The Pulse：Press freedom and discussion with Chris Ng on the new arrangement in getting information f

According to Reporters Without Borders’s latest annual rankings on press freedom released just two weeks ago, international press freedom is declining. The findings of the independent watchdog Freedom House come to a similar conclusion, finding press freedom at its lowest point in 12 years. Reporters Without Borders places Hong Kong 69th in its rankings, the People’s Republic of China is way worse, ranking 176th out of 180 countries. Freedom House describes Hong Kong’s press as “partly free” and gives it 39 out of 100 on its press freedom scale, where zero is the most free and 100 is the least free. Freedom House maintains that financial and political pressures from the mainland have eroded Hong Kong’s historically free media over the past decade. Among other concerns, it cited the disappearance of the five Hong Kong booksellers and the Alibaba group buying the South China Morning Post. With us in the studio is Chris Ng, member of the Progressive Lawyers Group to talk about the new arrangement in getting information at the Companies Registry.
Whether or you’re a fan of Cantopop singer Leon Lai, you have to give him credit for understanding crisis management. He didn’t play the blame game when his recent concert was cancelled due to a problem with fire safety regulations. He apologised, used social media to keep his fans informed, and ultimately turned the tables by making his show even more popular by transmitting it live on social media. Perhaps the Chief Executive could ask Mr Lai for some tips on how to handle a crisis.
Last Sunday was International Labour Day, and thousands of people took to the streets in separate marches organised by the pro-Beijing Federation of Trade Unions and the Confederation of Trade Unions. Organisers of the CTU marched from Victoria Park to the Central Police estimated a turnout of around 2,500, down from an estimated 3,400 the previous year. Prominent among the marcher’s demands were for a higher minimum wage, a universal pension plan and some kind of statutory control on working hours.