Global Voices » Hong Kong (China)

Hong Kong: Evangelists Accuse Lady Gaga of Leading Youth Astray

Oiwan Lam — Wed, 02 May 2012 15:32:15 +0000

American singer and songwriter Lady Gaga is currently touring Asia with her ‘Born this Way Ball'. Hong Kong shows are scheduled to take place between May 2 and May 7, 2012. On the eve of her first concert there, an evangelist group's campaign against her presence in Hong Kong has ignited debate within the local community.

A right wing evangelist group, Media Evangelism Limited, has launched an online campaign against Lady Gaga's tour, inviting Christians to sign in and “pray for youth in Hong Kong against the temptation of Lady Gaga”. The online poster [zh] states:

Lady Gaga 演唱會將於 2/5 - 7/5 來港舉行，演唱會帶有色情、同性戀及崇拜撒旦的元素，亦容讓 3 歲以上人士進場。我們籲請信徒支持緊急代禱簽到行動，為青少年的心智守望禱告。

Poster calling for Christians to sign in to pray for youth against the

Lady Gaga's concerts will be held between May 2 and May 7 in Hong Kong. The concert has pornographic, homosexual and satanic elements and it allows children below the age of three to enter. Here we plead Christians to sign up and pray for the youth's mind and spirit.

Facebook user Julie Lam explained the Christian's action in her prayer [zh]:

她的新歌 Born This Way “生來如此” — 聲稱上帝創造同性戀者及同性戀不是罪，她積極推動同性婚姻合法，影響了數個國家的立法。她的表演志在香港及亞洲打開黑暗的大門讓邪惡進入，目標是要嚴重影響青少年, 導致道德墮落。

Her new song, Born This Way, said that God created homosexuals and it is not a sin. She advocates for the legalization of same sex marriage and has influenced several countries' legislation. Her performance will open the door for evil to come in. Her objective is to influence the youth and bring moral decadence.

Less than 100 people have signed in to the page with the majority being against the evangelist group's propaganda. Below is a selection of some of the prayers in the sign-up page [zh].

Johnny Cheung said [zh]:

求主使青年人有清昕頭腦, 分辨壞思想, 壞行為, 分辨到造假的諾亞方舟或者lady gaga 教壞人熟輕熟重的問題。請所有被洗腦影音洗腦的人清醒, 回到你身邊, 呀門.

Pray for god to clear our youth's brain. Let them know how to distinguish bad thought and behavior. Let them know the fake business of the Noah's Ark theme park. Isn't that more of a problem than Lady Gaga in terms of corrupting people's minds? I pray all those who have been brainwashed by the evangelist media to regain their senses and come back to God's side.

Chan Kwan Yeung defended Lady Gaga [zh]:

慈悲天父嘅主呀,求你為被”影音使團”所說的話而被蒙蔽的人,清洗他們的眼睛哦!
LadyGaga是一個歌手,她所行的一切都是引導現今青少年於正道。宣揚,愛與自由,任何種族,性別,性取向的人皆是平等。她本人並沒有崇拜撤旦,只是在節目上回應主持人的玩笑。她的心是永遠追遠追隨父神你的。神呀,請你為那些被影音使團對LadyGaga的誤解,而寬恕。請你引導這班被該團體而誤入歧途的信徒,帶回正道!阿門~

Our Father, Please let those who have been blinded by the evangelist media to regain their sight!
Lady Gaga is a singer. She guides the youth to choose a righteous path. She promotes love, freedom and equality among those of different race, gender and sexual orientation. She is not a Satan worshipper, she was joking with the program host. Her heart follows our Heavenly Father. God, please forgive those who misjudge Lady Gaga because of the evangelist media's propaganda. Please guide the believers who have been led by the evangelist group to the righteous path. Amen.

Chu Ka Yu criticized the evangelist group for spreading a ‘gay sin' message [zh]:

將社會分化, 將同自己價值觀唔同既野打壓, 向年青人洗腦, 向佢地灌輸Gay Sin呢個message, 將自己所知所信既視為世界上唯一正確既真理, 唔去用批判思考去想上帝既道理, 用”人”既腦去解讀上帝既意旨, 呢d就係”教會”

我信主, 我信神, 我讀聖經, 所以, 我反對任何教會既存在…

你話我係魔鬼又好, 話我係咩都好…

Divide society, oppress those who do not share their own value, brainwash the youth with the message of Gay Sin, uphold one's belief as the only truth in this world, refuse to reflect upon God's message, impose upon God's will by one's limited intelligence, these are acts of the ‘church'.
I believe in God and Jesus Christ. I read the Bible. That's why I oppose the Church.
I don't care if you call me a devil or anything else….

Siu Heng pointed out that young people know how to make their own choices [zh]:

我唔係lady gaga fans, 亦冇打算去睇佢show；我亦好尊重人地既宗教信仰。但頂唔蒲有人以為青少年係白痴，睇個show就會變壞；以為自己係道德塔里班，人地同你唔同就話係歪風。

I am not a fan of Lady Gaga and do not plan to see her show. I respect the beliefs of others. But I can't stand people treating the youth as idiots who would become bad because of a show. You are just a bunch of moral Talibans who accuse each other of being morally wrong because they are different.

Vita Lam criticized the right wing for spreading hatred [zh]:

基督徒表達對信仰的立場令到小數族群飽受歧視公平嗎.
假設所有人針對基督來打壓你們會怎樣想
與其說神愛世人不如說是宗教挑起仇恨比較貼切

Is it fair for the Christian to impose discrimination against the social minority when expressing their belief?
If all other people are attacking Christian beliefs, how would you react?
God loves everyone in this world, but in reality, it is more accurate to say that religion has instigated hatred.

The thumbnail and featured image used in this post is by Domain Barnyard, used under an Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0) Creative Commons license. Visit Domain Barnyard's flickr photostream.

This post was sub-edited by Jane Ellis.

Refugees: Online Media and Technology to the Service of Refugees

Juliana Rincón Parra — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 05:29:46 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage on Refugees.

Two different organizations are focusing on the benefits and advantages of online media and technology to aid refugees and improve their lives. The first, Refugees United, uses online databases that can be accessed through mobile platforms to reunite refugees who have lost track of family members and the next, HKRefugeeInfoChannel provides legal and welfare information to refugees in Hong Kong through YouTube videos.

