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Today On Tide

1. Politics | Free public transport on election day.

2. COVID-19 | Booster jabs for all in January.

3. Events / Exhibitions, etc. | The ChristMice Cracker: a one-of-a-kind performance you can watch for free!

4. Law & Crime | Complaints against police hit a 12-year low in 2021.

5. Diplomat | Poland’s CG lights candle in remembrance of Martial Law victims.

It’s free public transport!

hongkongfp

A post shared by Hong Kong Free Press HKFP (@hongkongfp)

The MTR, buses, and trams will be offering free travel to all in order to promote public participation in Sunday’s (19 December) LegCo election.

When making this announcement, Chief Executive Carrie Lam expressed that this is a “gesture of collective responsibility” and that transport companies “also have this corporate responsibility to do something” to promote participation in this year’s election.

David Webb of Webb-site.com questions whether it’s a ploy to get people to take advantage of the free travel and go anywhere but the polls on election day, which would “provide excuse for low turnout”:

Webb-site @webbhk

Still scratching my head. Apparently officials in their chauffeured limos have no idea that almost nobody needs a bus or MTR to get to a poll booth. So will free rides draw people away from their polling station and provide excuse for low turnout? 1/2

news.gov.hkFree rides on polling dayOn polling day for the 2021 Legislative Council General Election on December 19, various public transport operators will provide free rides for the public.

1:36 AM ∙ Dec 14, 2021

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Sunday will mark the first LegCo election completed under the Beijing-reformed legislative system, where of 90 elected legislators, 20 will be chosen by the public and the remainder are reserved for election by “special interest groups” and a pro-Beijing Election Committee.

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Other political updates:

• There are a number of functional constituency electors who reportedly got electoral mail from the government which contained English translation that did not accurately correspond to their constituency.

• Police seized 200 airguns and arrested 10 members (paywalled) of an alleged underground organisation who police claim may have been scheming to use these items to sabotage Sunday’s LegCo elections.

• Staff working at the LegCo election have been instructed to not wear yellow masks and cover any “Hong Kong, add oil” slogans that may be on their clothing while at the polling stations.

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Booster jabs for all

Booster vaccines for COVID-19 will be made available to the public in January. This announcement comes in light of the Omicron mutation, which the government is fighting against as it counts eight cases in the SAR. As it stands, 68% of Hong Kong’s population is fully vaccinated against the virus.

Hong Kong SAR Government News @newsgovhk

The Centre for Health Protection says it is investigating five additional imported #COVID19 cases, three of which involve the L452R mutant strain while two entail the N501Y mutant strain

news.gov.hkEighth Omicron case identifiedThe Centre for Health Protection says it is investigating five additional imported COVID-19 cases, three of which involve the L452R mutant strain while two involve the N501Y mutant strain.

11:24 AM ∙ Dec 14, 2021

Hong Kong confirmed its eighth Omicron case yesterday while it also recorded five imported COVID-19 cases, all arrivals from high risk countries.

Vaccination records from Laos, Mexico, Mongolia, Oman and Qatar will be recognised by the Hong Kong government as of today (15 December) for HK residents returning from countries on the Group A list.

A compulsory testing notice was gazetted for two specified premises (see Annex 1).

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It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmice

We want to make sure that the events we advertise are 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!

taikwun.hk

A post shared by 大館 Tai Kwun (@taikwun.hk)

The ChristMice Cracker is TS Crew’s rendition of Christmas ballet classic The Nutcracker, but unlike the original, this performance is fitted with “a Chines Opera, circus performers, acrobats and beatboxing.” This one of a kind performance is also free to attend!

When: 24 - 27 December, 2021

Where: Parde Ground

Go see The ChristMice Cracker

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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