bc magazine

Hong Kong Gets Plugged

Hong Kong, in IFC and ICC, already has two giant penises masquerading as gateposts to Victoria Harbour. Now we have a butt plug too. I guess it’s appropriate with China already having ball gagged the media and the transcendent one hand-cuffing elected legislators who stand up against the rape of Hong Kong by the CCP.

To salve it’s obviously fragile ego New World is to destroy the feng shui of the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront with a butt plug style building that just screams of insecurity.

You do have to wonder if the government department chief who approved the design is blind. Then again, even a blind man could see that the building is so out of character with the rest of Tsim Sha Tsui that it must destroy the feng shui of the harbour.

In that location New World you could have built something iconic and low-level to complement the harbour and enhance the skyline… But your ceo’s insecurity and fragile ego required the stroking of a tall ugly building to match the other tall dicks in the city.

New World, your new monstrosity is like the child standing alone and ignored by all who screams and screams for attention “Hey look I have a big dick too.” Yeah, maybe you do, but it looks more like a giant anal plug and will become the most reviled building in the city. No only because it destroys the harmony and beauty of our city and harbour, but for the giant shadow of corruption that it will cast over the city. The interests of the rich connected few trumping the benefits and wishes of the majority.

Not that New World give a shit about that… as long as the money rolls in and they can scream “Look at me, my butt plug is as big as your penis!”

Men’s Asian Hockey Federation Cup

Eight teams from across the region will compete in the 5th Men’s Asian Hockey Federation Cup which will take place from the 19-27 November 2016 at King’s Park Hockey Ground.

Hong Kong is drawn in Pool A with two time defending champions Bangladesh, Taiwan and Macau. Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Uzbekistan are in Pool B. The pool matches will take place from 19-24, check the full match schedule below, and the medal matches on 26th and 27th November 2016. Entry to all matches is free.

Hong Kong v Bangladesh
6pm, 19 November @ King’s Park Hockey Ground

Hong Kong v Macau
8pm, 21 November @ King’s Park Hockey Ground

Hong Kong v Taiwan
8pm, 23 November @ King’s Park Hockey Ground

The AHF Cup was first organized by Hong Kong Hockey Association in 1997 with the idea of offering opportunities for the second tier Asian teams to gain experience in international tournaments outside of the Asian Games and the Asia Cup and improve their world rankings.

Hong Kong team manager Eddie Leung is confident ahead of the tournament “We aim to get a medal in the Cup. We hope to make good use of the home advantage. When we played against Kazakhstan in March in the FIH World League 2016 Round 1, we were exposed several times but we managed to beat them 4-3 at the end. We will take that experience into the tournament.”

Siu Chun Ming, as captain says it’s important to take each match as it comes “I always encourage the team to stay calm and be tough when we play against stronger opponents. We look forward to the Hong Kong Hockey Community’s support during the tournament.”

Hong Kong Squad
Chan Ka Chun (Kelvin), Chung Yan Chun Michael, James Shepherdson, Chan Hou Fung (Matthew), Iu Chi Him (Felix), Chow Ho Yin (Boris), Poon Chun Yan (Silas), Kwok Chun Ting (Davis), Fahim Khan, Yu Chun Hin (Tony), Siu Chun Ming (Captain), Tso Tsz Fung (Chris), Tsoi Long Ting Gabriel, To Kai Chung (Stanley), Siddick Khan, Sukhmit Singh, Tse Man Chun (Allen), Tsang Kin Kan (Ken)

5th Men’s Asian Hockey Federation Cup
Date: 19-27 November, 2016
Venue: King’s Park Hockey Ground
Tickets: Free

Medecins Sans Frontieres Film Festival

The upcoming Medecins Sans Frontieres Film Festival is not a collection of pretty films – it is a self-promotional vehicle that looks to raise awareness and thence increase donations – that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t watch. Unlike Hollywood films, several of the documentaries in the festival feature real life heroes and heroines.

The five documentary films look at the reality of aid work, the daily dilemmas and choices that occur in the field. The documentaries are not complete stories, just snapshots of ongoing disasters and tragedies occurring across the globe. They will put into perspective the simple things that we take for granted in Hong Kong – for example clean running water is just a fantasy or movie image to many across the world.

There will be a panel discussion session with MSF field workers after each screening.

