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🌊 Free Tide: Snowden Angels get asylum in Canada

www.hightide.harbourtimes.com

🌊 Free Tide: Snowden Angels get asylum in Canada

Doctors are real burnt out and real sad

Harbour Times
Oct 5, 2021
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🌊 Free Tide: Snowden Angels get asylum in Canada

www.hightide.harbourtimes.com

Good morning.

Today on Tide:

  • HK’s coolest and most ambitious sustainability business conference

  • What to expect on the Policy Address today

  • I have an embarrassing story to tell re: America’s most famous whistleblower

— Jasmine Lee


Alaska’s out of Alaskan King Crab

Being sustainable is good for business: Day 1 of ReThink, HK’s most ambitious business sustainability conference, as told by HT’s Managing Editor-in-Chief.

Twitter avatar for @harbourtimes
Harbour Times @harbourtimes
Photo of video of photo taking because livestream are like that HT is covering @ReThink_HK conference both days. Come say hi! #AccelerateTheChange
Image
2:00 AM ∙ Oct 5, 2021

What a first day it was – K.S Wong, Secretary for the Environment gave a rousing opening speech on Hong Kong’s ‘aggressive’ Carbon reduction schemes (“Many economies say they will reach Carbon Neutrality by 2050, but we have said latest 2050”) inspiring everyone to get as much out of the conference as possible.

Inspiration perhaps is at the heart of the conference. From panels on ocean protection to diversity in business, corporate responsibility and more, inspiration – or rather how to inspire new ideas, new concepts and new ways of building a sustainable future – was the name of the game. It didn’t work all the time; our freelance reporter Beth Kong found Coca-Cola’s reference to a 1960s ad that featured a couple of black actors as an example of stellar diversity, to be a little meh at best in 2021 (and I concur).

But what was probably most surprising was the number of corporate businesses that truly wanted to make some change. Joshua Wong of Hong Kong Shanghai Hotels (better known as the Peninsula Group) made it clear how sustainable seafood isn’t just some out there hippy stuff that’s bad for business, but that being sustainable is good for business – it makes sure that you can stay in business:

“My suppliers told me they just couldn’t get any more Alaskan King Crab. Because of climate change, there just wasn’t any they could give me.”

— Joshua Wong, Hong Kong Shanghai Hotels

This idea that sustainability and business have to work hand-in-hand was concurred by Walter van Hattum, from the EU Trade office – their new Green Deal strives to make sure sustainability is the goal; if your country isn’t sustainable…good luck getting on their good side.

This is all exciting stuff, and there’s more to come tomorrow.

For now, please watch this video of a robot cleaning the air.

harbourtimes
A post shared by Harbour Times | Hong Kong News (@harbourtimes)

IT’S SO CUTE

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COVID-19

Twitter avatar for @newsgovhk
Hong Kong SAR Government News @newsgovhk
The Centre for Health Protection says it is investigating seven additional imported #COVID19 cases involving patients who arrived from Pakistan, the Philippines, India, Kenya and Egypt
news.gov.hk7 imported COVID-19 cases foundThe Centre for Health Protection says it is investigating seven additional imported COVID-19 cases involving patients who arrived from Pakistan, the Philippines, India, Kenya and Egypt.
8:44 AM ∙ Oct 5, 2021

New cases: 7 (imported)

Compulsory testing was gazetted for 14 specified premises. Check out Annex 1 to see where and Annex 2 for testing centre information.

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‘Snowden Angels’ restart in Canada

Paid readers get to hear the super embarrassing story of this one time I was on the phone with Edward Snowden’s lawyer. Upgrade your subscription to get the dirty details:

Twitter avatar for @4TheRefugees
For the Refugees @4TheRefugees
FINALLY! After five years of waiting, four of the Snowden refugees are on a plane to Canada, and will start their new lives as Canadians today. Read the story, and help cover their living expenses with a donation at fortherefugees.com. nationalpost.com/news/refugee-f… #cdnpoli
5:12 PM ∙ Sep 28, 2021
1,502Likes287Retweets

Four Sri Lankan refugees (two parents and their children), known for hiding Edward Snowden in their homes, were approved for asylum in Canada and landed in their new home country on Tuesday. They’re the second family who aided the American whistleblower to be granted asylum and move to Montreal.

In 2013, a number of refugees in Hong Kong offered space in their homes to whistleblower Edward Snowden, who at the time just revealed many of the NSA’s top-secret documents to the world. The seven refugees, known as the Snowden Angels, are made up of two families – one from the Philippines and the other from Sri Lanka – and one Sri Lankan ex-soldier.

Ajith Pushpakumara, the former soldier, is still in Hong Kong and his asylum claim is still left in limbo.

Twitter avatar for @Snowden
Edward Snowden @Snowden
This is the best news I've heard in a long, long time. It would not have possible without the generosity of so many of you who made this happen. We need to bring one more home before we can say we're done, but I cannot thank you enough for bringing us this far. Together, we win!
Twitter avatar for @4TheRefugees
For the Refugees @4TheRefugees
FINALLY! After five years of waiting, four of the Snowden refugees are on a plane to Canada, and will start their new lives as Canadians today. Read the story, and help cover their living expenses with a donation at https://t.co/1zd69aSuoi. https://t.co/dUoNpvFNua #cdnpoli
10:28 PM ∙ Sep 28, 2021
6,945Likes944Retweets

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Now, for my story (exclusive to paid subscribers):


Don’t nap during the two-hour Policy Address challenge

The annual policy address is coming today (whoa, a year flew by already?), and apparently, it’s going to be a whole two-hour delivery. We all know that all those in attendance will be very engaged and very not asleep (very paywalled).

"This year's policy address will focus on the the future, which includes economic development and integration into the country's development plan. Both are important matters," Lam said.

"But I also fully understand the main issues that people want solved are housing and land supply."

— Chief Executive Carrie Lam, as reported on RTHK

Don’t expect pandemic-support policies either, Lam says. Time to look forward to the future. Except for the future of housing and supply, apparently.

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Other political updates:

  • HK will be amending its tax laws to fit EU standards and address concerns of “double non-taxation”.

  • The former chief of now-defunct Tiananmen vigil organiser group pleads not guilty to incitement charge.

  • This ongoing court case will decide whether or not people not physically present can be charged with rioting.


What else is happening?

  • September sizzled away to earn the spot of hottest on record, with a mean temperature of 29.7 degrees.

  • HK’s doctors are hella overworked and hella sad.

  • Rents are predicted to hit a real high (record-breaking high) over the next few months.


Events / Exhibitions etc.

Twitter avatar for @AsiaSocietyHK
Asia Society Hong Kong Center 亞洲協會香港中心 @AsiaSocietyHK
Are you looking for something to do in #quarantine? We got you covered! Take part in the 2nd event of our virtual pub quiz series on October 7, and test your #JamesBond knowledge, and engage in #StarWars and #StarTrek trivia.
asiasociety.orgPub Quiz for AllNot sure what to do in quarantine? Mingle with members for this pub quiz and catch up on the latest James Bond movie, and more!
11:55 AM ∙ Oct 5, 2021

Pub night anyone? We all love a fun night of booze and testing your knowledge of everything and anything. Even better if you don’t have to leave the house.

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That’s all folks!

Remember you can learn about my super-secret super-embarrassing as heck phone call with Edward Snowden’s lawyer on Paid Tide:

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🌊 Free Tide: Snowden Angels get asylum in Canada

www.hightide.harbourtimes.com
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