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Superwoman Rose on Juggling Babies, Rugby, Work, and Long Distance Learning

Rose Hopewell-Fong never lets anything slip through her fingers – whether it’s on the rugby field or in the classroom.

So when she picks up her University of Sunderland Alumni Achiever of the Year (Hong Kong) honour this month, she will be grasping it with both hands.

It will be yet another honour for Rose to add to her trophy cabinet, which already reflects her hard work, not to mention her multi-tasking skills.

Rose grew up in Hong Kong but later moved to England to study, also representing England U20s in Rugby Union.

After a difficult decision to return home to Hong Kong, she went on to represent Hong Kong 7s and 15s Rugby Union in a professional capacity.

While all this was going on, the now 29-year-old embarked on a long-distance learning PGCE programme at the University of Sunderland, to pursue her dream of becoming a teacher.

Rose retired from professional 7s rugby in 2015, but has continued to represent Hong Kong in 15s most notably at the Rugby World Cup in Dublin during 2017.

Since then, in the last two years, she has started and completed her Masters in International Education with the University of Sunderland and become mum to Olivia Margaret, now 17 months old.

After giving birth she returned to the rugby pitch and represented Hong Kong 15s in three test matches as Vice-Captain before becoming pregnant again. She is due to welcome her second child in January 2020. All of this while working full time in an international school, most recently earning a promotion into the Pedagogical Leadership Team.

Throughout this impressive juggling act, Rose has been supported by husband Anthony Hopewell. The pair met at their rugby club and Anthony and Olivia Margaret are among the noisiest fans when the wife and mother plays for club or country.

Rose said: “I feel very honoured to receive the award and so grateful that Sunderland has such programmes for long-distance learners.

“There is no award for juggling multiple commitments in one’s personal life. An international sporting representative, a full time worker, a part time distance learner and becoming a mother – which will soon be twice – in just two years has been hectic yet so rewarding to say the least.

“Whilst we all strive to achieve goals in our careers post graduation, it is so nice to have an award that recognises the individual achievements in someone’s personal life as an amalgamation that can be celebrated wholly. Thank you University of Sunderland.”

Originally published by University of Sunderland 26 November, 2019
Images: HKrugby, AsiaRugby

‘Mask Law’ Found Unconstitutional by High Court

The ‘Mask law’ introduced by Carrie Lam under the Emergency Regulations Ordinance, Cap 241 was found to be unconstitutional by the High Court in a Judgement issued today, 18 November, 2019.

There were two separate court actions against the ‘Mask Law’ and they were heard together. Here is the press summary, the full judgement can be found here HCAL2945/2019 and HCAL2949/2019

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

CONSTITUTIONAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE LAW LIST

NO 2949 of 2019

IN THE MATTER of the Emergency Regulations Ordinance, Cap 241
and
IN THE MATTER of the Prohibition on Face Covering Regulation, Cap 241K

Between
LEUNG KWOK HUNG (梁國雄)
and
SECRETARY FOR JUSTICE – 1^st Putative Respondent
CHIEF EXECUTIVE IN COUNCIL – 2^nd Putative Respondent

DATES OF HEARING: 31 October and 1 November 2019

DATE OF JUDGMENT: 18 November 2019

REPRESENTATION:

Gladys Li SC, Mr Johannes Chan SC (Hon), Mr Earl Deng, Mr Jeffrey Tam, Mr Geoffrey Yeung and Ms Allison Wong, instructed by Ho Tse Wai & Partners, for the 1^st to 24^th Applicants in HCAL 2945/2019

Mr Hectar Pun SC, Mr Lee Siu Him and Mr Anson Wong Yu Yat, instructed by JCC Cheung & Co, assigned by the Director of Legal Aid Department, for the Applicant in HCAL 2949/2019

Mr Benjamin Yu SC, Mr Jenkin Suen SC, Mr Jimmy Ma and Mr Mike Lui, instructed by the Department of Justice, for the Putative Respondents in both HCAL 2945/2019 and HCAL 2949/2019

SUMMARY:

1. These are two applications for judicial review seeking to impugn the Emergency Regulations Ordinance (Cap 241) (“ERO”) and the Prohibition of Face Covering Regulation (Cap 241K)(“PFCR”) made thereunder as being invalid and unconstitutional.

