bc magazine

Women’s Super Series

This weekend marks the first matches in the new HKRU Women’s Super Series. The Series has been launched this season to provide an opportunity for performance players to compete in a domestic representative 15-a-side competition. The aim is to bridge the gap between Club and International rugby and to identify performance players for the future.

The Super Series sees the top 66 players from the Premiership clubs grouped into three representative sides. The sides will play each other on three weekends during the season. Each Premiership club coach is able to nominate six players for the competition; nominated players do not have to be qualified to play for Hong Kong and can still participate if they have played representative rugby in other countries. Each player will be assigned to one of the teams for the duration of the competition.

With performance top of mind, the teams will be coached by the HKRU Women’s Performance coaching team. This weekend’s Series kick-off features the Scorpions, coached by Chris Garvey, Hong Kong’s Assistant National Women’s XVs coach and the Vipers, coached by Hong Kong Rugby Union National Performance Coach (Development), Lai Yiu Pang. The third Super Series side will be coached by Hong Kong Women’s Sevens coach and former New Zealand Black Fern Anna Richards and Valley stalwart Dean Herewini.

The Scorpions and Vipers feature an assembly of top Hong Kong Women’s Rugby players including captain Colleen Tjosvold and vice captain Martini Ip for the Vipers, who also boast Adrienne Garvey and Hong Kong U20s captain Aileen Ryan, part of eight Hong Kong XVs caps in the squad.

Chow Mei Nam and Rebecca Thompson are the captain and vice captain of the Scorpions respectively, with Karen So and Melody Li strengthening the squad which features seven Hong Kong XVs players.

Scorpions v Vipers
@Kings Park, kick-off 10:30

HKRU Women’s Premiership Super Series Squads
Scorpions:
1. Shonagh RYAN, 2. SO Karen Hoi Ting, 3. LAU Nga Wun, 4. Melody LI, 5. CHENG Ching To, 6. Bobby WILSON, 7. LO Wai Yan, 8. CHOW Mei Nam (Captain), 9. LAU Tsz Ying, 10. CHEUNG Lok Tung, 11. CHAN Stephanie Chor Ki, 12. Rebecca THOMPSON (Vice-Captain), 13. CHAU Hei Tung, 14. Tina CHIU, 15. LEE For Wing, 16. PONG Shun Sze, 17. LAI Ming Yan, 18. LAM Ka Wai, 19. TSANG Sharon Shin Yuen, 20. LI Man Yi, 21. HAU Kwan Yi.

Vipers:
1. YIP ho Kwan, 2. SIU Wing Ni, 3. LEE Ka Shun, 4 CHAN Ka Yan, 5. AU YEUNG Tsz Lam, 6. CHEUNG Shuk Han, 7. LEUNG Wing Yi Vincci, 8. Martini IP (Vice-Captain), 9. CHAN Wing Yi, 10. Aileen RYAN, 11. TSANG Wing Chi, 12. Colleen TJOSVOLD (Captain), 13. Laurel FUNG Chor Lik, 14. LAU Sze Wa, 15. Adrienne GARVEY, 16. Megan RICHARDSON, 17. LEUNG Hei Nga, 18 LI Lei Man, 19. Daisy MYERS, 20. PUN Wai Yan, 21. Emma SHIELDS.

Source: HKRU

Studio City Macau Opens

Studio City has drawn back the curtain, the previews are over, the main production begins. bc takes a look at what Macau’s newest attraction has to offer. With a Hollywood glamour theme the ‘integrated resort’ has a completely different feel to the existing resorts. There a tinge of glamour, the feel of grandeur that the golden era of films evoked in those who saw in the cinema a reality that they had not experienced in real life. Targeted primarily at the mainland mass market Studio City impressed many of the mainland reporters on their first trip outside the motherland.

With the Macau government desiring resorts rather than casinos, there’s a highly visible non-gaming entertainment and shopping area surrounding the core casino profit centre. A tie in with Warner Brothers is cleverly exploited in the highly enjoyable Batman ride ($150), a 4D simulator flight in the batplane through the streets of Gotham. To say too much more would spoil the experience, it’s something quite different that will entertain adults and children and a worthy addition to any ‘must do’ in Macau list.

The Warner Bros, DC Comics and Hanna-Barbera feel continues in the fun zone ($200 for 2 hours) with rides and games designed to entertain kids but will bring out the kid in most adults. There’s multiple rides, a climbing wall, race cars and a Hypercade 3D shooter ride, can you beat the bc high score of 444,950?

