the man who destroyed Hong Kong.

Editorial: Hong Kong Island Traffic Congestion

An ongoing theme at the daily police press conferences is of the Umbrella Movement causing traffic chaos. Road traffic on Hong Kong Island has been a veritable mess from long before the Umbrella Movement started. A prime cause is the police’s failure to enforce Hong Kong road traffic laws, and with drivers knowing the police aren’t going to ticket them they flout the law with impunity.

How often have you seen vehicles entering road junctions when they know they can’t get out the other side – and so blocking all traffic, leading to excessive use of horns to the annoyance of residents and all around. Not to mention bus drivers stopping diagonally across two or three lanes completely blocking a road for several minutes.

If the police started to enforce the exiting road traffic laws, issued tickets – with meaningful fines. Then, very quickly drivers would start remembering the rules of the road, and traffic would flow more smoothly and the roads would be a lot quieter.

An example from today just before noon – the junction of Hennessy and Luard Roads where a car, a van and an empty taxi on Hennessy Road heading towards Central decided to block the junction and stop vehicles on Luard Road moving when the light turned green. There were police on the far corner who did nothing. Yellow box junctions, a favourite choke point – yet even with motor-cycle cops stationed there during busy periods for traffic management. Buses and cars enter the yellow box with no chance of exiting… and the police sit idly bye.

Mr police commissioner, the street protests may be causing some inconvenience to road users but the police’s failure to enforce the traffic laws has been causing far more congestion across the SAR’s roads for many years.

Letter to Hong Kong String Orchestra, re your patron CY Leung

Dear Ms Jue Yao, Prof. Anna Pao-Sohmen, Dr. Dame Rosanna WongYick-ming

As founding members of the Hong Kong String Orchestra I’d like to congratulate you on what you have achieved. bc magazine has given the orchestra lots of free coverage, listings and write-ups for your concerts over the years.

However, yesterday we received an email asking for free coverage of your upcoming charity concert – regrettably bc magazine will not be giving exposure to your concert, however noble the cause.

The recent speech by the HK String Orchestra’s honorary patron CY Leung that those Hongkongers who earn less than $14,000/month should be considered second class citizens and have no say in the future of Hong Kong is deeply offensive.

The median monthly income in Hong Kong is $14,000 and a couple of million people work hard long hours doing jobs vital to Hong Kong every day. Every one of those would love to earn over $14,000 – they don’t – but without them Hong Kong ceases to function.

The people CY Leung insults and degrades with his comments are the heart of the orchestra that is Hong Kong, The soloist or conductor are often changed – but without the violin section, or the cellos the music cannot be performed and enjoyed as the composer intended and the soloist is exactly that… solo, alone playing for herself.

Would you have a violinist on stage purely because they were rich, even if they couldn’t play a note and their inability would destroy your performance?

Your charity concerts claim to help those in need or is it purely the charity of the rich ‘be grateful for what we give you’ so you the donor can sleep better at night? Think on this, I expect most of those your charity performances ‘help’ earn less than $14000/month – are their opinions about Hong Kong and it’s future (or on any subject) irrelevant because they are old, sick, victims of crime or abuse… Or will you only give them charity if they mindlessly think and act as you tell them?

While CY Leung is the HK String Orchestra’s patron, I regret to inform you that bc magazine cannot write about the orchestra or its concerts – with all your wealthy financial backers, I doubt you’ll care what one English language magazine does. But if your charity comes from the heart, rather than from selfish need, perhaps you should. Hong Kong has thrived because each person matters, and will continue to thrive if we remember that.

Regards

Simon Durrant – Editor

www.facebook.com/HongKongStringOrchestra

www.stringorchestra.org.hk

Editorial – 21 October, 2014

Did the leader of Hong Kong (supported and backed by Beijing) really say to the whole world that the lives, opinions and choices of people who earn less than US$1,800/month – roughly HK$10,000 – don’t matter.

CY, people who earn less than $10,000 month know how to budget, they appreciate each dollar earned and look for value in every dollar spent – something the government could learn from!

Just because you don’t earn a lot of money doesn’t mean you don’t have brains, common sense, opinions and a right to have a say in how your country is run. And as your own daughter has proved, just because you have money doesn’t stop you being a idiot.

The very reason people are on the streets CY is because you stopped listening to them, stopped looking out for all Hongkongers interests – which is the job of Chief Executive. You have only ever looked out for yourself and listened to those who put money in your pocket – that’s fine for a businessman.

But you’re Chief Executive now and responsible for all HongKongers interests. Perhaps you’ve forgotten who puts the majority of money into your wealthy friends pockets… it comes from those 2 million or so who earn less than $10,000. That’s $20billion a month in spending power, most of which is profit to your greedy tycoon cronies.

The people who power Hong Kong’s economy are the very people you insult with your comments and wish to disenfranchise.

We’re on the streets because we want a Chief Executive who looks out for all Hongkongers interests – not just his own. The existing method of selection hasn’t provided that, so we want change. Quite simply if you thought more about those who earned less than $10,000/month or even $15,000/month with your policies and public spending, then we wouldn’t be on the streets. And those policies have got nothing to do with the basic law – it’s incompetence and greed on the part of you and your tycoon friends that’s destroying Hong Kong.

Editorial: Women’s Rugby Season 2014-15

The women’s 2014-15 rugby season starts tomorrow although you’d be hard pressed to know it as the HK Rugby Football Union website is still showing the games for the 2013-14 season and unlike the men’s season which started last weekend there’s no press releases, no announcements about the new league structure…

bc would have liked to bring you the opening day fixture details unfortunately with the website out of date and email requests to the Union for the fixture schedule going un-answered, we can’t.

It’s a shame because the upcoming season features new teams and big changes to league structure and anticipation is high as the women’s game continues to grow and increase in popularity.

The only game we know of is the debut 15s match for the HKCC Babes who take on HK Scottish at Kings Park. The match kicks-off at 18:00 and entry is free. As bc’s match reports of the Babes pre-season games show, the team has been getting better game by game and should offer a stiff challenge to HK Scottish.

There are lots of others games being played and bc apologises to the players and the fans of the women’s game in Hong Kong that we cannot bring you a full list of the fixtures.

Sadly the disdain the Union has for the women’s game locally is embarrassing but par for the course. The women’s 7s national team played well at the Asian games before losing the bronze medal match. But as the Union never released the details of the women’s squad – only the men’s squad list was released to the media – we have no idea which players were there to fly the flag.

Unfortunately we don’t have any hopes of the Union’s attitude to the women’s game changing, but we are working directly with the clubs and players to try and bring match reports and news to keep fans and players updated.

Good luck to all the teams competing this season, we look forward to some great rugby. And if you’re a fan, come down and watch women’s rugby – the games are fast, skilful and exciting to watch.

The blatant sexual discrimination the HKRFU exhibits towards local women rugby players is an insult to all of them and their commitment to the game, their coaches, HK’s rugby fans and to the thousands of school girls who train and play and dream of representing Hong Kong.