I am having flashbacks that are making me both incredibly proud and worried

A HK university student has created a petition urging the gov't to respond to "4 big demands" after the deadly Tai Po fire, including setting up an independent investigation committee. In full: buff.ly/86gUoQk

“There was no alarm,” said Ng Yuk-fan, a 62-year-old retired cleaner who was babysitting her 3-year-old grandson. “If there had been an alarm, you would have heard it go la-la-la-la-la,” she said. Latest on the deadly Hong Kong fire: www.wsj.com/world/asia/t...

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...

I have also spoken to a journalist that lives in the neighborhood and he has confirmed that the government "care teams" have started taking over relief centers, kicking out volunteers and taking over supplies donated by the general public.

I’ve seen the Wang Fuk fire variously described in int’l media as HK’s “worst fire since WW2” or even “in more than 100 years.” The death toll is still sadly rising but a quick factcheck for now: both the 1948 Wing On godown fire and 1947 SS Sai On fire were, as things currently stand, more deadly.

NEW:🦁The Lion Rock spirit in action: hongkongfp.com/2025/11/28/g... #hongkong @hongkongfp.com A grassroots relief effort has sprung to life across Tai Po, and online, as Hongkongers rally to volunteer, offer food, shelter and clothing to the victims of the #TaiPo fire tragedy.

Having all the live news feeds open and feeling restless and helpless is both nostalgic and triggering.

"7k for a house like a cell and you really think we out here scared of jail?”

Nearly a year has passed since Assad’s regime collapsed. Disinformation has only intensified, shaping public opinion and deepening uncertainty. Back in January, I explored this in an article with @timep.bsky.social The patterns I described remain active in post-Assad Syria today. #Disinformation

"Starting tonight, the Government will provide an emergency cash subsidy of HK$10,000 to each affected household to offer immediate relief." 10, 000 HKD (1,285.45 USD) feels like such a slap in the face for those who lost loved ones and watched their entire lives destroyed by the fire

Wrote on views of Takaichi in Taiwan in my latest for @NikkeiAsia. Takaichi's domestic viewpoints are very out of step with the progressive values contemporary Taiwan holds dear, making her the latest right-wing actor to uncomfortably back Taiwan asia.nikkei.com/opinion/taiw...

Important context as well

(7:07 am) Hour 41 of the Tai Po fire

Anndddddd I was sent this piece which places blame solely on cites bamboo scaffolding as the reason for the rapid spread of the fire

Hongkongers really do community so well.

Further political context: In the 2019 District Council elections, all 19 of the elected seats of Tai Po District Council were won by "yellow" (i.e., Hong Kong pro-democracy) candidates. The pro-Beijing camp was completely wiped out bar for the two ex officio members of the 21 person strong body.

Folks often forget the fight for democracy in HK isn’t a “Beijing vs us” thing in matters of human rights - I mean that matters too - but also the fight for local representation so that problems like these don’t get swept under the rug

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.

International media, you can do better than this. "Bamboo" is maybe exotic and a compelling hook but it is too easy. The real story here is the growing culture of corruption, including a lack of accountability and oversight, that enabled a chain of human errors that led to this disaster.

🚨 journo job! 🚨 Replace me! - after 13 years at the Guardian and six years on the incredible China team, including five in Taiwan, I’m leaving at the end of this year. I’ll get sentimental about it later but for now: Here’s the job ad. I recommend it! workwithus.theguardian.com/job-search/e...

This fire is going to be a headache for Beijing in Hong Kong because: 1. Some loyalists politicians in Hong Kong are involved in the building renovation scandal leading to this disaster. 2. Beijing still does not have the ability to fully control the narrative, at least not on the social media.

