Category: March

HK Beach 5s @ Repulse Bay – 22 March, 2015

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Bigger is not always better, last weekend’s Beach 5’s were devoid of people and atmosphere while swamped with corporate branding and data-mining promo girls demanding you sign-up for this or that.

Sadly the focus of profit over product meant that on Sunday afternoon beyond the teams and their friends cheering themselves on the event was empty apart from a bank of photographers taking pictures of the beach rugby.

You have to wonder who the Dodgeball people upset, they were stuck out-of-sight on the far-right of the beach behind one of the half empty stands at the end of the rugby field. A shame because they were one of the only sports where the teams dressed up and got into the feel of having fun – yet no-one could see costumes or their games.

The netball women were having lots of fiercely competitive matches, but with the ‘courts’ swung 90 degrees to run end to end instead of side to side as in previous years it was harder to watch multiple games at the same time and teams ended up only watching their game rather than being able to see other play at the same time.

Beach rugby was a fierce and competitive as ever, but the beach football was just boring – probably because the players lacked the skills to keep the ball in the air and tried to play ‘grass’ football style which just left the ball stuck in the sand and groans from the couple of people watching.

In past years teams had their own open-sided tents which worked as not only as places for the teams to relax and leave stuff but also as mini-social centers where friends would gather, talk, eat, drink… These helped set the friendly, social and fun feeling of the whole event. There were none this year, replaced with more sponsors booths, and the atmosphere was… well, sadly there wasn’t any.

The enthusiasm and sporting competitiveness remain, yet the fun and frivolity that made the Beach 5’s so enjoyable in previous years has been subsumed beneath the organisers greed to monetise and profit from the event.

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Magnificent 7 @ The Sevens – Christian Cullen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ti0rbUGDZPU

One of the most dangerous attacking fullbacks in modern rugby history, New Zealand’s Christian Cullen, has been named as the third player in the ‘The Hong Kong Magnificent Seven’ – Hong Kong Rugby Football Union’s (HKRFU) top seven international players to have taken the pitch at the hallowed Hong Kong Stadium in So Kon Po over the past four decades.

Widely acknowledged as one of the most dangerous fullbacks of the modern era, Cullen burst onto the international scene after his appearance in Hong Kong in 1995. After playing only one match in the previous year’s tournament, Cullen replaced the injured Adrian Cashmore in 1996.

He grasped the opportunity with both hands, scoring an astonishing 18 tries over the weekend and claiming the 1996 Leslie Williams Award for the Best & Fairest player.

“It’s a great honour to be included in the list of the greatest players to appear at the Hong Kong Sevens in the past 40 years – so many fantastic rugby players have played here, and for many like myself it was the start of an international career.

“The 1996 tournament will always hold special memories for me, an epic Cup Final against Fiji and of course winning the Leslie Williams Trophy. I always love coming back to Hong Kong, and I am looking forward to joining the celebrations at the end of March,” said Cullen from New Zealand.

Cullen’s Hong Kong exploits led to his All Blacks debut later in the same year – aged 20 – and reinforced his sevens sobriquet as the Paekakariki Express. He went on to score a hat-trick in his test debut against Samoa and collected four tries against Scotland in his second test. The first steps in a glittering career that would see him become New Zealand’s most capped fullback and scorer of a then record 46 test tries for his country.

Returning to the Sevens fold in 1998, Cullen played a pivotal role in helping New Zealand win the gold medal at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Cullen is the first player selected that predates the inception of World Rugby’s (formerly the IRB) Sevens World Series in 2000.

Christian Cullen

Magnificent 7 @ The Sevens – Ben Gollings

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvGG1Y0ZiXw

England sevens star Ben Gollings is the second member of the the HKRFU’s Magnificent 7.

The all-time leading points scorer in the HSBC Sevens World Series, Gollings’ record stands alone. An astonishing 276 of those points came from just eight appearances at the Hong Kong Sevens, earning Gollings the record as the leading points scorer in Hong Kong since the inception of the World Series in 2000.

Gollings’ Hong Kong haul came from 20 tries (tied-fifth all time in Hong Kong since the series began) and 88 conversions. He leads his next closest rival on the Hong Kong scoring table, Portugal’s Pedro Leal (224), by 52 points and outpaces third-placed Zhang (211) by 65 on Hong Kong’s leaderboard.

Gollings played on three of England’s four cup winning sides in 2002, 2004 and 2006 (England also won in 2003), and featured at the Rugby World Cup Sevens in 2005. He returned to his favourite stomping ground from 2008 to 2011 and is still a regular and popular visitor to the Sevens each year.

Ben Gollings

Hong Kong Men’s Squad Announced

hk-mens-squad

The Jamie Hood-led Hong Kong men’s team will have home ground advantage as they make their fourth attempt at becoming a core team on the international series next season. The team is one of the leading contenders for the single available spot on the Sevens World Series in 2015/16 awarded to the winners of the 12-team international qualifier tournament held in Hong Kong. The men’s qualifier features two teams from each of World Rugby’s six regions. Hong Kong’s pool has a distinctly Latin flair with Mexico, Brazil and Uruguay in the same pool.