2. By Ground 1, the applicants contend that the ERO is unconstitutional because it amounts to an impermissible grant or delegation of general legislative power by the legislature to the Chief Executive in Council (“CEIC”) and contravenes the constitutional framework under the Basic Law. The court holds that the ERO, insofar as it empowers the CEIC to make regulations on any occasion of public danger, is incompatible with the Basic Law, having regard in particular to Arts 2, 8, 17(2), 18, 48, 56, 62(5), 66 and 73(1) thereof. The court leaves open the question of the constitutionality of the ERO insofar as it relates to any occasion of emergency.

3. As to Ground 2, the court holds that the ERO was not impliedly repealed by s 5 of the Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance (Cap 383) (“HKBORO”). Insofar as it is invoked in situations not falling within the kind of public emergency referred to in the HKBORO, the Bill of Rights is not suspended and the measures adopted will have to comply with it.

4. On Ground 3, the court holds that the ERO does not in itself fall foul of the “prescribed by law” requirement (ie the principle of legal certainty). Where regulations and measures are adopted under the ERO that curtail fundamental rights, the entire relevant body of law including the regulations and measures have to be taken together to see whether they meet the requirement of sufficient accessibility and certainty.

5. Under Ground 4, the applicants contend that the general words in s 2(1) of the ERO are not to be construed as allowing the Government to adopt measures that infringe fundamental rights of the individual and that the PFCR is therefore beyond the power conferred on the CEIC by the ERO. The court finds that it is not necessary to deal with this Ground and does not express any view on it.

6. Under Ground 5A, the applicants contend that s 3 of the PFCR fails to satisfy the proportionality test (as explained in Hysan Development Co Ltd v Town Planning Board (2016) 19 HKCFAR 372, §§134‑135). The court holds that the provisions in s 3(1)(a), (b), (c) and (d) of the PFCR are rationally connected to legitimate societal aims that the respondents intend by those measures to pursue but the restrictions that sub‑paragraphs (b), (c) and (d) impose on fundamental rights go further than is reasonably necessary for the furtherance of those objects and therefore fail to meet the proportionality test.

7. Under Ground 5B, the applicants contend that s 5 of the PFCR fails to satisfy the proportionality test. The court holds that the measure introduced by s 5 of the PFCR is rationally connected to the legitimate societal aims pursued but the restrictions it imposes on fundamental rights also go further than is reasonably necessary for the furtherance of those objects and therefore fail to meet the proportionality test.

8. In the light of these conclusions, there will be a further hearing for the parties to make submissions on the appropriate relief and costs.

Sixteenth Hong Kong Asian Film Festival

The Hong Kong Asian Film Festival (HKAFF) returns this month, now in it’s sixteenth year the film festival will run from the 29 October – 17 November and feature a wide range of modern and digitally remastered Asian films with numerous directors in town to talk about their work.

Opening and Closing Films: Local Directors’ Outlook on Life and the City

HKAFF2019 will open with two films. Lion Rock, Nick Leung’s second feature, is a fact-based story about how a top rock climber finds his way back on the peaks after losing his ability to walk.

Patrick Leung’s Ciao, UFO is a charming sci-fi comedy that revolves around the urban legend of a UFO hovering above Wah Fu Estate in Aberdeen. It marks the reunion of Tsui Tien-you, Wong you-nam and Charlene Choi.

Closing the festival are films from two local female directors. My Prince Edward is winner of the First Feature Film Initiative launched by the Film Development Fund. Norris Wong’s directorial debut is a lighthearted story about the struggles a woman faces as she prepares to get married.

Starring Dada Chan and Kevin Chu, The Secret Diary of a Mom to Be is a comedy about the lives of contemporary career women and the unexpected surprises in life. It is the second feature film by writer-director Luk Yee-sum.

Gala Presentations: The Fallen, Missing, and The Garden of Evening Mists

The HKAFF Gala Presentation features three films of distinctive styles. After making an explosive debut with G Affairs, director Lee Cheuk-pan returns with The Fallen, a gritty and stylish revenge thriller reminiscent of classic Hong Kong crime thrillers. Irene Wan returns to the silver screen and is captivating as the puppet master of the sinister revenge scheme. Inspired by a popular internet novel,

Ronnie Chau’s feature debut Missing is a supernatural thriller about the mystical gateway. Gillian Chung stars as a social worker who is desperately searching his missing father in the mountains.

