Woman who assaulted Hong Kong police officer with breast sentenced to 3 months in jail

By Coconuts Hong Kong July 30, 2015 / 15:43 HKT

A woman found guilty of assaulting a Hong Kong police officer with her breast at a protest has been sentenced to three-and-a-half months in jail.

You hear that, girls? Please wear sports bras to all protests. Keep ‘em under control, or else!

Ng Lai-ying, 30, was bailed along with her three co-defendants after being sentenced at Tuen Mun Magistrates' Court today.

The other three have also been found guilty of assaulting police officers, just with regular parts of their bodies.

Earlier in the month, Ng was found guilty of shoving her chest against the arm of Chief Inspector Chan Ka-po at a March anti-parallel trade protest in Yuen Long.

According to Stand News, dozens of localist activists – who are calling for Hong Kong’s independence from China – turned out at the court house today to support the so-called Yuen Long Four.

Deputy Magistrate Michael Chan apparently said Ng’s actions were particularly unsavoury because she accused the police officer of indecent assault when his arm touched her breast in the scrummage.

“If I do not hand down a deterring sentence, the public might mistakenly think it is a trivial matter to assault police officers during protests,” he added, according to theSCMP.

http://hongkong.coconuts.co/2015/07/30/woman-who-assaulted-hong-kong-police-officer-breast-sentenced-3-months-jail

HKU council drama: What on earth is going on?

HKU council chairman Leong Che-hung talks to students after Tuesday's chaos. Photo: HKUSU facebook

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HKU council drama: What on earth is going on?

You can’t have two controversial votes on an equally controversial university appointment and not raise questions from students and alumni.

Yet, the University of Hong Kong (HKU) council would have them believe nothing is the matter.

That is precisely the problem. Such denials are only fueling concern that HKU has caved to political pressure and compromised its autonomy. 

There’s no doubt the prospective appointment of an outspoken former law dean, who has been recommended by an independent search committee to be a pro vice chancellor, is a hot potato.

But if that person wasn’t Johannes Chan, would the council have taken this long to decide?

After two lopsided votes to delay naming a pro vice chancellor until after a deputy chancellor has been announced, it’s clear the council’s problem is Chan.

Forget about its purported concern over procedural issues relating to a more senior appointment.

It’s no longer about HKU but about a meddlesome government.

Chan’s biggest sin is being linked to associate law professor Benny Tai, a co-founder of Occupy Central, the civil disobedience group that played a key role in last year’s democracy protests.

But Chan’s critics are not stopping there. They are harking back to his days as HKU law dean to accuse him of coddling Tai.

These accusations fall into perspective after a concerted attempt by two pro-Beijing newspapers to discredit Chan.

In January, Ta Kung Pao and Wen Wei Po ran a series of withering articles questioning Chan’s competence and integrity.

The gist of the criticism centered on Chan’s alleged failure to maintain the quality of research of the law faculty.

And his integrity became a lightning rod when he was somehow linked to a political donation to Tai. An internal investigation found Tai did not follow normal procedure.

The story has taken a life of its own since a former newspaper editor revealed an attempt by senior government officials to derail Chan’s appointment.

Later, a damning Apple Daily article directly linked Leung Chun-ying to it.

On Wednesday, the saga took a violent twist when students stormed a council meeting which had decided on a second delay.

None of this would have happened if the council had properly managed what should have been a routine exercise.

Such appointments were never a problem when they were left to the university, its alumni and other stakeholders.

The fact that the Hong Kong chief executive is the nominal head of its tertiary institutions as university chancellor never got in the way of the appointment of senior school administrators.

That is until the government politicized the process. Judging by recent events, the HKU council has become a party to this politicization.

Until the council injects a modicum of transparency into its affairs and create a semblance of academic freedom, it will be hard put to defend its claim that nothing is going on.

HKU alumni and students — and the Hong Kong public at large — deserve to know the score.         

– Contact us at english@hkej.com

SC/AC/RA

SC YEUNG

EJ Insight writer

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University of Hong Kong PhD student criticises appointment delay, but unhappy over chaos

SHIRLEY ZHAO

SHIRLEY.ZHAO@SCMP.COM

PUBLISHED : Thursday, 30 July, 2015, 2:10pm

UPDATED : Thursday, 30 July, 2015, 3:32pm

University of Hong Kong students inside the council meeting venue on Tuesday. Photo: Dickson LeeAloysius Wilfred Raj Arokiaraj submitted a resignation letter to the council of the University of Hong Kong on July 3, three days after the body made a controversial decision to delay the appointment of moderate pro-democracy scholar and former law dean Johannes Chan Man-mun to the post of pro-vice-chancellor.

In a letter to the South China Morning Post, Arokiaraj, an Indian PhD student at the university, said he disagreed with “some decisions” the council had made which he felt “fall short of our expected standards for a world class university”.

He is one of the two student representatives on the 23-member council and one of the five members who wrote to the council chairman, asking it to review its decision to defer the appointment.

He is understood to have voted against the deferral.

