A “yellow economy” of businesses has sprung up in Hong Kong to support anti-government protesters, but online store Jimmy Jungle is zeroing in on young demonstrators stuck in detention.
Michael, 27, set up the business along with three friends, to ease pressure on detainees’ relatives and friends in finding them items of daily use, such as toiletries, packaged to comply with curbs set by authorities worried about security.
“It’s a matter of conscience ... they sacrificed a lot for Hong Kong,” said Michael, who did not want to use his full name for fear of losing suppliers angered at his support for protesters. “We can’t forget them.”
Photo: Reuters
The company was set up after the arrest of a friend during a siege at Hong Kong’s Polytechnic University in November last year, who has been in detention since.
“It has become like a full-time job for my friend’s family to find the snacks and daily necessities,” Michael said.
Rights groups say about 90 people are in custody, from among more than 7,500 arrested since anti-government protests escalated in June last year.
Hong Kong’s Correctional Services Department (CSD), which furnishes detainees with items such as toothpaste, toothbrushes and toilet paper, said it did not have a figure for those detained over the protests.
Friends and relatives of detainees criticize as too strict the limits fixed on items carried in during visits.
“I understand why they need to standardize the approved items, but some are hard to find in the market and not every family can afford to buy from the convenience store nearby,” said Kay, 31, who has a detained relative.
Guidelines specify sizes and brands of toiletries, and, even in some instances, permit only wrappers with Chinese lettering.
However, few items in shops meet all the specifications on soap, for example, and some sizes of toothpaste are only available as giveaways with much larger purchases.
The CSD said it reviewed the guidelines regularly and adjusted them as needed, adding that it had recently widened the choices of handwash and disinfecting wet tissues.
Jimmy Jungle’s founders at first used their own money for purchases sold at cost to inmates’ families and friends, but now it can provide items free, thanks to donations of nearly HK$280,000 (US$36,049) within a single week after its launch last month.
Nearly 30 detainees have received packages since. They are usually delivered to the offices of district councilors located near detention centers, making it easy for visitors to take them in to detainees.
Michael hopes for eventual amnesty for the demonstrators.
“I hope the protesters won’t need our service one day,” he said. “My friend always told us not to feel desperate, as those in custody depend on us to ignite their hopes.”
A Zurich city councilor has apologized and reportedly sought police protection against threats after she fired a sport pistol at an auction poster of a 14th-century Madonna and child painting, and posted images of their bullet-ridden faces on social media. Green-Liberal party official Sanija Ameti, 32, put the images on Instagram over the weekend before quickly pulling them down. She later wrote on social media that she had been practicing shots from about 10m and only found the poster as “big enough” for a suitable target. “I apologize to the people who were hurt by my post. I deleted it immediately when I
The governor of Ohio is to send law enforcement and millions of dollars in healthcare resources to the city of Springfield as it faces a surge in temporary Haitian migrants. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine on Tuesday said that he does not oppose the Temporary Protected Status program under which about 15,000 Haitians have arrived in the city of about 59,000 people since 2020, but said the federal government must do more to help affected communities. On Monday, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost directed his office to research legal avenues — including filing a lawsuit — to stop the federal government from sending
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is to visit Russia next month for a summit of the BRICS bloc of developing economies, Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) said on Thursday, a move that comes as Moscow and Beijing seek to counter the West’s global influence. Xi’s visit to Russia would be his second since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. China claims to take a neutral position in the conflict, but it has backed the Kremlin’s contentions that Russia’s action was provoked by the West, and it continues to supply key components needed by Moscow for
At first, Francis Ari Sture thought a human was trying to shove him down the steep Norwegian mountainside. Then he saw the golden eagle land. “We are staring at each other for, maybe, a whole minute,” Sture said on Monday. “I’m trying to think what’s in its mind.” The bird then attacked Sture five more times on Thursday last week, scratching and clawing the 31-year-old bicycle courier’s face and arms over 10 to 15 minutes as he sprinted down the mountain. The same eagle is believed to be responsible for attacks on three other people across a vast mountainous area of southern Norway
RSS