第一個階段我是慢慢認識本土，第二個階段認識本土以外的漢語寫作，第三個階段在漢語寫作之外認識這個世界，很多人是怎樣寫作的。這樣三個階段，對我來說， 每一個階段都有影響，綜合來說，就是從井口慢慢看出去，本來是井口上一小片天空，走出井口以後，登上山後，看得很遠，不同的階段有不同的看法。

葉輝：香港文學正處在重要的轉折期 （《深港書評》訪談）


hmmm. what if I do it the other way round?

Constitutional Reforms

Hong Kong politics has continued to twist and turn. The resigned legislators were all re-elected. Though the voter turnout was somewhat low, it is not a number which the Government can ignore.



The recent focus of the media and public have been on the Government trying to pass the new constitutional reform proposal through the LEGCO. We were bombarded with ads, and the "Act Now" campaign. More recently was the poorly structured debate between Tsang and Audrey Eu. The two fired questions at one another on the same issues when the debate could have focussed on different issues.



I have doubts about whether Wong Yan Lung should have voiced out his opinions of the political reform policies. Will that rally more public support given his relatively high support amongst the people?



The most current turn of events has been the Government endorsing the Democratic Party's package: it accepts 5 more functional constituency legislators, it would allow ordinary voters to elect those District Council representatives. The party estimates that this would let over 3.1 mil more voters to vote for the seats. Candidates for these seats must be elected, not appointed, and must be appointed by at least 10 district councillors.



The revised proposal has received more support, and may actually successfully gain the required 2/3 of votes from LEGCO. The Civic Party does have a point when they point that the revised package still does not eliminate functional constituencies.





On another note, today I attended a luncheon at the FCC, where Professor Simon Young (Centre for Comparative and Public Law & Barrister) was to launch his new book (with the Civic Exchange) "Electing Hong Kong's Chief Executive in 2012". His speech today took the focus away from functional constituencies to examine electing the CE.

The book suggests that in looking for principles of democracy, the Basic Law provides should be the main guideline(Annex 1). The election committee should be broadly representative. It also recognizes 'principles of democracy'. The Bill of Rights should also be followed in that everyone has the right to vote in a system that is equal and representative. The current system has several contraditions. Firstly, the election committee is exclusive. People such as vets are excluded from having representatives. Secondly, the elections are unequal as sectors who receive more seats are not necessarily higher in the number of electorates. For instance, Agriculture and Fisheries have many more seats than the finance sector.

The Government also fails to explain how the proposed extra seats of the election committee will be elected, and how many people will be electing these committees etc.


The Hong Kong Journal and many online databases will offer a deeper analysis on the constitutional reform.

Iran: A Nation of Bloggers

the power of youths
the youths have power

Five District Resignation (a follow-up)

The joint Civic Party and the League of Social Democrats released their De Facto Referendum logo yesterday. The logo signified unity to gain 'real universal suffrage'. Today is the deadline date of the Government's consultation on 1)expanding the CE's Election Committee to 1200 members 2) Increasing District and Functional Constituency legislator seats by 5 each.

While I have doubts as to how the Government's proposal is following the 'gradual and orderly process' principle laid down in the Basic Law, I fail to see how the De Facto Referendum assists the process of obtaining better prospects of universal suffrage. Firstly, as a movement seeking public support for 'fighting for real universal suffrage' they had barely asked the electors in their respective districts for opinions on the movement itself. Then, although they make it clear that voting is based on a particular agenda, several problems stem form this. One, electors who vote for them may not only support them based on this issue. Two, those who don't vote for them may not be against a more progressive pace to democracy. Thirdly, of course, the reactions from Beijing.

The efforts that have stemmed from the movement have been encouraging, including an informed debate questionnaire that is currently being carried out (which I heard from the radio). Participants will be directed to hear a thorough debate on the issue before filling in a questionnaire reflectively. It's important to know the argument of both sides.

And to the De Facto Referendum's credit, getting citizens to be more aware of their civil rights is a good first step, as in speaking out against inaction by the Government and half-hearted efforts of the DAB.

