#DistrictCouncil #PoliticalOppression
District Councilor blasted new meeting guidlines calling it absurd and ridiculous

Source: Tiffany Yuen's Facebook
#Aug13 #TiffanyYuen #FailedState

Read more
⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️
https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/24287

#DistrictCouncil #PoliticalOppression
Pro-Democracy District Councilor blasts Government's Meeting Guidleines, calling it Absurd and Ridiculous

Tiffany Yuen Ka-wai, a district councilor who came second in the Hong Kong Island constituency in the primaries organized by the democracy front in July 2020, condemned the Home Affairs Bureau's internal guidelines for their staff. Yuen wrote the following on her Facebook:

"Councilors are empowered by the voters to monitor the government. The SAR government has made many wrong decisions in the past. Our questions are intended to look deep down into the root-cause of the problems.

With these new Guidelines implemented, raising a request for Food, Environmental and Health Department to increase the number of times to sweep the street could be deemed criticizing government; requesting the Highways Department to review non-slip steel sand material could also be criticizing government; and asking the Leisure and Cultural Services Department to plant more trees could be too.

Such ridiculous guidelines can only be issued by the Hong Kong SAR Government.

Ever since the pro-democracy camp won a landslide-victory in the District Council last year, the Home Affairs Department has been oppressing district councilors in many ways. Leaving a meeting in their own will is extremely irresponsible.

So long as I am still in this office, I will perform my duty as a district councilor to scrutinize government policy, irrespective of these absurd guidelines."

*********
The guideline includes the following:

1. To ensure the rational discussion of livelihood issues and apolitical social events in District Councils, without criticizing the government and protesting in any extreme manner.

2. The Home Affairs Bureau can make direct recommendations when handling controversial issues or ultra vires motions, or seek opinion from the Secretary for Justice

3. District officers and government representatives are not required to attend meetings that cover ultra vires items

4. If the Home Affairs Bureau are informed of potentially controversial issues, cross-departmental teams can be set up to address the issue, when necessary.

5. If district councilors address government officials with offensive language, officials can leave the meeting.

Source: Tiffany Yuen's Facebook
#Aug13 #TiffanyYuen #FailedState

#PoliceState #PoliticalSuppression #DistrictCouncil
Hong Kong Government Paralyses the Operation of Pro-Democracy District Council

Citing pandemic prevention as a reason, the government's Home Affairs Bureau (#HAB) has restricted the District Council, which are generated through direct elections, to convene only one meeting of less than 2 hours every week. Likewise, the government's secretariat will only provide secretarial services to the Council once a week.

The government's secretary to the Yuen Long District Council has, for instance, changed the meeting schedule of the District Facility Committee without prior consultation and notification. Pro-democracy district councillor, Ben Wai-pan Ho, who is also the chairperson to the Healthcare and Food Safety Committee, condemned the behaviour for impairing the function and operation of the district council, “without the authorisation of the commitee chairperson, it’s ultra vires for the secretary to change the meeting schedule."

Ho originally had planned a meeting for the Healthcare and Food Safety Committee on Aug 20; however, due to the clash of schedule, the meeting had to take place at a councillor’s office, instead of a formal venue provided by the government.

Similarly, the Sai Kung District Council called for a meeting for the Community Building and Innovative Committee. Since the government has restricted the District Council to use meeting room only once a week, the meeting venue had to change from the Government Complex in Tseung Kwan O to the village hall of the Tin Ha Wan Village.

Sai Kung district council chairperson, Chung Kam-Lun, criticised that the government has been made moves without prior consultation and these new regulations and arrangements were not “logical”. He said, “we don’t have any support, even when district council meeting is by law exempted from group gathering ban”.

Source: InMedia #Aug20
https://bit.ly/2CJlI8R
https://bit.ly/3aS9zeF

#FailedState #CoronavirusPandemic
Control and Tightening Control: HK Government's Latest Responses to the Pandemic

The Hong Kong SAR government refused to grant HKD1.5m to a community cleanliness campaign approved by Southern District Council for anti-pandemic purpose.

This is not the first time where the government refused to operate with the directly-elected district councillors, of which the pro-democracy camp constitutes the majority in all 18 District Councils in Hong Kong.

Read more:
https://bit.ly/2K0nAgZ

Meanwhile, the government claimed the need to "tighten anti-pandemic control". The Health Authority required travellers arriving in Hong Kong to undergo quarantine in hotels, i.e. home quarantine is not allowed. The regulation, however, exempts travellers arriving from China.

Read more:
https://bit.ly/2GO9ZrC

The Hong Kong government will release an mobile application to monitor citizens' travel records on Nov 16, 2020. The government claims that data such as personal information and GPS location would not be collected, and privacy would be respected. Citizens can voluntarily download and use the app.

The development of the app had cost HKD 1m.

The HK government also mentioned a plan to exempt Hong Kong residents in China from the 14-day compulsory quarantine when returning to Hong Kong, starting from Nov 23, 2020.

