It was one of those weeks where headlines have included: “Hong Kong justice minister in hospital due to intestinal illness,” and we asked, did anything actually happen?
Well it seems it didn’t:
-
No strike
Cathay Pacific flight attendants accepted an offer of a 4 percent pay rise so averting a strike that had been threatened for the Christmas holidays.
-
No ice age
We were all excited about the predicted plunging temperatures last Thursday. At Localiiz we even shared a photo dog dressed in woolly clothing to much social media aclaim. But it turned out to be a lovely balmy weekend. Feels a bit colder now, though.
-
No Miss World for Miss World Canada
When reigning Miss World Canada and outspoken Falun Gong practitioner Anastasia Lin didn't received her expected invitation to the Miss World competition held in Hainan, China, she tried to make her own way there via Hong Kong. Lin was turned back before boarding her onward flight to Hainan and believes that her visa rejection was for political reasons.
-
No public housing on PLA land plots
The Town Planning Board rejected an application made by People Power's Albert Chan Wai-yip to rezone two PLA barracks located in Kowloon for public housing. Chan's argument is that Hong Kongers need public housing more than they need the PLA, in these locations.
-
No property development on Small House plots
Eleven New Territories villagers were jailed in a case where they had sold their land rights for profit to a developer, rather than using the land for residence as is the spirit of the New Territories Small House Policy. The policy was brought in in the early 1970s and gives a plot of land to build a house to all indigenous males. Indigenous females presumably get the right to clean those houses?
-
No accountability required
We learnt that the overrun on the MTR's high speed rail link to Guangzhou is expected to be almost $20bn. The Secretary for Transport and Housing Anthony Cheung Bing-leung apologised, but we're in so deep the government will need to approve the overrun bailout to see the project completed. With other major infrastructure projects showing signs of going the same way, questions are being asked about the government's approach to managing large infrastructure projects – and whether other social projects might benefit from a just small portion of that cash, every now and then.
-
No end to the prettiness
Hong Kong hosted the Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA), an event with a very strong K-pop (Korean pop) influence. Britain's 80's stars, Pet Shop Boys, also performed and didn't seem at all out of place. Check out PSY performing Gangnam Style (it's still fun) in this video. Heart-throb boy band and award winners BigBang join in.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=84vyCo8vFHc
[button color="blue" size="medium" link="https://localiiz.us4.list-manage.com/subscribe/post?u=c2964a434922598f5d8ee53ff&id=07d327a2e8" icon="" target="true"]Subscribe to receive our weekly newsletter[/button]
