Good morning,

Hope this is a restful one for you! Another shoutout to Babish, creator of the Binging With Babish channel, who has given me an unprecedented number of episodes to binge in the coming months. Today, we’re changing gears: here’s a savory recipe of his that I’ve loved, trenette al pesto from the critically acclaimed noir film Luca (2021). Terribly highbrow, intellectual movie media from this indie production corporation called Pixar. Maybe you haven’t heard of it. No worries, that’s what I’m here for :)

-Charlotte

On Today’s Tide

1. HT Originals | Never Too Early- our podcast collab episode!

2. COVID |

   • Flight bans relaxing from June 1

   • Wait…vaccines might not be free anymore?

   • Another one? Bar clusters trending

3. Upcoming bro talk between Lee and China’s vice-premier

4. Events

Behind the paywall:

1. Economy |

   • “Geopolitical risks” for HK’s economy

   • Minimum 👏 wage 👏 review

2. Crime | Don’t fall for COVID-19 phone scams

Become a premium subscriber for just $8US a month – extra daily news and weekend roundups!

Never Too Early To Use Journalism As a Force For Good

That’s the banging title to the podcast episode which Jasmine and I had the pleasure to speak on recently. The co-hosts of the Never Too Early podcast, Stefanie and Bailey, were wonderful to chat with and so inspiring :)

Never Too Early partners with independent teen entrepreneurs and organizations regularly to share their stories and hold meaningful discussions on the causes which they support. One of my favorite episodes is ‘Never Too Early to Make Reusable Pads Accessible for All’, with such a worthy cause and a great message. It’s such an uplifting thing to be able to hear these journeys of hope and each individual’s motivation and thoughts.

Never Too Early is one of the podcasts of the Entrepre女ers Network (love the bilingual pun), which focuses on an “inclusive empowered community of curious female entrepreneurs”. There’s also various other podcasts you can tune into, their newsletter, and their blog with regular highlights to look out for.

harbourtimes

A post shared by Harbour Times | Hong Kong News (@harbourtimes)

I’m so glad I was able to be part of this opportunity, and it was so much fun working with Never Too Early! So please show some love for their podcast and for the Entrepre女eurs Network, and check out our Leader of the Week (LoTW) features on Bailey and Stefanie coming soon.

COVID in Hong Kong

Aaron Busch @tripperhead

COVID-19 🇭🇰 May 29th, 2022 • new local cases: 200 📉(-39) • cases in hospital: 427 📉 (-5) • new admissions: (missed it) • new critical cases: 0 • total critical cases: 13 • new serious cases: 0 • total serious cases: 8 • ICU: 4 • new reported deaths: 0

8:42 AM ∙ May 29, 2022

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13Likes2Retweets

• New cases: 237 (37 imported)

• Total cases: 1,212,095

• New deaths: 0

• Total deaths: 9,376

Flight bans relaxing from June 1

The flight suspension mechanism will be slightly loosened by the government starting June 1st. If flights are COVID-positive, instead of banning that flight route immediately for five days straight, airlines will just have to pay HK$20,000 plus a yellow card. And only if that happens in ten days.

This new method of positive punishment (operant conditioning anybody?) is meant to train - I mean, “encourage airlines to do their best” in properly checking all passengers. Flight routes will be banned for your average work week only if the airline doesn’t pay up, and only if boarding conditions (pretty much zero-COVID) is violated again within the next 10 days.

Passengers arriving on or after May 24th need to undergo an additional PCR test on the 9th day of arrival, with this added testing hurdle making up for the severity of the previous flight bans.

Pay for your shots

That’s right, the government is considering having residents pay for their inoculations, with the vaccination rate not seeing any uptick closer to the launch of the vaccine pass’ 3rd phase. Currently up to 4 COVID-19 vaccines are available free of charge, but authorities haven’t reached any decisions on whether that will change in the future.

According to the minister of HK’s jab drive, an estimated 600k eligible folk for the 3rd vaccine still haven’t gotten their additional booster shot. Remember, May 31st (tomorrow!) signals that only residents who are triple-vaccinated or have official exemption can go to supermarkets, restaurants, government facilities, etc.

New cluster at the Iron Fairies

Name of a bar, by the way. Bar on Hollywood Road, Zentral. Ah - sorry, Central. 11 people were involved in this new outbreak, although the Centre for Health Protection’s Albert Au said that Saturday’s and Sunday’s new clusters were unlikely to be related. With both the Zentral and Iron Fairies bars having around 700 customers each those fateful nights, there’s a great chance more cases might continue to emerge from the shadows.

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Discussion of the Year awaits between:

former Wiggles member/ Renata Bliss, your freestyle dance teacher / John L.

and

Chris Rock / Chinese Vice-Premier Han Zheng / Joe Mama

where hot topics to be covered include government restructuring, national security and housing. HK’s future is a big one, however, and Lee is said to be meeting not only with Zheng, but also with President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang, and Minister of Public Security Zhao Kezhi.

Previously, HK’s CE-to-be had already proposed creating new posts to divide workload and improve communication for more large-scale infrastructure projects. This will be realized in the increase in policy bureaus from 13 to 15, with more emphasis on areas like housing, sports and culture, as planned to start on July 1.

Lee is said to receive an appointment letter from the premier today and submit his list of all-star governing team to the Chinese government for approval.

We will know more when Lee speaks to the media upon his anticipated arrival at the HK airport on Tuesday afternoon. Get ready for that. And you know what else to get ready for?

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Events and deals

Support Harbour Times, our friends and partners by attending these events! Let everyone know who sent you by tagging @harbourtimes

• ReThink HK returns 5-6 Oct

HT is proud to once again be a media partner for ReThink - HK’s biggest and most exciting sustainability conference. This year’s conference invites more than 300 expert speakers to share their visions and insights, covering important topics like economic progression while coexisting with nature harmoniously, efficient use of resources, transformation to a low-carbon society, and circular economy for future generations.

And some REALLY COOL EXHIBITION COUNTERS TOO. Last year, I got a potted plant <3 Read our full press release on the event here.

As a High Tide subscriber, you get to enjoy super-early-bird prices until 4 Sep (already expired for everyone else in early May).

Sign up here using the code HTP22 for 25% off!

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