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We provide translation of news in English from local media and other sources, for academic use.
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#iCable #LayOff #Petition
200+ employees petition for i-Cable management to reveal reasons behind dismissal of engineering team heads

Source: Stand News #Aug22
https://bit.ly/31ghHSS

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https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/24432
#iCable #LayOff #Petition
200+ employees petition for i-Cable management to reveal reasons behind dismissal of engineering team heads

More than 200 employees from the Public Information of i-Cable petitioned, requesting for the management to reveal their true intentions behind the firing of 3 heads of the engineering team.

i-Cable responded to not affect the operation of the public information department

i-Cable filled the vacant roles in what seemed like an unbroken succession. The 3 heads of the engineering team were fired on 21 August on immediate notice.

Read here: https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/24406

More than 200 people in Public information Department, including every editors and journalists from the Hong Kong News team and all journalists from the China news team signed the petitioned directed to the i-Cable chairmen, David Chiu Tat -Cheong, and the Chief financial officer (CFO), Kwok Chi-Kin.

The employees felt “shocked, puzzled and angry” and expressed that this move would result in an “irrevocable loss of i-Cable”

They mentioned in the open letter that they did not approve of the management's decision to that dismiss the 3 heads without any prior notice. They also doubted the claims that from the management that this doing had no adverse effects on the daily operation of the company. They also requested for the management to explain the reasons behind the personnel changes.

The 3 new senior management officers mentioned in the letter are ex-senior management of another pro-Establishment TV station ATV, Anderson Chan Hing-cheong, Edna Tse, and Oscar Lee. Fung Tak-hung was reappointed to be an advisor.

i-Cable responded that the dismissal of the 3 people from engineering teams was a result of a “regular review of organisation structure and Human Resources”. They also mentioned that a reasonable and sufficient compensation package have been arranged according to the Employees’ Compensation Ordinance of Labour Department. They further reiterated their claims the dismissal "will not affect the daily operation of public information department”.

Source: Stand News #Aug22
https://bit.ly/31ghHSSn

#ATV #Management
#COVID19 #BigData #UniversalTesting
HK Govt Announces Universal Testing Scheme Despite Suspicion from Professionals

Source: Stand News #Aug22

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https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/24517
HK Govt Announces Universal Testing Scheme Despite Suspicion from Professionals

Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced Beijing-sponsored and organized programmes for universal coronavirus testing of the millions of Hong Kong residents to begin on September 1st, and that the the first testing period will range from 7 to 14 days. However, as the plan doesn’t come along with quarantine measures, its effects came with suspicion from the medical field

Microbiologist Ho Pak-Leung, head of the University of Hong Kong’s Center for Infection, cast doubts on its effectiveness. He pointed out that when the incubation period of the virus was about 5 days, if the government were unable to test for all residents within 4 days, not only would asymptomatic patients spread quickly in the community, the percentage of false negative cases would increase drastically.

Professor David SC Hui, member of the government’s disease-combating advisory group and Chairman of the Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, admitted that without quarantine orders, the practicality of the plan was much lowered. However, he said this was what the government had anticipated.

Pneumoconiosis specialist Dr. Leung Chi-Chiu, on the other hand, expressed worries, as the government can cover at best about one-forth of all transmission chains, which may make residents heedless of the risks of a potential surge.

Source: Stand News #Aug22
#FailedState #COVID19
Temporary Hospital to be Set Up in Hong Kong's AsiaWorld-Expo by China State-owned Enterprises Without Tendering, Pro-Dem Legislator Fears Bad Precedent

Source: Stand News #Aug22

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https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/24559
#FailedState #COVID19
Temporary Hospital to be Set Up in Hong Kong's AsiaWorld-Expo by China State-owned Enterprises Without Tendering, Pro-Dem Legislator Fears Bad Precedent

The HK government announced in August 2020 that it would set up a temporary hospital on land of the phase two expansion plan of the conventional venue AsiaWorld-Expo (#AWE) and transform Hall 8 to Hall 10 of AWE into a community treatment centre. The plan is expected to provide a total of 1,800 beds, with the costs to be paid by the PRC's Central Government and the construction work to be carried out by a contractor from China without tendering.

Carrie Lam had denied claims of transfer of benefits on Friday.

Sources from the construction industry in Hong Kong claimed that the said construction would be contracted by Chinese state-owned enterprises, with the China State Construction Engineering, which is controlled by the State Council of the PRC and contractor of the Huoshenshan Hospital, being the most likely. It is stated that the Chinese contractor had had meetings with the Hospital Authority and the government.

