National security has a new mascot | Hong Kong Weekly Briefing
National security has a new mascot | Hong Kong Weekly Briefing
HK falls to 87th place on democracy index - ambush lockdowns continue - Kashmir Day at the Consulate General of Pakistan - Canada opens up to HK graduates
COVID-19
Ambush lockdowns continued over the course of the week in many residential buildings including those in Sham Shui Po, Jordan, and Tin Shui Wai.
After a number of unanswered calls during mandatory testings, officials threatened that they could break and force testing in if residents do not answer the door.
With coronavirus cases in the fourth wave dying down, in-person classes are planned to resume for up to a third of students after Lunar New Year.
LegCo
There are a number of changes planned to come for existing LegCo procedures such as:
Removing legislators' power to call for quorum count
Limiting committee member numbers down to 15
Limiting debate time and adjournments
Democracy
Hong Kong fell 12 spots to 87th place in its ranking on The Economist Intelligence Unit's global democracy index, with the report attributing this to the national security law. Speaking of the security law, the mascot teaching students about national security in Hong Kong is a cartoon owl who is nameless, for now.
Economy
Minimum wage is staying the same at HK$37.50 an hour, the first time it remains unchanged since it was introduced in 2011.
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Diplomat
A dual citizen of Canada and Hong Kong in prison was forced to choose to keep only one of the two nationalities.
Canada has opened up a new immigration path for Hong Kong graduates of Canadian educational institutions, set to launch on Monday, 8 February.
A diplomacy forum in Turkey will look at "Innovative Diplomacy" for a new era. The forum will be held from 18-20 June this year.
The Consulate General of Pakistan shared a photo exhibition for Kashmir Day, which you can check out below.
