🌊 Child abuse known amongst inactive care home management

Surgeries between trans folks and an accurate HKID.

Jan 27

Good morning.

Unfortunately, I’ve been in bed today feeling unwell, so Tide is in later than usual today. I’ve made today’s Tide free to all of our readers to thank you for bearing with us.

You can also get our paid High Tide free for a month:

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— Jasmine Lee

PS Some HT trivia for you: Just days ago, Harbour Times reached its first year under Elevation Media, which is the company Cyril and I founded to take the publication from former Editor-in-Chief Andrew Work’s hands.

On Today’s Tide

LGBTQ+ | Trans men unable to change gender on HKID without full operation.

COVID-19 | Cases grow, but fifth wave may be on its way down.

Crime | Two senior staff step down from foster home riddled with abuse allegations. Former lawmaker is sentenced for sharing ongoing investigation details.

Events

Business | Peak house sold at a loss of HK$120 million.

Appointments | Ireland in Hong Kong welcomes a new member of staff.

Court rejects appeal for trans men to change HKID gender without full surgery

LGBTQ+

Editor’s Note: The High Tide team consists of members and allies of the LGBTQ+ community. HT will not tolerate any hateful comments or replies to stories covering trans and other queer folks. Trans rights are human rights.

Hong Kong Free Press HKFP @hkfp

[Recap] Trans men lose legal bid to change gender on Hong Kong ID without undergoing full surgery

hongkongfp.comTrans men lose legal bid to change gender on Hong Kong ID without undergoing full surgery - Hong Kong Free Press HKFPThe Hong Kong Court of Appeal ruled on Wednesday that transgender people in the city cannot change the gender on their identity cards without undergoing full sex reassignment surgery (SRS). Chief Judge of the High Court Jeremy Poon, Vice President Susan Kwan, and Justice of Appeal Aarif Barma reject…

Transgender people in Hong Kong will remain unable to have their gender changed on their Hong Kong ID cards unless they undergo sex reassignment surgery.

The legal bid to change this rule, filed by two transgender individuals, was rejected by the Court of Appeal on the grounds that for transgender folks to have their gender officially changed on their ID cards, they needed to complete surgical procedures to remove their uteruses and ovaries and have “some form of a penis”.

The full surgeries were described as “unnecessary and degrading surgery” by Henry Edward Tse, one of the appeal applicants. The other applicant, Q, said that while this loss was a “setback”, is encouraged by the LGBT+ folks who came before him.

Both Q and Tse are identified as male in their British passports.

Fifth wave hitting its peak? 🤞

COVID-19

Hong Kong SAR Government News @newsgovhk

The Dept of Health says that in the week ending January 23, it received 65 reports of adverse events following #COVID19 immunisation

news.gov.hkJab case update issuedThe Department of Health says that in the week ending January 23, it received 65 reports of adverse events following COVID-19 immunisation.

Officials think that the fifth wave is on its way back down due to a decrease in new household infections found.

There are 81 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 26 asymptomatic cases. Seven of the cases have been imported, 79 are linked to imported cases while 14 are tied to local infections.

Two senior resignations from child care home amid abuse investigation

Crime

The director of the Society for the Protection of Children and the superintendent of the Children’s Residential Home have resigned amidst an ongoing investigation into a foster home staff’s alleged abuse of the children in its care. The investigation committee has suggested that management knew about the misconduct but did not take proper disciplinary measures against the behaviour. The report also recommended the replacement of all the facility’s staff in due course.

According to the committee looking into the home, the way that employees treated the children was "generally rough, lacking in care and without regard for the feelings, respect or dignity of the children", with “bring[ing] the children under control as an imminent purpose.”

In other news, ex-lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting received a four-month jail sentence for sharing that a senior police officer was under investigation by the ICAC. The probe involved allegations of police misconduct during the 2019 Yuen Long attacks.

Events

If you attend one of the events we share, let us know by tagging us on Instagram and Twitter @harbourtimes. We’re also on Facebook @HarbourTimesHK. We’ll give you a month of our paid subscription benefits for free!

The Future of Money and Power: e-RMB and CIPS

Join this lunch to learn more about China’s electronic currency and its “answer to the American-dominated SWIFT system: CIPS”. The talk emphasises the importance of China’s monetary system “as a global currency to rival the Euro and maybe, someday, the USD.” The speaker will be one of our own: Andrew Work, founder of Harbour Times and Co-founder and Director of the Lion Rock Institute.

When: 18 February 2022, 12:30 – 2 PM

Where: The Foreign Correspondents' Club - Verandah

Luxury Peak property sells at a loss of $120 million

House 6 at Twelve Peaks, previously owned by bankrupt HNA Group, has been sold for $387 million. The sale price is 23.5% ($120 million) lower than the $506 million price tag it was purchased at in 2015.

The luxury home was described as “a bargain to the buyer” by the senior regional sales director at the Centaline Property Agency.

I bet he refers to vintage Chanel as a bargain alternative for designer handbags.

Ireland welcomes a new member to HK team

Appointments

The Consulate General of Ireland in Hong Kong introduced its Executive Assistant and Outreach Officer Yan Li.

Ireland in Hong Kong @IrelandinHK

This week, the Consulate welcomed Yan Li, our new Executive Assistant and Outreach Officer.

That’s it for today’s briefing!

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