Sadly what none of the documentaries at the ‘festival’ address is the rampant corruption that occurs within charities from the harassment style of collection to how little of the money donated/collected actually goes towards aid projects. The vast majority gets used in administration, salaries, commission for raising money etc. Then there’s the corruption on the ground and the actual effectiveness of the programmes a charity provides…

Festival Films
Affliction – The Ebola outbreak in West Africa seen through the eyes of the local populations, village officials, aid workers, the sick and those who recovered. It is a story of fear and frustration, of stigma and disbelief, of grief but also of immense joy and courage.

MSF (Un)limited – uses original footage with commentary by MSF staff about atrocities and humanitarian crises that have occured since the founding of MSF in 1971.

Access to the Danger Zone – narrated by Daniel Day-Lewis about victims of war and their need for humanitarian aid. It describes the difficulties and dangers humanitarian organizations face in trying to provide help in the most dangerous places on earth.

Living in Emergency – in the war-zones of Liberia and Congo, four volunteers with Doctors Without Borders struggle to provide emergency medical care under extreme conditions.

Fire in the Blood – the story of how pharmaceutical companies and governments blocked access to low-cost AIDS drugs for countries in the years after 1996 – causing millions of unnecessary deaths – and the improbable group of people who decided to fight back. Particularly relevant given recent US news articles about how companies are massively increasing the price of drugs.

For tickets and screening schedule visit www.msffilmfestival.com or contact 2959 4204.

MSF Film Festival
Date: 1-4 December, 2016
Venue: The Grand Cinema, Elements, Kowloon Station
Tickets: $130 (Free seating)

5th Annual Nebraska Beef Macau BBQ @ Studio City – 14 November, 2016

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The 5th Annual American BBQ, Nebraska in Macau took place at Studio City on the 14 November, 2016. Over 300 people including US Consul General Kurt Tong and Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts enjoyed Nebraska and US beef, pork and lamb cooked and prepared in over 20 different ways.

Sponsored by the Nebraska Beef Council and organised by US Meat Export Federation and the Nebraska and US Agricultural Trade Offices in HK with assistance from Angliss. The annual event looks to raise awareness of the quality and taste of American meat and agricultural produce.
Click here or on any photo to see all the images.

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Hong Kong Women Prepare to Chase Rugby World Cup Dream

Hong Kong Women prepare to chase Rugby World Cup dream with “both hands” according to coach Jo Hull ahead of December’s key qualifiers against Fiji and Japan. Hull’s side host the three-team tournament that will determine the final two teams from Asia/Oceania at next year’s 12-team World Cup in Ireland.

Hong Kong begin their bid for a debut World Cup appearance on 9 December against Fiji, who beat Papua New Guinea 37-10 in the Oceania Rugby Women’s Championship at the start of November to progress to the final stage of qualification. Japan face Fiji on 13 December before Hong Kong’s tie with the Asian champions completes the round robin fixtures four days later.

“It is an amazing opportunity to go to a World Cup that I don’t think the players have had before and there is a real belief in the team that it is not a dream anymore and we are trying to grab it with both hands,” said Hull. “These players know they need to get everything right against Fiji, which means our set pieces and most importantly the contact area and breakdown, are our key focus. The players are excited, but we know we will need to earn this.”

Hull has named an expanded 31-player squad in preparation for the December qualifiers, with Hong Kong entertaining Kazakhstan in two training games this week. Experienced forwards Royce Chan Leong-sze and Christy Cheng Ka-chi return to the squad while new additions include prop Wong Yuen-shan and back Jessica Ho Wai-on.

“We are looking at players who are performing at the moment” added Hull. “The squad has worked very hard over the summer with a series of training camps and strength and conditioning sessions to help minimise errors, but also to bring out the style of rugby we want to develop. We are very positive in our approach to the qualifiers and the Fiji game is everything as it is the first game and a win would position us very well to advance to the World Cup.”

The league-wide representative competition, the Super Series, kick-started the final preparations for the World Cup qualifiers. “The Super Series helped us draw a line in the sand as to how we wanted to play and the players were then able to take that into training,” said Hull. “It has also been encouraging to see the club games getting to a higher level, but we still need to prepare for that step up to international rugby.”

Ahead of the World Cup Qualification Tournament, Hong Kong will play two friendlies against Kazakhstan, who appeared at the 2014 World Cup in France, on 16 and 20 November as part of a key week of training and preparation.

“Kazakhstan are a tough, physical side who are good at running. We thought they would be good preparation for playing Fiji in that they will offer a similar competition to what Fiji will look like in terms of their physicality, and their desire to play an offload game and keep the ball in play as much as possible,” said Hull.

Fiji scored six tries in their win over Papua New Guinea in the inaugural Oceania Rugby Women’s Championship in Suva as the hosts played their first test in 10 years and the visitors their first ever.

