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Opinion | Get vaccinated to bring Hong Kong back to a healthy normal, never mind the politics
- It is unfortunate that the choice of whether to get vaccinated has become politicised as science should guide our choices
- When push comes to shove, being vaccinated against a killer disease is better than not being vaccinated as long as its efficacy meets WHO standards
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To vaccinate or not to vaccinate? To leave or not to leave? These are the two questions uppermost in the minds of Hongkongers now that vague red lines have made many fearful of freely discussing sensitive political issues.
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Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor insists normality has returned after the social unrest of 2019. But many of us know normality is fake when imposed through a national security law and election overhaul that curtails space for the opposition.
What we now have is more like an uneasy calm before a storm. None of the grievances that sparked the 2019 unrest have been addressed.
It was amusing to hear Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung Kin-chung say on Sunday’s RTHK Letter to Hong Kong that free speech and media remain intact under Hong Kong’s changed political landscape. Let me remind him that prior to his Letter to Hong Kong, which touted the government’s achievements, RTHK pulled a pre-recorded one by opposition politician Michael Mo Kwan-tai and replaced it with one by a pro-establishment figure, scrapping a planned recording by Hong Kong Journalists Association chairman Chris Yeung Kin-hing along the way.
If Cheung insists free speech still exists, he should order RTHK director Patrick Li Pak-chuen to tolerate all views. Instead, Li has already axed about 10 Chinese and English shows critical of the government since taking over last month.
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Hong Kong publishers resort to self-censorship under new security law
Hong Kong publishers resort to self-censorship under new security law
To leave or stay as Beijing imposes democracy with “Hong Kong characteristics” is a personal choice with which many families are struggling. I won’t get into that.
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