🌊 Government restructure

Several people given expired COVID-19 vaccines.

Good morning.

One of my favourite holidays is coming up (Chinese New Year, maybe you’ve heard of it)? What are your New Year plans? Do any of our readers belong to the Tiger family?

I look forward, like every other year, to the red pocket money that awaits me.

— Jasmine Lee

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On Today’s Tide

Government | Bureaux restructuring plans shared at patriots-only LegCo meeting.

COVID-19 | 36 people given expired COVID-19 vaccinations. Penny’s Bay quarantine centre loses power for a few hours. Long testing queues test patience.

Events | Money and power luncheon moved to February.

Paid readers get access to:

Crime | Man who slashed officer’s neck shows regret. Government officer on trial for assaulting domestic helper.

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Lam unleashes new plans in patriots-only meeting

Chief Executive Carrie Lam kicked off the first patriots-only LegCo meeting with a whole slew of new plans she’s ready to throw into the SAR oven. This helpful list by Hong Kong Free Press summarises the eight bureaux restructuring plans Lam presented yesterday:

Article by Candice Chau on Hong Kong Free Press

If anyone’s wondering, the 20 or so lawmakers who attended Witman Hung’s birthday bash did not make it to the meeting and remained in house quarantine, but it looks like they were able to Zoom in after all!

It’s like a Zoom dunce box. Photo: Eunice Yung, via Facebook.

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Lengthy queues to get tested test patience

The latest in COVID-19 news.

People lined up, some as early as an hour before testing centres opened at 8 AM on Wednesday, to test for COVID-19 in Tuen Muen after government warnings that the virus may be rapidly spreading in the area. Many of those in the queues, understandably, were frustrated they had to wait for hours when they had things to do and places to be.

"I've waited for almost three hours. It's cold, I can't go to the toilet and there's no place to sit down. I haven't eaten anything yet. I have to go home to cook and look after my grandchild, so it's a bit late now.”

— Yip, frustrated civilian

If the government could get the online test booking system together, Yip can finally go home to her grandchild.

Today in "that was dumb and could have been avoided” news, 36 people were jabbed with expired COVID-19 vaccinations, and two of them ended up in the hospital (both of them are in stable condition). Oh the horror, the government’s trying to convince people to get vaccinated right?

Hong Kong SAR Government News @newsgovhk

The Centre for Health Protection says it is scrutinising 22 additional #COVID19 cases, of which 17 are imported, four are epidemiologically linked with imported cases and one is possibly import-related

news.gov.hk22 COVID-19 cases identifiedThe Centre for Health Protection says it is scrutinising 22 additional COVID-19 cases, of which 17 are imported, four are epidemiologically linked with imported cases and one is possibly import-related.

New cases: 22 (17 imported)

A university student may have been infected with COVID-19 at a restaurant in Causeway Bay at around the same time a woman who later tested positive was at the restaurant.

Power outage at Penny’s Bay! The lights went out in 417 units at Penny’s Bay Quarantine Centre due to urgent electricity maintenance from 2-5 PM. As if things weren’t bad enough…

12 elderly health centres have been added to the list of places providing walk-in Sinovac vaccinations to those aged 65 and up.

The government released a compulsory testing notice for 20 specified premises, see Annex 1 for the locations.

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Events / Exhibitions etc.

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

Please note this event has been moved to February due to COVID-19 restrictions.

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

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