The House of Magic by Franz Harary is four magic shows rolled into one performance ($400). Initial up-close street-style tricks are followed by two 15 minute mini-shows, before Franz looks to dazzle in a 40 minute finale. In a world of 4K video games, blockbuster 3D movies and trick explaining documentaries, magic especially illusion is a tough sell… We’ve all listened to bands then gone to gigs; watched film musicals and then gone to see the same live. The House of Magic is much the same, watch a man disappear and more without video editing or photoshop!

Studio City, the building, is defined by the resort’s other main attraction the Golden Reel, a figure 8 gondola ride ($100) built into the centre of the building which offers stunning views over Macau and across the Lotus Gate border crossing into China. On a clear day, the sunset views will be spectacular.

Beyond gambling and shopping – of which there’s a lot in a circular shopping street that surrounds the casino in the building’s centre – Melco-Crown’s Studio City has something different to offer, especially if you have children.

bc was a guest of Studio City for the opening

Wine & Dine Festival 2015

The 2015 Wine & Dine Festival at the Central Harbourfront features a dizzying array of food and wine to enjoy over the next three days. The festival is organised by HK Tourism, which ensures that a large number of the territories hotels have food booths showcasing their signature dishes at prices well below what you’d find when dining at the hotel.

There’s wine, wine and more wine, tasting rooms, samplers and wine pairing dinners. To enjoy a glass and to keep things simple wine’s have been divided in to two categories. Classic wine – $20/coupon and Grand wine $50/coupon. You can purchase as many or as few coupons as you desire.

Food… There’s lots of lovely food, a smorgasbord of tastes and flavours from across the globe. The food and wine booths are separated into zones. Sadly, neither the festival map nor the booklet offer a list of all the participating outlets. In a way that good as it forces you explore, but it can also be a pain to locate a booth you want to visit.

Buffets are for grazing and sampling, and this is the best way to explore the large festival area because you never know what you might find. Dishes are paid for in cash and prices range from $10 up. Some of delights we discovered on our wander last night included a lovely artesian french booth offering cones of cheese, ham’s and salami ($50-60). Among the delights in the hotel booth area were a tasty lamb shank and a delicious stuffed crab topped with melted cheese; or enjoy heart shaped meatloaf topped with gold leaf.

Locally it can be hard to find good bread, but several restaurants make their own and are showcasing this on their booths Ciak has nice fresh bread to go with it’s spicy sausages. While Bagoes is offering fresh bagels, bagel sandwiches.

There’s lots of desserts, one definitely to look out for is is egg custard served in a real egg shell. It’s not cheap $70 for 2, but it’s delicious – booth C204.

There’s also a stage offering a variety of live music through the festival.

Frustrations – there’s very little seating, and no shade! So if the sun’s out, bring some suntan cream and an umbrella because without any breeze Central Harbourfront can be very hot.

It’s outside, there’s food, wine, beer, live music… what’s not to like, have fun.

Wine & Dine Festival 2015
Date: 22-25 October, 2015
Venue: Central Harbourfront
Tickets: $30
More info:
22 October – 8-11:30pm
23-24 October – 12-11:30pm
25 October – 12-10pm
More images here

Discovery Bay Win Mixed Tag Rugby League Championship

A Discovery Bay inspired team have won the inaugural Hong Kong Mixed Rugby League Tag Championship at an all day tournament at Kings Park. The team overcame a strong CWB team 5-2 in an exciting and competitive final with two tries from Tissia Polycarpe and a try from Guido Philips (female tries count for 2 points) to clinch the win!

The tournament featured 7 teams playing 15 minute games, firstly in a round robin pool to decide the four semi finalists. Then it was knock-out tag, except of course there’s no contact in tag.

Mixed Tag Rugby League is a low-contact version of Rugby League, which features seven players – four male and three female with rolling substitutions – on the field at any one time. Players wear Velcro tags around their waist, at least one of which needs to be removed to constitute a ‘tackle’.

Just like Tackle Rugby League, players are allowed six plays to try and score or attempt to move the ball as far down the field as possible. Players are also allowed to kick, making Tag Rugby League very similar in style to the Tackle version of the code..

Man of the Tournament was Discovery Bay resident Mathew Zoller – local DB Dragons Football coach and Most Improved Player went to Oliver Rendal – local Discovery bay Mobsters football player both non rugby player’s so for them to win is sweeter.

If you want to know more about Tag Rugby League contact [email protected]

Time Really Not on Time with My Time!

bc magazine received a legal threat from Time magazine today about Ryan Lau’s concert poster. A poster that’s been visible around Hong Kong for at least a month, yet not until 4 days after the concert took place did Time allege it infringed their trademark, engage lawyers and make threats of lawsuits.

