Columnist

Michael Chugani

Michael Chugani is a Hong Kong journalist and TV show host

Convenor of the Hong Kong National Party Andy Chan Ho-tin poses for a portrait at Tamar Park. Chan was disqualified from running in the Legislative Council elections in 2016 and the government has recently sought to ban his party. Photo: Winson Wong

Opinion

Why the FCC must and will go ahead with independence activist talk

8 Aug 2018 - 7:54pm 26

Andy Chan, convenor of the Hong Kong National Party, holds a press conference at its Tuen Mun office in July 2016 to announce his intention to run for Legislative Council elections. He was later disqualified from contesting the election. Photo: Nora Tam

Opinion

If the Hong Kong National Party is banned, who next?

26 Jul 2018 - 7:16am 11

The Statue of Liberty has long stood tall in New York Harbour as an icon of freedom for immigrants. But the promise to welcome the tired, the poor and the huddled masses now belongs to a bygone era. Photo: AP

United States

The West no longer has a moral duty towards illegal immigrants

12 Jul 2018 - 2:01am 15

US President Donald Trump speaks at the swearing-in ceremony for the new CIA director at the headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency in Langley, Virginia, on May 21. Trump’s propensity to rapidly change his position on any issue keeps his opponents on their toes. Photo: Reuters

Opinion

How Trump’s poker player diplomacy gives the US a winning hand

27 Jun 2018 - 8:52pm 24

A mother and her child in their subdivided flat home in Sham Shui Po in October 2016. Photo: Edward Wong

Opinion

How thinking like Trump can solve Hong Kong’s housing crisis

13 Jun 2018 - 6:34pm 16

Michael Chugani says the financial secretary invoking the little-known capital of Guizhou province as an example to follow was the final insult to Hong Kong’s prowess as an innovator, as well as a wake-up call

Insight & Opinion

Must dysfunctional, declining Hong Kong now look to Guiyang as a role model?

30 May 2018 - 7:12pm 5

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are greeted by flag-waving schoolchildren as they arrive to take part in an event on International Women's Day in Birmingham, England, on March 8. Photo: AP

Insight & Opinion

Why all the fuss over a royal wedding? Blame the British empire

16 May 2018 - 8:31pm 13

US President Donald Trump gives a speech in Washington Township, Michigan, on April 28. Trump’s speech was greeted with chants of ”Nobel, Nobel”. Photo: EPA-EFE

Opinion

A Nobel for Trump? He deserves it more than many

2 May 2018 - 8:16pm 52

A tunnel leading to Hong Kong is part of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge project. The sell-by date of saying we don’t want Hong Kong to be just another Chinese city has long passed. Photo: Bloomberg

Insight & Opinion

In China’s embrace, Hongkongers face a choice: wealth or freedoms

18 Apr 2018 - 8:08pm 18

Michael Chugani says despite heavy criticism, the US president’s gunslinging diplomacy has got the US where it wants to be – around the negotiating table with nuclear-armed North Korea, and outplaying China on trade

Insight & Opinion

Trump’s moves on North Korea and China trade show he’s no idiot

5 Apr 2018 - 7:31am 118

A Hong Kong fan covers his face during the Chinese national anthem before a friendly soccer match between Hong Kong and Bahrain at Mong Kok Stadium on November 9, 2017. China passed a law under which anyone disrespecting the national anthem could be punished with up to three years in prison and Hong Kong is expected to enact a local version of the legislation. Hong Kong soccer fans have booed the anthem when it is played at matches since 2015. Photo: AFP

Insight & Opinion

The unbearable awkwardness of a national anthem law in Hong Kong

21 Mar 2018 - 6:59pm 5

US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping after a joint press conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing in 2017. The two leaders represent differing world views on a polarised global stage. Photo: AP

Insight & Opinion

Xi or Trump? Whose world view do you choose?

