Ms.F🍎🌺🐹🆘️❤🎈🎁😷🇬🇧🇺🇸🇯🇵

Stand with Hongkong,
😊
never surrender, never forgive !
香港真係好靚
願你一路走花路，不知人間疾苦
失去的，日後會讓他們凱旋歸來。
Pls Follow👉
@Noblock9me1

[Ms.F🍎🌺🐹🆘️❤🎈🎁😷🇬🇧🇺🇸🇯🇵 @IamMsFF]

To American, weall shows out our courage fighting of our freedom!
@SolomonYue

#FreedomHK
#PassHKHumanRightsAndDemocracyAct
#StandWithHongKong
#FightForFreedom
#antichinazi

[Kris Cheng @krislc]

Activist Finn Lau, wanted by the Hong Kong police with a HK$1 million bounty, is a UK-chartered surveyor by trade

[端傳媒 Initium Media @initiumnews]

「都什麼年代了，還用竹架」「竹棚協會是典型的封建行會」「香港很有必要來一場社會改造」⋯⋯近日， #香港 #大埔 的 #五級大火 仍未被撲滅之時，大陸互聯網已經燒起另一場瞄準 #竹棚 的輿論烈焰。

11月26日下午，香港新界，大埔 #宏福苑 發生嚴重火災，至發稿時已有至少146人死亡。儘管起火的具體成因還未完全確認，但在現場緊急展開救援時，社交媒體上的輿論聲音和關注重點就出現了明顯分裂。

竹棚是否是火災蔓延的誘因，成為各方之間最關鍵的爭議點。

區別於許多地方使用的金屬 #棚架 （或稱為鋼架），竹棚是香港最常見的建築腳手架，其價格實惠、形式靈活，也被視為「香港特色」。而在大陸，鋼腳手架已於近年強制普及，尤其在大城市，竹棚早已在大型工程中絕跡。因而當整幢樓架設着竹棚的宏福苑猛烈燃燒的現場畫面傳來，許多中國網友都疑惑，為何香港依舊會在大型工程中使用「落後」、「過時」的竹棚，並將火災原因歸給竹棚。

🗨️🪵 這種把行會與「黑幫」聯繫起來的陰謀論能在大陸產生並風行，體現了許多民衆並不理解香港社會的運作原理。在代議政制未開放的年代，這樣的組織是香港政府與民間的一個重要溝通平台，確保政府政策具一定民意基礎。有媒體人評論指，諸如竹棚業工會、行會這樣的邊緣行業協會雖然不問政治，但也是「香港作為一個極度信賴專業精神的社會的基礎」。但就連這樣的團體，如今也在大陸輿論中被妖魔化、意識形態化，「可以想見香港今天的官員會怎麼樣擁戴大陸輿論而立刻拔除這個行業」。事實上，在港府的幾次案情說明中，竹棚並非重點。點擊連結，了解簡中輿論中的竹棚敘事與香港還在大量使用竹棚的原因之間的落差下，被遮蔽的制度追問：https://t.co/UsccCvqLIn

[inmediahknet @inmediahk]

警方凌晨兩巡大埔墟站物資站

凌晨近1時，五名警員到大埔墟站外的民間物資站巡視，查詢義工背景和物資內容。警員向記者表示並非收到投訴，「你有咁多人又有咁多物資，我哋都要了解吓。」

警員亦查詢義工背景、是否居於大埔。義工回應指成員來自不同地區，皆是自發。
...

[Finn Lau 劉祖廸 @finnlau_cd]

3 days after the fire outbreak, Hong Kong National Security Police arrested a student who initiated an online petition with 4 demands:
‘1. Keep supporting affected residents & ensure proper rehousing
2. Set up an independent inquiry into the fire, incl. suspected collusion
(1/3)

[Chung Ching Kwong 鄺頌晴 @chungchingkwong]

【Tai Po Fire, Bid-Rigging, and Bamboo Scaffolding in NSL-Era Hong Kong】

The Tai Po fire was not just a tragic accident; it was the predictable outcome of a broken system. A system where estate management, renovation contracts, and public safety have long been undermined by collusion, bid-rigging, and zero accountability. And since the NSL, Hong Kong has no civil society or independent media strong enough to hold these networks to account. Even when residents and expert and activists like Jason Poon, took their own samples of the netting and tried to expose the risks, they were ignored.