He attended Tuesday’s council meeting, which descended into chaos when students rushed the meeting venue.

In the letter, he condemned the students and other people involved who “did not treat the chairman with respect”. He said it was the council members’ collective responsibility to stand by and respect the decisions it had made.

He also referred to an incident in which council member Professor Lo Chung-mau collapsed during the chaos. He said no matter what views people held, they should respect those who held different opinions and not lose their mind to anger. He said students, although they held genuine concerns and had the right to ask questions, should choose a different way to express themselves.

Here is Arokiaraj’s letter in full:

RESPECT, OCCUPY COUNCIL AND PROFESSOR LO CHUNG-MAU

It was difficult to foresee what was going to happen in the council meeting of 28th of July 2015. But things were more complicated than I thought it would turn out to be. Some things were totally unreasonable and some criticism, which followed, cannot be tolerated.

I believe the council should have a variety of opinions and everything should be discussed. If we don’t disagree on things then that surely suggests there is a problem and the organisation never grows. I have never been stopped during the council proceeding anytime when I had a suggestion or comment. I can assure everything that is being reported to the media by the council chairman has followed proper protocol.

I strongly condemn anyone who did not treat the chairman with respect. Yes, I disagree with some decisions but it’s our collective responsibility as the council to stand by and respect the decision. One important reason for resigning from the council was that I felt I was responsible for the decision made on 30th of June 2015 and I tendered my resignation from the council on 3rd of July. I have stated my reasons in my open statement. To summarise it, those decisions “fall short of our expected standards for a world class university”.

I would like to describe what I saw and my feelings.

Chaos breaks out at the HKU council meeting. Photo: SCMP Pictures

The student union as far as I saw had genuine concerns about how the decisions in the council are made and I believe they have the right to ask questions to the council and its members about the rationale behind the so-called resolutions.

Around 9.25pm after more than four hours of deliberation, dissatisfied with the proceedings, some of the students came into the Senate room. But what followed that was sad. It was not just students, it was so many people – some of them did not even look like students – and there were too many media personnel.

I did not understand what was happening since most of the heated exchanges were in Cantonese. One thing I was sure, it was not praise. Later on some council members confirmed my intuitive understanding. For me any questioning has to be done with respect, people have to consider the place, time and reason. Yes, we disagree but we should respect the age of the people concerned to say the least. I totally disagree with every single one of them who might have voted against the resolution to not consider the paper on the pro-vice-chancellor appointment, but I believe there are ways to express our views.

During all these heated exchanges, there was an untoward incident. One member of the council was on the floor. I don’t know what exactly happened but I deplore all the speculation raised against Professor Lo Chung-mau. I rushed to the place when I heard that someone was injured, but I didn’t know who it was until I saw for myself. It was Professor Lo and it did not look good. Something had happened. There was a lot of chaos around him and most of the confusion was caused by the media. The media personnel were just interested in getting their headlines and were clicking away.

The worst was at level LG2 where there were no students, and I don’t really know who those middle-aged people were along with a legion of cameramen just not allowing him to leave. I have seen the video, which is circulating online. It doesn’t prove anything. He might have been hit earlier and when he tried to move, leading to his collapse. I am not trying to defend Professor Lo; I am just trying to reason. Have we lost our mind to anger? I haven’t been long at HKU or in Hong Kong to know about him personally, but I believe he has contributed to the Hong Kong community and even the world much more than what most of us might have done and could do in our entire life span. Just because he might have different views or we interpret it that way, we cannot start to disrespect him in any way, forgetting about everything he has done for society and the University of Hong Kong.

HKU council member Arthur Li Kwok-cheung is handed a petition before the meeting. Photo: Dickson Lee

Being a part of this electronic age and the instant-gratification generation, we want quick results. Yes, my blood boils when I see certain things happen; I speak everything from my heart and that’s one way I vent my anger. Yes I will be held responsible for my views but I stick to my views and principles. If we want to be respected, we should respect people however divergent our view might be. This is not just related to Professor Lo but also to every single council member who might have been targeted by any means. If we can’t stand up for our fellow student or teacher, who will we even stand up for in our lives? It is good to be stubborn with our views and I am. That at least means we have a strong opinion, but it is not right to verbally or physically impose our opinion on someone, or abuse anyone.

It took almost an hour for the Senate room to look orderly and at least find everyone sitting in chairs or standing. In the previous one hour there was heavy competition for a place to stand on the tables in the Senate room. From around 10.30pm to 12 midnight, the council chairman and the president heard how much the students were concerned about the present situation regarding the council’s decision-making process. We the students should be very careful about people who use students or the university to satisfy their personal goals.

I am not trying to absolve or justify the students’ actions. They did take part in some amount of verbal conflict with some council members. Yes, they did try to block the path so that the council members could not leave the room. But what can you expect when the instant-gratification generation is made to wait with no proper reasons. At this point I sincerely apologise to any council member who might have been hurt emotionally or physically. As an ordinary postgraduate student, I feel very sad about what happened on Tuesday.

http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1845103/university-hong-kong-phd-student-criticises

Chilling messages from Leung’s callous sackings

Leung Chun-ying is truly a genius of political scheming unseen before in Hong Kong. Photo: Apple Daily

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Chilling messages from Leung’s callous sackings

Former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin once lashed out at Hongkongers, saying that we are all “naïve”.