Read more:
https://bit.ly/32Af6U9

Source: InMedia #Nov11

Image: Stand News

#DistrictCouncil #Discriminatiom #HealthCode #Quarantine

#PrideParade #LGBTQ
Hong Kong Pride Parade 2020 Tells the World "Here and Proud" Despite Police's Objection

The Hong Kong Pride Parade was issued a Letter of Objection by the Hong Kong Police Force for the first time in 12 years. The original parade was prohibited, and it will now be held online.

This year’s theme is "Here and Proud". Before the gathering, spokesperson Jimmy Sham told the press that he was disappointed by the objection of the police, making it the first time the parade cannot be held under sunlight. Concerning the difficulty to calculate the number of participants online, Sham suggested that nowadays in Hong Kong, number of participants no longer matters.

Sham thanked 17 District Councils for supporting the parade and promoting it locally. Over 20 district councillors joined the event.

Sham, who is also a member of the Sha Tin District Council, pointed out that he was once told “it is very hard for gay people to become a district councillor”. This term, 3 gay people were elected, marking a new age for LGBTQ+ group. He also gave a special shout-out to the District Council members who promoted LGBTQ+ rights locally.

Singer Siufay, who came out earlier, was appointed the Rainbow Ambassador this year. He shared his experiences of coming out, “it is easier to step up than step back”. He said he had a lot of limitations before coming out, but now he can say whatever he wants.

Another Rainbow Ambassador is Figo Chan, the convener of Civil Human Rights Front. Chan added, Hong Kong is not familiar with gender issues, which creates discrimination. He hoped that one day these misunderstandings can be eliminated.

Source: InMedia #Nov14 https://bit.ly/32LOWxA

#HKPride #HereAndNow #DistrictCouncil #SiuFay #JimmySham #FigoChan

#Powerplay #DistrictCouncil
Government Forcefully Renames 'Sha Tin District Council Conference Room' as 'District Office Conference Room'

Source: Stand News #Nov10

Read more
⬇️⬇️⬇️

#Powerplay #DistrictCouncil
Government Forcefully Renames 'Sha Tin District Council Conference Room' as 'District Office Conference Room'

[Editor's note: Though similarly-named, the District Council and District Office are independent entities. The District Office is part of the government's Home Affairs Department, which does not generated by election; while the District Council is democratically elected by the population.]

A number of Sha Tin District Council members criticized in their Facebook posts today that the Sha Tin District Office had renamed the 'Sha Tin District Council Conference Room' at the Government Offices as 'District Office Conference Room'. An electric drill was even employed to erase the words 'District Council Conference Room' on the map at the lift lobby.

Community Sha Tin, a group formed by a number of the district's council members, described in a post that the change discovered today during the meeting was 'a change without consent', and criticized that the District Office did not consult with the District Council beforehand, and refused to explain who ordered the change, nor under what authority or justification.

In their reply to the inquiry, the Sha Tin District Office stressed that the conference room was located within their office, thus 'the name now adopted can clearly reflect its location'. They added that both the government departments and the Sha Tin District Council could still use the venue as before, following the established procedures.

Ching Cheung-ying, the chairman of the Sha Tin District Council who has been serving as a District Council member for over 30 years, told Stand News that the conference room had been named 'Sha Tin District Council Conference Room' since 2002, and it was also designed with holding District Council meetings in mind. 'We have been using this name all this time'. He then challenged the District Office's statement of 'correcting the error': 'There was no error; where is the error?'. He slammed the District Office's action, calling it 'petty and overbearing' , and questioned whether they were 'belittling the District Council'.

Source: Stand News #Nov10

#FailedState

#FailedState
One year after Democrats' Victory in District Council Election: HK Government Reinstalls Beijing Loyalists in Area Committee

In 2019 District Council Election, the pro-democracy camp in Hong Kong won a landslide victory; however, the directly elected district councillors have been facing retributive oppression and disfavor from the HKSAR government, as their discussions of certain issues have been banned and funding has been cut.

On the contrary, the defeated pro-Beijing party has received favorable treatment; the new-term Area Committee is unprecedentedly served by the lost pro-Beijing candidates instead of the incumbent councilors.

Though the Area Committee is not a statutory body, its functions highly overlap with the District Council's: government officials will attend the presentation and collect opinions there, at the same time it will receive funding for organizing local activities which helps nurturing the Committee members' regional connections. However, the Area Committee lacks transparency as the public will not be informed about the dates of meetings unless they check them at their local Committees.

Some District Councils have cancelled their appropriation budgets of the Committees to avoid the government using public money to fund its stalwarts. They also worried that the government's long-term and direct appropriation would pave the way for hollowing out the District Council with the Area Committee.

Source: Apple Daily #Nov19
https://hk.appledaily.com/local/20201119/PIWC6ZCSXFGC5IF5BJZQZVLOZA/

#ProvisionalCouncil #AreaCommittee #DistrictCouncil

#FailedState #Censorship
HK Government Censors Fai-Chun by Pro-democracy District Councillors

One year ago, the pro-democracy camp had a landslide victory in the District Council Election, which is the only direct election in Hong Kong. Since then, the government has been suppressing the operation of the District Councils in different ways.

