🌊Stand Firm, Knock Drugs Out: The Musical

900kg of weed confiscated; CBD to be banned in the new year

Sep 18

Good morning,

When I was in the UK, I’d go to a folk song club every Tuesday evening. Here’s a song I picked up by the only other Cyril I’ve found so far:

And considering those lyrics, all Cyrils share the same absurd outlook.

— Cyril

On Today’s Tide

Crime | 900kg of weed and ice confiscated
COVID | Roadmap to normality
Health | Let’s Stand Firm; Knock Drugs Out! The Musical
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900kg of weed on the wall

904kg of weed and 1kg of ice were seized yesterday in one of the biggest drug busts in Hong Kong history. The drugs were located in three separate industrial buildings. Two unemployed men were arrested in relation to the crime and are thought to be the warehouse keepers for the allegedly triad run operation which has been active only since July.

The total worth of the bust is approximately $194 million.

Haul worth more than HK$194 million included 904.5kg of suspected cannabis buds and 1kg of Ice. Photo: Sam Tsang — Image via SCMP

Hong Kong SAR Government News @newsgovhk

The Centre for Health Protection says it is looking into 7,190 additional locally acquired #COVID19 cases, of which 1,750 were identified through nucleic acid tests and 5,440 via rapid antigen tests

Over 7.1k COVID-19 cases identifiedThe Centre for Health Protection says it is looking into 7,190 additional locally acquired COVID-19 cases, of which 1,750 were identified through nucleic acid tests and 5,440 via rapid antigen tests.news.gov.hk

COVID-19 in Hong Kong

New cases: 7190
Total cases: 1,707,495
New deaths: 23
Total deaths: 9,891
Compulsory Testing locations: 64

Roadmap to normality

Government medical advisor David Hui has said that in addition to the ‘actively considered’ 0+7 policy, if cases do not rebound, there is a high chance that the government will push on to a 0+3 then 0+0 (=0) policy for arrivals.

He said that most imported cases have been found on days 4-7, so a complete shift to 0 is currently unlikely.

This sudden change of heart comes as multiple international events were either cancelled or shifted away from being hosted in Hong Kong, including the Hong Kong Marathon, Oxfam’s Trailwalker and the 2023 World Dragon Boat Racing Championships.

The Marathon was cancelled after organisers said authorities did not grant it permission with enough time to finish planning; the Trailwalker was straight up banned due to a high number of participants, and the World Dragon Boat Racing organisers put Hong Kong’s strict COVID policies as the reason they decided to move to Thailand instead.

Executive councillor and LegCo representative for business, Jeffrey Lam, said that the government needs to change COVID rules immediately to avoid any further damage to Hong Kong’s international reputation.

Let's Stand Firm; Knock Drugs Out: The Musical

TVB aired a brand new anti-drug programme last night as part of the ongoing ‘Stand Firm, Knock Drugs Out’ campaign.

Last night’s variety extravaganza debuted two new anti-drug mascots ‘Agent Don’t’ and ‘Agent Hope’ (those are seriously their names) with ‘Agent Don’t’ representing the ‘don’t’ in ‘don’t take drugs’ (that’s seriously the official symbolism behind the name).

Maybe Agent Hope represents hoping for a better name. But I digress.

They have an “official fist-bumping movement” which “demonstrate[s] the power and determination of "Say No To Drugs"“.

I too enjoy a good fist-bumping movement

The programme also featured a new theme tune sung and performed by current youth idols in hip-hop outfits because that’s like cool yo. The song will later be released on streaming platforms so you can be coolio when going to schoolio.

In the mean time, here’s the official ad:

CBD no more

The programme also featured speeches from law enforcement officers, and an opening speech by CE John Lee himself.

The speech, Lee reminded the public that “Cannabis Is A Drug” (cue credits) and that the government spares no effort in protecting public health through anti-drug operations. He specifically mentioned the upcoming CBD ban, saying that he aims to have no more CBD products in Hong Kong by 2023. Although stopped short of giving an exact ban date, grace period or other important details for the….pretty big CBD industry.

Events and deals

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Official media partner: 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.

Ukrainian Cinema: Contemporary filmmaking @ The Goethe Institut

“Fear sows political bigotry, rumours turn into conspiracy theories, cultural fronts harden” – for these reasons The Goethe Institut is hosting a series of films by Ukrainian filmmakers to support local cultural creators and explore Ukrainian culture together.

Five films will be shown over the course of September including The Tribe (Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy), Atlantis (Valentyn Vasyanovych) and The Rain Will Never Stop (Alina Gorlova)

Find all times and dates here.
And book your tickets directly from Broadway Cinematheque here.
Look under the ‘bc Sunday’ special programme when booking!