While time doesn’t legally affect any trademark claim Time may have against Ryan Lau, that it took Time almost 4 weeks to notice the artwork doesn’t say much for the magazine’s observation skills or supposed finger on the pulse of Hong Kong reporting. The poster has been online since before tickets for the concert at KITEC’s Music Zone@E-Max went on sale in September – bc’s not exactly sure of the exact date the tickets were first advertised.

Instead of a polite email asking bc to remove the poster until any dispute Time had with Ryan Lau over the poster was settled. Time threatened bc with a lawsuit and to include bc magazine as a co-defendant with Ryan Lau and Chessman (HK) Ltd.

And this was so important and time sensitive that the work had to be done on a public holiday, a nice bump to someone’s billable hours! We’ve now received the email 6 times – does that makes Time an email spammer?

As far as bc magazine is concerned the use of the poster in-relation to informing our readers about the concert constitutes ‘fair use’. A concept Time relies on all the time in it’s articles and reports.

Until Time’s threat, I’d not personally ever thought of Time in relation to Ryan Lau’s My Time concert and still don’t. Here’s Time’s intimidatory threat letter. According to the attachments, Time only has a trademark for newspapers and periodicals, the artwork is a poster for a concert called My Time.

Egg Protest @ High Court, 18 October, 2015

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2015/Egg-Protest-High-Court-18/52693169_2Wwrn7#!i=4442799313&k=rm9kpBh

Egg protest at the High Court, 18 October, 2015
Click on any photo to see the full gallery

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2015/Egg-Protest-High-Court-18/52693169_2Wwrn7#!i=4442801342&k=856pcJB

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2015/Egg-Protest-High-Court-18/52693169_2Wwrn7#!i=4442798246&k=xZdcmx2

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2015/Egg-Protest-High-Court-18/52693169_2Wwrn7#!i=4442797722&k=kc7V7PR

A Musical Trilogy of Fantasies – Princess Mononoke, Butterfly Lovers & Nodame Cantabile

In childhood, many of us enjoyed Japanese anime and or listened to Chinese traditional stories recounted by our grandparents. As adults or kidadults a lot of us still enjoy Japanese manga and fantasy. They are art forms which recall our childhood, but also bring us to a world out of reality when we need it. Winnie Yin (印玉文), an acclaimed pipa (琵琶) musician presents, in collaboration with the HKMPO, three musical fantasies inspired by these art forms.

The concert will start with the Legend of Ashitaka, from Joe Hisaishi’s (久石譲) symphonic suite for Princess Mononoke (幽靈公主), an anime fantasy produced by Hayao Miyazaki (宮崎駿) about the struggle between the supernatural guardians of a forest and the humans who consume its resources, involving the outsider Ashitaka and San, who was raised by wolves in the forest. “Mononoke” is a general term in Japanese for a spirit or monster. The performance features the opening of the suite which appears at the end of the anime.

The Butterfly Lovers Concerto originates from a Chinese legend about the love affair between Zhu Yingtai (祝英台) who attends class in disguise as a man, and Liang Shanbo (梁山伯) who develops a strong affinity for Zhu without knowing that she is a lady. After discovering that Zhu is a lady, Liang falls in love with her and they enjoy a short joyful period before Zhu’s parents arrange for her to marry a rich man. Liang dies of a broken heart. During the journey to her wedding, Zhu leaves the procession and throws herself into Liang’s grave. Their spirits turn into a pair of butterflies who fly away together. The concerto adapts melodies from the Chinese opera and folk songs about the legend. It is such a successful Chinese concerto that it is not only taken up by Chinese violinists and soloists of Chinese instruments but also by today’s great violinists such as Gil Shaham and Maxim Vengerov. Compared with the original violin concerto, He Zhanhao’s arrangement for pipa is usually played at a faster tempo offering a perfect showcase for Yin’s impeccable technique and natural expressiveness.

In Nodame Cantabile, Tomoko Ninomiya’s popular Japanese manga about Shinichi Chiaki, a meticulous musical genius and Nodame, a messy out-of-control conservatory student who prefers playing the piano by ear rather than reading the score. Shinichi, who has secret ambitions to become a conductor, meets Nodame by accident and quickly falls in love with her. With Nodame’s encouragement, Shinichi decides to take up the baton out of Japan despite his fear of flying due to an air accident when he was a kid. He enters an exciting conductor competition in which he has to conduct Dvořák’s From the New World while spotting “the errors” among a large number of orchestra players. He wins the gold medal at the competition, launching his international career. In the symphony, one can find rhythms from the composer’s motherland Bohemia, native American music and African-American spirituals while German classical masters’ influence is discernible (e.g. Scherzo from Beethoven’s Ninth vs Scherzo of Dvořák’s). Leonard Bernstein hailed it as a truly multinational masterpiece.