Wang Fuk Court was in the middle of a HK$330M “mega-repair.” Residents had protested the sky-high cost, accusing the owners’ corporation of force-pushing the plan through despite objections. Transparency was minimal. Oversight was weak. This is exactly how bid-rigging works in HK housing estates: pre-selected contractors, inflated prices, limited competition, opaque decisions, and incentives to cut corners on materials and safety, because no one is genuinely checking, nor can the civil society did what it used to do-- to hold different people to account and raise awareness of these issues.

During the renovation, the contractor wrapped the buildings with mesh, and foam boards that allegedly failed to meet fire-resistant standards. Some residents took a sample of the netting material to test on their own; videos showed it burned and dripped-- hardly in compliance with the regulations [1]. Here, cheaper, flammable materials meant higher profit margins and higher risk. The Wang Fuk Court contractor ignored safety again and again, with a long trail of corruption and violations. In 9 years, they racked up at least 17 regulatory breaches and fines.

When the fire started, the netting as shown in many videos, burned quickly. A slow fire became an inferno in minutes.

Police arrested multiple directors and engineers from the construction company. ICAC launched an investigation into the renovation contract itself — including how a controversial HK$330M plan was approved and whether corruption was involved.

This is the cost of collusion: Bid-rigging doesn’t just overcharge residents. It kills oversight, kills competition, and, in this case, helped create conditions that killed people. Hong Kong’s building maintenance system has tolerated collusion and corruption for years. The Tai Po fire is the clearest possible warning: corruption in estate management is not just a financial issue. It tells us a lot about HK-China relationship.

Beijing could and had rewritten Hong Kong’s political system overnight and crushed organised dissent, but it has never been able to cleanly uproot the entrenched construction and maintenance networks that profit from this model of “business as usual.” And this is where the politics of bamboo scaffolding enters the picture.

There is a long-understood agenda from Beijing to undermine Hong Kong’s bamboo scaffolding industry, not because it is unsafe, but precisely because it is a local craft, part of the Hong Kong identity, practised safely for decades, and one of the last corners of construction work where Chinese state-owned developers and their preferred contractors have never managed to gain a foothold. Bamboo scaffolding is not standard in the PRC; metal scaffolding is. And right now, mainland China faces a record glut of metal scaffolding materials, made worse by recent scandals over fake steel being used in their production , scandals that have no counterpart in Hong Kong’s bamboo trade.

So when the Hong Kong Government suddenly pushes a mandatory shift to metal scaffolding “for safety,” it is hard to ignore the timing. Yahoo Finance reports that Hong Kong experts defending the safety of bamboo scaffolding are being aggressively dismissed by PRC netizens, while the Government doubles down on the same narrative. In other words, this is not really about fire safety. It is a political and economic project to replace a resilient local craft with PRC-standard practices, conveniently absorbing a mainland oversupply while sidelining an industry Beijing has never been able to capture.

Thus, the tragedy is being used to accelerate “integration,” dressed up as technical modernisation. On paper, it’s about protecting the public; in practice, it sidesteps politically connected local players without ever reckoning with the actual causes of the fire: opaque estate governance, weak enforcement, collusion, and the hollowing out of watchdogs under the NSL.

We, Hongkongers, outside or inside the city do not trust the government or any of its proxies. Five years of national security crackdowns, media censorship, and relentless state messaging have not repaired the rupture exposed in 2019. That distrust is alive, deep, and justified.

HKSAR Gov and co are clearly not acting in good faith. Now, as you are reading, volunteers who organised themselves to help were reported to the police for unlawful assembly, a move that looks less like public order and more like spite. It is yet another sign that the Government now treats ordinary civic-minded Hongkongers as adversaries. And I fear reporting them is not the end of it, as Hongkongers came up with 4 very reasonable demands asking for investigation and accountability.

For us, the fact that John Lee decided to thank Xi Jinping first, rather than giving the credit to the brave firefighters, showed us that they are replicating the Mainland disaster-stagecraft: PR-first, people-last; party-state-first, people-last.

Taken together, the political economy of scaffolding, the erasure of civil oversight, and the Government’s behaviour during the crisis reinforce the same truth: the problem is not bamboo. The problem is a system where power, profit, and propaganda take precedence over safety, accountability, and the lives of Hong Kong people.