Hoping Western journalists stop jumping on the bandwagon of blaming the bamboo scaffolding and completely glossing over the negligence of the building developer that the residents themselves have been complaining about. (but you know how it is)

Forty-four people are dead and 279 are missing after a fire engulfed seven residential towers in Tai Po on Wednesday. Of those hospitalised, 45 remain in a serious condition. In full: buff.ly/sXdgQbB

Bring back the nightmare fuelled PSAs

I think if Canada wants to have a strong cultural identity we need to go back to doing what we're best at, making the weirdest fucking TV shows you've ever seen

Sure Jan

HK authorities are considering invoking the homegrown security law for the first time to ban two overseas political groups they deem subversive from operating in the city. In full: buff.ly/ypzt3wN

An anonymous “patriotic organisation” has called for a halt to the production and sale of merchandise for a cancelled LGBTQ-themed theatre production. In full: buff.ly/odbBGL0

HK authorities have arrested 29 people over alleged attempts to sabotage next month’s “patriots only” legislative race, the city’s security chief has said. In full: buff.ly/IItmuIf

‘You’re Chinese’: Arunachal Pradesh woman harassed by Shanghai airport officials during transit; told Indian passport ‘invalid’ – Times of India: ‘held for over 18 hours in Shanghai airport’

It’s not vaccines It’s not Tylenol It’s not circumcisions It’s not Tylenol It’s not vaccines & it’s also not a fucking problem to be eradicated! Autism is a natural way of being We don’t need a cure The only “cure” is love Unconditional Accommodation Acceptance Autism is not a problem to solve

Some good news this morning - exports of Xinjiang tomatoes have collapsed. Last year I worked with the BBC to expose how XJ tomatoes produced with forced labour were making their way to UK supermarkets via Italy. 🧵

The MacArthur "Genius" Award-winner was best known as the founder of the Disability Visibility Project, which highlights disabled people and disability culture through storytelling projects, social media and other channels. n.pr/47WGe0m

Oh wow @reuters.com got the photo here:

So many questions

In the 1950s, a Danish freighter captain became an unlikely international celebrity when he encountered monster storms but refused to abandon ship, commanding singlehanded until it sunk beneath his feet. It’s a great story I got to tell in my first YouTube script, a minidoc for Oceanliner Designs.

A reminder that in 2019, Apple removed an app that helped Hong Kong protestors track the police. And that many Hongkongers also actually used to avoid the police because they didn't want to deal with police harassment, police created "tear gas buffets", etc. Also, this 👇

i don't think the consul general of China in Osaka should threaten to behead the prime minister

"Apple has removed two of the most popular gay dating apps in China from the App Store after receiving an order from China’s main internet regulator and censorship authority."

1/ Update: 💕THANK YOU @hongkongfp.com READERS: hongkongfp.com/2025/11/06/t...

Unfortunate that courts have sided against unions, resulting in this hunger strike from Taiwan Railways workers www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/...

Check out @jordynhaime.bsky.social on "Taiwan's Israel Charm Offensive" in the latest issue of her newsletter. "Now let’s turn to what has been absent from Taiwan’s messaging: any acknowledgement of the accusations of starvation and genocide of the Palestinian people by the Israeli government."

A very revealing deep-dive by Li Hou-chen and our team over at Tian Jian on how China is leveraging influencers — from Taiwan and around the world — for state agendas. linguasinica.substack.com/p/the-influe...

Are you fucking kidding me

When I was working for a Chinese government contractor in 2019, my mainland colleagues insisted that Trump was a fellow traveler who was just doing Chinese communism very badly, and would fail because of the US’ public’s independent streak. FWIW, I think they’re completely correct now.

It’s been a pleasure working with Lex and everyone in the politics vertical at Teen Vogue. I’m heartbroken that my column, Disability Visibility, is gone. Teen Vogue was one of the few places that published disabled journalists regularly. I just spent the last 2 months working on my next column

There's something very telling about Brown's actions--we suddenly have an influx of China experts who want to get in on Taiwan since it's a sexy topic, but disregard the existing Taiwan experts, and want to bury those existing experts because they are competition