Performers:
Winnie Yin 印玉文 (pipa)
Kevin Wong 黃史琦 (conductor)
Hong Kong Metropolitan Philharmonic Orchestra (HKMPO) 香港都會愛樂管弦樂團

Programme:
Joe Hisaishi: Music from Princess Mononoke
Chen Gang/He Zhanhao: Butterfly Lovers Pipa Concerto
Antonín Dvořák: Symphony no. 9 in E minor, “From the New World”, op. 95

For more info, please visit www.facebook.com/hongkongmpo or write to [email protected]
Visit our event page on Facebook: www.facebook.com/events/873742062710671

A Musical Trilogy of Fantasies – Princess Mononoke, Butterfly Lovers & Nodame Cantabile
Hong Kong Metropolitan Philharmonic Orchestra
Date: 8pm, 20 October, 2015
Venue: HK City Hall, Concert Hall
Tickets: $200, $150, $90 from Urbtix

Nevermind Facebook Likes, 12 Ways the HK Police Force Could Improve Their Image.

Nevermind Facebook likes… Richard Scotford, a Hongkonger, offers twelve ways the HK Police Force (HKPF) could improve their image. I’m sure you can add more

1) The HKPF needs to come out and officially admit that using CS gas at 17:58 on 28/09/2014 was a mistake and they’re sorry to the public.

2) The Seven Black Police videoed beating Ken Tsang need to go on trial.

3) Franklin Chu needs to go on trial.

4) Wilson Yeung who needlessly pepper-sprayed me directly in the eyes for no reason and without warning needs to go on trial.

5) The Complaints Against Police Office (CAPO) needs to be completely shaken up. They should get rid of the attitude of, how do we find a way to exonerate this officer, and instead work off the basis that in any organization, there are people who need to be disciplined. Some need severe discipline. Some need to go to jail. In a force of 30,000 people there are going to be some bad eggs. This is actually good for morale and maintains integrity and respect for the other officers. What we have now is a feeling in the police force of, these democracy protesters are our enemies and we can not let them win at anything. We lost face to them during Occupy and that will never happen again. Therefore we will bend the law and pervert justice in order to protect our own and the ‘face’ of the police force whenever it comes to dealing with democracy protesters.

6) No more putting people in taxis. Either they’re arrested or they’re left to find their own way home. Escorting violent people and putting them in a taxi is NOT keeping the peace. It’s collusion with dark forces. If people break the law, arrest them or leave them to their own devices. No more police home-escorts for people who have clearly broken the law.

7) No more mobilising 100s of PTU to protect aunties or CCP protesters. CCP supporters or aunties should be told that there is no longer police protection for their activities. People who break the law on Sai Yeung Choi Street or at protests will be arrested according to the law, but no more huge protection squads guarding people who are favoured by the Liaison Office.

8) No more pepper spraying peaceful protesters without warning. Pepper spray is a chemical weapon designed to subdue people who are clearly acting violently and will not desist in their activities. Pepper spray is NOT a means of passive crowd control.

9) No more threatening and hitting peaceful protesters with batons. Batons are an extreme weapon that should be used on people who are acting extremely violently or have weapons. Batons are not a form of passive crowd control.

REMEMBER – as a citizen I have a right to choose what actions I wish to carry out. If those actions do not physically threaten or harm anybody, then it is not a given that police can use extreme violence to prevent me from carrying them out. Law is a function of justice. The ultimate aim of a civil society, like Hong Kong is to create a society based on JUSTICE. Not on a society that only obeys laws. If I break the law, then I shall be put in front of a judge and given justice in accordance with what laws I have broken. Just because I break the law, it doesn’t then absolve me of my most basic humans rights of freedom from harm and physical violence. Meaning,

10) The police need to stop extra-judicial, street justice immediately.

11) Stop beating people up in the police vans or police stations.

12) When the police arrest someone, tell them IMMEDIATELY why they’re being arrested. Read them their rights before they are removed from the scene according to the Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance, Article 5(2) Stop Hog-tying protesters like they’re armed psychopaths. Protesters arrested need to be given basic human dignity when they’re detained and not hauled off like pieces of meat with no rights.

Oh, one last point…. CLEAN THEIR SCRUFFY BOOTS and SHOES. Their boots are still a shabby mess, which is a direct reflection of the senior officers who command them.
Time to lean, time to clean! The commanding officers have no standards and it shows in the scruffy shoes of their subordinates.