🌊 Free Tide: Carrie Lam delivers 2021 Policy Address
🌊 Free Tide: Carrie Lam delivers 2021 Policy Address
Key takeaways from the 2021 Policy Address, Taiwan-China relations continue to worsen and more...
Good morning,
We have a major news day for you today: HT will be summarizing the main takeaways from Carrie Lam’s 2021 Policy Address.
Before diving into that though, students here at UC Berkeley held a ‘Rally Against Authoritarianism‘ on campus last weekend.
[photo exclusively available to our Paid Readers because of Reasons]
~ Sze Yu
New Metropolis, National Security and Housing: Key Takeaways from the 2021 Policy Address
Yesterday at noon, Carrie Lam delivered her 2021 Policy Address. Here are the key points that you need to know.
Paid readers get a more detailed overview of each of these points. Subscribe now to get access to Paid Tide’s in-depth commentary!
“Northern Metropolis“: Northern Hong Kong will be developed into a new ‘Northern Metropolis‘ that will serve as an epicenter for growth (and housing provision).
Expect more ‘National Security‘: Lam advocated for a greater push in NSL-related education and the enactment of Article 23.
Major government restructuring: Plans to split/rename existing bureaus and create a new Cultural, Sports and Tourism Bureau. Would be the city’s biggest gov. restructuring since 2007.
Continued investment in IT and innovation: The government is freeing up about 240 hectares for development of a new tech hub. Pak Shek Kok Science Park will also be expanded, and a new Science Park/Pak Shek Kok Station will be added to the East Rail Line.
Status of mainland border reopening unclear: Lam gave no timetable for the full reopening of the border with mainland China. Keeping the coronavirus under control locally is still the top priority.
Cash subsidy for elderly: Elderly residents currently missing out on a higher subsidy rate under the Old Age Living Allowance scheme will get a HK$970 boost every month starting from the second half of next year.
Potential re-election bid still a mystery: Lam did not drop any hints as to whether she will run for a second term. She held back tears in her closing remarks and referred to the Chief Executive post as her “greatest honour”.
COVID news
Coronavirus in Hong Kong
New cases: 6 (imported)
ReThink Day 2:
While we spent yesterday sitting through a bunch of panels to learn more about new ideas in how to run a buisiness sustainably, today we decided to actually network and talk to sustainable businesses. That posed quite a challenge because everyone working at Harbour Times is either not in Hong Kong, or is an awkward introvert. Turns out that’s sorta fine at this event because the founder, Chris Brown, is also a bit of an awkward introvert (Cyril spent the whole day trying to hunt him down and only managed in the final half hour of the conference when a large line formed to say bye to him).
Who was following on socials today? We got a bunch of cute and sustainable things from ReThink that Cyril was sharing constantly because of a cell phone addiction.
Here’s some water from Finland – if you recall, we covered the grand announcement from the Finnish Consulate on their products at the food expo. The fat little guy on the front is the Saimaa Ringed Seal, an endangered species with only 400 known living members left. Part of the proceeds from sales goes to its conservation: you can get yours right now either online or at GREAT and CitySuper.
Not everyone we spoke to is on socials yet – but they will be (Plastic Bricks! Bread Beer! JUST BECAUSE THE EVENT IS OVER DOESN’T MEAN WE STOP POSTING).
Some of our new friends have even decided to do a takeover for Leader of The Week, so stay tuned over the next few weeks for some seriously cool sustainable business ideas.
Anyway, to sign off for now here are some anime trashbags from Paul Zimmerman’s Drink Without Waste stall.
Events & Exhibitions
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!
The Underground: Legends
You don’t spend decades running a platform for live music without at least a few bands becoming big names. Featuring five of the biggest alternative local bands to have been incubated by the Underground, ‘Underground Legends’ on 23 Oct is going to be absolutely insane.
Be Global, Act Local: An evening of word play
Not a fan of live music but still want to see a show? ‘Be Global, Act Local’ is a spoken word, joke, something, something variety show. What’s more, all proceeds go to Plastic Free Seas – a very topical and sustainable cause, especially since we’ve just finished covering ReThink.
It’s at The Aftermath which we’ve featured before when they held Hong Kong’s first and only online Fringe Festival.
But it’s not our inside connections (wink wink) that told us about this, it’s actually a recommendation from a Paid Tide reader who’ll be performing in it.
Want your events on Tide as well? Let us know!
Taiwan-China relationship at an all-time low; President Tsai warns of catastrophic consequences
Taiwan’s defense minister has warned that Taiwan-China relations have plunged to their lowest point in four decades. Last year, a record 380 Chinese military jets made incursions into Taiwan’s defense zone. The number as of October this year has already exceeded 600.
President Tsai-ing wen warned of "catastrophic consequences" to global peace and democracy if the island were to fall to China and vowed to "do whatever it takes" to guard against threats. President Biden reiterated that both him and Xi were in agreement to abide by the ‘Taiwan agreement‘. "We made it clear that I don't think he should be doing anything other than abiding by the agreement,” he said.
Other updates
The court of final appeal has begun listening to arguments over the use of a “joint enterprise“ legal principle that could affect 80 upcoming riot cases. The doctrine allows prosecutors to indict those not physically present at a riot or unlawful assembly with the same charges as actual participants.
Nasadaq-listed Futu Holdings is eyeing a secondary listing in Hong Kong. The Tencent-backed company is aiming to raise $HK 1 billion, and has selected Goldman Sachs and UBS to handle the deal.
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