TG Wednesday September 4th, 2024

Tripperhead Gazette

• Cathay’s A350 woes continue.

• Court upholds appeal against satirical TV show.

• The latest on Typhoon Yagi, with T3 in place until at least 12pm Thursday.

• And TikTok cancels HK accounts.

All this and the rest of Wednesday’s news that matters 👇

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1. Cathay Pacific’s A350 engine issue continues to affect flights, with 90 cancellations this week so far.

The faulty fuel line has affected both CX’s A350-1000 and A350-900 series planes, with the airline moving as many working A350s onto their long-haul routes (more profitable) at the expense of regional flights (less profitable, more flights per day, demand lower).

Bloomberg’s article is free to read, so click the pic to read the story!

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2. Back in 2020 ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok and Douyin, decided to remove TikTok from the Hong Kong market.

While the most downloaded app in the world stopped being available in HK, users who were with TikTok before the shutdown could still access their accounts; until now.

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3. The Court of Appeal on Wednesday overturned a Communications Authority (and lower court) decision against RTHK’s satirical show Headliner.

While the show didn’t even survive the resulting backlash from the episode (eventually ceasing production in June 2020), four years later the High Court has overturned the decision that the episode had insulted police officers.

If reading court judgements is your thing, you can read it all here.

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Someone on X requested I reactivate my dormant Bluesky account, and as I have a terrible inability to say no to people, it’s back up and running.

So if you’re online, I’m now cross-posting to X, Threads, and Bluesky.

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4. A police inspector and his wife have been hit with bribery charges by ICAC.

Ho Siu-tung, 38, CIP, faces two counts of public servant accepting an advantage, contrary to section 4(2)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (POBO), and three counts of MIPO, contrary to the Common Law. His wife Mishell Ho Yin-veng, 36, housewife, faces one count of aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring a public servant to accept advantages, contrary to section 4(2)(a) of POBO and section 89 of the Criminal Procedure Ordinance. 

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5. Hong Kong’s new flight rules came into effect on Tuesday, meaning all airlines need to send passenger lists to the HK Govt’s system before take-off.

Immigration Department said, “The API system will not issue a no-board direction against Hong Kong permanent residents who enjoy the right of abode in Hong Kong”.

So if you have a HKID PR, no problems; if not, maybe. Depends who you are.

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6. Typhoon Yagi continues to creep along south of Hong Kong, with HKO raising the T3 signal at 6.40pm.

The Observatory’s forecast has the storm going Super Typhoon before it scoots through the Qiongzhou Strait.

The Strong Wind Signal, No.3, will remain in force at least until noon tomorrow.

After suffering through this many times with my own children, I understand the T3 frustration.

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7. And to end, I’ve finally tested out the Non-Chinese Mainland Travel Permit, and arrived safely back in Hong Kong.

A tip from me; once you’ve registered your fingerprints (see the guide), the lady told me I could use e-channel after 24 hours. I did, and immediately got a big red CANNOT sign in Chinese. But as the lanes weren’t busy, I decided to test things out. Turns out I had my MTP card inserted the wrong way. It should be (literally) face up, but the top of your head should be pointing out, not inside the scanner. Then BOOM!, I was through 15 seconds later.

So for the entire two night Shenzhen trip, I never needed my passport. Win!

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SERATUS LIMA PULUH TUJUH