Refugees United started off as a pilot in Northern Uganda that is now spreading to other African countries and other areas of the world where natural disasters, political unrest and violence have caused massed evacuations and people to get separated from their kin and loved ones. Through an anonymous database, refugees can create a profile where they can share details about their lives that will be recognizable by kin who go online through a computer or using cellphones.

In Lost and Found, four refugees tell their stories of escape and loss, and what it is like for them to go on with their lives not knowing about their loved ones, not even if they are alive or dead. Although different NGOs have done efforts in the past to reunite refugee families, handwritten papers and photographs aren't easily shared by multiple organizations and across international borders. With the ability to have an online repository that different organizations and individuals can join and search through, the possibility to unite families is increased.

In Hong Kong, a multilingual channel has become available through YouTube videos for refugees to get answers to common questions on legal, health and education issues. For example, in a video, Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Hong Kong Kelley Loper explains what are the differences between a refugee and an asylum seeker.

Or this video explains the process a refugee needs to follow if they need to receive medical attention:

A successful reconnection story of refugees is told in the Refugees United Blog: a family separated in South Kivu due to violence and who although they don't have their own phones with internet access or funds to use internet cafes, have been able to use the software through community liaisons to discover the whereabouts of family members and find their kin. You can also follow the progress of Refugees United through their Facebook page.

This post is part of our special coverage on Refugees.

China and Hong Kong: 2010-2020 Shenzhen Comprehensive Plan

Oiwan Lam — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 11:09:12 +0000

Mary Ann O'Donnell looks into the 2010-2020 Shenzhen Comprehensive Plan which shows how Hong Kong and Shenzhen would be integrated in the next 10 years.

Chinese Africans in Hong Kong

Oiwan Lam — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 11:54:20 +0000

The Republic of the Gambia has no consulate in Hong Kong. But the city has a population of Mainland Chinese Gambian passport holders seeking residency in HK via the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme (CIES). More from David Webb.

Beating China's Book Bans in Hong Kong

Oiwan Lam — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 11:42:56 +0000

Lam Li from Asia Sentinel explains how Hong Kong has turned into a center for distributing China banned books.

China: An Insider's Reflection on Keyword Filtering Programs

Oiwan Lam — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 14:06:19 +0000

A computer programmer, under the pseudo name 'smilings', has written a reflective article at my1510.cn [zh] about his experience in developing a program for keyword filtering on mobile devices. The blogger's account informs readers about the nature of filtering - that which entails active monitoring of individual privacy. Below is a full translation of his reflection:

刚毕业的第二年，部门经理让我和同事一起做一个短信关键词过滤的功能，也就是说在收到用户发来的短信之后，判断这条短信是否包含关键词，如果有，就直接拒绝，并且呢又要模拟一条发送成功的状态报告返回。后来客户提出进一步的要求，在拦截了包含关键词的短信之后，需要将这条短信的源号码、目的号码和短信内容记录下来。当时的我，正处于懵懂的积极工作期，欣然接受了这个任务。

Error sending message. By Keso (CC: BY-NC-SA 2.0)

In my second year of graduation, the head of my department asked my colleague and me to design a program for keyword filtering. The program entails a keyword recognition system to distinguish whether or not the message contains certain keywords. If yes, the system would deny the delivery of the message. However, at the same time, it has to send out a successful delivery message to the sender. Later our clients demanded that we add another function. Upon blocking the messages, the system has to record the sender's number, the receiver's number and the content of the messages. I was too green then and accepted the task without any hesitation.

我和同事一起，认真地做需求分析、设计、实现和测试，在测试时发现增加这个功能之后短信处理速度下降了将近30%，两个人又一起加班将它的性能提高到比原来还高的水平。这样还不够，为了增加客户使用的友好性，我们做了一个管理界面，让用户可以在界面上修改配置项、增加修改删除关键词、查询被过滤的短信内容和号码。很快地，这个功能在原系统上升级使用了，客户也非常满意。而当我登录上这个系统做维护的时候，意外地发现，被捕获的短信各式各样，黄色的、敏感的、私隐的，心里有一点点的不安。但是，我并没有去深究，很快地忘记了这件事情。

My colleague and I were very dedicated in our analysis, design and in testing all the functions. During the testing stage, we found out that the system would slow down the message delivery time by 30%. We worked overtime to increase its speed. In order to be more user friendly, we had designed an interface for the clients to manage the system. There, they could add or delete keywords, check the filtered messages and the sender's and receiver's messages. Very soon, we had an upgrade of the system and the client was very satisfied. Later, when I logged in for system maintenance, I found out that the system had captured all kinds of indecent, sensitive and private messages and I felt quite uneasy seeing that. But I did not think deep and forgot about the whole thing very quickly.

直到后来，见的东西多了，看的东西多了，自己的思维也发生了变化，回想自己曾努力投入地实现的那个尽善尽美的短信过滤功能，心里既不安又自责。我时常会想，会不会有人因为我们曾经实现的那个功能，而遭遇不幸呢？会不会有人因为这样而泄露私隐呢？如果我们不做这个功能，又会怎样呢？

Later, when I had more experience and had exposure to different ideas, I started to look at things differently. When I look back at my devotion to the development of the filtering system, I feel so guilty. Sometimes I am worried whether the system that I have created has brought misfortune to others. Or if someone has had their privacy exposed because of that. If we refused the request in the first place, would things be different?

这几个问题，我一直没有找到答案，但偶尔间想起，内心依然感觉不安。虽然知道，在那个时候，自己并没有这样的意识，也没有太多的选择，而且，即使我们不做，排队要做的也大有人在。

I don't have any answers for the above questions yet and I still feel uneasy about that. Even though I was not conscious of the issue at stake and did not have much choice… also even if we had rejected it, someone else would certainly have taken up the task.