West Kowloon Cultural District

Passing the to-be WKCD site by ferry over the summer I saw there still remains a lot to be done. Hong Kong has been in the talks for a cultural spot securing its cultural hub status in Asia. And it's come far.

This is a good summary of the vision and problems facing the Cultural District: http://www.hab.gov.hk/wkcd/pe/eng/doc/CC_Report_eng/3_executivesummary.pdf

After public consultation in 2007, a report by the Public Policy Research Institute of the Hong Kong PolyTechnic University was published in Jan 2008, http://www.hab.gov.hk/wkcd/pe/chi/Public_EE_Report/doc/Reports/Final%20Report_Eng.pdf

Watch out for more consultations from now until early January 7.

I believe the project has been one of the few that has involved the private sector, and relevant creative art bodies and experts. The power of the WKCD Authority has been set in the WKCDA Ordinance. However, its government officials have been criticized to be too experienced to make investment decisions with the funds separately . More consultants should be brought on board.

The first phase will be completed in 2014-15 and I await to see the results. Will it also balance logistics, traffic and environmental impact considerations?

When the time comes the Government should also investigate how the arts industry relates to the creative industry, which the Chief Executive especially highlighted after setting up CreativeHK in June 2009.

A day out at Dried Seafood Street

As part of a cultural heritage class project my groupmates and I carried out our fieldwork in Sheung Wan's Des Veoux West Street today. It was my first time stepping into the street.

We combed through most of the shops on both sides of the street (did you know that one side demands higher rent than the other?) talking to shopowners who were willing to share. Made a lot of interesting observations. Some of the old shopowners have been in this very unique trade since they were young and are living encyclopedias on this subject. The shop layouts, stock arrangement and sheer variety of it all is precious. I do believe that the Government should promote the street more and even consider registering it as an Intangible Cultural heritage. Given the high quality of goods, spacial significance and industrial skills involved these shops should be recognized for their longtime importance.

Like one of the lecturers told us, conservation and heritage work should not begin when the objects are fading, but when we note their importance. All owners relayed to us that the Government did nothing to help their trade, and I really feel that this Government's policies should reflect more voices heard.

Am really proud of the owners, the dedicated old ones and the very few brave ones of the new generation, who are working long hours everyday adding more diversity to this "world city".

HKSARG's decision to transfer Tiananmen dissident to Mainland

In September 2008, the SAR authorities handed Yongjun Zhou (周勇軍) to the Mainland authorities where he was then immediately arrested and detained for previous fraud charges. Zhou lived abroad in the US. He came to Macau (where HK officials found him) on a fake Malaysian passport in hopes of eventually visiting his parents in the Mainland. His girlfriend and lawyer held a conference yesterday (12 Oct 2009).

It was the first time a Tiananmen dissident was transferred back to China without any extradition arrangements with the Mainland Government. The Hong Kong government said that it could not comment on individual cases but that its immigration department "handles all entry applications in accordance with the law and immigration policy having due regard to individual circumstances".

There is no rendition agreement between Hong Kong and the Mainland, which creates difficulty in applying the law from both systems in cross-border crimes. China and Taiwan has reached such an agreement in the 1990 Quemoy Agreement. Put simply, ambiguity exists where the Mainland may have jurisdiction over Hong Kong citizens who have partly committed crimes on the mainland. Hong Kong does have a right under the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance to refuse to hand over PRC nationals.

I believe that this will not be the first case of its kind. It will be listed down in articles and legal journals as another breach of Human Rights by the SARG. My summer internship has involved learning and seeing the Immigration Department make unreasonable one decision against potential refugees after another. This time, he act of handing over, whether in the form of a deportation order or something else, is surely open to challenge, and the CE should give disclosure.


References(all accessed on 13 Oct 2009):

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hrNt5vm0MW0fKqbNZIuhdSp3i_Gg

http://books.google.com.hk/books?id=DjOHAosZ__gC&pg=RA1-PA118&dq=hong+kong+mainland+extradition+law&lr=#v=onepage&q=hong%20kong%20mainland%20extradition%20law&f=false