(Editor’s Note: In October 2000 Jiang berated Hong Kong Cable TV journalists when he was asked if he handpicked Tung Chee-hwa as the chief executive. His now famous rebuke in English: “Too simple, sometimes naïve.”)

Now we know we are all truly naïve. Leung Chun-ying’s move last week to ease out two ministers has given us a hard lesson in politics: the top leader can do whatever he wants to weed out foes, clear obstacles and deter all his potential opponents in defense of his power.

We cannot compare the drastic ousters to the administration’s previous personnel changes in which officials resigned of their own accord, nor can we link it to the cabinet changes in democratic nations.

In fact, the reshuffle is reminiscent of the kind of infighting within China’s ruling class, although the methods used by local politicians are not that flagrant yet.

Commentators and forums loyal to Leung have been busy hinting that Leung himself initiated the sackings, a proof of Beijing’s trust in him.

Tsang Tak-shing must go because he failed to handle youth affairs properly, which indirectly led to the massive youth participation in last year’s Occupy protests.

Paul Tang Kwok-wai, secretary for the civil service, is accused of having poor working relationship with civil service unions and his complicity when a number of government employees supported the Occupy Movement and denounced Leung in public.

I think Leung didn’t discuss the matter with Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, direct supervisor of Tsang and Tang, beforehand.

Lam merely noted later that she regretted the two’s “retirement”, but didn’t spare a word for Clement Cheung Wan-ching, Tang’s successor as head of the civil service.

It appears that she didn’t want to explain why Cheung, who is just a Grade A (D6) Administrative Officer, is favored by Leung to lead the territory’s civil servants as well as many permanent secretaries who are more senior and experienced in the government hierarchy.

Now I need to say a few fair words for Tang. The fact is that many of his predecessors had not been liked by civil service unions either.

Executive Council convenor Lam Woon-kwong also got lots of criticism for his policies when he served in the post. The same to Fanny Law Fan Chiu-fun and Lam herself when they served as Secretary for Education and Manpower and Director of Social Welfare respectively.

As for myself, I wonder if I might have been the least welcome head of civil service, as I had to press ahead with a raft of hard tasks during my tenure like layoffs and salary cuts.

The secretary for the civil service is supposed to guard the core values of Hong Kong’s civil servants, like respect for the rule of law, procedural justice as well as the balance between personal interests and those of the public.

The many responsibilities of this post are not merely about maintaining sound relations with civil service unions and groups, otherwise a human resources department manager can do the job.

Will anyone believe that Tang quit the post because “unforeseeable family circumstances” that require him to spend more time with his family?

My fear is that Hong Kong’s well-founded, hard-won systems will unavoidably be vandalized amid the political interposition, malicious meddling to the sole advantage of the top leader, unless Cheung, as the new civil service minister, can demonstrate that he has some ironclad integrity.

The new post can be the biggest challenge for Cheung. Not only those who care about their remuneration will follow closely how he discharges his duties, Hongkongers who are vigorous guardians of our core values will also keep a watchful eye on him.

The blatant political demise that Leung brought to Tsang and Tang may also be intended to warn other parties.

All civil servants may feel that Leung has sent out a chilling message.

There are two facts that always make Beijing feel insecure: the first is that the hearts of Hongkongers haven’t returned yet and the second is that the city’s civil servants are not loyal enough.

Except for a few senior officials at directorate levels or above, most civil servants are free to speak out even if their views may run counter to the government stance.

Some unions are pro-democracy, too. Many government employees took part in the Occupy Movement and joined the petition against China’s ruling on the 2017 election methods.

Beijing must be very much bothered.

But in truth, it is just a trivial problem as long as these dissident civil servants continue to do it by the book and perform their duties.

Rather than worrying about losing face, the government instead should reflect on its own part as to why its policies have stirred up such backlash.

Now, if the government is determined to suppress the civil rights of all 170,000 civil servants while quietly retaliating against disobedient ones, members of the civil service will be further torn apart.

Leung also wants his own team, including secretaries and Executive Council members, to know that those who obey him can survive and those who do not will only be ousted.

Rumor has it that Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Gregory So Kam-leung was also on Leung’s sacking list because of So’s failure to conform with the official stance on Hong Kong Television Network Ltd’s application for free TV licence.

But it is said that So’s job is safe for now as Leung could not find a suitable person to replace him.

If that is the case, then Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah may be next on the gangplank.

Before taking office, Leung had proposed a deputy financial secretary but that didn’t materialize.

Since Leung became chief executive, there have been noticeable disagreements between Leung and Tsang.

Tsang has just reiterated the importance of fiscal discipline in his blog. Now how would he react if Leung wants to splurge money on raising civil servants’ pay or boosting Hong Kong’s retirement protection in order to gain popularity?