这个推断很快得到了印证。不久前，产品经理将一个类似的功能交给我们，我很本能地、非常激烈地拒绝。产品经理很困惑地找我聊天，问我为什么会拒绝，当他听完我的理由后，哭笑不得。他说：“这是我们产品打入中国市场的最好机会，中国的移动市场将会给我们带来丰厚的利润，这你应该很清楚。但是，缺少这个功能我们无可能会有机会获得入场券，你知道，现在的市场竞争是那么的激烈。”当我反过来尝试说服产品经理拒绝这个功能的时候，他像看外星人一样看着我，半天不说话。我们之间，谁也无法说服谁，而最终折衷的方法是他将这个功能交给了另一个同事。

I was soon proved right. Sometime ago, our product manager asked us to follow up with a client who wanted to have a similar program. I objected instantly this time. The manager was confused and asked me why. He laughed at my explanation and said: “This is the best opportunity for our product to get into the China market. The mobile market in China would give us very good return. You should be aware of that. Without this function, we could never have the chance to enter the market, it is so competitive.” When I tried to convince him to refuse, he looked at me as if I were an alien. We failed to convince each other and he handed over the job to another colleague.

在同事实现这个功能之后，我自告奋勇地提出承担这个功能的性能测试任务，在意料之中，性能下降了25%，内存使用率和CPU占用率却是增高了32%，我将这组数据写进测试报告，在测试报告的总结中，加上这样的一句话：“这个功能因为XX等原因，占用资源较多，处理速度也会相应下降，建议不要启用。”产品经理看到这样的报告，皱着眉头问：“将性能提高回原来的水平，需要多大的effort？”同事面露难色，我在旁边插了一句：“恐怕会比较大的代价。”其实，对于容不得产品有明显瑕疵的专业测试人员，我又陷入了另一种矛盾中。莫名地，在那几个瞬间，为了稍许的心安，违背了自己的专业，虽然明知这改变不了任何事情。

When my colleague finished the program, I nominated myself for the testing. As I had anticipated, there was 25% decrease in speed when the usage of memories and CPU increased to 32%. I wrote a testing report and concluded: “Because of XXX reason, such function would occupy a lot of resource and reduce the speed. Suggest not to launch the product.” The product manager wrinkled at my report and asked: “How much effort do we need to push up the capacity to original level?” My colleague hesitated to answer. I said “the price is quite big”. As a programmer in pursuit of perfection, this is a contradictory move. However, in order to relieve myself from my moral tension, I betrayed my professional ethics even though I knew that I could not change anything.

在产品的生存和利润面前，我们很少会去考虑它是否值得做、是否应该做，我们所做的功能，是否会给他人、甚至自己带来了不公正的待遇。我们也很少去考虑，为了利润的我们所做的事情，看似是很正常的，但实际上却成了别人利用来对付我们这些普通百姓的工具。就算意识到了，也很难去拒绝，在碗饭面前、在利润面前，是否又真的能说不？是不是只要有利润，就一定会有人做？如果是这样，那最后呢？

In the face of profit making and survival in the market, we rarely take into consideration whether or not it is ethical for us to develop a product, or whether such product(s) would bring injustice to the others or ourselves. It seems quite normal for us to develop certain products in our quest for profit, but we seldom take into account that the products could turn into tools that are used to control ordinary people, including us. Even if we are aware of the problem, can we risk our job and say no? Is it inevitable that someone would take up the job when there is profit involved? If so, what would become of our world?

很多时候，在我们抱怨某颗树上结出来的果子太苦涩时，我们没有意识到，其实是因为在果树开花的季节我们自己不问对错地喷了本来不该喷的药。

When we complain that the fruits of a tree are too bitter, it is because we have sprayed too much poisonous fertilizers during its flowering.

Hong Kong: Citizens Say No to Undemocratic City Mayor Election

Ronald Yick — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 01:09:36 +0000

Among the 1,200 Hong Kong Chief Executive Election Committee members, 689 elected Leung Chun-ying to be the next city mayor on March 25 under the influence and active lobbying of the Liasion Office of the Central People's Government in Hong Kong. When the election result was released, thousands of demonstrators protested against the Beijing manipulation of the election process outside the temporary election venue.

The mock civil referendum

Before the election, between March 23-24, more than 220,000 Hong Kong citizens had participated in the mock “civil referendum” organized by the Public Opinion Programme of the Hong Kong University to express their discontent towards the small circle election and to assert their right to vote for the city mayor.

Despite the online voting system being attacked by hackers, thousands of legitimate voters (local residents aged over 18) insisted to queue outside polling stations to cast their ballots:

Polling station at Poly University on March 24. From Facebook Page: Civic Referendum

Facebook user Leung Chau Ming was queued outside one of the polling stations on March 23; he described [zh] the touching scene on the Facebook page of the civic referendum event:

當時我身在其中, 寒風中大家也很自律, 有老中青, 更有媽媽在邊排隊邊給小朋友餵飯。

深明今天所為, 從64至71到323 etc., 未會於有生之年見証民主之成果; 但為下一代…下兩代…下下下N代，我們是有責任的, 亦是每個香港人此時此刻應盡的義務！

I was in the queue. We kept in order despite the gale. (There were) old people, adults and young guys. A mother even fed his son while queuing. I fully understand that despite all the struggles and rallies on June 4 [annual candle night vigil], July 1, and [this year] March 23 [rally against Beijing intervention on the election], etc, We probably will not see the fruit of democracy in our lifetime, but for our next generation, our next next generation,… N generations from now. We have responsibilities. It is also the obligation of every Hong Konger here and now!

Thomas Pang was in the same queue with Leung and he explained why he decided to queue up for the mock election:

THAT IS THE PRESENT SITUATION BUT WE LOOK FOR A CHANGE. WE DO NOT WANT “PALACE POLITICS-CHINESE TYPE” ANY MORE. THAT IS WHY WE HAVE COME OUT TO VOTE. WE DO THIS BECAUSE WE DO NOT WANT OUR NEXT GENERATION COME THROUGHT ALL THIS AGAIN. I HOPE LOSO WILL UNDERSTAND.

Eventually, 222,990 people voted in the mock election, in which 54.6% cast blank votes. Leung Chun-ying only got 17.8% of the votes, a huge contrast with the result of small circle election, which was held in the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center.

Protest outside the city hall on March 25

On March 25, more than 2,000 people protested outside the temporary election venue. Outraged by Leung's victory, they pushed the police barricades. Below are some photos taken by citizen journalists from inmediahk.net on the protest scene:

Protesters pushing the police barricades on March 25. Image by Flickr user inmediahk (CC BY-NC).

Protesters sitting outside the election hall. Image by Flickr user inmediahk (CC BY-NC).

No to the small circle election: the Pig, the Wolf and the Dove. Image by Flickr user inmediahk (CC BY-NC).