HKRFU head sevens coach Gareth Baber has kept faith in the core squad that finished as ARFU Asian Sevens Series champions in 2014 and took home the silver medal at the Asian Games in South Korea in October. The team won the ARFU-FORU Cross-Regional Sevens earlier last month beating fellow qualifier teams Papua New Guinea and Tonga en route to the Cup.

Earlier this week, the team was recognised for the successes of the past season winning the Samsung Hong Kong Sports Stars Team Award. It was the side’s fifth consecutive win in the Team category and their sixth in the past seven years, but the squad is aware that those successes are in the past and that their performance next weekend in the heaving Hong Kong Stadium will beget bigger opportunities than ever.

The squad features significant experience with Rowan Varty marking his tenth Hong Kong Sevens appearance alongside familiar names like Salom Yiu Kam Shing, Nick Hewson, Lee Jones, Cado Lee Ka To, and Tom and Alex McQueen. Only one change has been made to the squad that won in Borneo with forward Jack Capon dropping out due to injury. Mark Wright, Hong Kong’s only player in the professional Japanese league, replaces Capon, marking his first appearance for Hong Kong since the Asian Games.

Chris Maize who has regained top form after a long layoff with injury was rewarded for being a mainstay of the side after playing in all three of Hong Kong’s build-up tournaments this season in Margaret River, Darwin and Borneo. Maize is the only men’s player making his debut appearance in the Hong Kong Stadium next weekend.

Men’s Squad
Michael COVERDALE
Jamie HOOD (captain)
Nick HEWSON
Lee JONES
LEE Ka To, Cado
Christopher MAIZE *
Alex McQUEEN
Tom McQUEEN
Rowan VARTY #
Max WOODWARD
Mark WRIGHT
YIU Kam Shing, Salom

Gareth BABER (Head Coach)
Kane JURY (Coach)
Martin KIBBLE (Manager)

* Debut Hong Kong Sevens
# 10th Hong Kong Sevens

Hong Kong Match Schedule (Pool Rounds)
Friday 28th March:
14.50 Hong Kong v Brazil
17.02 Hong Kong v Mexico

Saturday 29th March
10.50 Hong Kong v Uruguay

Cavalia

Cavalia

The Big White Tent on the Central Harbourfront is hard to miss, it’s home to Cavalia a touring ‘homage to the century-old bond between human and horse’ as Cavalia founder Normand Latourelle describes the show.

At it’s most basic Cavalia is acrobats and horses – a Cirque du Soleil with four legged extras if you will. There’s some good trick riding, but as with the acrobatics nothing ground breaking, it’s all stuff that’s highly visual and can be repeated night after night.

Where Cavalia shines is it’s equine stars. We just don’t see horses in Hong Kong, and certainly not up-close and personal. Watching them on TV, even in HD, the raw beauty and power can be seen but not experienced or felt. In ‘casting’ a range of different breeds, we the audience can compare and enjoy the attributes and personalities of the horse, their personalities and traits. From the stately to the wild majestic Arabians and all points in-between.

As Latourelle explained afterwards “The Arabians are a herd, they’re not ridden, I want to keep them a bit wild.”

CavaliaThe hour long media preview was a selection of ‘scenes’ from the full show. There’s nothing new or unique about the individual pieces of the show (television has made the difficult seem common place) combined it was fun and enjoyable. The horses are the stars, the Arabians the headliners. A reminder of natures beauty and worth the price of admission alone.

Cavalia
When: 31 March – 10 May, 2015
Where: Central Harbourfront
How much: $1,995, $1,495, $1,195, $895, $695, $545, $395

Magnificent 7 @ The Sevens – Johnny Zhang

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzNNrgjtQRo

To celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the Hong Kong Sevens, the HKRFU have selected the best of the best a Magnificent 7… The first inductee into this singular sevens roll of honour is China’s Mr Rugby, Zhang Zhiqiang, who holds the all-time record for tries scored (25) in Hong Kong since the inception of the HSBC Sevens World Series in 2000. Zhang added 43 conversions for a total of 211 points in a glittering career at the Hong Kong Stadium.

Known in Hong Kong as ‘Johnny Zhang’, Zhang played at the Sevens on ten occasions and coached China in Hong Kong on another five. He also led China to their only silverware at the Hong Kong Sevens when they won the Bowl in 2006.

Appearing as a special guest of the HKRFU at the Official Draw for the 2015 Cathay Pacific / HSBC Hong Kong Sevens on 16 February Zhang said, “To be named in the Magnificent 7 of the Hong Kong Sevens is the greatest rugby honour in my life.”

China’s Mr Rugby, Zhang Zhiqiang

Police Ramp Up Scare/Intimidation Tactics!

