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

Did we? Could we? Would we?

Two days ago I got back my Danish quiz. Despite some spelling mistakes, I got full mark because, apparently, the teacher would grant me marks as long as I got what the marking scheme requires. Say, for example, in writing the sentence "I would like a chicken sandwich", it doesn't matter if I spell "would" wrongly (trust me, that is possible in Danish), but you don't get any mark if you do not put down "chicken".

Marking scheme - I felt almost nostalgic when I heard my teacher saying that.

Another guy in my class just could not understand why he did not get any mark for a grammatically correct sentence (well, he probably wrote "I would like a sandwich" in correct grammar but without "chicken") ; that is not surprising, since he grew up receiving American education and values.

"Why do I not get any mark for this? Isn't the grammar correct?"
"Yes, your grammar is correct, but you didn't put down 'chicken' in there, therefore I cannot give you mark for it"
"Why?"
"Because the marking scheme said so, and I have to follow the marking scheme so that I am assessing you guys just as teachers from other classes do to their students."
"Why is the marking scheme set in that way?"
"..."

Exactly - Why? Why chicken? Why not sandwich? Why are we not rewarded for writing a correct Danish sentence - isn't that the point of us going to a Danish class? This just reminds me of those times back in the CE days, when we did tests or quiz instead of eating lunch properly, and got back test papers with a lot of writings on it but very few marks given by the teacher; eventually we gave up on textbooks or notes and studied marking schemes instead.

We probably had asked why among ourselves during recess; we could have asked why like the American student who challenged the Danish teacher; we would have asked why more often if it could make a difference. I guess the biggest failure of the education system in HK is revealed in how the word "why" simply stops coming up in our minds after being in school for a while.

Democratic Lawmakers--Collective Resignation ("總辭")

Hong Kong pro-democratic parties have been pressing for unity for their current efforts of opting for a 'collective resignation approach' to press for universal suffrage by 2012.

The Civic Party gave a three stage proposal on 7 Sep, being "negotiations, reelection, and full resignation". The League of Social Democrats wants one pan-democratic legislator to resign from each of the five geographical constituencies, but is welcome to the idea of a full resignation. The Democratic Party, meanwhile, remains undecided on the issue and await an internal meeting on 27 Sep.

A recent poll by the Hong Kong Research Association reflects that Hong Kong citizens remain most dissatisfied with the legislators of League of Social Democrats, who have bottomed out in the poll. Some wonder whether it is all for show.

Thus far, constitutional reform gave way to economic recovery in the Chief Executive's Policy Address last year. The Government should adopt a more transparent front towards democratic negotiations. I remain doubtful how a collective resignation will alter the Central Government's stance on democracy after 2012. However, with frustrations of an unrepresentative legislature to start off with, and the lack of systematic dialogue on the issue, I hope these political moves will herald a more promising state of affairs.

References:
http://paper.wenweipo.com/2009/09/25/HK0909250023.htm

http://news.sina.com.hk/cgi-bin/nw/show.cgi/5/1/1/1256264/1.html

http://news.sina.com.hk/cgi-bin/nw/show.cgi/2/1/1/1272173/1.html

Sex Worker Rights

Sex workers are an insufficiently protected group, and are mainly represented by Ziteng (for female sex workers) and Midnight Blue (for male sex workers). This entry will highlight and explore loopholes in the current system which deprives sex worker rights and safety.

Firstly, Hong Kong laws criminalize everything but one (wo)man prostitution. It appears to discourage the business as it penalises procuring another to enter prostitution, soliciting on the street for a sexually immoral purpose, living on earnings of prostitutes by others, keeping vice establishments or landlords leasing or tenants using premises for the use of a vice establishment. It is advocated by the rights groups that the trade be decriminalized, as countries have the UK or New Zealand have done, in order to ease discrimination which illegality has reinforced.

Secondly, sex workers suffer physical and verbal abuse. Renting their own premises and banning sex workers from working together expose prostitutes to danger from clients and other groups. 70% of mainland Chinese prostitutes had experienced physical and verbal abuse in the workplace, and 30% had been robbed. The focus of the current law in targeting the sex trade coupled with poor enforcement results in clients often not made a responsible party for their crimes.

The problem is further exacerbated by poor relations with the police. In undisclosed interviews with the media, prostitutes have expressed distrust towards the police from experiences with patrolling police or undercover police 'clients' checking premises, often asking them for personal information, e.g. landlord and estate agent information and telling them not to work. Furthermore, they account policemen who sometimes prosecute beyond their powers, such as arresting sex workers on the street and even an incident where a woman was prosecuted for 'advertising' just because there was a 'welcome' sign on her door! A collection of newspaper articles found on Ziteng's web-blog also reveal instances of sexual abuses by the police during searches and investigation. The antagonised relations bar sex workers to seek for police help in times of abuse or as victims of crime. There is clearly a policy issue of balancing sex workers' right to privacy and nuisance and moral concerns of the public.

The Social Welfare Department does not treat prostitutes as a welfare service target group. Only a small number of NGOs such as Action for Reach Out visibly advocate for their legal rights and healthcare.

In 2008, 6 of the 36 murders in Hong Kong were of sex workers. This brought increased awareness to their rights. Sex workers and their representatives have met with Security Panel of LEGCO and the Crime Prevention Bureau of the Police. It appears that the murders have encouraged more sex workers to step out and speak out for their security.

In conclusion, the SAR government has to address sex workers concern for a decriminalised working environment, better protection of their safety, a promotion of a discrimination-free society, and even democracy for them elect a representative of their choice.After all, these groups will keep pushing hard for sex workers’ rights to be recognized, much further than marching on 1 July.

Click to see the requests and photos of Ziteng at the 1 July rally.

To read my deeper analysis of the issue please contact me at wendykwanwy@gmail.com

References:

1. Crimes Ordinance, Sections 131(1), 147, 137, 139, 134 and 144, http://www.legislation.gov.hk/eng/home.htm

2. Ziteng statement regarding to the Legco Discussion over One-woman brothel law, 23 Jul 2008. http://www.ziteng.org.hk/2008JUL23_e.phphttp://www.ziteng.org.hk/2008JUL23_e.php

3. Kwan, Wendy. Decriminalising Prostitution in Hong Kong: A Discussion, Mar 2009