Starring Sylvia Chang, Angelica Lee and Abe Hiroshi, The Garden of Evening Mists is a star-studded drama about memory, loss and the art of gardening. It is an adaptation of Malaysian writer Tan Twan Eng’s Man Booker Prize-nominated novel by Taiwanese director Tom Lin.

Special Presentations: Documentaries, Independent Films, and Romantic Dramas

In the Special Presentations section. Documentary director Wong Siu-pong turns his camera on Hong Kong’s medical system with 3CM, a documentary about Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC) patients who struggle to live. Cheuk Cheung’s Bamboo Theatre is a documentary that follows ritual practices in various villages and remote islands of Hong Kong, as well as how bamboo theatres are built and dismantled.

Award-winning director Chow Kwun-wai’s romantic drama Beyond the Dream is about the relationship between a recovering schizophrenic and a psychological counselor. Benny Lau, who is known for his nostalgic youth love stories, returns with Your World, Without Me, a pure-hearted tale set in Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan. Memories to Choke on, Drinks to Wash them Down is a collection of short films from cinematographer-director Leung Ming-kai and partner Kate Reilly. It contains three stories about how Hongkongers bear the weight of treasured memories, raise themselves up to meet present challenges, and stand ready.

The Murders of Oiso is a co-production of Japan, Hong Kong and Korea, produced by Hong Kong director Fei-Pang Wong and directed by Misawa Takuya. The mystery-drama follows a juvenile gang who encounter a series of unsettling mysteries.

Director in Focus – Mohammad Rasoulof; Country in Focus: Cambodia

The films of Mohammad Rasoulof reflect reality, revealing to audiences hidden and uncomfortable truths about society. Rasoulof is regarded as a troublemaker by the Iranian government, and yet he never caves to authoritarian pressure or corruption. As a tribute to the director who has just been sentenced to one year in prison for defying state censorship, HKAFF presents a seven-film retrospective. Mehdi Abdollahzadeh an Iranian film critic will give a talk on Rasoulof’s films.

This year marks the 40th Anniversary of the end of the Cambodian genocide carried out by the Khmer Rouge regime. This history is very much ingrained in the films coming out of the country. HKAFF has chosen seven films to illustrate the development of Cambodia cinema in the last four decades. Directors Davy Chou and Sok Visal will attend a talk on Cambodian cinema.

16th Hong Kong Asian Film Festival
Date: 29 October – 17 November, 2019
Venues: Broadway Cinematheque, Broadway The One, My Cinema Yoho Mall, AMC Pacific Place, Palace IFC, Movie Movie Citiplaza, Premiere Elements
Tickets: www.cinema.com.hk

Great Food Hall ReOpens to Intoxicate Your Taste Buds

The Cheese room is open again! After an extensive cosmetic makeover, Great Food Hall in the basement of Pacific Place has reopened. The new upmarket concrete with hints of bronze design fits with Pacific Place’s attempt to position itself a premium location, despite the resultant drop in foot traffic.

The renovated store features a lot more ready to eat options, there’s salads, cooked meats, sushi, Korean etc all with portion sizes and prices surprisingly competitive compared to other options. You can also preorder your salad (sadly not any of the other lunch options, maybe that’ll come in the future) on the new Great-to-Go app that hopefully will make getting lunch a quicker and less stressful experience.

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2019/Great-Food-hall-ReOpens-15-October-2019/i-dBRMDWK

Thankfully the cheese room remains, stocked full of tasty fromage from across the globe including France’s Mons Comte and Italy’s Artigiana. There’s sustainable Italian caviar from Calvisius at the ‘Luxury’ counter. As well as a range of fresh smoked salmon from H Forman & Son, the UK oldest salmon curlers. Meat lovers will find the beef, lamb and pork from across the globe including US Brandt Beef from California, Tasmanian Cape Grim Beef and English Yellow Longhorn from The Ginger Pig. This wide selection offers you the chance to buy the same cut from different producers, cook them together and compare the flavours and textures. All are delicious – but also quite unique.

