Hamstergeddon the day before as well as the actual day that Edward Leung Ting-kei is released from prison

TV reporter and crew at work -- undoubtedly talking about the  

hamstergeddon that the pet shop meters away is ground zero for

 

In the wee hours of this morning, Edward Leung Ting-kei was released from jail after having served close to four hours of the sentence he received for his part in what came to be known as the "fishball revolution" that took place over the Lunar New Year period of 2016.  In normal times, the early release of the young man who's been dubbed "the spiritual leader of the Hong Kong protests" (for his election campaign slogan, "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times", being a much heard chant during the anti-extradition bill-turned-pro-democracy protests) would dominate the news cycle. 

But these are not normal times -- in Hong Kong more than in most other parts of the world; this not least because yesterday afternoon, the Hong Kong authorities, in all of its infinite wisdom, decided to order that all hamsters being sold in pet shops in the territory be killed after several hamsters at a Causeway Bay pet shop tested positive for the Wuhan coronavirus – "the world's first such observation".  Oh, and other animals, including rabbits and chincillas, in the Little Boss pet shop in Causeway Bay (and its warehouse over in Tai Po), one of whose workers and customers had tested positive, as well!

 

To judge from this news being covered far outside Hong Kong as well as in the Big Lychee itself (and for two days straight), this came as quite the shock to many people all over the world -- and rightly so, since, as per a Reuters report, "Scientists around the world and Hong Kong health and veterinary authorities have said there was no evidence that animals play a major role in human contagion with the coronavirus".  A measure of how ridiculous many felt these actions targeting the hamsters (and their fellow pet shop creatures) are can be seen in CNN's Ivan Watson, when reporting the additional news that "The Hong Kong government wants anyone who bought a pet hamster on or after Dec[ember] 22 to surrender it to the authorities to be killed" on Twitter, feeling a need to point out that "This is not a joke".

 

This not being a joke was something that didn't need to be made known to the traumatized young owners of hamsters whose parents felt obliged to obey the government's call to hand over beloved pets to be killed.  A particular heartbreaking video making the social media rounds shows a young boy tearfully and loudly bidding farewell to its pet hamster, Pudding. (If you can't make it to the end: the part where the sobbing boy uses his smartphone to take final photos/videos of his obviously beloved pet is... and ya, I would dearly like to slap the parent(s) who unneccesarily subjected his/her/their child(ren) to this trauma!) 

 

In contrast to the compliant hamster owners were those determined to resist the government's calls to hand their pets over to be killed.  Then there's the thousands of people who have volunteered to adopt unwanted hamsters after a mass cull order from the government raised alarm that panicky owners would abandon their pets.    

 

The sense I get is that the likes of Sophia Chan from a hamster concern group -- and surely not the same Sophia Chan who is Hong Kong's health secretary! -- who "slammed the authorities' decision as unreasonable and inhumane, saying it was "genocide" that frightened every pet owner in the SAR", are speaking for the majority in Hong Kong with regards to this issue.  And the people feeling irate about this matter includes children.  A sample story from a member of the HK Twitterverse: "I explained the decision to cull hamsters to some kids. They suggested that the government should slaughter all those participants of THE BIRTHDAY PARTY"!

 

Already, scores of little creatures have been killed by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department since yesterday afternoon's order was given.  Specifically, "21 rabbits, 69 hamsters and seven chinchillas [from] the Little Boss pet shop in Causeway Bay" and "138 rabbits, 861 hamsters, two golden hamsters, 31 chinchillas, 81 guinea pigs and 3 white rats [from] the pet shop's Tai Po store house".  Also -- oh, the (in)humanity! -- "Hamsters in all the 35 pet shops which sell the animals will also be killed within this week".

 

For those who think this much ado about nothing: the thing is that this hamster cull is being seen as a reflection of the sad state of Hong Kong today.  As a Niao Collective Tweet stated: "Don't be a dick to people who're sad about the hamsters. It's about the hamsters, but it's also about the wild boars. Which is about the wild boars, but also about a lot of other stuff."  

 

Or as AFP's Hong Kong bureau chief, Jerome Taylor, was moved to Tweet in the wake of the hamster cull order: "Lost count of how many messages I’ve got along the lines of “Hong Kong is becoming more like the mainland every day”. It’s maybe one of the reasons why this move has struck such a chord locally — it’s the incremental steps as much as the seismic ones."    

 

Back to Edward Leung: I wonder what he'll make of all this but probably will never know, since his social media accounts have been deactivated and he's declined media interviews and visits.  Soon after his leaving prison and hours before his Facebook account was deactivated, he did share that: "After four years, I want to cherish the precious time I have with my family and restore a normal life."  And, frankly, I think it's thoroughly understandable.  

 

The fear though is that Edward Leung remains not really free; something that's given credence by it being reported that he will be under police surveillance for some time to come.  Yet another sign that this is not the Hong Kong he knew prior to entering prison.

 

Still other signs that Hong Kong is a sad place to be these days: The finding that the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department has culled 38 wild boar in the two months since November 12th, when it announced that it would implement a policy of euthanizing members of those wild creatures that strayed into urban areas; and the announcement of yet another media outlet ceasing operations.  ("Free Media HK" stated that it's only temporarily ceasing operations, as a result of ongoing legal proceedings involving founder Alan Keung, who's currently behind bars after being denied bail while awaiting a case that's only due to go to court in March, but...)

 

Adding to all this is that the number of Hong Kong's new Wuhan coronavirus cases has risen to double digits in recent days, with: 18 reported yesterday; and 16, two of them local transmissions, today.  And for the record: a total of just three (3) cases have been linked to the Little Boss pet shop in Causeway Bay to date.