All Around Town for June 11, 2015

When Hongkongers think about salmon, they often think about sashimi in Japanese restaurants, but for journalists covering a trade symposium in Toronto this week, the fish now symbolises Hong Kong banker Benjamin Hung Pi-cheng. That's because Hung, Standard Chartered's Greater China CEO, described himself that way in a speech at the symposium on Monday. He was drawing reference to the fish's ability to make long journeys upstream against strong currents and rapids to reproduce to describe his decision in the early 1990s to leave Toronto and join the bank in Hong Kong. At that time, thousands of Hongkongers emigrated to Canada because they were worried about the 1997 handover. But Hung made it clear that he was not boasting about his choice. "There was no right or wrong in it, it's just a personal decision, because the living environment was much better here in Toronto and the job was much more stable," Hung later told the press. Tony Cheung

Whether you are the chief executive or a pro-establishment figure, there are times when you face the essential question by pan-democrats: are you a Chinese Communist Party member? Yesterday, it was the security minister's turn to answer. At the weekly Legislative Council meeting, Lai Tung-kwok gave a strongly-worded warning against any Occupy plans during the Legco vote on political reform next week. Wong Yuk-man, a radical pan-democratic lawmaker, jumped at his remarks. "Just look at the words you used. Are you a Communist Party member? You spoke of incitement and troublemakers." Instead of dodging the question as most others have, Lai, a life-long civil servant before he took up the political appointment, seized on the chance to remove any doubts: "You asked an irrelevant question, but let me tell you. I don't belong to any party or faction. I was born and bred here. And when I leave this world, I'll probably be in Hong Kong." Joyce Ng