The Pulse：Alan Leong on 27 pan-democrat joint petition, Graham Street market "revitalisation", Is

At the National People’s Congress meeting in Beijing, the message was blunt. Last August’s NPC Standing Committee edict on constitutional reform is set in stone. Committee member Rita Fan says those who think the decision can be overturned are “living in their own world”. Rather bizarrely, a much quoted “authoritative source” in Beijing used the current Chief Executive as a threat to scare the democrats. Block reforms, said this source, and you’ll get him for another term. Along with new attempts to introduce draconian anti-subversion laws.
The government has hoped for turncoats among the pan-democrats. That hope appeared to be dashed on Monday when all 27 pro-democrat legislators signed a pledge to vote down any proposal based on the NPCSC framework. Li Fei, Deputy Secretary General of the NPCSC, has canceled a meeting with pan-democrats planned for early next month. With us in the studio is legislator Alan Leong, the convenor of the weekly pan-democrats' lunch meeting.
Graham Street is the site of one of Hong Kong’s first cinemas in 1907, and – for even longer – home of the Graham Street wet market. That market may have survived the Japanese Occupation but doesn’t look like it’s going to survive the Urban Renewal Authority. It’s the oldest wet market in Hong Kong and provides a rare chance for the residents of Central and Mid-Levels to buy fresh food from any source not owned by tycoons and chain stores. Not for much longer.
Well, it’s not just fresh food sellers who are being priced out by rising rentals. In the words of Financial Secretary John Tsang: “If you can’t afford a home in Hong Kong, don’t buy one.” At current prices, that means most people in Hong Kong. Late last month, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority introduced three new measures to cool the market. But have they actually discourage rich speculators, or just made life harder for Hong Kong’s middle class?