Even though Tsang was given a high-profile handshake by Chinese President Xi Jinping, I wonder if Leung may still want to test Beijing’s trust in him by trying to sack Tsang.

Then, given the political status quo, other members of Leung’s cabinet now have two options only: they can either quit in a dignified way or they can learn from Cheung Chi-kong, who always rushes to Leung’s defense whenever there is a critic.

The entire pro-establishment bloc has also been deterred by Leung’s headstrong expulsion of Tsang despite fierce rancor from local leftists. Leung’s message is clear: with Beijing’s backing, he can just defy anyone within the administration.

His lieutenant Lau Kong-wah is now in charge of the Home Affairs Bureau. Lau will be given a key role to play in coordinating with pro-Beijing candidates for the upcoming District Council and Legislative Council elections.

The goal is to strip the pan-democrats of their critical minority status, something Leung is striving to achieve to requite his mainland bosses.

Securing a second term is all Leung cares about. Harmony in society is probably the last thing on his mind.

We can expect more incidents like this in the next two years. Leung is truly and remarkably a genius when it comes to scheming and political feud, a figure unseen before in Hong Kong.

My only advice is that both democrats and Beijing loyalists who are not big fans of Leung must never relax their vigilance.

This article first appeared in the Hong Kong Economic Journal on July 29.

Translation by Frank Chen

[Chinese version 中文版]

– Contact us at english@hkej.com

CG

A cardboard cutout of "Leung the monster" is hoisted during a pro-democracy protest. Photo: United Social Press

JOSEPH WONG WING-PING

Former Secretary for the Civil Service of the Hong Kong Government

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Mathieson lashes at students over council meeting chaos

Peter Mathieson (left) and Leong Che-hung (right) meet students after a council meeting ended in chaos on Tuesday. Photo: HKUSU

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Mathieson lashes at students over council meeting chaos

A group of students who stormed a University of Hong Kong (HKU) council meeting on Tuesday have apologized and promised a calmer protest movement.

The apology was issued by the student union which said it will remind students to remain calm in future protests, according to Ming Pao Daily.

HKU vice chancellor Peter Mathieson called the students’ actions “intolerable”, adding it was regrettable that the police and the emergency services had to be called in.

Mathieson said HKU respects freedom of speech “but there must be a balance”.

Former HKU law dean Johannes Chan said the incident “is something that can be discussed” but the council should not use it to divert attention from important issues.

Chaos erupted when a dozen students barged into the meeting after the council overwhelmingly voted to delay the appointment of a pro vice chancellor, affirming an earlier decision.

Chan is widely tipped for the job after he was recommended by a search committee in November, but his prospects have been clouded by alleged attempts to oust him from contention.

On Tuesday, the council voted 12-8 to delay naming a pro vice chancellor until after a deputy vice chancellor has been appointed.

The vote came amid a rally by hundreds of students outside the meeting venue.  

Law professor Albert Chen condemned the students and said anyone who prevented any council member from leaving the meeting room could be liable to a charge of false imprisonment.

Chen’s law faculty colleague Simon NM Young called the incident “unfortunate and regrettable” but said the students’ actions did not constitute false imprisonment.

Council chairman Leong Che-hung refused to comment.

– Contact us at english@hkej.com

EL/AC/RA

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Cathay flight diverted to remote Alaskan island after smoke detected in cabin

By Coconuts Hong Kong July 30, 2015 / 12:12 HKT

A Cathay Pacific flight that left Hong Kong for Los Angeles was forced to make an emergency landing yesterday in Alaska after smoke was detected in the cabin.

All 294 people on board are safe, reports RTHK, and the landing went smoothly.

The plane was diverted to an American military airport in the middle of nowhere, specifically one of the Aleutian Islands in Alaska – 2,300 kilometres west of the state’s biggest city, Anchorage.

Actually, Shemya, the icy island that they landed on, is closer to Russia than anywhere else. Sounds like an adventure to us!

The passengers were then transferred to Anchorage, where they continued their journey on another plane to their slightly warmer and less snowy intended destination.

The original aircraft was inspected and deemed safe to fly on again. 

Photo: US Fish & Wildlife Service viaWikimedia Commons

http://hongkong.coconuts.co/2015/07/30/cathay-flight-diverted-remote-alaskan-island-after-smoke-detected-cabin

Rights group: Protest rulings show arrests were arbitrary

A protester is hauled away by policemen during last year's street occupation. Police arrested 955 people during the protests and prosecuted 140 of 209 who have entered various stages of the judicial process. Photo: Bloomberg

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Seven in 10 people prosecuted in the aftermath of last year’s democracy protests have been convicted or required to be on good behavior.

Twenty-three were acquitted and 17 had charges against them quashed, according to Ming Pao Daily. 

Law Yuk-kai, director of Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor, said the fact that three in 10 defendants were innocent or had no case to answer shows that their arrests were arbitrary.

Police arrested 955 people during the protests and prosecuted 140 of 209 who have entered various stages of the judicial process, according to Lo Mung-hung, director of the police crime and security division.

