Good morning.
Remember you can get your first month of unabridged (unhinged, if you’re Cyril) High Tide for free with our latest offer, valid until the end of the month:
Also if you know any university students who are looking for experience in writing, digital marketing, and/or journalism, let them know we’re looking for interns (details below)!
P.S. I’m not sure if Cyril’s doing OK. Paying readers get to see why.
On Today’s Tide
Government | Opening ceremony of the 2020 Legal Year.
COVID-19 | More lockdowns and positive cases as Kwai Chung Estate makes itself the epicentre of Hong Kong’s latest wave.
Hiring | Harbour Times is looking for interns!
Events | Power, Money, and the Future.
Behind the paywall:
Transport | Big bus company sells 2.78 million Octopus shares.
Business | Foreign companies and start ups grow in Hong Kong while American companies are at a long-time low.
One Country, Common Sense: Opening ceremony Legal Year 2022
Government
The opening ceremony for the start of the legal year 2022 took place yesterday at the Court of Final Appeal. Chief Justice Andrew Cheung said that threatening judges involved with the 2019 protest cases and national security cases will not be tolerated.
“What should also be stressed is that these attempts to threaten and pressurise our judges are completely futile and pointless. The work of our courts remains wholly unaffected by them and our judges continue to dispense justice as it ought to be.”
— Chief Justice Andrew “not having any of it” Cheung
Cheung said (“assure[d]”) that courts would remain impartial even when handling national security cases.
Justice Secretary Teresa Cheng, who also spoke at the ceremony, said as long as we keep the “one country” bit there’s no reason HK and the mainland can’t have its “two systems”.
“Secondly, as a matter of common sense, if ‘one country, two systems’ functions effectively and serves our country and Hong Kong well, there is no reason for it to change.”
— Justice Secretary Teresa “it’s just common sense” Cheng
Work From Home is back for civil servants
COVID-19
Since COVID case numbers are on the rise, the government has made arrangements for some of its civil service employees to work from home.


New cases: 109
Of the 109 new cases found, 98 are local and 11 have been imported. 69 of these cases are linked to the Kwai Chung Estate outbreak, 24 have other sources, and five have unknown sources.
The door handle spitter of Kwai Chung Estate has been arrested. Yesterday a video surfaced online of a man spitting on doors and other surfaces around the area, which many found just plain gross, to say the least.
Hong Kong is extended its vaccine bubble to cover the Legislative Council complex, to begin on 16 February.
Three residential buildings were placed under mandatory lockdown last night. The buildings involved are Ha Kwai House in Kwai Chung Estate, Hing Fung Building in Sham Shui Po, Fu Tak House in Tai Wo Hau Estate. A residential block in Wong Tai Sin was also partially evacuated last night due to vertical transmission fears.
Hiring
The EU Office to HK and Macau is looking for an administrative secretary to join its team. See the posting provided below for details.


Don’t forget that Harbour Times is looking for bright interns to join our team for the summer (flexible)! Check out the job descriptions below and feel free to get in touch or send the postings to anyone you think would be a good fit.
Events
If you attend one of the events we share, let us know by tagging us on Instagram and Twitter @harbourtimes. We’re also on Facebook @HarbourTimesHK. We’ll give you a month of our paid subscription benefits for free!
The Future of Money and Power: e-RMB and CIPS
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
Thanks for reading High Tide so far!
If you’d still like to support our work but cannot upgrade to a paid subscription, you can share us with your friends.
Or open a business account with Neat and get a US$65 welcome gift!
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to