Good morning,
It’s time for me to retire from the HK meme game, because the memes are now making themselves.
I will give a free year subscription to whoever makes the best version of this literal meme template found in the wild.
‘Old China Bland’ (and friends in the thread) have already made a bunch of exquisite memes using it, so you’re in for competition.
— Cyril
On Today’s Tide
Culture | Independent ‘Hong Kongers Book Fair’ cancelled
COVID |
Quarantine free travel mulled for November
China-style health pass coming to a Hong Kong near you
New advisory council named
Events
Behind the paywall:
Spaaaaace ! | Can you become a Chinese austronaut if you can’t join the military?
Politics | Grandma Wong sentenced to 7 months
Become a premium subscriber for just $8US a month – extra daily news and weekend roundups!
Hong Konger’s bookfair cancelled for ‘lease violation’
An independent bookfair has been cancelled after the landlord put a stop to the event due to allegedly ‘breaching’ their lease by subletting stalls to other booksellers. The landlord also called out the potentially politically sensitive event as ‘endangering’ the safety of visitors.
The bookfair, set to start today at Mall Plus in Causeway Bay, was organized by Raymond Yeung, ex-liberal studies teacher, now publisher. His books have been banned from the main Hong Kong Book Fair in July since 2020 due to their political sensitive nature. Other publishers have also been banned from the Hong Kong bookfair.
However, Yeung said that the landlord was well aware of his intention to host a bookfair with multiple publishers, and had welcomed an inspection to ensure nothing being sold was illegal, as well as offering to take his own publications off the shelves if it meant the event could continue.
The fair will now be held online.
COVID in Hong Kong
New cases: 3154 (211 imported)
Total cases: 1,279,840
New deaths: 2
Total deaths: 9,422
Quarantine free travel by November? Thank the bankers
The HKMA has planned a global bankers summit in November; the Rugby Sevens are also supposed to happen in November. There is however one problem….no one, spectator or attendant, wants to pay for 7 days of hotel quarantine.
The solution? Lo Chung-Mau, the new Health Secretary, said that considering his plans to move towards a Chinese style health code (more on that in a sec), if cases for inbound travelers don’t skyrocket, there is a chance we could have quarantine free travel by November.
There will likely till then still be some type of quarantine, although a reduction in hotel quarantine (5+2 plan) or even 7 days of home quarantine could be possible.
Chinese imports update - Health Code
Dr. Lo Chung-May announced earlier this week that Leave Home Safe will be receiving some Chinese inspired upgrades including real name registration, and a traffic light system limiting the movement of the infected.
In Hong Kong’s reportedly less aggressive system:
Red: You are infected and have to stay at home or at a quarantine camp
Yellow: Inbound travellers - currently staying at a quarantine hotel. Might be allowed to go out for limited reasons.
Green: You’re 🆗✅
In the Mainland where the code is far more aggressive - you can’t go anywhere, including in or out of home - without a green code, authorities have been accused of allegedly quashing a planned protest in Henan against the freezing of bank assets.
When John Lee was questioned about whether Hong Kong authorities would do the same, Lee responded:
“If anyone tries to stir trouble on this aspect, I can tell you that this is not the truth, and the public should not believe it.”
New COVID Committee
John Lee has expanded and reshuffled the COVID-19 Expert Advisory Panel. The new line-up includes incumbent Profs. Gabriel Leung, Yuen Kwok-Yung and David Hui alongside Lau Chak-Sing, Ivan Hung and Lau Yu-Lung.
Professor Keiji Fukuda was originally also on the panel, but retired from his position as the Director of the School of Public Health at HKU, returning to the States late last year.
Events and deals
Support Harbour Times, our friends and partners by attending these events! Let everyone know who sent you by tagging @harbourtimes
For more local events, check out yesterday’s High Tide.
Craft Logic 1 Year Anniversary
Our HT x partner Craft Logic celebrates their one year anniversary later this month on 24 July. Free craft beers and rare bottle sharing, lucky draws, discounts on other products.
And best of all - supporting local businesses and supporting us local media.
Where: Craft Logic, Central
When: 24 July, 18:00-22:00
Polish Film Festival: La double vie de Véronique
Polish film director Krzysztof Kieślowski gives full rein to his interest in the shooting of his highly expressionist spiritual fable, ‘The Double Life of Véronique’, for the first time outside Poland!
The 98-minute film is about two young women who are foils unbeknownst to one another – Poland’s Weronika and France’s Véronique – who reach an intersection in their lives where one finds love and the other death. Find more information on the screening here!
Where: Emperor Cinema @iSQUARE
When: 17th July, 14:30pm
How much: 85 HKD (with available discounts - click here for bookings)
European Union Film Festival 2022
This year, the EUFF has the pleasure to present a selection of 18 European films which have never been screened in Hong Kong before.
This year's German film DEAR THOMAS (Lieber Thomas) is a powerful biopic from Andreas Kleinert about one of Germany’s most important writers, shot in black and white, and featuring a tour-de-force performance from Albrecht Schuch.
When: 30th July
Where: PALACE ifc
How much: 95HKD
Book your tickets here!
This is the end of your free time on Tide.
Become a Premium subscriber to see what lies behind the paywall:
Can’t go Premium yet? No worries, there are other ways to support High Tide:
Buy us a Ko-fi
Send us a one-time donation via PayPal
Share High Tide – it’s free!
Open a business account with Neat and get a US$65 welcome gift (we get $65 in return)!
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to High Tide to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.