Investigations have been completed into 48 people who turned themselves in under the so-called “arrest by appointment”, he said.

The Department of Justice is expected to decide whether to file formal charges against them.

Meanwhile, director of operations Lau Yip-shing said the police department has completed a review of a program to more effectively deal with similar mass actions.

It recommended an emergency response team in each of the five police regions, rehiring of newly retired constables and a social media liaison officer.

– Contact us at english@hkej.com

TL/AC/RA

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Luxury giants vow to close HK shops if landlords don’t cut rents

Burberry said its 17 branches in Hong Kong saw a double-digit drop in sales in the first quarter of the year. Photo: Reuters

HomeBusinessIndustriesConsumerConsumer & Gaming

Luxury giants vow to close HK shops if landlords don’t cut rents

Luxury giants, including Kering, LVMH and Burberry, have threatened to close their branches in Hong Kong if landlords refuse to lower their rents amid a slump in business, Apple Daily reported on Thursday.

Retail shops have reported plunging revenues as the number of mainland visitors to the city continues to decline, the newspaper said.

Jean-Marc Duplaix, finance director of Kering SA, which owns Gucci, Balenciaga and other luxury brands, said its business in Hong Kong has not improved over the past six months.

Duplaix said the company will close some of it local stores if rents are not cut.

Many landlords in the city don’t seem to realize that the market environment has changed and they cannot continue to charge high rents while the retail sector continues to suffer, he said.

LVMH, the owner of luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, Dior, Fendi and Marc Jacobs, is also questioning the high rent levels in Hong Kong.

Financial director Jean-Jacques Guiony said the company has held multiple negotiations with landlords about cutting their rents but whether they will agree remains a question.

Carol Fairweather, financial director of UK-based Burberry, said its 17 branches in Hong Kong saw a double-digit drop in sales in the first quarter of the year.

Although the company is still profitable in the city, it has been reviewing its branch network and asking landlords to cut rents.

LVMH and Kering operate a combined 130 independent stores selling apparel, jewelry and watches in Hong Kong, while Burberry has about 10 stores, the newspaper said.

Wharf Properties’ Times Square in Causeway Bay and Harbour City in Tsim Sha Tsui will be most affected if the three luxury giants, which have about 40 shops in the two shopping malls, succeed in having their rents reduced.

However, Chan Yiu-fung, director of real estate consultancy Jones Lang LaSalle in Hong Kong, said landlords of major shopping malls are not likely to give in to the luxury giants’ demands easily as their sites are more capable of attracting shoppers.

Chan expects a 3 percent rise in rents in local malls on average, compared with a 20 percent drop in rents in street shops.

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Mainland passengers in boarding gate scuffle jailed

The defendants (inset, top) walk to the Tsuen Wan magistrate's court. Irate passengers (inset, bottom) taunt airline staff after their flight to Beijing was delayed. Photos: Reuters, tvb.com, internet

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Mainland passengers in boarding gate scuffle jailed

Four mainlanders who attacked airline ground staff during a scuffle outside a boarding gate have been given jail sentences.

They had pleaded guilty to common assault, Apple Daily reports. 

A Tsuen Wan magistrate’s court sentenced them to nine to 11 days in jail. Another defendant was fined and a sixth is free on bail.

The case stemmed from a July 27 incident when angry passengers caused a commotion after their Hong Kong Airlines flight to Beijing was delayed.

They said they had been kept waiting for four hours inside the aircraft with the air-conditioning off before they were allowed to return to the departure area.

It took another four hours before they got any signs that their wait was over, they said.

Some demanded proper accommodation. 

A scuffle broke out when a ground crew tried to stop a passenger from breaking into an aerobridge after an argument with an airline staff.

Seven employees were injured.

Acting principal magistrate Cheang Kei-hong called the defendants’ behavior “uncivilized”, adding it is the duty of the ground crew to secure restricted areas.

A 21-year-old student, surnamed Li, pleaded guilty to one count of causing a nuisance and was fined HK$1,500.

And a 39-year-old housewife, surnamed Zhao, pleaded not guilty and was granted HK$100,000 bail, pending a hearing in September.

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‘Eat shit! Go jump off a building!’: Video of woman hitting begging boyfriend goes viral

By Coconuts Hong Kong July 30, 2015 / 10:36 HKT

A video of a woman beating her boyfriend on Fa Yuen Street in Mong Kok has gone viral, reports Apple Daily.

The video, filmed in the early hours of Tuesday by neighbours woken up by the shouting, shows a young baseball-cap-wearing man grovelling and crying as his girlfriend repeatedly pushes him away, kicks and hits him.

 

The original video is seven minutes long, but Apple Daily has made a one-and-a-half-minute-long “highlights” version.  

In the video she yells “Don’t touch me!” and kicks him in the chest after he tries to grab him.

Twice she kicks his head into the ground as he lies there begging.

“Eat shit, asshole!” she yells as she kicks his head another time.

"Keep crying... go jump off a building!" she also screams. 