Joshua Wong, a young activist, reflected upon the demonstration and expressed his disappointment [zh] with people’s unwillingness to take action:

還記得今天在會展外的馬路坐下時，忽然有人大叫：「梁振英當選！」，群眾們立即站立起哄，面上流露著驚訝的神情。我本身對梁振英當選也有心理準備，但也想不到他可在第一輪投票以689票立即當選。

回家時十分痛心，我痛心的不是梁振英當選，我痛心的是大家的那種犬儒和事不關已的心態，「邊個做特首都唔關我事，平平安安和和諧諧咪算」、「懶衝動只會搞到政局亂哂搞臭香港個名」、「抗爭完都無用架啦」、「呢個世界邊有真正民主」……

我很想告訴大家，梁振英當選並不可怕，可怕的是大家對強勢政治和硬推政策無動於衷，即使將來對遊行集會的打壓會越來越強，但我乃我始終如一地相信群眾運動的力量，特別很想告訴各位同學和朋友，嘗試第一次的社會行動，把握今年的七一遊行，讓大家以一個又一個足印，告訴中共政權，我們不要這個由小圈子選舉產生，只有18%認受性的梁振英特首。

I remembered when I was sitting on the road outside the center, someone suddenly shouted, ‘CY Leung has won!' People stood up and howled. They felt surprised. I was prepared for his victory, but did not expect he could win in the first round with 689 votes.

I was heartbroken when I was back home, not because of Leung's victory, but the feeling of cynicism and detachment: ‘Whoever will be the Chief Executive is not my concern, as long as [the society is] safe and harmonious', ‘Impulse will lead to political chaos and destroy Hong Kong's image.', ‘Useless even after protest', ‘No real democracy in every part of the world'…

I really want to tell you all that, Leung's victory is not fearful; the fear is people's lack of concern on the threat of the future iron hand politics. Even if the repression of freedom of demonstration and assembly increases, I still believe in the power of people. In particular, I would continue to encourage students and friends to join social action, in particular to grasp the opportunity of the upcoming July 1 rally. Let our footstep tell the Chinese Communist regime that we don't want to have Leung Chun-ying who is “elected” by a small circle and with less than 18% public endorsement, to be our Chief Executive.

Another demonstration against Beijing intervention into local politics will be held the coming weekend on April 1.

China, Taiwan and Hong Kong: What Story can the Number of Votes Tell?

Oiwan Lam — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 13:07:17 +0000

Jimmy from Tea Leaf Nation translates the micro-blog conversation of Hong Kong Chief Executive Election. Netizens compared the number of votes needed for each region to get into leadership position - Taiwan: 6.89 Million Votes, Hong Kong: 689 Votes, Mainland: 9 Votes!

Hong Kong Chief Executive Election: The Pig, the Wolf or Blank Vote?

Oiwan Lam — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 08:25:25 +0000

The Hong Kong Chief Executive “election” is about to take place on March 25, 2012. The 1,200 privileged election committee members have to choose between Henry Tang, nicknamed “Pig” by the Hong Kong press and Chung-ying Leung nicknamed “Wolf”, both of whom have been endorsed by the Beijing government as acceptable candidates. To protest against the undemocratic election system, the civil society is urging the election committee members to give up their privilege and cast a blank vote.

Sin-ming Shaw from Project Syndicate explained the background of the two candidates. Here comes Henry Tang, the ‘Pig':

Tang, the mild-mannered scion of a textile magnate whose father is a confidant of China’s former leader, Jiang Zemin, committed two elementary mistakes. The first was not confessing quickly enough to his having mistresses, one of whom has a college-age offspring whose father is probably Tang… The second error was even more inane. Local papers discovered that he had illegally built a large, deluxe wine cellar with a spa beneath one of his mansions. As a senior public servant, he knew that the construction was illegal, and that he should have taken remedial steps to legalize his actions or to abandon it – a matter merely of money, of which he has plenty.

A satirical poster remixed by Facebook user Rex Lee at Tang's Earthquake Page

As for the ‘Wolf', C.Y Leung:

The tycoons fear that Leung’s deeply old-fashioned communist values would hurt their oligopolies. The press finds him evasive. The intelligentsia is wary of him as an underground Communist Party member, something that he has denied. And civil servants believe that Leung harbors resentment of Hong Kong’s British colonial legacy, of which the civil service is the most visible.

As Tang's personal scandal is more conspicuous to ordinary people, his popularity has fallen sharply behind Leung. At the same time, local pro-Beijing groups are spreading the news that C.Y Leung has become Beijing's designated future Chief Executive.

Frustrated by his opponent's attack and out of desperation, in a pubic debate on March 16, Tang revealed that C.Y Leung had supported the implementation of Basic Law Article 23 (the so-called national security legislation) by force and was ready to crack down on protesters with riot police and tear gas in 2003. He also revealed that Leung had pressured the Hong Kong government to shorten the license term of a local commercial radio in order to pressurise the media outlet to self-censor their programs.

Disturbed by the news, more and more people supported the ABC position, which means, Anyone-But-C.Y. Leung. Supporters of ABC have been urging the election committee members to do either of the following: 1) to vote for Albert Ho, a token candidate of the pan-democratic alliance who is not acceptable to the Beijing government; 2) to cast a blank vote or give up their vote; 3) to vote for Henry Tang who is unlikely to win as he has revealed government internal discussion to the public.

A major mobilization has been called upon by a civic coalition of more than 30 non-governmental organizations. They urge [zh] the election committee members to cast blank votes:

今年的「特首選戰」只是一場鬧劇，各候選人雖然都提出不同的政綱，但在過程中沒有諮詢並排拒基層市民的參與，更選擇性地接見有權勢有選票的團體。這突顯不論誰人當選，行政長官都只會為一小撮特權階級服務。更荒謬的是，主要候選人只透過互揭醜聞作政治宣傳手段，除顯示當權者缺乏政治誠信外，只不過是富豪階級及大財團的利益代言人，當選後只會將利益向金融資本和大商家輸送，而民間團體及普羅市民一直爭取的社會議題，最終只會石沉大海。

The CE election is nothing but a farce. All candidates have put forward their so-called policy plan but there isn't any consultation and they have excluded ordinary people from participation. During their campaign, they have selectively met only those groups that have voting privileges. No matter who wins, the CE will only serve a minority, the privileged class. More ridiculous is the fact that the election campaign has been dominated by scandals, the winner of the game will not have any integrity and he will only be the representative of tycoons and serve their interest by means of future government policy. Social reform agenda will be ignored.