“We saw that game and we are aware that rugby is in the blood in Fiji so they understand the game quite well,” added Hull. “Fiji are big and strong, so we need to go into that first game knowing how we want to play against them. We haven’t played them before in fifteens and that will pose some challenges in our preparations.”

In stark contrast, Hong Kong know Japan extremely well having lost 39-3 and 30-3 in a shortened Asia Rugby Championship earlier this year. “Japan are fast and like to play a high tempo game, but we are confident that we are approaching both games with the objective of finishing in the top two,” added Hull.

The next Women’s Rugby World Cup takes place in Ireland from 9-16 August 2017, with the winner of the qualifiers in Hong Kong going on to face the hosts, (fourth placed finishers in 2014) as well as France and Australia in pool C. The runners-up in Hong Kong will take on 2014 World Cup runners-up Canada, New Zealand and Wales in pool A.

Hong Kong Women’s XVs Training Squad:
Forwards: Karen So Hoi-Ting, Amelie Seure, Angela Chan Ka-Yan, Royce Chan Leong-Sze, Chan Tsz-Ching, Cheng Ching-To, Christy Cheng Ka-Chi, Chow Mei-Nam, Christine Gordon, Tammy Lau Nga-Wun, Lee Ka-Shun, Melody Li Nim-Yan, Sharon Tsang, Jasmine Cheung Shuk-Han, Winnie Siu Wing-Ni, Wong Yuen-Shan.
Backs: Adrienne Garvey, Candy Cheng Tsz-Ting, Chong Ka-Yan, Colleen Tjosvold, Jess Ho, Ivy Kwong Sau-Yan, Lau Sze-Wa, Lee Tsz-Ting, Lindsay Varty, Mak Ho-Yee, Natasha Olson-Thorne, Aggie Poon Pak-Yan, Rose Hopewell-Fong, Sham Wai-Sum, Cindy Yuen Lok-Yee.

Hong Kong v Kazakhstan
International Friendlies
Date: 7:30pm, 16, 20 November, 2016
Venue: King’s Park
Tickets: Free

Additional reporting and image: HKRU

Women’s Rugby Results – 12 November, 2016

Premiership

CWB Phoenix 12-5 City Sparkle
@ King’s Park, Kick-off: 15:00

Valley Black 28-3 Gai Wu Falcons
@ King’s Park, Kick-off: 16:30

HKFC Ice 5-57 USRC Tigers
@ King’s Park, Kick-off: 18:00

National League 1

Tai Po Dragons v USRC Tigers
@ King’s Park, Kick-off: 15:00

HKCC 5-52 Revolution SRC
@ King’s Park, Kick-off: 16:30

Valley Red 5-27 Gai Wu Fawkes
@ King’s Park, Kick-off: 18:00

National League 2

Kowloon 5-5 City
@ King’s Park, Kick-off: 13:30

CWB Lammergeier v Tin Shui Wai
@ King’s Park, Kick-off: 13:30

Police 71-0 University Pirates
@ King’s Park, Kick-off: 19:30

Tai Po Dragons 12-5 HKFC Fire
@ King’s Park, Kick-off: 19:30

Photo: Phoebe Leung

Valley Black Thrash Gai Wu Falcons 28-3

After another in a long line of hard-fought matches, Valley Black beat their fierce rivals Gai Wu Falcons, 28-3, at Kings Park. The convincing win sees Valley remain the only unbeaten side after six rounds of the Women’s Premiership. In other Premiership action, Causeway Bay Phoenix edged City Sparkle 12-5 while USRC Tigers beat HKFC Ice 57-5.

While Gai Wu remain level with Valley on the table with 24 points, Valley have a game in hand and their convincing 28-3 win left no doubt as to who is at the top of the league’s pecking order. The Falcons put up a brave fight in the first forty minutes – trailing 9-3 at halftime – three penalties from the excellent boot of Valley fullback Zoe Smith against a single penalty from Aggie Poon Pak-yan.

It was a different game in the second half as Valley stormed home with three tries and two conversions from Smith. Prop Jasmine Cheung and flyhalf Kelsie Bouttle both got on the scoresheet as did centre Adrienne Garvey who broke four tackles in a hard-charging run to get across the paint as Valley put up a significant margin on the Falcons.

Powerful performances from Valley’s elite cadre of current and former internationals; flanker and captain Olivia Coady, a former New Zealand Black Fern; Bella Milo, a former Samoa international; and Hong Kong sevens and fifteens cap Garvey, were a crucial factor in the loss for Falcons coach Lai Yiu-pang.