Throughout the video the man continues to cry and to beg, pleading with her to not leave, and repeatedly trying to embrace her.

Eventually he appears to give up and the two walk away from each other.

At the time of writing, Apple Daily’s video has been liked over 6,600 times and has been shared almost 12,000 times.

It’s not the first time a video of a woman beating a man has gone viral in Hong Kong. In 2013, a 20-year-old woman was arrested when she was filmed repeatedly slapping her boyfriend on the street. 

http://hongkong.coconuts.co/2015/07/30/eat-shit-go-jump-building-video-woman-hitting-begging-boyfriend-goes-viral

Five great Facebook pages for fans of Hong Kong history

Anyone with an interest in old Hong Kong, and a Facebook account, can travel back in time

MARK SHARPmark.sharp@scmp.com

PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 30 June, 2015, 5:55pm

UPDATED : Tuesday, 30 June, 2015, 6:09pm

A montage of an old Queen's Road Central picture with a recent one. Photo montage by Ken Tam from Fotokenken Photography. Photo: Hong Kong in the '60s

Official history is all too often coloured by politics. Thanks to the internet and contributions from people who have affection for Hong Kong, however, numerous aspects of the city’s colourful past live on and are constantly enriched.

Anyone with an interest in old Hong Kong, and a Facebook account, can travel back in time through a number of online communities. On these regularly updated pages, members share memories and accounts of everyday life, people and places, with photos, videos and other links illustrating the city’s unique history.

Here are five Facebook pages that between them offer a diverse picture of the Hong Kong of yesteryear. 

Taking in the view. Photo: Hong Kong in the '60s

Hong Kong in the ’60s is steeped in nostalgia and personal memories of people who called the city home during that golden era. Members often use the page as a meeting place for old friends, to chat and share anecdotes of events, people and places – the Hilton hotel’s popular buffet gets a few mentions. There is a genuine community feel to the page, with members sharing personal photos from their family albums. Copyright-expired images from the era are also posted. See Hong Kong as it was when high-rises started appearing on the skyline, long-lost architectural gems, women in elegant cheongsams with beehive hair-dos, policemen directing cars before the appearance of traffic lights, and a whole lot more.

Gambling at fan tan. Photo: Gwulo: Old Hong Kong

A rickshaw on Queen's Road Central in 1932. Photo: Gwulo: Old Hong Kong

Gwulo: Old Hong Kong is perhaps the most intriguing page for the keen history buff. Most of its posts take us back long before the ’60s and provide some fascinating insights into the city’s past that would be difficult to find elsewhere. Century-old galleries are mesmerising, and a regular feature of the site invites members to guess the location of a building that has since vanished without a trace. Better still are articles about ordinary people with a connection to the city whose stories may otherwise never be told. One recent post told the tale of a man who ventured to Hong Kong from Australia in 1942 to rescue his wife and children during the Japanese occupation. Other posts include a speech given in 1900 to Manchester’s geographical society, and the tragic story of a Chinese nurse who trained in Britain.

Cheung Chau, year unknown between the 1950s and 1970s. Photo: Old Hong Kong Photograph

Old Hong Kong Photograph focuses on some of the earliest images of the territory, dating from 1860 to 1911, during the Qing dynasty. Among the evocative images are a series of Cheung Chau as a sleepy fisherman’s village with a pristine beach, where pigs roamed freely in quiet streets. Other photos show the long-lost castellations of Kowloon Walled City, the verdant rice fields of Sha Tin, and sweeping hilltop vistas now blighted by new towns. It’s easy to be lulled into thinking life was simpler in the old days, but scroll on. You’ll also find pictures of pirates beheaded in Kowloon City after being captured for attacking the steamer Namao and killing its captain.

An old tin toy. PHoto: The Good Old Days of Hong Kong

The Good Old Days of Hong Kong resembles a catalogue for a museum of Hong Kong daily life. This bilingual page is for people of any age to share their recollections. Random images of vintage products include old stationery sets, concert posters, ads for bubble gum, and wicker baskets that were de rigueur for schoolchildren before the advent of the backpack. Household items depicted range from Coca-Cola cups, clocks, electric fans and wind-up tin toys, to supermarket carrier bags. Members also share photos of surviving buildings and recall their previous use, such as a Sheung Wan clinic that was formerly a cinema. 

Prisoners at a POW camp at Sham Shui Po. Photo: Hong Kong History 1941-1945

Hong Kong History: 1941 – 1945 is a page for a website of the same name. Its focus is life in the city during the second world war, and the page is a useful resource for specialist local information on the subject. The page has links to a variety of sources such as a regularly updated “war diary”, documentary films, scrapbooks, galleries and book reviews. As an archive of resources from that time, it is also a good place to read up about specific people and events, such as the Battle of Hong Kong. 

http://m.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/1829496/five-great-facebook-pages-fans-hong-kong-history

Meet China’s Army of Grandma Block Monitors

By Frank Fang, Epoch Times and Leo Timm, Epoch Times | July 28, 2015

Last Updated: July 28, 2015 8:16 pm

Chinese urban block monitors take a stroll in Beijing in this undated photo. (Screenshot via Weibo)

Chinese urban block monitors take a stroll in Beijing in this undated photo. (Screenshot via Weibo)

While elderly Chinese women have made foreign headlines for eccentric behavior, from gigs in front of the Louvre to poker games at international airports, for decades the communist establishment has had a more insidious function for this large population of “grandmothers”—monitoring and spying on their fellow citizens.