Where are HK Police getting their strategy plans from? Could it be the People's Armed Police and their Tibetan strategy?
Where are HK Police getting their strategy plans from? Could it be the People’s Armed Police and their Tibetan strategy?

The Hong Kong Police really are showing that they come from the Tibet/Xinjiang school of policing now rather than any sensible rational approach. The top brass at HKPF have met and are now sending out what they think is a ‘scary’ message that groups of just three people could be arrested for public disorder offences. Plus, if that doesn’t scare people enough, they’ll bring out the big-bad, anti-terrorist PTU teams again.

YAWN!

This new draconian approach will change nothing in Hong Kong politically other than to highlight more of the contradictions and fractures within society.

The police neither have the ability or the judgement to discern fairly who represents a public order nuisance and who doesn’t. Gangs of violent, Blue Ribbons, will still roam free while the police target people based on the assumption that they oppose the government politically. This will be their only mandate for implementing these new measures or,

Are you a young person, that sympathises with the new wave of political protest in Hong Kong? If yes, proceed to intimidation, arrest and physical violence if required.

Religious festival in Amdo, Tibet. If Andy Tsang and CY get their way, is this what protests in Hong Kong will look like?
Religious festival in Amdo, Tibet. If Andy Tsang and CY get their way, is this what protests in Hong Kong will look like?

This is political persecution at its finest. Young HongKongers are now on the same par as Tibetans or Uighurs within the Great, Chinese Motherland; unable to raise their voice without facing overwhelming intimidation from the security forces.

After all, the police don’t need this new law to stop people from kicking over carts or acting violently. They can arrest people for this type of action whenever they see it. We do have extensive criminal laws and fairly impartial Courts in Hong Kong! But alas, these really don’t function too well when you’re in the business of political persecution.

Instead, just like during Occupy, Andy Tsang is formulating police strategy based on quelling a popular, political message that is in opposition to a malign government. It never works Andy, stop masturbating over all the weapons and gear you think you need and read some real history for once. What kind of path are you walking on when you now choose the same style of policing as Lhasa or Urumqi?

The sad fact is that these types of measures are only ever enacted by the most embattled of illegitimate governments protected by deranged and out of touch police forces in order to scare people off the streets. Or, screw the lid down tighter, allow no form of dissent and let’s carry on as though everything is ok. More popular outrage can only be met with more oppression.

The reality is that Hong Kong has a goon police force that has doubled down on a goon government and the people are not scared any more. The more force the goon government orders, the more powerful Hong Kong people get.

So, bring your draconian laws and your elite PTU, it only makes the people stronger and the government weaker!

As Albert Camus said, “The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.”

Why the Secrecy?

Obfuscation and non-answers cast doubt on honesty and truthfulness. So why the secrecy? If the opinion poll is accurate and CY Leung is happy enough with it to quote the results and use it to justify his policies… Why won’t the government publish details of poll it says shows majority of public back its universal suffrage proposal?

In Legco Frederick Fung wanted to know why and asked the following questions. He received a written non-reply by the Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr Raymond Tam, in the Legislative Council on March 18:

Question:
It has been reported that on February 28 this year, the Chief Executive (CE) told reporters that the results of a public opinion survey recently commissioned by the Government showed that more than half of Hong Kong people were agreeable to the selection of CE by universal suffrage in 2017 to be implemented in accordance with the Decision made by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on August 31 last year on issues such as the selection of CE of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region by universal suffrage. Yet, he did not provide any details of the public opinion survey. Some members of the public have complained to me that the Government has recently disseminated results of public opinion surveys to the media in a selective or incomprehensive manner from time to time, making it difficult for them to judge the credibility of such survey results. They also query that the employment of such a practice by the Government was an attempt to manipulate public opinion.  In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) of the details of the aforesaid public opinion survey regarding (i) the organisation commissioned to conduct the survey, (ii) the content of the questionnaire, (iii) the method and form of the survey, (iv) the number of respondents and the response rate, (v) the distribution of age, gender and political attitude of the respondents, (vi) the raw data, and (vii) the analytical results of the survey data;

(2) whether it has assessed the consequences of CE selectively disseminating a particular result of the aforesaid public opinion survey, including whether it has resulted in the credibility of the survey results being questioned and the Government being accused of manipulating public opinion; if it has not assessed, of the reasons for that; and

(3) whether it will consider disclosing concomitantly the relevant details when it disseminates the results of Government-commissioned public opinion surveys in future; if it will not, of the reasons for that?

Reply:
President,
In consultation with the Chief Executive’s Office and the Central Policy Unit (CPU), our reply to the questions raised by Hon Fung is as follows.

The opinion poll which the Chief Executive referred to on February 28 was conducted by a professional agency commissioned by the CPU. The CPU commissions professional research agencies to conduct opinion polls on major social, economic and political issues from time to time. Such polls are for Government’s internal reference only, and relevant details are generally not made public.

link to the official Lego release http://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/201503/18/P201503170712.htm