我們現呼籲全港市民以不同形式站出來，以行動杯葛小圈子選舉，而手握一票的人士，以「不投票」的形式，洗淨身上特權的污垢。

We urge all Hong Kong citizens to stand up and boycott the election. Those who have the privilege to vote, should give up such privilege.

Profile picture of the Hong Kong Federation of Student Union's mobilization page

The Federation of Student Union has organized an overnight protest on the night of March 24. Below is an excerpt from their mobilization statement, via Facebook [zh]:

近日，社會輿論都集中在候選人的醜聞和私人生活上，把特首選舉鬧得熱哄哄。傳媒每日上演著一幕幕選戰風雲，給予我們有選擇權的幻象。然而，這無非是一小撮利益集團的權力鬥爭。香港人既沒有投票權也沒有決定權，而基於候選人不必向市民直接負責的關係，一般港人也不會是下屆特首的主要服務對象。…我們希望透過是次行動，將社會近來聚焦的方向，由候選人的醜聞轉移回到問題的根本：制度的不公和小圈子選舉的不平等，從而喚起民眾的醒覺，理解到自己的公民權利被剝削，從而走上繼續爭取民主自由的道路。

Recently, the media reports on the CE election are all about scandals. The “election drama” has given people an illusion as if we have the right to choose. In reality it is just a power struggle within a small circle of powerful elites. The ordinary people of Hong Kong do not have the voting right to decide. The candidates are not endorsed by the people and thus the future C.E will not serve us… Through this action, we want to shift the focus back from the candidates' scandals to the fundamental problem: the unjust and unequal election system. The people need to be aware of the fact that we are being deprived of our citizen rights and hence continue to strike for freedom and democracy.

Hong Kong: Indie Music Made Illegal by Contradictory Policies

Oiwan Lam — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 15:11:00 +0000

Hidden Agenda has been rated as one of the best live music venues in Hong Kong by CNNGo. The indie music space has been in the industrial neighborhood of Kwun Tong for many years, as the factory district is planned to be a hub for local cultural and creative activities.

However, contradictory to the government's policy to promote cultural and creative industries, since 2010, some government departments have kept harassing performance venues and live concerts, as autonomous creative space in Hong Kong is unprotected by existing law. In the past two years, Hidden Agenda has been harassed by the police at least twice, before and during their music shows.

The latest police harassment happened during the weekend of March 18, 2012, when two overseas indie bands, Israeli “Art Rock” Eatliz and Turtle Giant from Macau [zh], were about to perform in the venue.

Quncy Lau posted more than 30 photos showing the police officers “carrying out their duty” on Facebook:

Police entering the building. Photo by Quncy Lau.

Quncy Lau explained [zh] the situation in the comment thread:

Hidden Agenda. Mar 18.
楝岩開show 時間來查消防，幾十個警察陪一個消防上去

Hidden Agenda. Mar 18.
They intentionally picked the time when the show is about to start to check the fire alarm system. Two dozen police officers accompanied one fireman to carry out the duty.

Hidden Agenda has been forced to relocate twice because of the lack of legal protection on their creative activities. Wong Chun Kok explained the background [zh] at inmediahk.net:

2010年一月，在政府活化工廈政策刺激底下，孕育Hidden Agenda的工廠大廈被財團整棟收購，並被要求在限期內遷出。臨行前舉辦了一連兩天的「馬上封音樂會」，超過二十隊樂隊與及街頭藝術界的好朋友參與。遷出至今兩年，舊址仍然空置。…

兩年以來，大家投放的心血漸漸被外界肯定。除被評為最佳音樂展演場地外，更令我們驚訝的是法國文化協會、康樂及文化事務署等都開始使用此場地，儘管這裡沒有適用的牌照可以申請。在現行政策底下，工廠大廈裡所有的音樂展演空間、展覽、劇場等等都違法。一方面Hidden Agenda主動聯絡政府部門商討對策，另一方面，地政署、食環署，甚至連屋宇署都不斷作出滋擾。

Back in January 2010, under the stimulation of government's policy on revitalizing the industrial buildings, the warehouse where Hidden Agenda was founded was bought up by a developer and we were forced to leave. Before we left, we organized a series of music concerts under the title “About to be Blocked” and more than 20 local indie and street performance groups joined us. Two years later, the old venue was still empty…

In the past two years, we gained recognition from society and have been rated as the best music performance venue in Hong Kong. Even the France Culture Association and the government's Leisure and Cultural Services Department have started renting our venue despite the fact that we do not have any license that authorizes us to run the space. According to existing regulations, all music performance, art exhibitions and theatrical performances in factory buildings are considered illegal. We have tried contacting the government to deal with the problem actively, but the Land Department, Food and Environmental Hygiene Department and even the Building Department keep on harassing us.

The second relocation happened in September 2011, this time under the pressure of the government's Land Department. Before they left, they organized another series of indie music concerts under the theme “East Kowloon Industrial Space” [zh] to ally with other artists in the industrial district. Below is a video recording one of their show:

Leung Lai Yin, an indie musician and a fan of Hidden agenda got fed up [zh] with police harassment:

事實就是這樣搬去邊都摷你出來
Hidden Agenda搬到新竇今晚警察又再來騷擾
如果我們都真的認為香港需要有HA這間Live house
甚至要更多更多分享和孕育出創作的空間的話
我們做觀眾的除了俾錢入埸支持HA捱貴租都要撑落去外
我們是否應該組織起來做行動?
媒體的報道夠多了結果還是這樣子被欺負
一起想像一下行動然後組織起來去實踐吧
向社會回應我們的聲音、態度
藝術歸於人民

The fact is no matter where you would have moved, they would follow you.
Hidden Agenda has moved to a new location now, the police come to harass again.
If we really think Hong Kong needs indie music live venues like Hidden Agenda
Or more space for creative activities
As an audience, apart from supporting HA by paying the ticket prices to shoulder the expensive rent,
Don't we have to get organized and defend them?
The media has a lot of reports on this, but that doesn't stop the harassment.
Let's figure out how to take action
Society has to give feedback to our voices and demands
Art must be returned to the people.