Just like the network of informants that saturated East Germany before the fall of the Berlin Wall, these women form a large percentage of the “volunteer public order workers” in Beijing. They are mobilized by the Party’s public security agencies and take on roles like patrolling, oral propaganda, guarding buildings, and manning checkpoints.

All these details, and more, were revealed in a recent report by Beijing Youth Daily, which shed light on a surveillance system that is little known outside China.

MORE:Why a Novel on War With China Has the Pentagon Talking

The grandmothers make up about 70 percent of the volunteer workers in Xicheng District, Beijing, according to the district’s Deputy Party Secretary Wang Jing.

The rest, Wang said, are parking attendants, firefighters, security guards, and cleaning workers, the state-run Beijing Youth Daily reported.  

Eyes and Ears

Echoing the East German experience, Beijing’s urban volunteer monitors also serve as informants who not only help maintain order but also tip off the Party about their fellow citizens’ political views.

Before the reunification of Germany in 1989, the communist regime’s secret police made use of  hundreds of thousands of professional and unofficial informants to surveil the population.

“If there isn’t much else going on, [the volunteers] could look into someone’s private life, hopefully to dig up some dirt about them and report it to the authorities,” said Li Hongkuan, former editor of VIP Reference, one of the earliest electronic newsletters distributed in China that carried news about corruption and social issues.

Speaking to Radio Free Asia (RFA), Li said that such practices were common during the Cultural Revolution as a means of collecting information to be used against individuals during political struggle, but hardly suited for a society supposedly governed by law.

“In a society where there is strict rule of law, it would be hard to get legal approval. Eight or nine cases out of ten the volunteers report might be false alarms. What they are doing can cause others quite a lot of inconvenience,” Li said.   

The volunteers are sometimes given some compensation for their time. According to the Beijing Youth Daily report, 753 urban monitors had been awarded a total of about $90,000 for providing valuable tips to the police from January to April. Between mid-2011 and 2014, 3,000 workers received a total of $336,500.  

Eight or nine cases out of ten the volunteers report might be false alarms. What they are doing can cause others quite a lot of inconvenience.

— Li Hongkuan

The public order volunteers are a common sight in Beijing, where each district and county in Beijing has its own volunteer group for social security. They typically don red badges and caps over casual dress, toting their palm-sized, 22-page booklets that designate seven types of people, three different items, and three types of events that warrant immediate notification of the police. (Reports did not specify exactly what these categories were, but political dissidents, Falun Gong practitioners, and others, are all often targeted by such surveillance measures.)

But despite the incentives for public and low-key informants, the volunteer system has only seen enthusiastic recruitment from certain districts in Beijing and has failed to catch on elsewhere, a Chinese Web writer surnamed Liu told RFA.

“The Chinese authorities tried to expand it nationally, specifically in Beijing and other major cities, but it has turned out to be difficult,” Liu said. “In Beijing’s Xicheng and Chaoyang districts, there are many Party officials. Perhaps the overall level of political enlightenment is high and so they like to spy on others.”

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1681660-meet-chinas-army-of-grandma-block-monitors/

‘It’s an insult’: HKU professor denies 'diving like a cheating soccer player' when students stormed council meeting

JOYCE NGjoyce.ng@scmp.com

PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 29 July, 2015, 12:49pm

UPDATED : Wednesday, 29 July, 2015, 2:04pm

• 

Professor Lo Chung-mau collapsed to the floor on Tuesday night. Photo: SCMP Pictures

A member of the University of Hong Kong’s governing body who collapsed last night when students stormed its meeting said it was an ”insult” to suggest he was feigning injury and had “dived” like a cheating soccer player.

Professor Lo Chung-mau, who supported the deferral in appointing liberal scholar Professor Johannes Chan Man-mun to a key managerial post at HKU, said he did not faint during the chaos.

Watch: HKU professor collapses as students storm council meeting

“I was only looking at what was in front of me and following the other council members … then I felt my leg hit something,” Lo told RTHK today. “A doctor said I bruised my knee”.

A DMHK News video posted to YouTube shows that Lo was standing in the crowd of students who had just forced their way into the HKU council’s meeting room before he collapsed.

Facebook users compared Lo to a diving soccer player. Photo: Facebook

The reaction online was merciless today, with posters who suspected Lo of faking his collapse uploading parodies of the incident, including placing images of soccer players diving side by side with a photo of Lo lying on the ground holding one of his knees, eyes half closed.

But Lo, head of HKU’s department of surgery, denied pretending: “To say that is an insult to me,” he said.

