🌊 Hui Lau Shan, Chickeeduck and Disney walk into a bar
🌊 Hui Lau Shan, Chickeeduck and Disney walk into a bar
and they're all leaving. Bye.
Good morning,
If you look scrolled through any one publication, you’d likely have come across some big news (which of course we’ll cover!) - The US-China Economics and Security Report; boars lured out with bread, Chickeeduck’s closure, Green bonds!
But to get everything in one place and first thing in the morning so news that happened at 11pm is covered?
Go on, find someone else to write newsletters at 4am.
Oh and memes and funny shit
~ Cyril
On Today’s Tide:
Everyone is going
COVID news
Foodpanda Fight: The Finale
Events
Paid Tide Exclusives:
Bread like pigs to slaughter
US Econ and Security report on China/HK slammed by authorities
Government Green Bonds
Hui Lau Shan, Chickeeduck and Disney
All three are going but for completely different reasons. The fact that all three were officially announced on the same day is a dramatic coincidence if there ever was one.
Hui Lau Shan goes backrupt
The popular desert chain was founded as a herbal tea store in Yuen Long in the 60s. They have since revolutionzed the Chinese desert market with their immensely successful Mango Sago deserts; so much so that the very concept of how mangoes taste for Hong Kongers are often tied to Hui Lau Shan.
Now they’re bankrupt and dying.
Quick over-expansion and suddenly impact from COVID resulted in the courts handing them a ‘winding down’ petiton in mid 2020, enforced this year. Stores have been gradually closing since then with their final store in Yau Tong closing later this month.
Chickeeduck quits HK, cites “unknown evil forces”
The 90s children’s clothing chain probably wasn’t what you had in mind for a pro-democracy bulwark but our timeline is weird. Chickeeduck has been known since 2019 as the clothing store with Lennon Walls, giant Lady Liberty statues, and most recently a bronze statue of dissident Liu Xiaobo.
Founder and CEO Herbert Chow denies that he’s broken any laws, despite warnings from police not to sell any items that may contravene the NSL. However, he notes increased difficulties renting stores, as well as issues with supply chains in the mainland, and harrassment of his workers by “unknown evil forces” as reasons for winding down.
Chow has not given a specific closing date, but says that by the second half of 2022 they’d be gone.
Disney to stop broadcasting in HK
The Walt Disney has more TV channels than you think - Disney Channel and XD are obvious, but they also own 20th Century Fox which owns channels like National Geographic (not the news channel thought, that’s still owned by Rupert Murdoch).
As Disney begins to focus more on Direct-to-Consumer streaming through Disney +, they have been cutting their TV channels worldwide. Last year, a similar move was done in the UK and Disney + is now the only place to view Disney Channel shows.
In a press release from the Communications Authority, Disney’s final day of broadcast will be 15 Dec. The release did not state exactly what channels will be cut.
COVID news
Coronavirus in Hong Kong
New cases: 4
Three Cathay Pacific pilots fired for breaking COVID regulations
The cargo pilots that sparked a massive COVID scare last week after coming home from Germany with the virus have been unceremoniously dismissed from Cathay due to “unacceptable” behaviour during layovers - Cathay did not elaborate. 130 Cathay pilots have been ordered into quarantine, though the airline is challenging the government’s decision.
Stricter rules will now be enforced on other pilots including a maximum time alloted for leaving official residences for essential supplies, emergencies and solo exercising.
Foodpanda Fight: The Finale
After seven hours of negotiation, Foodpanda delivery staff and company representatives finally exited the Foodpanda headquarters at 10pm last night. Representatives of the drivers said that a positive settlement has been reached with the company and urged customers to return to the platform.
“We have made an agreement with the management and director. They gave us a very good package and we have done our best to get what we want.
To the customers: please come back. We have made our very good decision and we are happy for what we got. We are the winners"
Spokesperson Waqar “The Winner” Fida
Events / Exhibitions etc
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 ).
Events from the Diplomatic Community
Jewish Life in Germany and Escape Destination Hong Kong
A fitting event to put up for the memorial weekend, it started on 11/11 too! (Though I admit it did slip me to put it up then).
For the next month, the German CG and the Goethe-Institute are hosting a group of and events detailing the lives of Holocaust refugees who fled to Hong Kong. The gallery itself shows images from the Center for Persecuted Arts in Solingen and the United Nations Outreach Program. In the Art Centre’s Black Box studio, a multimedia performance QING explores the relationship between dance and the ‘body luggage’ of forced migration.
Where: Goethe-Gallery & Black Box Studio. 14/F Hong Kong Arts Centre. Wanchai
When: 11/11 to 11/12 / 9:00am - 8:30pm (Mon - Fri) 9:30am - 6:00pm (Sat)
Events from our partners
Rulapalooza #6
Still more live music happening in the coming few days - better planning might have meant we put up ads for all the events at once but that didn’t happen.
This Saturday, Rula Live and The Underground continue their electric collaboration with the sixth edition of Rulapalooza that promises to thrill live music lovers of Hong Kong!
Note: All attendees must have had at least one vaccination shot and use the LeaveHomeSafe app.
Islandlife at Sai Kung Market
Islandlife are a local sustainable start-up that makes really cool dehydrated soap tablets. I personally tried their products at ReThink and it was honestly really nice and easy to use - also no more lugging large jugs of cleaning liquid around. Bottles sold separately or…just use your own.
We’ve actually got these guys lined up for a Leader of The Week takeover today (uh tomorrow because of technical difficulties? - for y’all free readers that means you get one extra day of Tide. Yay!)
Events we gone and found
Lunar eclipse live stream: Online
[Jasmine] love[‘s] a good lunar eclipse. [She] love[s] it, even more, when [she] do[esn’t] have to leave the house to view it.
Edit the event write up before posting it again? Yeah sure no worries
Speakers: Assistant Curators of the Hong Kong Space Museum
Date: 19 November (Friday)
Time: 5:30 – 7:00 PM
Platform: YouTube Channel of the Hong Kong Space Museum
Want your events on Tide as well? Let us know!
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