This week on HT

#STOPGAP2020: A celebration of creativity from Central Europe and Hong Kong amidst the global pandemic

by Kyna Lee

The opening of this art and design exhibition lends insight into several artists’ experiences with their lives and creative processes during COVID-19.

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Hong Kong makes its way to rank in the top group for global property rights

by Jasmine Lee

“We should insist that property rights are human rights, and that is the fundamental reason for the preference of a system with strong private property rights. Private property rights protect individual liberty,” writes Dr Sary Levy-Carciente in the 2020 International Property Rights Index (IPRI). Hong Kong placed 15th for property rights protections, up from 16th last year, landing itself in the top quintile of the index.

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Highlights this week

• Chief Executive Carrie Lam delivered her fourth and longest Policy Address to a receptive audience, which was also her longest at a run time of nearly two and a half hours. Highlights from the address include HK$600 million that will go to the tourism industry, a go-ahead for the Lantau Tomorrow Vision project, and a commitment to decarbonise HK by 2050. Hong Kong’s iconic restaurant Jumbo Kingdom has been acquired by Ocean Park in hopes of breathing new life to the site that has been closed since the onset of the pandemic. Harbour Times’ daily briefing subscribers received a list of key takeaways from the Policy Address; to ensure you never miss another rundown of HK’s biggest policy moves, subscribe now. Bonus: a lawmaker takes a snooze and while another makes a $9,600 order of hairy crabs.

• Joshua Wong was placed in solitary confinement since his arrest after an X-ray found foreign objects in his stomach.

• Medical practitioners can now require a patient they suspect has COVID-19 to get tested for the virus (or else face a fine!).

• Hopes for the Singapore-HK air travel bubble have been dashed since the city started hitting its fourth wave.

What you may have missed

• A policy suggestion from Hong Kong’s David Webb to give funding to self-isolating individuals was picked up by the government. This scheme will provide HK$5,000 to quarantining patients to help alleviate financial stress, especially to those who are self-employed.

• Since the pro-democracy victory of the District Council elections last year, the elected councillors have been met with much friction at their new positions. Many meetings between councillors and officials have ended with walkouts or heated disputes.

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