What skill did you master that you will never, ever use again? Manually typing in triplicate using onion and carbon paper (yep, Google these two), for my father’s business correspondence, usually after translating his handwritten originals into business English. Geez… why me and not my brothers?!

Best thing I've ever heard at an airport: A mom rushing. Two kids running behind her, shouting a conversation. I only heard: "How long is the flight?" "7 hours." "7 HOURS?? WE MIGHT AS WELL GO TO CHINA!" "WE CAN'T GO TO CHINA!!" "WHY NOT" "BECAUSE I DON'T SPEAK SPANISH!!!" And then they were gone.

Budgeted for LegCo election publicity: 2021- HK$104 million 2025- $177 million $73 million for an extra 1.70% turnout, i.e. it cost $43 million for each 1% increase in turnout. $73 million for a 32,998 decrease in votes, i.e. every extra $2,213 spent meant a decrease in 1 vote

And SCMP frames it as: why aren’t Singaporeans beautiful?

the batshit American government is forcing children’s book publishers to put out the absolute wildest statements

To further clarify, the current Owners' Corporation opposed the renovation contract from the start and wanted to cancel it but couldn't bcuz it's already signed. While the previous OC was the one that reviewed and signed the contract. Peggy Wong served as consultant for the previous OC

It's those pesky temporary workers again!

As to be expected from the multi-award winning infographics team at the SCMP - an excellent multimedia report on how the Hong Kong tower complex fire spread catastrophically multimedia.scmp.com/infographics...

I understand the sentiment, but, uh, hmm, HK’s justice system is well-known for being different from China’s justice system. Those arrested *for the fire* will face the same common law system as the UK. Those just arrested for *sedition* while petitioning for better regulations though…

This is such a bullshit maneuver by the PRC. Absolutely embarrassing to them, and *GOOD LUCK* getting Japanese acts to agree to come back after humiliating them like this. Just total fucking hypernationalist babybrain idiocy Upgrading Sino-Jpn Row Rating to: 🐺🐺🐺.5☐ = 3.5/5 possible Wolf-Warriors

I heard about this from my radicalised parents (not Chinese citizens) who were cheering this as an ‘expression of Chinese might’. Years of exposure to Chinese language disinformation. I respect that she took it as an opportunity to display and enjoy her craft.

It’s wild how providing much-needed aid to the survivors of the fire - before the government even felt like doing it - is now considered a national security threat

BTW, China is not a lamb.

The arrests in Hong Kong right now are déjà vu for mainlanders like me who were active in civil society in the 2000s: citizens demanding investigations and accountability after public disasters are met not with answers, but arrests and intimidation. #mainlandization #香港加速内地化

For those familiar with Ap Lei Chau, you’re probably used to seeing the yellow tortoise grazing many days of the week next to the Kwun Yum Temple. Sadly it seems Vanilla (his name) has been kidnapped/ stolen!

HOW ARE YOU GENTLEMEN! ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US!

痛 - From: 香港人 (Sorrow - From: the people of Hong Kong)

Finally, the journalism we need

How I wish I was in Sherbrooke now ...

Watching this play out in HK is a shock to the system, but to anyone who’s seen it happen time and again in the mainland, it’s also all too familiar and predictable. After any disaster, “stability maintenance” (維穩) and “stabilising public sentiment” (穩定社會情緒) are always foremost official priorities.

I especially like number four because the residents had complained to an elected official about the danger before the inferno. Said official told them to fuck off

Inmediahk reports that HK university student Miles Kwan, who was seen handing out fliers linking to a petition demanding an independent investigation and accountability for the Tai Po fire was detained and taken to the police station. The online petition and related media has since been deleted.

The Office of Safeguarding National Security said it firmly supports strict action against people “using the [Tai Po] disaster to create chaos in Hong Kong” and “resolutely punishing activities that endanger national security,” comparing it to attempts to revive the 2019 unrest

"The people demand an investigation into this tragedy!" "No they don't."