Police crackdown on a rooftop indie music concert in September 2011. Photo from inmediahk.net

Indeed, Hidden Agenda is not the only victim of the policy contradiction. Back in September 2011, another indie music performance in a more remote industrial district in North West Kowloon was subject to a crackdown by police officers.

Wong Chun Kok described the situation [zh] at inmediahk.net:

9月3日，朋友於寂靜無人的葵涌工廠區，挑了一天台位置舉辦音樂會。此舉靈感來自美國樂隊Jefferson Airplane於1968年的天台音樂會，也就是英國Beatles傳奇性天台音樂會的前一年。最大分別，就是Jefferson Airplane的音樂會是在紐約曼克頓市中心，Beatles那一次是在利物浦鬧市，從大白天開始。但是，我們都已習慣深夜走到沒人逗留的工業區玩音樂。

因為多數香港人，對音樂活動是不理解的。

經驗告訴我，其實無論你去到多麼偏遠，警察都會說有人投訴噪音而會強行終止音樂會。就算你有一千人、一萬人享受音樂，只要有一個警察口中說的投訴，你便要乖乖識趣。…這次，為保護音樂會，觀眾築起人牆。結果警察連防暴盾牌也出動了，可能天太黑，誤以為結他是牛肉刀。然後警察強行拘捕觀眾，禁錮其他人於天台。有朋友怒罵：「玩音樂嗟，駛唔駛咁呀？」然後遭到警察怒目相向。

On 3 September, my friends picked up a remote spot in Kwai Chung Industrial District for a rooftop music concert. They got the inspiration from the American band Jefferson Airplane's 1968 roof top performance, a year before the Beatles' rooftop performance. The biggest difference was that Jefferson Airplane's concert was in the center of Manhattan, the Beatles' was in the center of Liverpool and they started in broad daylight. But we are used to hearing our music in remote industrial districts at night.

Because most Hong Kong people do not understand music.

My experience has told me that no matter how remote your concert spot, the police will stop a music concert by force whenever they received complaints about the noise. Even though more than 1,000 or 10,000 people are enjoying the music, one complaint would ruin the whole thing. And you have to obey whatever the police say… This time, in order to protect the concert, the audience formed a human shield, then the police brought their anti-riot shields. Maybe it was too dark and they mistook the guitars for some huge swords. Then the police officers arrested the audience and locked them up on the rooftop. Some of my friends were yelling: “we are just playing music, do you have to do this?” The police officers only returned angry stares.

Hong Kong: Everyday Misery Unaddressed in Small Circle Mayoral Election

Oiwan Lam — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 02:17:10 +0000

A small circle election will be held on 25 March, 2012, to decide on the Chief Executive of Hong Kong. Only 1,200 election committee members can participate in the so-called election of the city mayor and a majority of the votes are controlled by the pro-China political and social groups.

Under such an undemocratic system, the vision and policy plan of the candidates are not the keys to their success. The full blessing of the Beijing government, on the other hand, is most crucial to the match.

So far, among the three candidates, only Henry Tang and Leung Chun Ying have been endorsed by the Beijing government, Albert Ho, nominated by the pan-democratic alliance is just a token candidate in the election.

Instead of engaging in policy debate, the two blessed candidates and their supporters are busy attacking each others with scandals; the mainstream media in the past few weeks have been flooded with all kinds of scandals, from Henry Tang's secret mistress, illegitimate son and illegal dungeon to CY Leung's avested interest in the West Kowloon project and his supporters' campaign dinner with a triad member.

Fed up with the situation, YouTube user shuiliuyun (with the assistance of Derrick Tao) produced a short video to present some issues facing average Hong Kong residents and urge the governing elites to address the real problems:

Most people think of Hong Kong as an international financial center or a shopping paradise. Little do they know of the daily life of local people. The video presents the miserable life of those who have to compete for their survival even before they are born.

Below is the translation of the video script and the slide content (in parentheses).

Have you ever thought about being a Hongkong-er?
(Hong Kong people have to spend their whole live competing.)

How should you equip yourself for winning the competitions?
(Unborn baby has to compete for maternity bed.)

You are not yet being born, your parents have to compete for a maternity bed.
(Among 95,337 newborn babies, half of them are offsprings of mainland pregnant women.)

Then they have to compete for infant formula milk, newborn healthcare service, kindergarten.
(Newborn Hong Kong babies have to compete for infant formula milk, newborn health care service, kindergarten - the city's 14 newborn day care centers can only serve 482 babies. Only 80% of kindergartens accept government childcare coupons.)

It is not easy to get into renowned schools which receive direct subsidies from the government.
(Hong Kong students have to compete for entering renowned schools with direct subsidies from the government and to compete for entering university. There are 51,123 students in direct subsidy secondary schools [11% of the total number of secondary students in Hong Kong] 12,589 pupils in direct subsidy primary schools [4% of the total number of primary pupils in Hong Kong]; 45.5% of the primary school kids successfully enter the secondary schools that they choose.)

Very quickly you will be among one of the university examination takers among 70,000 others and compete for the 15,000 university degrees.
(70,000 Hong Kong high school students compete for 15,000 local university degrees.)

After you have graduated, what kind of occupations can you choose from except from the finance sector?
(Graduate students compete for jobs. Apart from the finance sector, every other sectors are vanishing.)

If we want to start up our own business, how are we going to tackle the most expensive rent in the world?
(Hong Kong business people have to compete for offices and retail spaces. Grade A office space (per square ft annual rent: Singapore USD 87.00; London USD 150.20; Hong Kong USD 213.70.)

The increase in property prices is always faster than one's salary. The construction of public housing is a lot slower than our needs. Our living spaces are getting smaller and smaller, while more and more expensive.
(Shell-less snails compete for homes. There are more than 150,000 public housing applicants. The government only builds 15,000 public housing units every year. The price of private housing is back to the 1997 level.)

Our GDP does keep on rising. But rich and poor disparity is getting extremely serious.
Average per capita GDP has increased 64% from 1998-2011; the median of family income has seen a zero increase in the past 13 years. The disparity between rich and poor is the highest in the world. The Gini co-effecience figure is 0.53.)

The fate of 7 million people should be decided by the 1,200 electoral committee members?
(Hong Kong power elites compete for the top seat in the Chief Executive electoral committee. More than 7 million citizens are represented by 1,200 electoral committee members in the election of the city mayor.)

