🌊Peeled Frescgoed
Good morning,
Oops!
We made a mistake yesterday when saying
“Heavy police presence all day, no arrests have been reported but police stopped and searched many individuals with either protest slogans or flowers on their body”
~ Cyril yesterday
Someone did get arrested.
Yesterday’s Tide will be corrected, please don’t refer to the email version if quoting me.
I.e. Don’t quote me on this.
— Cyril today who got factchecked
On Today’s Tide
Culture | Peel Fresco closes after 16 years
COVID 10k |
Badminton championships cancelled
Mainland and Macau arrivals reduced testing requirements
Sports | Best of Sports Stars ceremony: Edgar and Siobhan
Events | Start-up festival up and running
Behind the paywall:
Greater China | UNHRC releases Xinjiang report against China’s wishes
Politics | 47 Democrats case adjourned
Appointments | Simon Peh advising the ICAC
Become a premium subscriber for just $8US a month – extra daily news and weekend roundups!
Peeled Frescgoed
After 16 glorious years, Hong Kong’s premier Jazz club, Peel Fresco, is closing its doors. Fresco, like many other live music establishments, was hit incredibly hard during COVID. While other historic locations like the Wanch went onto an extended hiatus, Fresco stayed open selling bar snacks and drinks.
However, they announced yesterday that they have decided to shut their doors permanently.
“This HKSAR continuous illogical and unsubsidized « Live Performances ban » simply made it impossible for us to go on and match a Soho commercial rent and related expenses […]
Live music was our blood, our core business for all these years, accounting for 90% of our revenue : we couldn’t suddenly turn our place into a tacos joint or a fancy steakhouse”
Peel Fresco Facebook Post
It was also there (in goddamn Nov) that I basically last flexed my sound tech muscles.
COVID in Hong Kong
COVID-19 in Hong Kong
New cases: 10586 (244 imported)
Total cases: 1,551,389
New deaths: 11
Total deaths: 9,701
Compulsory Testing locations: 58
Less testing if you’re from the Mainland
From Saturday, travelers coming from the Mainland or Macau will no longer need to test and hold, nor take tests on Days 4 and 6 of their arrival into HK. Instead they will only need to test on day 1 and 2.
The rule applies to all those in hotel quarantine or home quarantine.
‘Reverse isolation’ for Mainland visitors
The government is also currently in discussions for a ‘reverse isolation’ procedure for those traveling into China. Under this plan, instead of isolating when one crosses the border, they will instead quarantine in Hong Kong before traveling. Guangzhou and Shenzhen have agreed ‘in principle’ to the plan said CE John Lee.
The government has mooted building an isolation camp in Sha Tau Kok on the border as the quarantine area.
No Badminton for You
The Badminton World Federation has pulled the Hong Kong Opens this year due to quarantine measures. The Hong Kong Badminton Association said in a statement that Hong Kong’s quarantine and isolation requirements are too different to other countries, and has made a decision with the Federation to cancel this year’s opens and focus on next year’s.
Best of Sports
Speaking of sports, what isn’t cancelled is doing quite well.
The Hong Kong Sports Awards, a yearly event acknowledging the best in Hong Kong athleticism was held on Wednesday after a two year hiatus due to COVID.
The top ‘double star awards’ were taken by world champion fencer Edgar Cheung and multi-olympic award swimmer Siobhan Haughey.
Other recipients included
Cyclist Lee Wai-Sze,
Fencer Vivian Kong
Table Tennis players Doo Hoi-kem and Wong Chun-ting
Karataka Grace Lau and Lau Chi-Ming (her also karataka brother - runs in the family)
Badminton player Chu Man-Kai
Gymnast Shek Wai-Hung.
Events and deals
Support Harbour Times, our friends and partners by attending these events! Let everyone know who sent you by tagging @harbourtimes
StartmeupHK Festival
Curated by InvestHK, this year’s StartmeupHK Festival returns in a hybrid format from 5-10 Sept. Featuring 7 main events and 5 community events, the Festival is a must-attend with insightful and engaging keynotes from world-renowned speakers, discussions around hot topics such as the metaverse, NFTs, gaming, HealthTech, PropTech, sustainability, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), and much more throughout the week.
The festival is a combination of multiple platforms and individual multi-day events. Individual booking for each event is required.
Where: online & in person (various locations)
When: 5-10 Sept (various specific times)
Official media partner: ReThink HK returns 5-6 Oct
FINAL PUSH FOR DELEGATION PASSES:
Sign up here using the code HTP22 for 40% off! ACTIVE ONLY TILL 4 SEPT!
HK$575 instead of $949 after 5 Sept!
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.
This is the end of your free time on Tide.
Become a Premium subscriber to see what lies behind the paywall - extra news everyday and on weekends.
But wait there’s more - Premium subscribers get additional discounts on all HT x partnerships:
Can’t go Premium yet? No worries, there are other ways to support High Tide:
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.