Many migrant workers were affected too and Bethune House, a shelter for migrant women workers, is contacting their families (ways to donate directly TBC). Meanwhile you can donate to the org itself here: bethunehouse.org/donate

I’ll shut up about this if this ends up being wrong, but: Chimney effect from the netting existing at all created a convection current, gained enough heat to ignite the bamboo underneath it and then bridged to adjacent blocks.

GovHK had a grand opportunity here to be part of a united community and be an instrument of goodwill to nurture that unity, and they just had to go and blow it, didn't they? But then paranoia will do that. It's like they're so afraid of their own ppl that they see sedition plots everywhere. 1/5

Pro-government supporters of Hong Kong are quickly rallying in the wake of the Tai Po fire to condemn…people for wearing black masks and spreading wild theories of "rioters" with ulterior motives infiltrating the disaster relief effort.

They should arrest themselves because their brains have obviously seceded from their bodies

A look at some of the styrofoam boards on windows since not enough people are posting them.

Low election turnout will be explained by Hong Kong citizens focusing on practical matters and helping their neighbours, not wasting time with silly Western ideas like electoral representation

Fire Hazard Chance: High Fire hazard chance: low Spot the difference

There's a non-zero chance of folks getting a knock on the door for doing this. But sometimes you just have to take the risk for your community.

From the waterfront path - my normal bike ride, and lots of other people's too. #HongKong

The greatest trick the Party ever pulled was convincing the world that years of 60+ hour workweeks, hundreds of miles away from your children for months on end, is "being lifted."

Here was the Facebook post which included a letter from the Labour Department, in which an official said the nets were not required to be fire retardant, and the risk of fire was low as the repair project did not involve open flames or flammable materials. (ALT for translation)

The aftermath begins. As far back as Sept 2024, Hong Kong’s Labour Department dismissed resident concerns that the scaffolding nets were unsafe, saying the materials met safety standards, based on documents from Prestige Construction and Engineering (🎁 Free to read) www.nytimes.com/2025/11/28/w...

This is a good time to remind everyone that the HK government has been trying to get rid of bamboo in order to cater to their pals in the China steel industry who cannot get into the HK construction market. This was a regulatory/safety failure. Not a materials one.

THREAD: All-you-need-to-know: Full #HongKong fire updates as of 8pm Thursday from the team at @hongkongfp.com...

Given that #HongKong's ICAC did nothing to investigate the multiple accusations of police corruption during the city's 2019 upheaval (I can list a some if needed) do people there still trust this institution? Such a fall from grace for a body which started with such international fanfare. #China

Casualty from the Tai Po fire rides to 55 dead, 68 injured. Of the deceased, 51 died at the scene, 4 died in hospital. 8 firefighters injured, 1 firefighter dead. 4 buildings extinguished, 3 still burning. Firefighters continue to search house to house for survivors.

“In view of the immense public interest involved, the ICAC today (November 27) set up a task force to launch a full investigation into possible corruption in the grand renovation project of Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po.” www.icac.org.hk/en/p/press/i...

This 2024 post from the DAB’s Peggy Wong is quickly becoming infamous. In it, the pro-Beijing district councillor dismisses fire safety concerns about the Wang Fuk work as malicious rumours misleading the public, and accuses the Democratic Party of “provocatively live-streaming “ from the scene.

(17:34) Approaching the second night of the fire

‘In late November, Hong Kong playwright Candace Chong published a series of three posts entitled, “Hong Kong-style Cultural Revolution.” The posts focus on her experience of having been bullied, ostracized and censored by elements in Hong Kong associated with the Chinese Communist Party’.

(05:55 press conference) The death toll is at least 40 people, with 270 still missing - 3 men associated with the construction company have been arrested for manslaughter

A fire engulfed a residential building in Hong Kong's northern Tai Po district, with plumes of thick gray smoke billowing out as emergency services battled to subdue the blaze reut.rs/4rrKyOi

Best case scenario: Jackie puts in his contract that he’s allowed to spew as much Chinese Party propaganda as possible, the effects of which finally topple the American empire.