Cathay Pacific Vaccination Draw Scam

With little confidence in the government’s Covid-19 response, too many HongKongers have still not got vaccinated.  Quite why, when the Pfizer/Biontech Comirnaty vaccine is produced and tested in the regulatory intense European Union and is free, I don’t understand.

Rather than make vaccination mandatory pressure was put on companies to ‘bribe’ HongKongers with lucky draws and prizes for getting vaccinated. Among those deciding to participate was Cathay Pacific who offered “25,000 free tickets to over 50 destinations. You can enter the lucky draw between 16 September and 30 September, 2021.”

Not one to turn down the chance of a free flight ticket I entered. With the entry closing date the 30 September 2021 and the Cathay website indicating “The results will be drawn on 5 October, 2021 and announced on the Cathay website.”

So I was more than a little surprised this morning (29 September) to receive an email from Cathay informing me that I was not a winner, but that they would keep sending me promotional material – something I specifically opted out of.

unfortunately, you weren’t chosen as a winner on this occasion.

“weren’t chosen” in the email also seems to imply that the draw is not random, but prizes are issued to Asia Miles members (needed to enter the draw) with accounts that Cathay wants to reward.

Cathay Pacific vaccine draw scam - 29 September 2021

bc has approached Cathay for comment and will update this article if one is recieved.

The draws maybe a scam for your personal data, but getting vaccinated will reduce your chance of getting Covid-19 and reduce in most cases the seriousness of the infection. Get Vaccinated!!

Women’s Rugby Results – 25 September, 2021

Premiership

Gai Wu Falcons 7-18 Valley Black
@ Shek Kip Mei, Kick-off: 18:00

CWB Phoenix 0-50 HKFC Ice
@ So Kon Po, Kick-off: 18:00

USRC Tigers 21-7 Kowloon
@ King’s Park, Kick-off: 18:00

Image: hkrugby

Portland Street Rest Garden Reopens After Refurbishment

The LCSD refurbishment of the Portland Street Rest Garden in Yau Tsim Mong District has been completed and the garden reopened to the public on 23 September.

It’s good that these public spaces are being upgraded. We’re just not sure that bright pink is the most restful of colours – and the image of octogenarian HongKongers playing Chinese chess on bright pink tables is certainly one for Instagram.

Women’s Rugby Fixtures: 25 September, 2021

Enjoy some Women’s Premiership rugby this weekend!
Entry is Free!

image: phoebe leung

Hong Kong Women’s Rugby Results – 18 September, 2021

Premiership

Gai Wu Falcons 0-22 USRC Tigers
@ Shek Kip Mei, Kick-off: 18:00

Kowloon 55-0 CWB Phoenix
@ King’s Park, Kick-off: 18:00

Valley Black 12-11 HKFC Ice
@ Happy Valley, Kick-off: 18:00

Image: hkrugby

Hong Kong’s Filmmakers Fight To Stay Free

The director kept his eyes on the audience, ignoring the cops in the back of the room.

It was a private screening of a romance film by Kiwi Chow. Several dozen friends had gathered in the office of a local district councillor to watch the movie and hear Chow speak. He was a politically sensitive figure who’d made films about Hong Kong’s protests and China’s crackdown on the city’s liberties.

His new work was an apolitical tale about a schizophrenic man who falls in love with a psychological counsellor. Hardly a storyline that would provoke dissent or violate a national security law. But the audience took note when two dozen police officers arrived. Chow, undeterred, went on with his talk.

By midnight, police had shut down the screening, fining each attendee HK$5,000 for violating social distancing rules. If the screening had featured Chow’s protest documentary, they could have been fined HK$1 million and imprisoned for up to three years, according to a law proposed by the Hong Kong government in August.

Police raids on movie screenings — unimaginable in Hong Kong a few years ago — are the latest reality in Beijing’s relentless suppression of the territory’s civil liberties. For filmmakers like Chow, 42, they are a sign of how China’s grip on Hong Kong is not only about asserting political control but also suffocating the cultural spaces where art can reflect truth and build solidarity in a society…

Read the full LA Times article here https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-09-16/china-hong-kong-movies-censorship

Kiwi Chow

Women’s Rugby Fixtures: 18 September, 2021

It’s Back!!!
Women’s Premiership rugby returns this weekend!
Stretch your legs, stroll down and watch the ladies in action.
Entry is Free!

Coleman Wong Wins US Open Junior Boys Doubles!

Coleman Wong Chak-lam made history at the US Open when he became the first Hongkonger to win a Boys’ Doubles Grand Slam tournament.

The unseeded duo, 17-year-old Wong paired with Max Westphal (18), beat Viacheslav Bielinskyi and Petr Nesterov after a tie-breaker 6-3, 5-7, 10-1.

updated:19:38, 12 September – added video highlights of the final
images: US Open