Recently, Wong Tai Sin District Council member Mok Yee-ha said that the District Council planned to print Fai Chun, a traditional decoration with greeting for the Lunar New Year, which reads “Wish the Good a Peaceful Life”.

The government, however, rejected the proposal by claiming that the greeting “Wish the Good a Peaceful Life” implies political meaning and that it is "not a commonly seen new years greeting".

Some Hongkongers described it as "Literary Inquisition" by the government.

Source: Apple Daily #Nov21

#WishtheGoodAPeacefulLife #TheGoodTheBadAndtheUgly
#Censorship #FaiChun #LiteraryInquisition #LunarNewYear #DistrictCouncil

#FailedState #PoliticalOppression
Gov't Stops Incumbent #DistrictCouncillor's Salary and Office Income, #TedHui: Lack of Legal Basis shows the Panic of Hong Kong’s political power”

The Home Affairs Bureau of the Hong Kong SAR government is stopping the payroll, the allowance and the expense reimbursement of district councillor Ted Hui from December 3, 2020. The government cited Hui’s self-exile as a reason.

Hui responded to the Hong Kong government’s decision as “No legal basis at all”. He also states that his HSBC bank account has been frozen, making it impossible to withdraw any of his salary since then.

Hui said the government’s treatment of him is a political statement but should be considered useless. The government’s action is severely impacting the district councillor's office that has continued to serve Hong Kong citizens.

Hui said that the government should not stop any payment of the payroll when the councillors are still serving their term of office. He is very disappointed with how the government wields political power and ignores the public interest.

Source: Stand News #Dec16
#HSBC #DistrictCouncil

#Censorship #CCPControl
China Blocks Shipments of "Freedom and Democracy" Calendars to Hong Kong

Chinese customs may have held up an order of new year calendars printed for district councils in Hong Kong, Yau Tsim Mong District councillor Lee Wai-fung wrote in a Facebook post.

The calendars, with the text "Pursue Freedom and Democracy" in golden calligraphy, was scheduled to arrive in Hong Kong in mid-November, so that they will be given out to civilians on Dec 16, 2020.

However, Lee was later informed that order was detained in China, without an official explanation from either the print shop nor the Chinese customs. The councillors ended up printing labels with their names and pictures, and handing out regular calendars with their labels attached.

Yuen Long District councillor Henry Wong Pak-yu experienced similar issues with the Chinese customs. He was informed by the print shop in China that printed products for district councils in Hong Kong are now being scrutinized much more closely by Chinese customs, because some of their previous materials contained "sensitive content". The printer was not allowed to send out the shipment, and Wong may not be able to receive his calendars in time for the new year.

Source: Stand News #Dec16

#NewYearCalendar #FreeSpeech #ChineseCustoms #DistrictCouncil

#Feb6 #FirstHand #ToKwaWanLockdown
HK Government Imposes Lockdown on Residential Building Despite Mandatory Testing Order Issued 1 Day Ago

#DistrictCouncilor Lai Kwong-wai spoke to the media on Feb 6, 2021, next to the "restricted area" sealed off by the Hong Kong Police on Ma Hang Chung Road in To Kwa Wan.

In response to the government's ambush-style lockdown of Wah Fat Building, the District Councilor pointed out that the building has been enlisted on the mandatory test one day ago. This means that the residents were already required to undergo #Covid19 testing, even without the imposition of the lockdown.

Many residents could not see why the government had to enforce an additional lockdown on a Saturday.

Lai also expressed concern about the elderly homes in the area. He said if the government imposed lockdown in those buildings, the impacts would be unimaginable.

#FailedState #DistrictCouncil #LaiKwongWai

#PoliticalSuppression #1C1S
China Axes Hong Kong's Electoral System to Boost Influence

Watch video:
https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/29261

On March 30, 2021, Beijing imposed an overhaul in Hong Kong's electoral system. After a two-day meeting, the PRC's National People’s Congress Standing Committee (#NPCSC) directly amended two annexes in Hong Kong's Basic Law. All these changes will come into immediate effect on March 31, 2021.

In the Election Committee to select the Chief Executive, all 117 district councillor seats are eliminated.

The seats are replaced by “representatives of members of area committees”, including members of the government-appointed District Fight Crime Committees, the District Fire Safety Committee of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories, as well as representatives of associations of Hong Kong residents in the mainland.

A new sector will be added. They are deputies to the PRC's National People’s Congress (#NPC), the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (#CPPCC), as well as representatives of “Hong Kong members of relevant national organisations”.

As for the Legislative Council (#LegCo), the number of directly elected seats in the geographical constituency will be reduced. The District Councillor seats within the LegCo are to be removed.

The changes are likely to increase the influence of the pro-Establishment camp while ridding of the role of the locally elected District Councillors.

The District Council election had been the only direct election in Hong Kong since the Handover in 1997. In the 2019 election, the pro-democracy camp had a landslide victory across the territory, winning 388 seats to the pro-Beijing camp's 59.

Source: Stand News #Mar30

#HongKongElection #ChiefExecutive #DistrictCouncil #CCPRules
#ElectoralOverhaul #Beijing