HONG KONG CHRONICLES — Friday, 23rd June 2023
𝗠𝗬 𝗪𝗘𝗘𝗞 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗪𝗔𝗦.
𝗛𝗢𝗣𝗘 & 𝗙𝗘𝗔𝗥.
A surreal art exhibition is being held at Tai Kwun — Centre for Heritage and Arts, featuring sculptural, photographic and film works by Australian artist Patricia Piccinini. The exhibition, called HOPE, is described as an “immersive exhibition which taps into our hopes and fears about the impact of science on humanity.
I don’t know about hope, but she certainly tapped into my fear. Most of the exhibits featured a mixture of silicon human and animal body parts, hugging each other (that was nice). There was one particularly unpleasant film called The Awakening, which simulated an orifice giving constant birth to a slimy marble.
But don’t let me put you off attending. According to the blurb, “HOPE raises important questions about the nature of history, progress, and technology, and ponders our collective ability to create warm and caring relationships and to live lovingly with each other.”
Big thanks to my host and photographer Walter Jennings for capturing the least scary images.
𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗜𝗖𝗟𝗘 𝟮𝟯 𝗧𝗢 𝗕𝗘 𝗘𝗡𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗘𝗗.
It seems somewhat moot at this stage, but Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee says Article 23 — the city’s own security law — would “definitely” be enacted within this year, or next year at the latest.
Does anyone remember back in 2003, when more than half a million people marched in protest against Article 23? The Government at the time backed down on the proposal.
𝗠𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗔𝗡𝗢𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥 𝗦𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗛.
No sooner did we say goodbye to our giant duckling visitors than we were back at the waterfronts yesterday to watch traditional dragon boat races at full scale for the first time since Covid.
There will be more dragon boat action this weekend in Victoria Harbour as the Hong Kong International Dragon Boat Races resume. The races take place off the East Tsim Sha Tsui promenade and will feature teams from across the globe.
𝗜𝗠𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗟𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗥.
Hong Kong is set to import around 20,000 workers — largely from the Mainland China — in a bid to alleviate the labour crunch in the construction, transport and aviation sectors.
Many labour groups are criticising the plan. The Staffs and Workers Union of Hong Kong Civil Airlines protested outside Government Headquarters on Tuesday, saying the shortage can be addressed locally, as long as firms are willing to improve the pay and support the welfare of local staff.
In an extraordinarily non-PC statement over the MTR’s plan to import non-local workers, Lawmaker and former MTR engineer Gary Zhang said that non-local staff can help with railway construction projects as long as they are kept away from frontline operations. Hmm.
Until next week …
#Hope #Fear #Article23 #dragonboat #labourmarket #PRinAsiaPacific