7 Mar 2018 - 9:05pm 27

A scene from the CCTV skit, which featured a Chinese actress in blackface and fake giant buttocks. Imagine if a major American TV network aired a show featuring white actors with painted yellow skin, slant eyes and a stereotype Chinese accent. Photo: CCTV via AP

Insight & Opinion

China should show the world that it, too, knows how to say sorry

21 Feb 2018 - 7:12pm 26

Members of the Silent Majority of Hong Kong take part in a world-record attempt to form a human chain around The Peak in July 2016. The group, founded by Robert Chow Yun, aimed to counter those involved in the Occupy protests. Photo: David Wong

Insight & Opinion

Silent majority, speak up now and make your by-election votes count

7 Feb 2018 - 7:08pm 3

An elderly woman pushes a trolley with cardboard for recycling past a luxury designer boutique in Central in 2012. The Teresa Cheng scandal has once again drawn attention to the wealth gap in Hong Kong. Photo: EPA

Insight & Opinion

Why aren’t Hong Kong tycoons bigger givers?

24 Jan 2018 - 7:56pm 25

Teresa Cheng most likely knew the house had been illegally modified when she bought it. Keeping mum while being vetted for justice secretary reveals a lack of political savvy. But is the error of judgment so grave that we must precipitate another political crisis by demanding she resigns? Photo: AP

Insight & Opinion

Teresa Cheng and Hong Kong’s knack for self-destruction

10 Jan 2018 - 7:10pm 34

Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung meets the press on November 15. He is expected to step down in January. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

Insight & Opinion

Rimsky Yuen upheld the law as justice secretary, and deserved better

27 Dec 2017 - 7:06pm 5

A pro-democracy protester is surrounded by police officers outside the Legislative Council building in Hong Kong, on December 12. Photo: AP

Insight & Opinion

Under red China, democracy is dead in Hong Kong

13 Dec 2017 - 6:49pm 121

Hong Kong’s Transport and Housing Secretary Frank Chan Fan (second right) answers a media query, while looking on are (from left) Constitutional and Mainland Affairs chief Patrick Nip Tak-kuen; Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and Security minister John Lee Ka-chiu, at Tamar on November 18. Photo: Edward Wong

Insight & Opinion

Paying in renminbi for rail tickets at West Kowloon is off the rails

29 Nov 2017 - 7:25pm 3

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam and her predecessor, Leung Chun-ying, at the World Chinese Economic Summit, in Admiralty on November 13. Photo: David Wong

Insight & Opinion

How ‘one country, two systems’ has left Hong Kong deeply divided

15 Nov 2017 - 7:10pm 15

A Liberty Island ferry passenger tries to capture the Statue of Liberty, linked in the popular psyche with arriving immigrants, in New York City in August. Photo: AFP

Opinion

Xi Jinping’s Chinese dream is nothing like the American one

1 Nov 2017 - 7:23pm 20

Yuen Yuk-ting and her baby daughter live with the rest of their family of five in a rented 270 sq ft flat in Chai Wan. Together, the family earns too much to qualify for government-subsidised housing, yet too little to afford a flat in the private market. The “starter homes” scheme is meant to help young, first-timer buyers in the so-called sandwich class. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Opinion

How Hong Kong’s greedy property tycoons can redeem themselves

18 Oct 2017 - 7:18pm 25

A poster of Rimsky Yuen highlights the sentiment as marchers protest against political oppression, in Hong Kong on October 1, National Day. Photo: Kyodo

Insight & Opinion

Hong Kong is destroying itself by putting judges in the dock

4 Oct 2017 - 7:04pm 16

If enough Hongkongers believe Wong, Law, and Chow have become prisoners of conscience, it means they no longer believe in our judges. That will be the start of the end of Hong Kong as we know it. Photo: Edward Wong

Opinion

If Joshua Wong is political prisoner, worry about our legal system

29 Aug 2017 - 7:37pm 32

Are these heroes, worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize? Apparently so. Photo: Sam Tsang

Opinion

Joshua Wong for peace prize? According to one newspaper

19 Dec 2017 - 10:48pm 103

Police escort Howard Lam after his arrest early on Tuesday morning. Photo: Handout

Opinion

Pan-dems dig themselves into hole over Howard Lam kidnap claim

16 Aug 2017 - 2:50pm 33

Pan-democratic lawmakers stage a protest against the disqualification of four of their Legco peers. Photo: Edward Wong

Opinion

Hong Kong opposition feeds on people’s inborn mistrust of Beijing

8 Aug 2017 - 6:16pm 23

There are conflicting views about the joint checkpoint at the West Kowloon rail terminus. Photo: EPA

Opinion

Fearmongering over rail terminus kicks off hot, silly summer

1 Aug 2017 - 11:38pm 55

Pro-democracy lawmakers protest against the disqualification of four colleagues. Photo: David Wong

Opinion

When it comes to rule of law, we can’t have our cake and eat it too

25 Jul 2017 - 4:24pm 49

Leung Kwok-hung, Nathan Law, Lau Siu-lai and Edward Yiu were disqualified from the Legislative Council on Friday. Photo: Edward Wong

Opinion

Time for by-election where two Hong Kong camps reveal true colours

18 Jul 2017 - 7:08pm 21

J-15 fighter jets were parked on deck as public visitors visited the aircraft carrier Liaoning. Photo: Felix Wong

Opinion

Has Beijing missed the boat for hearts and minds?