At a US Beef organised meat tasting in the old Great, an artisan butcher from California offered this advice on buying meat – and it’s worth repeating again. “Decide how you are going to cook your meat first, then ask your butcher which cuts are best suited for that cooking method.” Great also still offers a dry-aging and a cooked to order service.

Also along the back wall next to the meat counters, Cosro Italia offers freshly made pasta, pizza and ready to eat meals. For vegetarians, there’s a wide range of salads and many products on the shelves. While Tai Pan Pies offers sweet and savoury options.

Triple O’s remains and there’s a new coffee counter One Shot offering freshly made coffees. Sadly while there’s lots of tea on the shelves we didn’t find a nice cup to ‘lai cha’ to enjoy with our lunch.

The remodelled store looks a lot ‘fancier’, but also feels as though it’s more expensive to shop there. Take a look, there’s a lot to intoxicate and excite your taste buds.

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LMF Announce 20 Year Anniversary Festival

Hong Kong’s rap, metal, hip hop ‘super group” LMF will host a 20 year anniversary festival on the 28-29 December featuring Matt Force, Dough Boy, Future, Seanie, Tommy, KZ, Akiko, JB, 黃禍, Heyo, Phoon, Josie and The Uni Boys, R.O.O.T, 逆流, My Little Airport.

Before any of the ‘made for TV’ Kpop and Jpop supergroups, there was LMF (Lazymuthafucka) – an amalgam of musicians from various local bands who simply wanted to play together and have fun. In doing so, they found a massive audience at home and across Asia.

LMF’s lyrics are full of slang and profanity-laced political and social messages that still resonate today. As Dagger‘s Riz Farooqi put it “some issues should not be sung in a sweet melody, but screamed and yelled at the top of your lungs.”

LMF – XX Anniversary Festival
LMF (Lazymuthafucka), Matt Force, Dough Boy, Future, Seanie, Tommy, KZ, Akiko, JB, 黃禍, Heyo, Phoon, Josie and The Uni Boys, R.O.O.T, 逆流, My Little Airport
Date: 28-29 December, 2019
Venue: Kitec, Star Hall
Tickets: $880, $680, $480

Declaration by CHRF on 5th Anniversary of Umbrella Movement

Five years ago, on this very same day, the 28th of September, CY Leung’s Government shot 87 tear gas bombs to Hong Kong people in the Harcourt Road, Admiralty, marking the start of 79 days of the Umbrella Movement. Polls show that 1.2 million Hong Kong people had participated in the Umbrella Movement.

The aim of Umbrella Movement was to fight for a genuine universal suffrage, including the right to nominate, right to elect and right to be elected.

Unfortunately, 5 years have passed, and we still don’t have the real universal suffrage.

Some people described that the Umbrella Movement ended in failure. But is it true that the movement that we all supported and participated in, had achieved nothing?

We’ve asked a lot of people, how would they describe the last five years. A lot of them said: “powerless” and “hopeless”.

Especially after the “Fishball Movement”, many people thought that “peaceful” protests no longer work, and “brave” protests could not succeed.

LEADERS of BOTH Umbrella AND Fishball movement were jailed. Hong Kong seemed to be facing a dead end.

We spent 5 years soaked in these hopelessness and powerlessness. Without mass protests, the HKSAR Government disqualified lawmakers, passed evil laws, and had done all the unimaginable things to destroy our system.

No one would have thought that, in 2019, another evil bill, the Extradition Bill, that was so blatantly and daringly attempted to be pushed through by Carrie Lam and pro-Beijing lawmakers, would start this huge “Anti-Extradition Bill Movement”.

Since June this year, 1 million, then 2 million, then again 1.7 million people took to the street in just three-month period. Surely, it is because of the arrogance and inability of Carrie Lam’s Government. But more importantly, it is because of YOU, who had participated in the Umbrella Movement, who had stayed with us in those 79 days, decided TO BE BACK to the streets again.

Together with the new generation of young protesters who were inspired to join this year, we created marvellous scenes of almost ONE-THIRD of our whole population came out to “fight against the tyranny and for democracy”. Five years after the Umbrella Movement, Hong Kong people once again made ourselves proud, and amazed the world.

We EVOLVED from the hopelessness and powerlessness, and stand up again STRONGER. Our new generation of protesters are wiser, smarter, with more energy and strategies, bravely resisting the persecution of Beijing and HK Governments.