[1] https://t.co/1kEPkMcyEj

[Amyau @Amyau14]

要走真係要考慮好多嘢，特別係長者唔想離開

[Solomon Yue @SolomonYue]

#XiJinping has a known desire for #Taiwan reunifying with mainland #China by force. Since President Trump's 2024 victory, the Taiwan invasion window is closed. Trump told Xi before if China invades Taiwan, he will bomb shit out of #Beijing. Xi couldn't believe his ears. Trump's 14 bunker-buster bombs on the Iranian nuclear sites made Xi a true believer.

Xi is building an underground command center near Beijing, 10 times bigger than the Pentagon as Xi's wartime bomb shelter. After its completion, the bomb shelter still won't stop our bunker-buster bombs.

#CCP also used its proxy Kuomintang (KMT) in Taiwan to deny #Taipei's purchase of U.S. military hardware to defend the island nation. Now 31 KMT lawmakers (2/3 of Taiwan's Legislative Yuan) are facing recalls tomorrow and in August. As a result, KMT/CCP will lose its majority in Taiwan's national assembly.

Last Friday, the U.S. House just passed the DOD Appropriations Act of 2026, which includes US$500 million for Taiwan military aid. As of July 10, 2025, there are approximately 500 US military training personnel stationed in Taiwan.

Nearly 80% of Americans support the US taking military action to defend Taiwan if China invades or blockades Taiwan. Defending Taiwan from #PLA's invasion is our national interest.

[inmediahknet @inmediahk]

漁護署今年「人道處理」逾600隻野豬 全港數目大減至約900隻
https://t.co/ewpK9DKGlW

[inmediahknet @inmediahk]

警方已安裝612組閉路電視 暫不收音 研人臉識別尋重罪疑犯
https://t.co/ak1KtSlqIh

[inmediahknet @inmediahk]

政府擬引入智能投票箱 檢測選民是否填劃「無效票」
https://t.co/MXqrB7sHFx

[BBC News (World) @BBCWorld]

South Korea's president declares emergency martial law https://t.co/V8gYlH4AaP

[Solomon Yue @SolomonYue]

I am advocating to close down ALL #HongKong Vichy regime trade offices in the US.

[inmediahknet @inmediahk]

【初選47人案｜判刑】呂智恆養母散庭後舉牌「義人得生 惡人必亡」

呂智恆被判囚4年3個月，其養母Elsa離開法院時舉起寫上「義人得生 惡人必亡」的紙牌。...

[Hong Kong Free Press HKFP @hkfp]

Stay tuned to HKFP on Tuesday as 45 democrats are set to be sentenced under the Beijing-imposed security law: https://t.co/5hQ0Y6kr2F They have been convicted of conspiring to commit subversion over planning to use legislative powers to indiscriminately veto bills, ultimately forcing the chief executive’s resignation and a government shutdown.

Of the 47 democrats initially charged with subversion, 16 pleaded not guilty, while 31 pleaded guilty. The court, presided over by a panel of three designated judges instead of a jury, found 14 guilty, acquitting two.

The scholars, lawmakers, activists and a former journalist could be jailed for life.

[Joey Siu 邵嵐 @_joeysiu]

Many are relieved that our friends received “only” 7-year sentences instead of life in prison. But none of the #HK47 pro-democracy campaigners (and the other 1,800+ political prisoners), should have been imprisoned at all.

Even one day in jail is too long.

Release them now.

[inmediahknet @inmediahk]

【初選案47人案｜判刑】百歲大黃伯連續兩晚排通宵盼見「受難朋友」 林進嘆僅5公眾可入正庭「非常可惜」
https://t.co/L9mnF3JT7J

[Ms.F🍎🌺🐹🆘️❤🎈🎁😷🇬🇧🇺🇸🇯🇵 @IamMsFF]

Feels very very sad.
@SolomonYue

[Holmes Chan @holmeschan_]

#BREAKING: Hong Kong jails legal scholar Benny Tai for 10 years for subversion, the longest sentence handed out so far under the city's national security law.

Tai and 44 others were earlier found guilty in Hong Kong's largest national security trial.

More to follow.🧵

[Ms.F🍎🌺🐹🆘️❤🎈🎁😷🇬🇧🇺🇸🇯🇵 @IamMsFF]

@SolomonYue Some thing will awakening again, history do repeats always!

[Solomon Yue @SolomonYue]

I will put my 4-point ending the double taxation on a cocktail napkin:
1) No tax return filing if no US-sourced income
2) No expensive CPA bill by using a postcard check box
3) No US-sourced income = no bank reporting on assets
4) Overseas residency requirements as a guardrail

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

The people of Brazil are not happy with the current regime