11 Jul 2017 - 7:43pm 29

President Xi Jinping laid down a red line for Hong Kong in the presence of Chief Executive Carrie Lam. Photo: EPA

Opinion

If you can’t toe the red line, think about moving

5 Jul 2017 - 1:02pm 94

The flags of the People’s Republic of China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region stir a range of emotions for many residents in the former British colony. Photo: Reuters

Opinion

To celebrate Hong Kong’s handover or not? Questions to ask

27 Jun 2017 - 10:00pm 25

Hong Kong is a city where old women sell cardboard to make ends meet while businessmen pay millions for a place to park their fancy cars. Photo: Felix Wong

Opinion

Proof yet again that the big guys always win in Hong Kong

21 Jun 2017 - 12:01am 23

The author says many people are unable to differentiate between Hongkongers, mainlanders, and Taiwanese. Photo: Shutterstock

Opinion

Self-denial for Hongkongers to say they’re not Chinese

13 Jun 2017 - 6:31pm 90

Members of the emergency services attend to a person injured in the terror attack in London on Saturday. Photo: AFP

Opinion

Why don’t leaders of Muslim countries condemn terror attacks?

6 Jun 2017 - 5:57pm 48

People queue up to buy a property at the old airport site in Kai Tak. Photo: Edward Wong

Opinion

Beware the big impending property bust

30 May 2017 - 7:34pm 44

Every media organisation played up Leung Chun-ying’s secret contact with pro-establishment lawmaker Holden Chow to influence the inquiry. Photo: Sam Tsang

Opinion

Outcry at CY shows it’s media ethics, not freedom, we should worry about

23 May 2017 - 8:58pm 33

Elsie Leung suggests the West Kowloon terminus of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong express rail link should be blown up if the opposition won’t accept joint Hong Kong-mainland immigration clearance. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

Opinion

Opinion: Societal blow-up may be very thing Hong Kong needs

16 May 2017 - 7:20pm 14

Joshua Wong took part in a US Senate hearing on Hong Kong last week. Photo: Handout

Opinion

Joshua Wong is no worthy champion of democracy in Hong Kong

18 Aug 2017 - 1:07pm 104

The Furama Hotel, with its revolving restaurant, was demolished in 2001. Photo: Wikipedia

Opinion

Opinion: Greed builds with another hotel to fall

25 Apr 2017 - 10:18pm 19

Michael Chugani questions whether there would have been such a backlash had the victim been white or black and says emigrants cannot choose to be Chinese some of the time

Opinion

Chinese need to accept United’s actions were not racist

19 Apr 2017 - 6:16am 61

Chief executive-elect Carrie Lam receives her certificate of appointment from Premier Li Keqiang. Photo: ISD

Opinion

Money can’t buy love – or true democracy in Hong Kong

11 Apr 2017 - 5:09pm 22

A subdivided flat in Hong Kong. Photo: Bruce Yan

Opinion

Opinion: affordable housing a distant dream for many

4 Apr 2017 - 7:10pm 23

Occupy movement leaders protested outside the Wan Chai Police Station before they were arrested and charged over public nuisance allegations. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

Opinion

Opinion: why Hong Kong needs real champions to fly flag of democracy

28 Mar 2017 - 9:08pm 52

The mainland flood into Hong Kong spawned localism, where the independence offshoot grew. Photo: AP

Opinion

Will the next chief executive be gutsy enough to tackle the mainland invasion?

21 Mar 2017 - 5:43pm 62

(From left) Chief executive candidates Woo Kwok-hing, Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and John Tsang Chun-wah at a forum last Sunday. Photo: David Wong

Opinion

In Hong Kong, ‘white terror’ is whatever you want it to be

14 Mar 2017 - 3:00pm 39