🌊 Free Tide: 10/10 a no-no
🌊 Free Tide: 10/10 a no-no
Reminders to care for your mental health and more
Good morning.
Yesterday was World Mental Health Day, and we hope you took the time to check in on yourself and your loved ones (and make it a regular habit too!).
Participating in Asia Society HK’s Mental Health Day event is none other than comedian Vivek Mahbubani in a chit-chat called The Drive for Resilience.
Always great to see his face.
‘Double Ten’ a Double No
The latest on National Security Law updates.
Celebrations of Taiwan’s national day were cancelled (called ‘Double Ten’ because it’s on the 10 October, duh), as they could be charged for secession – advocating for Taiwan’s independence and all that – a big no-no under HK’s security law.
"Whether people who celebrate Taiwan's national day will be arrested depends on the actual situation of each case. But if you think in your heart that Taiwan is a separate country from China, we will find evidence.”
— Security Secretary Chris Tang
Taiwan’s national day marks “the anniversary of the Xinhai revolution which ended the Qing dynasty in 1911 and led to the establishment of the Republic of China in 1912.”
An AFP video interviews an 83-year-old ROC veteran who has held Double Ten celebrations every year in HK for over half a century, but not this year. Other than the possible breach of the security law, the restaurant they usually hold the event at did not accept their reservations this year. AFP has blocked me from embedding the video here (booo), but you can click the screenshot below or this link.
In other security law news, an arts centre near Causeway Bay has been under fire for allegedly encouraging and supporting independence amongst its tenants.
COVID-19
New cases: 0
HK’s rugby team has been given an exemption (paywalled) from Hong Kong’s stringent quarantine travel rules upon their return to the SAR from their Canada campaign for the World Rugby Sevens Series.
A crew member of Cathay Pacific has tested positive for COVID while overseas in Australia. She tested negative in HK prior to the flight and has been asymptomatic.
A compulsory testing notice has been gazetted for “Any person who had been present at Block 2, Seaview Crescent, 8 Tung Chung Waterfront Road, Tung Chung, New Territories, Hong Kong for more than two hours at any time during the period from 16 September to 10 October 2021”. Check out Annex 2 for testing centre information.
Keeping Up with the Consulates
A series of updates from Hong Kong’s diplomatic community exclusive to our paid readers. You can upgrade to a monthly or annual subscription today to access this section today:
Events / Exhibitions etc.
Our events are handpicked from public exhibitions, partnerships/collaborations and also just stuff we find cool. We want to make sure that what we advertise is interesting for our readers, so if you go to an event that you saw here, let us know by taking a selfie and tagging us on Twitter or Instagram ( both @harbourtimes ).
We’ll throw in a free month of Paid High Tide for yourself or a friend!
One upcoming event is a four-day cultural festival supported by the UK Consulate General in HK:
In remembrance of the Battle Hong Kong, the Canadian Consulate is hosting an online commemmoration looking back on the “student pilgrimage” made 16 years ago, where 100 students from Canada travelled to Hong Kong to pay respects to the Canadian soldiers who were laid to rest at Sai Wan War Cemetery.
Also, an interactive and historically informative workshop for the kids, which celebrates the birth of ‘the Iron Man of India’, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel:
In other news
A 12-hour journey turned into a 36-hour one-way trip (paywall) as a flight from London to Hong Kong had to divert itself to Manila due to the No 8 typhoon.
Police arrested 32 people for involvement in a $55 million loan fraud that scammed 500 people out of their money.
We all love a bad translation
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