“Valley gave us a good, hard lesson today. They are a really good team and they have some players that are in another class, even compared with our Hong Kong players. Coady and Bella [Milo] really exposed us today,” said Lai.

Coady was tireless as she dominated the loose and kept the Falcons off balance with her aggressive forward play while Milo and Garvey used the ample possession created by the forwards to open up the attacking channels and put Falcons’ one-on-one tackling under rigorous examination.

“Before the game we talked about the ruck being a key to win but we weren’t able to secure any possession today,” said Lai.

“Coady turned us over all day long and when we did have ball we made too many basic errors. They put us under so much pressure we couldn’t get our structure in place and couldn’t build any momentum in our attack. I was happy with the way we played in the first half but they were too much for us in the second half,” Lai added.

Lai believes that the loss today will ultimately be good for both his side and the Hong Kong XV. Sixteen players from the current national training squad were in action in the match with Gai Wu boasting 13 in their starting 23.

“We all want a higher level of performance week in and week out and these games against Valley and Tigers are getting there. This game will also help the Hong Kong players get ready for their upcoming test matches as the intensity from Olivia and Bella we saw today was the level that Hong Kong players will need to reach in international competition,” Lai added.

Gai Wu and Valley will face off just once more on the last week of the league season in February and Lai says his charges now know what to expect from the defending league and grand champions Valley.

“Now we definitely know what we have to do to beat Valley and we have some time to prepare to do that but it will be up to the girls if they are willing to do what it takes or not,” said Lai.

USRC Tigers thumped HKFC Ice 57-5 to break to claim sole possession of third place after the win with Ice slipping to fourth with Causeway Bay hot on their heels.

City ran CWB Phoenix close in their hunt for a first ever Premiership victory, it was 5-all at half-time but Causeway Bay put paid to City’s hopes shortly after play resumed with a converted try to claim the win.

City coach Fung Kai-hang says despite the accumulating losses his side is battling bravely: “We are still adjusting to the Premiership environment. We need to work on doing the basics under pressure, but compared to our last few games I see a lot of improvement. If we keep doing what we are doing and work more on our basic skills we will see some success soon,” said Fung.

While the winless streak wasn’t broken, City did manage their first Premiership point today after collecting the bonus for a loss within seven points.

Additional reporting and image: HKRU

Crft Pit Tasting Brunch @ Ap Lei Chau

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With an expanded retail menu American BBQ kitchen Crft Pit, which opened in 2015, is now offering it’s wide range of BBQ’d meats for order online with home delivery.

Located in Ap Lei Chau the food factory, under the helm of Chef Leo Kam, also offers a Saturday tasting brunch (1-4pm) where you can sample their broad range of Southern BBQ’d and smoked meats on the terrace overlooking the South China Sea or inside watching the kitchen in action. The retail store also offers whiskey, wine, beer and soft drinks to pair with your BBQ.

Everything is served on metal take-away trays with paper wraps which matches with the working kitchen feel. bc sampled several items, sadly the tasty and popular pulled pork, which we sampled at Wine & Dine, had sold out, so well be back to have that again. What stands out across the menu is for want of a better description the cleanness of the meat. The lack of hormones, msg and additives, plus the light smoking allow the meat’s flavour to stand out. The beef is mainly from the US, while the New Zealand lamb and French spring chicken are both halal. The clean flavours are because Crft Pit is a food factory and sell their products to many restaurants across the city who then flavour them as they desire.

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The highlights are the pulled pork sliders and the sausages ($20 each), they’re superb meaty and full of flavour. The hot pastrami sandwich ($118) is pretty good, it’s hard not to compare it to the three inch thick pastrami slabs from New York, but that’s really not a fair comparison. The St Louis style spare ribs ($50) are meaty and not too heavily sauced so as to wipe out the meat. While the Texas short rib is a big slab of beef. For sides there’s Jalapeno Mac n Cheese ($30), Southorn Slaw ($25) and BBQ lentils ($30) – all tasty and good sized portions.

Everything is served to be shared, the tables are big, the atmosphere relaxed and it’s a very enjoyable way to spend a Saturday afternoon, or host your own event there. The negatives it’s, in Hong Kong terms, in the middle of nowhere, although the 671 bus stops outside the door and there’s on street parking. Don’t want to go to Ap Lei Chau, see the online menu at www.crft-pit.com and have your food cooked for you and delivered directly to your door.

With Thanksgiving coming up see Crft-Pit’s Thanksgiving Turkey Set which feeds 4-6 people for $1998.

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