{"id":3870,"date":"2022-12-21T14:54:47","date_gmt":"2022-12-21T06:54:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.boasecohencollins.com\/?p=3870"},"modified":"2022-12-21T14:54:51","modified_gmt":"2022-12-21T06:54:51","slug":"a-fairytale-finish-amid-trying-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.boasecohencollins.com\/zh-hans\/%e7%bd%91%e8%aa%8c\/a-fairytale-finish-amid-trying-times\/","title":{"rendered":"A fairytale finish amid trying times"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Gold Coast, Australia, 21 December 2022: \u201c<\/strong>If at first you don&#8217;t succeed, try, try again.\u201d Or, in Lionel Messi\u2019s case, have multiple goes at it. The Argentine icon, playing in his fifth \u2013 and almost certainly last \u2013 World Cup at the age of 35, has finally lifted football\u2019s most prestigious trophy thanks to his team\u2019s thrilling victory over France on Sunday. Willed on by his nation, the diminutive genius rolled back the years, scoring twice in a 3-3 draw before Argentina prevailed on penalties. While I was supporting <em>Les Bleus<\/em> \u2013 in deference to my French son-in-law Vincent \u2013 I could not begrudge Messi his epic, enthralling and emotional crowning glory. It was, perhaps, the greatest World Cup final and I simply felt privileged to be there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Try, try again. Persistent John Lee today heads for Beijing where, in presenting his traditional end-of-year work report, our Chief Executive <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/news\/hong-kong\/politics\/article\/3203818\/hong-kong-leader-john-lee-set-4-day-maiden-duty-visit-beijing-expected-discuss-further-reopening?module=service_journalism_hk&amp;pgtype=homepage\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">will seek progress<\/a> on the full reopening of Hong Kong\u2019s border with the Mainland. Our beloved city is desperate for quarantine-free travel with the north to boost the economy, revive tourism and, not least, allow many families to reunite for the first time in three years. \u201cI believe this is the prevalent voice and I will reflect that to the state leaders,\u201d he confirms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a>Good luck with that. Having <\/a>maintained strict border controls as it stuck rigidly with zero-Covid, Beijing is facing a surge in cases after relaxing some anti-pandemic rules. In such circumstances, it will not mark Mr Lee\u2019s visit with a \u201cgift to Hong Kong\u201d, predicts Lau Siu-kai, Vice Chairman of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies think tank. Like predecessor Carrie Lam, our Chief Executive appears destined to return with only vague assurances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In any event, Hong Kong continues to ease social distancing rules, although nowhere near quickly enough for many citizens. If, like me, you have travelled overseas and witnessed real normality \u2013 no testing or quarantine and barely a mask in sight (even in a packed football stadium) \u2013 then the city\u2019s paranoid pandemic outlook is both baffling and bothersome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our stubborn leaders have, at long last, ushered in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/news\/hong-kong\/health-environment\/article\/3203077\/coronavirus-hong-kong-lifts-all-restrictions-arrivals-city-ends-03-regime\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">so-called \u201c0+0\u201d policy for arrivals<\/a>, meaning incoming travellers are no longer barred from restaurants and various other venues for the first three days of their stay. Further, cinemas, museums and performance venues will be allowed to operate at full capacity (after being limited to 85%) from tomorrow, while the widely-derided (and easily circumvented) regulation to enter a bar or nightclub \u2013 produce photographic proof of a negative rapid test taken in the previous 24 hours \u2013 is also, thankfully, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/news\/hong-kong\/politics\/article\/3203929\/hong-kong-set-drop-banquet-headcount-latest-round-eased-covid-curbs-source-says-city-leader-vows?module=lead_hero_story&amp;pgtype=homepage\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">being dropped<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alas, these relaxations have not come in time for the Hong Kong Football Association to ride the World Cup wave and resurrect its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/sport\/hong-kong\/article\/3203988\/hong-kong-football-association-pulls-plug-lunar-new-year-cup-fourth-year\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Lunar New Year Cup<\/a> next month. The showpiece tournament, which features leading club teams from around the region, was last staged in 2019, since when Covid has consistently kicked it into touch. \u201cThis is still not the appropriate time for bringing in overseas teams,\u201d laments Chairman Pui Kwan-kay. The HKFA will have to try, try again next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This setback is a further illustration that our city is far from back to normal. While the Chief Executive points out, with justification, that he has scrapped 90% of social distancing measures, Hong Kong\u2019s anti-epidemic rules remain among the world\u2019s toughest. Mask wearing is mandatory in most circumstances; group gatherings of more than 12 people are banned; residents must show proof of vaccination to enter restaurants; incoming travellers are tested on arrival (one of eight tests they must perform, and a positive result in any of these triggers an isolation order which can mean being sent to a government quarantine camp); and all students must take a daily rapid test to attend school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The strict regime continues to deter visitors, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/news\/hong-kong\/transport\/article\/3203725\/hong-kong-airport-chief-confident-travellers-will-return-compulsory-covid-19-tests-still-turn-many?module=AI_Recommended_for_you_In-house&amp;pgtype=homepage\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a fact acknowledged<\/a> by the Airport Authority\u2019s Chief Operating Officer, Vivian Cheung: \u201cMany people are still hesitant to come, they\u2019re worried about testing positive.\u201d Since the pandemic began, Hong Kong has been eclipsed as Asia\u2019s busiest air hub by Singapore, which dropped most of its restrictions seven months ago. Our airport handled just 1.05 million passengers last month, barely a fifth of the number in November 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I will do my public-spirited bit to increase passenger traffic when I return to Hong Kong next month. For now, I\u2019ve departed Qatar \u2013 having attended 27 World Cup matches in four weeks \u2013 for a festive family holiday on Australia\u2019s Gold Coast, where I shall try, try again to improve my golf game. It also means you, dear readers, can have a break from me. This column will resume in a few weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If the magical Messi didn\u2019t fluff his lines, spare a thought for <a href=\"https:\/\/hongkongfp.com\/2022\/12\/19\/4-new-lawmakers-sworn-into-hong-kong-legislature-with-1-asked-to-repeat-oath-after-mishap\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">someone who did<\/a>: engineering professor William Wong, one of four new pro-Beijing Legislative Councillors sworn in on Monday following a by-election the previous day. In taking the oath of office, he stumbled over his words, thus breaking a requirement to get the pledge spot on that was introduced in 2016 after firebrand opposition lawmakers deliberately mispronounced it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Patriot or not, Legislature Secretary General Kenneth Chen was taking no chances and politely asked William to repeat the entire oath correctly, which he duly did. If at first you don\u2019t succeed \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, 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>Gold Coast, Australia, 21 December 2022: \u201cIf at first y [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3867,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3870","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>A fairytale finish amid trying times - \u5e03\u9ad8\u6c5f\u5f8b\u5e08\u884c<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.boasecohencollins.com\/zh-hans\/%e7%bd%91%e8%aa%8c\/a-fairytale-finish-amid-trying-times\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"zh_CN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A fairytale finish amid trying times - 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