This is all too wrong. But even if I am sick, the doctors and nurses are too busy to take care of me.
(Hong Kong people compete for medical services. The nurse and patient ratio in public hospital at the night shift is 1:24; international standard is 1:6.)

Time passes very quickly and many decades passed by, we have to compete for beds again.
(Hong Kong elderly compete for elderly care centers. In 20 years, the number of elderly in Hong Kong will be 2,500,000 while we only have 27,000 beds in elderly care centers.)

Even when we die, we have to compete. It is not easy to rest in peace.
(The dead in Hong Kong have to compete for a position in cemeteries. In the next 20 years, 1,000,000 people will pass away, but we only have 123,400 urns available in our cemeteries. We don't have a space to bury ourselves after we die?)

Hong Kong people, is this what we want?
(Hold on, we need a responsible Chief Executive with guts. We need new thinking, real reform, and a long-term blue print for our future.)

Chief Executive, it's time to work.
(Chief Executive, it's time to work.)

Hong Kong: UNHCR's Subsidy Cut and Donation Black Hole

Tina Chan — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 14:33:17 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage on Refugees.

Recently the United Nation Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Hong Kong is being questioned by several non-governmental bodies regarding its reduction in the day-to-day financial aid for refugees in Hong Kong, in spite of the huge amount of donation coming from private donors in Hong Kong.

The latest announcement made by the UNHCR Hong Kong office stated that they are going to cut off 80 percent of the monthly allowance, which currently supports 180 refugees with housing and daily living in Hong Kong. Refugees in Hong Kong were used to receiving HKD 3,000 (equivalent to USD 400) per month once their status had been confirmed, however after the cut, they will receive approximately only HKD 1,500 (USD 200) per month.

Global Survivor 2012 Workshop by Crossroad Foundation, A refugee support group in Hong Kong. (CC-BY 2.0)

On the other hand, UNHCR collected over HKD 20 million in 2010 and HKD 16 million up to 19 September, 2011, in Hong Kong. So, where have these UNHCR millions gone?

Frustrated by the budget cut, refugee organization, Vision First, has issued an open letter to the UNHCR Sub-Office in Hong Kong and questioned UNHCR's policy.

A comment made by Cow Pies on March 5, under the Vision First news thread about the subsidy cut, expresses his anger over the UNHCR:

UNHCR is nothing but a fundraising *Black Hole*!!! There are reasons why their job should be an essential international service, yet they offer no accountability or transparency. Why should we take them for their word when we don’t trust any other international agency (United Nations excluded)? The more one digs for answers, the more questions are unearthed … It’s too convenient to say “We spend the 3.9 billion USD helping refugees worldwide” without backing this up with independent reports. Even the pie charts on their website show 88% “Refugee Programs” but the same charts don’t show salaries, housing allowance, insurance, officer traveling, entertainment, lobbying and other cost they most certainly have. Why should we trust them? They are in-house, unverified, unsupported and lacking basic monthly cost they obviously have. We realize that UNHCR was around before we were born, they will be around after we die and it cannot be changed overnight. Truth is, the way they treat refugees is disgraceful. After collected 27 million HKD in 2011, there is no justification for spending only 648,000 HKD and passing responsibility to HKSAR. They recognized these 180 refugees, but they continuously shirk their responsibility to care for them. Shame on UNHCR!!!

Refugees are not permitted to work in Hong Kong, due to the unsigned 1951 Refugee Convention by the government. Apart from a small group of people who receive financial support from churches or private donors, most of them rely on the UNHCR's monthly allowance.

Rents and the inflation rate in Hong Kong are sky rocketing and it is tough for anyone who has to live in the city on approximately HKD 1,500 a month, which is probably not even enough to pay for a cage room or a 150-square-foot subdivided unit in this expensive city.

Mr Refugee Beggar tells how hard his life is in Hong Kong through the blog of an organization which supports refugees and asylum seekers:

Now, we became the regular beggars! While sleeping we plan where we will go tomorrow for begging. Sometimes going for begging a little money to Mosque, Church, I.S.S. and to others NGOs whose behaviours are insulting and disrespectful and humiliating. They are treating refugees and others like a slave or third-class citizens. I swear you that this is the real punishment when you have no money to pay phone bill, electric bill, buying gas cylinder, hear cutting, photo copy, postal expenses, transport money for going to Mosque, to your lawyer, to attend the court and for many more expenses which are not paying by I.S.S. Some time even we have no two dollars for photo copy and spending day & night in the room as a self confinement for weeks.

Help please left a comment on February 24, to seek for help:

I am having 2 electric bill and water bill I cannot pay. ISS paying just small part. Not everything for me. My church also say no more money. The Final Notice from landlord write she cut electric and water tomorrow. Please help me! UNHCR Hong Kong cut my money from 1500 to 300 dollars. I ask them, but they don’t help me. Today I am very very desperate now. If landlord disconnect I cannot live in my room with no window.

Below is a series of videos produced by the HKSTV, on the story of an asylum-seeker, Mohammed, in Hong Kong. [The voice over is in Mandarin but Mohammed's interview is in English.]

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

This post is part of our special coverage on Refugees.

Rumours of Children Abduction by Mainland Chinese Heighten in Hong Kong

Oiwan Lam — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 06:01:13 +0000

Recently there are a number of “witness reports” circulated online about the the suspected “abduction” of Hong Kong children by mainland Chinese. Dictionary of Politically Incorrect presents the detail of the rumors.

Hong Kong, China: Poems on Ugliness

Oiwan Lam — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 05:32:06 +0000

A poem on “Hong Kong – an Ugly City” from an University student has inspired Hong Kong netizens to write their own poems, such as “China - an ugly country” and “China – a Pathetic Country”.

Hong Kong: What Can Be Done to Stop Birth Tourism from China?

Ronald Yick — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 01:32:57 +0000

One of the major conflicts between Hong Kong and China stems from birth tourism. According to official statistics, 95,337 babies were born in Hong Kong in 2011 and as much as 40% of babies’ parents are birth tourists from Mainland China.

According to the Hong Kong Basic Law, the mini-constitution in Hong Kong, children born to parents of Chinese origin can enjoy right of abode and full citizenship even though neither of the parents is a local resident. As a result, a large number of mainland Chinese pregnant women travel to Hong Kong to give birth so as to escape from the one-child policy and pave the future for their offspring.

