Opinion | If bankers can get the special ‘0+0’ travel treatment amid Covid pandemic, let the rest of Hong Kong too

The descent of bankers into Hong Kong last week for the widely anticipated Global Financial Leaders’ Investment Summit was quite the spectacle. Some 200 bankers, finance executives and fund managers from more than 20 countries, together with our city’s leaders, were seen at the summit events maskless – chatting, eating and thoroughly enjoying themselves. It was a sight that needed some getting used to.

In true Hong Kong can-do spirit, the summit’s organisers, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), were able to get exemptions for foreign attendees from most of the pandemic restrictions regular arrivals are subjected to. The health code didn’t apply to these VIPs, who were free to eat and mingle in private settings in restaurants.

The red carpet was rolled out for guests, including dinner at the M+ museum of contemporary art, reportedly with live music and, you guessed it, “Under the Lion Rock” played. It’s as if Covid-19 never happened.

I do take issue with the choice of song. It’s one that resonates most with locals in the city. But given the weeks of hype surrounding the summit and the discussions over who had dropped out at the last minute, a more dramatic song list might have better served the global titans we were hosting. Perhaps the theme song for Star Wars or even, Handel’s Hallelujah chorus, would have been more befitting.

As our VIPS swooped in, they even raised the Hang Seng Index; it went up by as much as much as 2.4 per cent last Wednesday after a depressing downward spiral, only to be disrupted by the typhoon alert, which suspended trading.

Schools were closed for Severe Tropical Storm Nalgae. Government services and public transport were also affected. But while mortals put their lives on hold and retreated back into their homes, the summit for the titans went on.