Good morning.

Did you know that Wat Dan Hor, the egg gravy rice noodle dish (typically served with either beef or chicken), is Malaysian? I grew up with it as my favourite dish from my favourite HK-style restaurants and I never knew. I’d be interested to see if anyone knows about its origin story, but either way, my life is better with it in my stomach.

— Jasmine Lee

Today On Tide

1. School children traumatised by Nanjing footage (“History is history,” Education Bureau responds)

2. COVID News: Pfizer-BioNTech weaker against Omicron!?!?!

3. Freebies at the German Christmas Market!

4. Oh boy they swimmin’: Victoria Bay swim back after three years off

5. Human Rights Day with the Consulates & Ireland steps up for Media Freedoms

“History is history”: Children traumatised by Nanjing footage

After complaints arose of teachers showing students graphic video footage of the Nanjing Massacre, the Education Bureau issued a response to say it did not mandate schools to do so.

In case anyone needs a refresher on what happened during the Nanjing Massacre, on 13 December, 1937 Japanese troops invaded the Chinese city and murdered 300,000 people over the course of six weeks. Japan has yet to issue an official apology for the tragedy.

According to reports, young children at a local primary school – some as young as six years old – were “frightened and in tears” after viewing the film during a moral education class. The film in question has been approved for use in classrooms, the bureau says, as it has been aired on live television and posted online with a “Viewer discretion is advised” note preceding the video. This discretionary note, while considerate and probably required on some legal basis, seemed to not be enough emotional preparation for what the children were about to watch.

A spokesperson for the bureau said that teachers were given materials to use to educate their students on the war, and were trusted to use their own judgment on how to teach depending on factors such as the age of the children in their classes. This is just a personal opinion, but the spokesperson doesn’t sound too sad about the traumatised children:

“History is history, we cannot avoid it … Wars are cruel anyway, and we must learn to treasure peace, respect lives, forgive others and protect our country through history.”

If there are any educators reading High Tide, how do you most effectively teach innocent children about atrocities without throwing them into the deep end of shock and trauma?

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Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine may not be as effective against Omicron

When tested, the Pfizer vaccine performed 32 times weaker against the Omicron virus compared to the original COVID-19 strain, according to a study done by the University of Hong Kong and the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

The study was performed on a sample size of 10 people, so scientifically speaking this isn’t the most reliable information. On the bright side, researchers said that the vaccine should still be capable of preventing death and severe cases.

Other COVID-19 News

Hong Kong SAR Government News @newsgovhk

The Government announces that in view of the detection of #Omicron cases, Mauritius and Sierra Leone will be listed as Group A specified places from December 15 #COVID19

news.gov.hkTighter inbound travel rules setThe Government announces that in view of the detection of Omicron cases, Mauritius and Sierra Leone will be listed as Group A specified places from December 15.

3:39 PM ∙ Dec 12, 2021

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Mauritius and Sierra Leone have been added to the Group A list, effective 15 December, meaning that non-residents who were present in those countries over the last 21 days will not be able to enter the country. Fully vaccinated residents travelling back to the SAR on the other hand will have to undergo strict quarantine and testing measures.

New cases: 5 (imported from the UK and the Philippines)

The number of people going in for routine cancer screenings has gone down by up to 44%, according to a Hong Kong Anti-Cancer Society poll, since COVID-19 reared its ugly head at the beginning of 2020.

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Events & Exhibitions

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 ).

We’ll throw in a free month of Paid High Tide for yourself or a friend!

Events from our partners

• Women of Hong Kong Meet & Greet 2

To celebrate 3000 sign-ups, Women of Hong Kong are taking over the Daily Tot in Central for our second Meet and Greet !Start the Christmas season with new connections and friendships - for all members! Limited spaces.

• This German Market had us at free goodie bags 👀

On the days leading up to Christmas, Asia Society HK’s German Christmas Market will feature market stalls, creative workshops, live performances, Christmas movies, Christmas carols and sing-alongs — even an appearance from the Jolly Old Man himself, Santa!

For the full schedule of workshops and other festivities, follow the link to attend this free event.

• Humour along my Hairline - Vivek Mahbubani's solo English show

Looking for something funny and fishy this Christmas? Bilingual comedian Vivek Mahbubani’s latest show at Ocean Park is sure to drown you with laughter. Also, he may run out of hair halfway.

“It's the same venue that big names like Jim Jeffries have performed in and this time I'm using the ticking timebomb that is my receding hairline as a reason to do my solo show so people can at least one day say "I saw him when he was still hairy!"

Vivek ‘yeah I guess that’s pretty funny’ Mahbubani

Tickets are available here.

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