The profile picture of Facebook group “Say No to Mainland pregnant women giving birth in Hong Kong!”

Since 2009, the shortage of maternity wards in private hospitals alerted local mothers. Public discontent exploded when a local newspaper reported at the end of 2011 that maternity places in these hospitals are fully booked until October 2012. Against this background, the Facebook Group “Say No to Mainland pregnant women giving birth in Hong Kong!” [founded in July 2011] has recruited more than 112,000 followers within 6 months.

The discontented local mothers also blame the influx of mainland pregnant women for the decline in the quality of maternity services in Hong Kong. Below is the experience of a new mother in the maternity ward shared in Facebook [Link to the widely shared note is not provided as the user profile is not public]:

1月中我係瑪麗開刀，在產前房看見有位普通話婦穿水入院，醫生問她國內做產檢等問題，她答了很多次不知道。我開刀那天，看到醫生的schedule，只是一個上午，她已有5個手術，怪不得公立好多資深醫生都離職。

產後房有很非本地孕婦，那三日兩夜的住院，我間大房有兩個普通話人對醫護呼呼喝喝，其中一個話有小孩在深圳要她照顧，想兒科醫生盡快簽出院紙，但醫護回覆兒科ICU好爆，醫生正忙。但佢繼續嘈，我忍唔住鬧佢不要再煩姑娘，之後姑娘幫我洗傷口時訴苦，說她們日日受雙非氣，天天講普通話如在大陸工作……又話我好彩早了一天開刀，因第二日又有高危雙非衝急症，要緊急做手術，令全部預約了手術的媽媽要改時間改期！

In mid-January I gave birth in Queen Mary Hospital. In the waiting room I saw a mother, speaking Mandarin with her waters broken. The doctor asked her about her pre-natal check, she repeatedly answered ‘I don’t know’. On the day of operation, I saw the doctor’s schedule. Five in a single morning. No wonder many senior doctors in public hospitals have resigned.In the post-natal ward, there were many non-local mothers. I stayed in the hospital for three days and two nights. Two Mandarin people shouted at the medical staff. One of them said she had a child in Shenzhen, so she requested the pediatrician to allow her to leave. The staff told her that the natal ICU was full and doctors were busy. But she insisted. I couldn’t tolerate this and asked her not to disturb the staff. Then the staff member moaned when cleaning my wound, telling me that she was scolded by those Mainland mothers. They spoke Mandarin as if they worked in the Mainland…and told me I was lucky to have my operation one day earlier, because the following day a high-risk pregnant woman was rushed to the emergency ward. She needed to have an emergency operation. The hospital had to postpone all subsequent bookings!

The advertisement depicting the invasion of Hong Kong by a gigantic locust

In reaction to the public discontent, the Hong Kong government has finally decided to suspend the booking of maternity services by mainland pregnant women in public hospitals. However, many still believe that the large number of offspring of birth tourists from mainland China would increase the city's social burden.

In early February 2012, netizens from Baby Kingdom and Golden Discussion Forum, jointly published an advertisement in a popular newspaper, which depicts the invasion of Hong Kong by a gigantic locust, a metaphor of mainland Chinese intruders in Hong Kong.

Margaret Ng a barrister, legislator and member of the political party, the Civic Party, pointed out that the root cause of the sudden influx of mainland birth tourists is a result of the local government's relaxation of border control under the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA), a free trade arrangement agreed upon between Hong Kong and Mainland China which opens up huge markets for Hong Kong goods and services.

Ng reviewed the city's immigration history in relation to its border control policy in a seminar [zh]:

香港是一個移民的社會，殖民地成立直至中共建國，中港兩地的人是可以自由往來，直至五十年代才出現分隔中港的政策，即便如此，港府也採取抵壘政策，讓抵達市區的內地人取得身份證，這政策直至七十年代末才取消。…
從兩地封關開始，出入境設有嚴格的關卡，互為分隔。而八十年代到內地娶妻生子的一群，其子女就受到影響，很難來港。當時兩地政府便就兩地的出入境限制協商，結果出現「配額」這種東西。在這個背景下訂立的《中英聯合聲明》，成為日後《基本法》的依據。…直至 2001 年，內地人要來香港仍然十分困難。但自從 2003 年七一後開放自由行，至去年全年共有一千四百萬內地人來港，僅有四萬雙非孕婦數量算少。

Hong Kong has been a migrant society, since the beginning of the colonial era to the establishment of the People Republic of China. People could travel in and out of Hong Kong freely until the 1950s when the colonial government adopted a touch base policy and issued identity cards to those who successfully arrived at the city. The policy was abolished in the 1970s… The border was then under strict control. For those who gave birth in mainland China in the 1980s, their offspring could not enter Hong Kong easily. The two governments then came up with the “quota system”. The Sino British Joint Declaration was signed in this context and it had become the principle in the drafting of Basic Law… Until 2001, it was still very difficult for mainland Chinese to enter Hong Kong. But since July 1 2003, the individual visa policy has been implemented and last year alone, more than 14 million mainland Chinese visited Hong Kong. 40 thousand birth tourists was a comparative small figure.

Against such a background, Facebook user Edwin Chau condemned the private medical sector for taking advantage of the policy loophole to sell their maternity services with a Hong Kong “citizenship” package, as the majority of birth tourists enter the city with proper bookings from private hospitals:

因為實情是，那3萬多個，佔96%的雙非個案，全部都是有政府認可的預約。即是，他們都是經政府人口/商業政策許可之下入境的，In the name of 「發展醫療產業」。……簡單來說，販賣居港權，才是要堵塞的漏洞。

The reality is that, 96% of the 30,000 Mainland expectant mothers have already booked for maternity beds, endorsed by the government. That means, they visited Hong Kong legally under the existing policy framework. In the name of ‘development of medical industry’… Simply speaking, they are selling out the right of abode. And this is the loophole [the government] should be tackling.

Some social and political groups have decided to advocate for an constitutional amendment to address the problem. However, an amendment of the Basic Law has to be approved by at least two-thirds of the Legislative Council members and two-thirds of the Hong Kong deputies to the National People’s Congress (NPC) before submitting to the Steering Committee of the National People’s Congress. This seems to be another mission impossible.