HKU councillor and student union president Billy Fung Jing-en said the students near Lo had denied touching the medical professor. Fung also expressed sympathy towards Lo’s situation.

Additional reporting by Tony Cheung

http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1844768/its-insult-hku-professor-denies-diving-cheating

'Middleman told me to withdraw from HKU selection process', says liberal scholar Johannes Chan amid political row

JEFFIE LAM JEFFIE.LAM@SCMP.COM

PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 29 July, 2015, 11:17am

UPDATED : Wednesday, 29 July, 2015, 11:58am

• 

Johannes Chan said HKU's governance system needs an overhaul. Photo: Dickson Lee

A liberal University of Hong Kong scholar at the centre of a political storm today claimed a middleman assigned by the institution’s governing body had asked him “more than once” to withdraw from the selection process for a key managerial position.

The revelation by former law dean Professor Johannes Chan Man-mun came a day after the HKU council decided to stick to its guns in deferring his appointment as pro-vice-chancellor until September at a closed-door meeting, prompting angry students to storm the venue.

“I was asked to withdraw [from the selection process] more than once,” Chan told Commercial Radio. “I know some council members approached the middleman to tell me that.”

He refused to reveal who was behind the middleman, but ruled out Executive Councillor Professor Arthur Li Kwok-cheung, who was appointed to the HKU council by Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying.

Chan said the middleman told him his withdrawal would resolve the saga and be in the university’s best interests – an argument he strongly disagreed with.

Students and HKU alumni have called for an end to the delay in Chan's appointment. Photo: Dickson Lee

“For the sake of HKU’s interests, they should not ask me to withdraw but instead, should follow basic procedures and values [in handling the appointment],” Chan said, adding the university’s management should not appoint officials based on their political stance.

Chan said he felt distressed about the HKU council’s decision last night to uphold its earlier decision to delay the appointment until a new provost reports for duty.

“I have never seen a top governing body … wait for a particular person to make a personnel appointment,” he said. “Since when is [HKU] ruled by men [rather than rules and procedures]?”

Chan also criticised HKU council chairman Dr Leong Che-hung’s suggestion yesterday to appoint the pro-vice-chancellor in September even if the new provost position was not filled by then, saying it reflected the council knew “there was nothing to wait for”.

Watch: HKU students block council member Arthur Li from leaving closed-door meeting

Chan said the saga was more than his personal business but had reflected the flaws of HKU’s governance system, where the chief executive was by default the chancellor of all Hong Kong public universities and had great power in appointing members to their governing bodies.

Despite the public outcry and the chaotic meeting last night, Chan said he preferred to keep a low profile to avoid giving people the impression he was speaking out for his own interests.

“My position is a bit embarrassing,” he said. “I would do harm to [HKU] if I seek a high profile …. I think the focus should not be put on a particular person but the whole system.”

http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1844747/middleman-told-me-withdraw-hku-selection-process

Coke cans inexplicably individually wrapped and sealed in containers at Central store

By Coconuts Hong Kong July 29, 2015 / 12:24 HKT

We don't know what to tell you, man. Someone's put individual Coca-Cola cans inside plastic containers, sealed the containers with cellophane wrap, then put them on a shelf at a supermarket in Central. We have no further explanation.

Local magazine 100most posted a photo sent in by reader Bri An, showing the chilled meat section of a supermarket in Central. There’s honey deli ham, there are bratwursts, and then there are individually packaged cans of coke.

Yesterday we had the Mystery of the Murdered Rubbish Bin, and today we have the Curious Case of the Coca-Cola Can Containers. 

http://hongkong.coconuts.co/2015/07/29/coke-cans-inexplicably-individually-wrapped-and-sealed-containers-central-store

Students storm HKU council meeting, two members sent to hospital

By Coconuts Hong Kong July 29, 2015 / 11:31 HKT

Last night about 50 angry students stormed into an HKU Council meeting after it was announced that it would uphold a decision to delay the appointment of a new pro-vice chancellor, reports HKFP.

Critics believe that the delay is due to political interference.

The 24-member council is the university’s governing body, with the chief executive automatically acting as the chancellor (as with all subsidised universities) and appointing six members of the members. Just eight council members, including two student reps, are directly from the university.

The president of the HKU Student Union said that the council is not working in the interest of the university, adding that students will continue to disrupt future meetings.

In the midst of the jostling and shouting, one member of the council, a man by the name of Lo Chung-mau, became infamous overnight when he suddenly fell to the ground clutching his knee, giving his best Dani Alves impression.  

It hurts us, it hurts us! (Photo: HKU Undergrad)

Of course, it was all caught in camera. The council member appeared to be in the crowd, looking straight ahead, when he just dropped to the ground. He was afterwards photographed laying there rather pathetically on the carpeted floor. Lo was later sent to hospital.

 

Another Council member, Ayesha Macpherson, was also sent to hospital after her vehicle was surrounded by students. 

Six police cars arrived at the scene. 

Header: Screenshot from RTHK viaFacebook

http://hongkong.coconuts.co/2015/07/29/students-storm-hku-council-meeting-two-members-sent-hospital