{"id":3719,"date":"2022-10-26T15:02:20","date_gmt":"2022-10-26T07:02:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.boasecohencollins.com\/?p=3719"},"modified":"2022-10-26T15:02:22","modified_gmt":"2022-10-26T07:02:22","slug":"health-protection-its-going-swimmingly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.boasecohencollins.com\/zh-hans\/%e7%bd%91%e8%aa%8c\/health-protection-its-going-swimmingly\/","title":{"rendered":"Health protection? It\u2019s going swimmingly"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Hong Kong, 26 October 2022:<\/strong> Fifty-six years ago, Mao Zedong famously <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=xN1P2DHE26g&amp;t=24s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">swam in the Yangtze River<\/a> to herald his resurgence as China\u2019s supreme leader. It set a trend for his successors. Deng Xiaoping enjoyed an <a href=\"https:\/\/everydaylifeinmaoistchina.org\/2016\/05\/29\/deng-xiaoping-goes-swimming-at-beidaihe-in-1983\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">invigorating dip<\/a> most days, even well into his 80s, while Jiang Zemin was also partial to a paddle, whether on the <a href=\"http:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk\/2\/hi\/middle_east\/713625.stm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">shores of the Dead Sea<\/a> or the <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.nytimes.com\/www.nytimes.com\/library\/world\/102897us-china.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">balmy beaches of Hawaii<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alas, there was no sign of Chief Executive John Lee in his Speedos last Sunday as 1,500 adventurous citizens dived headlong into Hong Kong\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/hongkongfp.com\/2022\/10\/23\/hkfp-lens-swimmers-participate-in-hong-kongs-cross-harbour-race\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">annual Cross Harbour Race.<\/a> It was left to lawmakers Eunice Yung \u2013 \u201cI feel good to have challenged myself\u201d \u2013 Vincent Cheng and Yiu Pak-leung to represent our government in the mad dash from Wan Chai to Tsim Sha Tsui. For the record, teenager Jimmy Kwok was fastest over the 1km course in 14:26 while Athena Wong won the women\u2019s race in 15:11.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>No, Mr Lee is up to his neck with other priorities: a chronic housing shortage, well-documented talent drain, wealth inequality and a polarised society, to name a few. As well, public trust is running low. He has attempted to answer some of these issues in his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.policyaddress.gov.hk\/2022\/en\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">inaugural policy address<\/a>, clocking in at a whopping two hours and 45 minutes, promising to \u201cbuild a better Hong Kong\u201d. His pledges include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>An all-out effort to attract overseas expertise and investment.<\/li><li>Breakthroughs to address housing woes, including a new \u201cLight Public Housing\u201d scheme.<\/li><li>Reform of the civil service to achieve a \u201cresult-oriented\u201d administration.<\/li><li>An overhaul of the healthcare system with a focus on prevention rather than treatment.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Has he delivered? Predictably, reaction is divided along political lines. Pro-establishment figures have hailed the Chief Executive as visionary (yes, really) and his blueprint as innovative. Others note his failure to produce a plan to stop professionals leaving \u2013 \u201cHe\u2019s performing a blood transfusion but hasn\u2019t stopped the bleeding,\u201d observes political scientist Ivan Choy \u2013 plus lack of poverty alleviation policies and the glaring absence of a road map out of the pandemic. Citizens\u2019 satisfaction with Mr Lee\u2019s address was 33.7%, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pori.hk\/press-release-en\/2022-policy-address.html?lang=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute<\/a>, lower than the maiden speeches by all four of his predecessors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite the best efforts of our swimmers and CE, however, the most waves were created by last Friday\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/legalref.judiciary.hk\/lrs\/common\/ju\/ju_frame.jsp?DIS=148141&amp;currpage=T\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">High Court ruling<\/a> that it was unlawful for the government to void more than 20,000 Covid-19 vaccination exemption certificates issued by seven doctors who allegedly handed them out without proper medical consultation. In a judicial review, Mr Justice Russell Coleman declared Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau had no legal power to declare the certificates invalid. In doing so, the judge noted the far-reaching impact this administration\u2019s measures \u2013 via the Prevention and Control of Disease Ordinance (Cap 599) \u2013 have had on personal freedoms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cThere must be extremely few laws that have ever had such a significant, long-term and wide-ranging impact on almost every aspect of a citizen\u2019s ordinary and everyday life. Cap 599 and its subsidiary legislation has affected \u2013 and has often severely hindered or restricted, and sometimes entirely curtailed \u2013 shopping; eating; drinking; education; travel; public entertainment; trade; sport and sporting events; religious practice; medical care; fitness and exercise; personal care and grooming; where you can go; when you can go there; who you can meet; when you can meet; how many you can meet; how many can gather, even outside; what you must do before you go to certain places; what you must do when you arrive; what you must do after you leave; and more. Cap 599 has extended even into the privacy of your own home.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ouch! However, rather than accept the judgment or file an appeal, our government has simply <a href=\"https:\/\/www.info.gov.hk\/gia\/general\/202210\/25\/P2022102500852.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">amended the law<\/a> to suit its wishes under a procedure that foregoes the need for Legislative Council debate. From today, Professor Lo can indeed annul any dodgy certificates. \u201cOur government always acts in accordance with the law,\u201d insists Mr Lee, while heaving a set of goalposts across a football pitch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Further proof of this do-as-we-want approach comes with arrangements for the much-hyped Global Financial Leaders\u2019 Summit on 1-3 November. It is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/business\/article\/3196671\/overseas-bankers-attending-hkma-summit-be-exempt-some-pandemic-restrictions-can-mingle-privately\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a> the incoming fat cats will not be subject to all the usual restrictions for regular arrivals: they will be free to eat and mingle in private settings in restaurants and given convenience to meet clients and staff. And what if they test positive? While we risk being frogmarched off to Penny\u2019s Bay, these high rollers can opt to leave on a private jet or yacht. It\u2019s called privilege.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tired of this soap opera? Covid-19 was gazetted as a statutorily notifiable disease on 8 January 2020. Within weeks, we had our first quarantine centre, school closures and social distancing rules. We have been living with these ever since. Time enough for Jimmy Kwok to do 98,000 harbour swims, John Lee to deliver 8,100 policy addresses or \u2013 with lamentable Liz Truss as the benchmark \u2013 the UK to get through 22 Prime Ministers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019m reminded of the old Russian proverb that there is nothing more permanent than a temporary solution. When will it end? Regrettably, our leader \u2013 as with the Cross Harbour Race \u2013 is not yet inclined to take the plunge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Stay safe and well, everybody!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Colin Cohen<\/strong><br><strong>Senior Partner<\/strong><br><strong>Boase Cohen &amp; Collins<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hong Kong, 26 October 2022: Fifty-six years ago, Mao Ze [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3716,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-54"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Health protection? 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