https://www.scmp.com/rss/502312/feed Robin Hibberd is a financial services executive and long-time resident of Hong Kong. He is a former president of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Last week, a women’s rights group cancelled what would have been the first authorised rally in Hong Kong in three years. While the organisers did not offer a reason for the cancellation, the Hong Kong police, who had issued a letter of no objection for the demonstration, said violent groups had expressed an intention to take part. The cancellation is unfortunate as it further delays a return to the normal functioning of civil society in Hong Kong. After several turbulent years, Hongkongers need... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3212498/if-hong-kong-truly-back-normal-it-should-be-able-host-peaceful-rallies?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3212498/if-hong-kong-truly-back-normal-it-should-be-able-host-peaceful-rallies?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 Mar 2023 00:15:09 +0000 When I first saw the button that Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu was sporting at the launch of Hong Kong’s tourism campaign, it struck me how passive and downright bland the slogan was. “Hello Hong Kong” does little to conjure up the spirit of this place and its people. I hope, for the sake of the battered tourism sector, that the free air tickets prove more motivational than the slogan. My first impression of Hong Kong was that it was anything but bland. Just arriving in the city in the early... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3210578/so-hong-kong-facing-big-challenges-whats-new?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3210578/so-hong-kong-facing-big-challenges-whats-new?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 21 Feb 2023 00:15:10 +0000 In the wake of US Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, the Hong Kong government issued separate press releases from the chief executive, chief secretary, secretary for justice and financial secretary. The Security Bureau threw in another for good measure. All these unsurprisingly expressed outrage at the visit. That the Hong Kong government waded into the fracas at all was notable – Hong Kong officials have no responsibility for foreign affairs under the Basic Law. In this case though, as a... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3189829/poor-communication-over-taiwan-press-freedom-and-2019-protests?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3189829/poor-communication-over-taiwan-press-freedom-and-2019-protests?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 23 Aug 2022 22:45:16 +0000 The pandemic has not been kind to politicians. Countless numbers around the world have been unmasked by the crisis, their failings in leadership and crisis management on stark display. Political leaders have frequently demonstrated an inability to plan for even the most expected scenarios, and have often muddled science, common sense and politics with deadly results. Our leaders in Hong Kong have been no exception. The brutal fifth wave casts a harsh light on past decisions. The best leaders... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3171345/hong-kongs-covid-19-strategy-must-look-beyond-focus-quarantine-free?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3171345/hong-kongs-covid-19-strategy-must-look-beyond-focus-quarantine-free?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 23 Mar 2022 01:45:20 +0000 For well over a year, we existed in an almost Covid-19-free bubble while the pandemic ravaged the world beyond our borders. With Omicron, that has all changed. Now we wait each afternoon for the government to update us on the latest in Hong Kong’s battle with Covid-19. And we listen anxiously for hints as to how our lives might be further affected by lockdowns, closures and social distancing restrictions. Our parents and grandparents would probably recognise this daily routine from having... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3166202/how-hong-kongs-zero-covid-failures-are-chance-rethink-and-win-war?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3166202/how-hong-kongs-zero-covid-failures-are-chance-rethink-and-win-war?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 08 Feb 2022 22:45:17 +0000 As we enter our third year in the grim grip of the Covid-19 pandemic, I’ve tried to cheer myself up periodically by looking for positives in Hong Kong’s zero-Covid approach to the pandemic. And positives are not hard to find. The city has seen only 12,732 infections and 213 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic. Singapore, a city state with less than 75 per cent of Hong Kong’s population, has seen over 283,000 infections and 835 deaths. Unfortunately, on most days, the positives are crowded... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3162475/omicrons-emergence-catalyst-hong-kong-rethink-its-zero-covid?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3162475/omicrons-emergence-catalyst-hong-kong-rethink-its-zero-covid?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 07 Jan 2022 05:30:15 +0000 As I approached my polling station to vote on Sunday morning, I was taken aback by the presence of at least a dozen police milling around the entrance. Some were clad in bulletproof vests. Having never voted in a Hong Kong election in the past, I was unsure if what I was seeing was typical or a show of force reflective of a disquieting “new normal” in our city. Somewhat to my relief, the police presence turned out to have been inflated by members of the security detail for Financial Secretary... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3160379/flawed-legislative-council-election-still-best-way-get-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3160379/flawed-legislative-council-election-still-best-way-get-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 20 Dec 2021 06:45:20 +0000 An email I received not long ago began with: “Down the slippery slope…”. The sender, an acquaintance in Britain, was reacting to yet another article in the international press warning of Hong Kong’s apparent decline. It wasn’t the first note I’d received from overseas kindly offering to bring me up-to-date on developments in Hong Kong, the city I’ve lived and worked in for over 20 years. Were they concerned for my well-being? Or just showing a morbid fascination with Hong Kong? Whatever the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3157937/why-i-believe-hong-kongs-talent-survival-and-success?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3157937/why-i-believe-hong-kongs-talent-survival-and-success?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 02 Dec 2021 00:15:12 +0000 On Saturday, Hong Kong’s leader, Carrie Lam, flanked by 14 wooden-faced officials, condemned the violence and destruction during what she described as a “very dark night.” In an episode of savage protest the night before, mobs had smashed, clubbed and burned their way across the city. The violence occurred after the government brought emergency regulations into effect in order to ban face masks. Violence is now a constant in the Hong Kong protests. Mass demonstrations, once peaceful, used to... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/why-some-hongkoners-are-taking-their-chances-mob-rather-government/article/3032150?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/why-some-hongkoners-are-taking-their-chances-mob-rather-government/article/3032150?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 09 Oct 2019 10:18:12 +0000 On Saturday, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Yuet-ngor, flanked by 14 wooden-faced officials, condemned the violence and destruction during what she described as a “very dark night”. In an episode of savage protest the night before, mobs had smashed, clubbed and burned their way across the city. The violence occurred after the government brought emergency regulations into effect in order to ban face masks. Violence is now a constant in the Hong Kong protests. Mass demonstrations, once peaceful, used... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3031931/violence-wont-end-if-hongkongers-would-prefer-take-their-chances?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3031931/violence-wont-end-if-hongkongers-would-prefer-take-their-chances?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 09 Oct 2019 01:00:14 +0000 The Hong Kong government is besieged by its own citizens. Clouds of tear gas drift above streets that convulse with angry demonstrators, as police and radical protesters clash amid flames and gunfire. Blood splatters the pavement as pro-China and pro-Hong-Kong factions brawl. There are ominous rumblings of Chinese forces gathering across the border. The future of Hong Kong, in the eyes of its people and the world, is bleak and uncertain. Just another weekend in 2019’s long, hot summer of... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3030672/after-1967-summer-discontent-murray-maclehose-led-crusade-happy-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3030672/after-1967-summer-discontent-murray-maclehose-led-crusade-happy-and?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 29 Sep 2019 22:30:13 +0000