We LEARNT from both Umbrella Movement and Fishball Movement, and EVOLVED to a new form of protest that is more united, more flexible, and finally SUCCESSFUL MADE Carrie LAM to withdraw the Extradition Bill.

However, “Five Demands, not one less”. As our five demands are not all heard and responded, WE CANNOT CLAIM THIS MOVEMENT SUCCESSFUL. But we are closer.

“NOT SPLITTING, STAY UNITED” is not only a slogan, but wisdom that evolved from our valuable past.

Social movement is created by stories after stories written by us. What we are facing NOW is only one chapter, 2 million is only a record waiting to be broken. The next chapter WILL ONLY BE BETTER AND BRIGHTER.

Let’s continue to fight for REAL UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE. Fight for ALL 5 DEMANDS.

香港人加油，Hongkongers, soldier on!

Civil Human Rights Front
28 September 2019

KINO/19 – German Films of 2018/19

The German film festival KINO returns with a selection of German cinema from 2018/ 2019 featuring “exciting stories, big emotions and powerful images.” Organised by the Goethe Institut KINO/19 runs from the 11-20 October with screenings at HKAC Louis Koo Cinema, HK Film Archive and Elements Premiere.

Opening KINO/19 is Balloon, the story of a dramatic escape from East Germany ten years before the Berlin Wall fell in 1989. A Regular Woman is based on the true story of the “honor killing” of the young Turkish woman in Berlin. The journey of the two unequal friends in Roads shows that sometimes you have to travel very far to find out the truth. In Chris the Swiss, a dangerous search for clues leads back to the Balkan war of the 90s, whose violence is made palpable with threatening black-and-white animations, an award-winning documentary thriller from Switzerland.

KINO/19 films:

Balloon, A Regular Woman, 25 KM/H, Gundermann, The Collini Case, Chris the Swiss, The Most Beautiful Couple, The Mover, Roads, Sweethearts.

KINO/19 – German Film Festival
Balloon, A Regular Woman, 25 KM/H, Gundermann, The Collini Case, Chris the Swiss, The Most Beautiful Couple, The Mover, Roads, Sweethearts.
Date: 11-20 October, 2019
Venue: HKAC, Louis Koo Cinema, HK Film Archive, Elements Premiere
Tickets: $95, $90, $75

Talk to Someone

It occurred to Pooh and Piglet that they hadn’t heard from Eeyore for several days, so they put on their hats and coats and trotted across the Hundred Acre Wood to Eeyore’s stick house. Inside the house was Eeyore.

“Hello Eeyore,” said Pooh.

“Hello Pooh. Hello Piglet,” said Eeyore, in a glum sounding voice.

“We just thought we’d check in on you,” said Piglet, “because we hadn’t heard from you, and so we wanted to know if you were okay.”

Eeyore was silent for a moment. “Am I okay?” he asked, eventually. “Well, I don’t know, to be honest. Are any of us really okay? That’s what I ask myself.”

“All I can tell you, Pooh and Piglet, is that right now I feel really rather Sad, and Alone, and Not Much Fun To Be Around At All. Which is why I haven’t bothered you. Because you wouldn’t want to waste your time hanging out with someone who is Sad, and Alone, and Not Much Fun To Be Around At All, would you now.”

Pooh looked at Piglet, and Piglet looked at Pooh, and they both sat down, one on either side of Eeyore in his stick house.

Eeyore looked at them in surprise. “What are you doing?”

“We’re sitting here with you,” said Pooh, “because we are your friends. And true friends don’t care if someone is feeling Sad, or Alone, or Not Much Fun To Be Around At All. True friends are there for you anyway. And so here we are.”

“Oh,” said Eeyore. “Oh.” And the three of them sat there in silence, and while Pooh and Piglet said nothing at all; somehow, almost imperceptibly, Eeyore started to feel a very tiny little bit better.

Because Pooh and Piglet were there.

No more; no less.

(A.A.Milne, E.H.Shepard)

Today is World Suicide Prevention Day and this is National Suicide Prevention Week – Talk to Someone

Suicide PreventionHotline Service (24 hours): 2382 0000
The Samaritans (24 hours) : 2896 0000