No detailed plans were given, but it is speculated that it would be built using Modular Integrated Construction, i.e. building the main components in the PRC, before shipping them to Hong Kong for assembly.

Pro-democracy legislator Dr Kwok Ka-ki, of Civic Party, who is a physician by profession, stated that this is the first time the Central Government paid full costs for facilities in Hong Kong since the transfer of sovereignty in 1997. He worried that it would set a bad precedent, "Having the costs prepaid is not all that matters. If they build several more National Security Departments free of charge, would you be happy?"

Dr Arisina Ma Chung Yee, chairperson of the Hong Kong Public Doctors' Association questioned the intent behind the PRC's sponsorship. She cited the floods and famines faced by the PRC at the moment, and that Hong Kong is far from a third-world area. She also stated that the phase one community treatment facilities at the AWE had not been fully occupied, questioning the need for more beds.

Source: Stand News #Aug22

https://www.facebook.com/710476795704610/posts/3383717691713827/

#KwokKaKi #MaChungYee #HKPDA #AsiaWorldExpo #NoTender #BenefitTransfer #RedCapital
#AsiasFinest #HongKongPolice #CSIMasks #FaceMasks
Where Did the Masks Go? Gov't Report: Police Received 7.08 Million Masks over 7 months

Source: Apple Daily #Aug22

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https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/24561
#WuhanPneumonia #CSIMasks #FaceMasks

Where Did the Masks Go? Gov't Report: Police Received 7.08 Million Masks over 7 months

Hong Kong experienced a shortage of masks during the first wave of Wuhan Pneumonia early this year. With citizens scrambling for masks across the city, many questioned the whereabouts of the government's stockpile of CSi masks, produced locally by inmates under Correctional Services.

According to a report to the Legislature on August 21, 2020, the government released its records on personal protective equipment from the first 7 months of the year, including the number of masks distributed to its various departments.

The Hong Kong Police Force is shown to have received over 3.47 million masks made by CSi. This exceeds even the number received by the Department of Health, which ranked second, by over 300,000. Nearly 50 million masks were also procured from sources other than CSi for various government departments. Of these, the Police Force received 3.61 million masks, ranking fourth behind Social Welfare Department (13 million), Housing Authority (8.27 million), and Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (7.6 million).

With the 7.08 million masks received, the Police Force had enough to supply its 31,190 members with 226 masks each, averaging more than one per day during the 7-month period.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam was widely noted for demanding her officials to "take off your mask even if you're wearing one" during the most severe period of shortage. However, the report noted that the Chief Executive's Office had received over 13,000 masks over the course of the 7 months, of which over 11,000 were made by CSi.

The offices of the Chief Secretary and Financial Secretary have similarly received some 13,000 masks, more than Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau, Development Bureau, and a number of other departments.

Source: Apple Daily #Aug22
https://hk.appledaily.com/local/20200822/PHRQBFHHFBDLJL3C555JNR3DEQ/

#AsiasFinest #HongKongPolice
China dissuades Canadian MPs from meeting rights activists

Source: The Globe and Mail #Aug22

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https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/24621
#Canada #ChinaInfluence
China dissuades Canadian MPs from meeting rights activists

According to a report from Amnesty International and Canadian rights group released in May, Chinese government has increasingly resorted to “threats, bullying and harassment” to intimidate and silence activists in Canada, including those raising concerns about democracy and civil rights in Hong Kong and Beijing’s mistreatment of Uyghurs, Tibetans and Falun Gong practitioners.

Canadian MPs visiting Hong Kong in late 2017 were informed that Chinese authorities did not want the MPs meeting with Hong Kong leading pro-democracy figures such as Joshua Wong or Anson Chan.

In early 2019, Ms. Linda Duncan, NDP MP for Edmonton-Strathcona at the time, was contacted by the Chinese embassy in Canada advising her not to meet with the Dalai Lama, the exile spiritual leader of the Tibetan people.

Former Canadian ambassador to China David Mulroney said the call to Ms. Duncan “was an appalling example of interference.”

Besides these revealed incidents, China may have exerted other covert influence over foreign politicians.

Source: The Globe and Mail #Aug22
#AmnestyInternational #LindaDuncan #Uyghurs #Tibet #Falungong

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-mps-say-chinese-officials-have-tried-to-dissuade-them-from-meeting/