🌊 Free Tide: Paralympics Medals for HK
🌊 Free Tide: Paralympics Medals for HK
HK wins five Paralympics medals, convention events sector threatened by COVID regulations, HKGC Lucky Draw winner wins new Mercedes-Benz, and more...
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Honestly, at this point I’m grateful for any news stories that are not centered around the NSL…
All jokes aside, enjoy today’s High Tide!
~ Sze Yu
Hong Kong team finishes with five medals at Tokyo Paralympics
With the Tokyo Paralympics officially ending this past Sunday, the Hong Kong team has officially won five total medals at the event—two silver medals and three bronze medals. Badminton players Chu Man-kai and Daniel Chan Ho-yuen won a silver and a bronze on the final day. Tokyo 2020 marked the first badminton was included in the Paralympics.
Hong Kong also won silver medal in mixed pairs boccia, bronze medal in mixed individual boccia and bronze in the women’s singles table tennis.
“To be able to represent Hong Kong as the flag bearer after winning a medal was indeed a perfect end to this Paralympics journey. I hope I can meet everyone again in the next Paralympic Games,”
— Chu Man-kai, badminton silver medalist
While the July-August Summer Olympics team broke Hong Kong’s medal record, Hong Kong’s highest Paralympics medal total came at Athens 2004 when the city won 19 medals.
COVID news
Coronavirus in Hong Kong
New cases: 2 (imported)
Total cases: 12,124 cases so far (91 active cases, 212 total deaths, 11,821 total recovered)
Tough travel restrictions threaten Hong Kong’s convention events sector
A study by the Hong Kong Exhibition and Convention Industry Association (HKECIA) warns that nearly half of Hong Kong’s exhibition and convention sector could face closure by the end of the year(paywalled) if authorities do not ease travel restrictions and roll out more subsidies. Surveys found that event organisers and industry players were facing losses totalling HK$50 million this year.
“The convention and exhibition industry, which contributed over HK$58 billion (US$7.5 billion) to Hong Kong’s economy in 2018, has been in deep water since February 2020 as no international event could be held in Hong Kong due to travel restrictions and preventive measures,”
— Stuart Bailey, HKECIA Chairman
To read more about the future of Hong Kong’s zero-COVID strategy, become a paid subscriber today!
HKGC Lucky Draw winner wins new Mercedes-Benz
The winner of the first Mercedes-Benz C-Class Saloon prize in HKGCC’s “Hong Kong We Can Do It! Lucky Draw,” claimed her prize on Monday. Ms Chiu drove her brand new car today out of Zung Fu’s showroom in Chai Wan yesterday.
“Jardines is proud to sponsor HKGCC’s lucky draw to help raise vaccination rates and protect more citizens against COVID-19. There are still two more cars for the Hong Kong public to win in the next three rounds of HKGCC’s lucky draw, so I wish everyone the best of luck!”
— Dr Y K Pang, Deputy Managing Director and Hong Kong Chairman of Jardine Matheson
The HKGC Lucky Draw aims to boost vaccination rates by offering prizes worth over $43 million for HK residents that have received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. For more information, visit the HKGC website.
Other updates
The 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund has announced it will stop accepting donations. The Fund—originally set up to support arrested protestors—has come under intense scrutiny from national security police in recent weeks.
All four remaining directors of Next Digital, parent company of Apple Daily, have resigned and called for the company’s liquidation. The directors also called for the company’s liquidation so that shareholders, creditors and former employees could be paid after authorities froze company bank accounts in June.
Pro-Beijing politicians claim that the Hong Kong Democratic Party may breach national security law if it tells members not to run for election. Despite recent political reforms aimed at reducing the influence of pan-democrats, authorities still wish for some democrats to take part in the elections in order to lend credibility.
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