International
Fearful Hong Kongers rush to secure limited British passports
Shortly before Hong Kong was handed back to China, Simon Ng applied for a British National (Overseas) passport, a document he never thought he’d need. Now he is considering whether to use it to emigrate.
China’s plan to impose a sweeping national security law on the city in response to huge pro-democracy protests has Ng mulling the prospect of leaving, the first time he has contemplated such action since Britain returned the former colony in 1997.
“Back then, like many of my peers, I thought China would reform and there was hope,” the 52-year-old assistant professor told AFP.
“But now, this is really a dark moment, and the future is quite likely to be even worse.”
BN(O) status was the product of an earlier round of similar fears.
The run up to the 1997 handover was a febrile time.
While Ng was optimistic, many other Hong Kongers worried about what rule by authoritarian communist China might mean for the city’s freedoms and thriving capitalist system.
As a result Britain offered anyone born before handover the option of applying for a BN(O) passport.
The document was of limited value. It gave Hong Kongers access to British consular services overseas and permission to travel to the UK for up to six months at a time, but not to live or work there.
But it was recognition that Britain had some sort of responsibility to the people who were once its subjects.
Now the usefulness of the document could all change after China last month unveiled plans to enact a law banning acts of subversion, secession, terrorism and foreign interference.
‘Path to citizenship’
Beijing says the law — which will bypass Hong Kong’s legislature — is needed to tackle “terrorism”, “separatism” and restore confidence in a city rocked by a year of unrest.
But critics fear it will bring mainland-style political oppression to a business hub supposedly guaranteed freedoms and autonomy for 50 years after its handover.
Britain views the law as a breach of that handover deal and in response has said it will look into extending the immigration rights of those with BN(O) status, including a possible “path to citizenship”.
There are currently some 350,000 BN(O) passport holders — a figure that nearly doubled in the last twelve months during as the crackdown on pro-democracy protesters raged.
But some 2.9 million people — anyone born before 1997 — are eligible for BN(O) status and Britain has said any citizenship plan will also include them.
The announcement has sparked fury in Beijing which has in turn accused London of breaching its handover commitments.
In recent weeks Hong Kongers have flocked to sign up, forming queues outside post offices and courier companies to send documents.
But Ng says he faces a dilemma — neither his wife, nor their two children have BN(O) status and Britain has yet to say whether family will be included.
“I am propelled to leave but I am also helpless, like being pushed into the sea with no boat to board,” Ng said.
Youngsters keen to leave
A recent survey of more than 800 Hong Kongers by the Chinese University found those aged between 18 and 24 reported the strongest desire to emigrate, with over 50 per cent considering it.
Yet most of those under 23-year-old, who formed the bedrock of last year’s protests, are not currently eligible for BN(O) status.
Recent graduate Asuka Law, 23, was three months old at handover so is eligible for (BN(O) status. She is planning to leave as soon as October, using a scheme Britain offers people under 30 from certain countries to live and work there for two years.
She fears the right to dissent will soon disappear from Hong Kong.
“I don’t think I have that much time left,” Law said. “It’s hard to do anything more in this city as every single objection will be met with an iron fist.”
She said she wants to start a business overseas to help fellow Hong Kongers.
“Someone will have to do the job of providing a safety shelter,” she said.
Law’s friend Reese Tan, a 25-year old tutor, is also trying the youth scheme.
He vowed to continue his “fight for Hong Kong” overseas by joining campaigns for international support.
“I am not escaping. Hong Kong will always be my home,” Tan said.
Reporting and photos: AFP
Emirates has kick-started its plans to upgrade the entire interior cabins of 120 Airbus A380 and Boeing 777 aircraft – two of the largest commercial aircraft types in service today.
This ambitious project, representing a multi-billion dollar investment to ensure Emirates’ customers “fly better” for the coming years, officially commences in November and is managed entirely by Emirates’ Engineering team.
The target is to completely retrofit four Emirates aircraft from start to finish every month, continuously for over 2 years. Once the 67 earmarked A380s are refreshed and back in service, 53 777s will undergo their facelift. This will see nearly 4,000 brand new Premium Economy seats installed, 728 First Class suites refurbished and over 5,000 Business Class seats upgraded to a new style and design when the project is complete in April 2025.
In addition, carpets and stairs will be upgraded, and cabin interior panels refreshed with new tones and design motifs including the iconic ghaf trees which are native to the UAE.
No other airline has handled a retrofit of this magnitude in-house, and there’s no blueprint for such an undertaking. Therefore Emirates Engineering teams have been planning and testing extensively, to establish and streamline processes, and identify and address any possible snags.
Trials began on an A380 in July, where experienced engineers literally took each cabin apart piece-by-piece and logged every step. From removing seats and panelling to bolts and screws, every action was tested, timed and mapped out. Potential impediments to completing the installation of Emirates’ new Premium Economy Class or the retrofit of the remaining three cabins in just 16 days were flagged and documented for expert teams to review and address.
As part of the programme, new purpose-built workshops will be set up at Emirates Engineering to repaint, re-trim and re-upholster Business and Economy Class seats with new covers and cushioning. First Class suites will be carefully disassembled and sent to a specialised company to replace the leather, arm rests and other materials.
From the trials, Engineers discovered several unexpected solutions for instance: that existing food catering trucks could be easily repurposed to move parts destined for refurbishment from the aircraft to the workshop for their refresh, as these vehicles had doors of the right width and offer sufficient space.
Until the retrofit programme starts in earnest in November, a cross-disciplinary team has been assembled to regularly review the planning process, address any issues, and track updates on various aspects of the project such as procurement, staffing, and training.
Emirates’ new Premium Economy cabin class, which offers luxurious seats, more legroom, and a service to rival many airlines’ business offering, is currently available to Emirates customers travelling on popular A380 routes to London, Paris, Sydney. More customers will be able to experience the airline’s new Premium Economy cabins starting from year end, as the retrofit programme picks up momentum.
Eleanor has been named as one of the top 10 concierge software providers globally.
Based on accurate, timely reviews from real users, the HotelTechAwards rank the world’s best hotel software firms and products and it also provides hoteliers direct access to a growing network of hotel technology professionals and decision-makers.
“The guest experience is the cornerstone of our platform. Our unified resort wide solution, Eleanor, has been built for resorts off the back of many years working in the industry and addresses the needs of both Sales and Marketing departments and perhaps just as importantly, the operational requirements of the team on the ground at the property. The days of resorts working with disjointed systems are now behind us,” says Darren Caple, co-founder and CEO.
“We are on a mission to make the guest’s resort experience as easy and as frictionless as possible. Whereas traditional providers in the market have come at this purely from a guest communication perspective, our background in resorts has allowed us to combine this basic requirement with the streamlining of operational processes. The result is truly a resort wide solution that removes the need for countless different systems to be deployed.
Eleanor allows resorts to deliver consistent, superior service levels to guests across all stages of their journey with contactless features helping to alleviate sensitive touch-points in the post pandemic period. More than 30 properties in the Maldives use our Eleanor platform to help butlers and guest services elevate the guest experience. These properties are seeing an increase in incremental revenue by over 30% and operational efficiencies of 600+ man hours per month. We are also beginning to roll out the platform in some Caribbean properties!”
Eleanor is making waves in the hospitality industry by pushing the conventional limits of what a resort guest app can achieve through its unique ability to facilitate direct bookings for services and activities. The traditional ‘request to book’ feature that is common amongst almost all other hotel apps is removed by a power booking and operational platform sitting at the heart of the solution that covers all the resorts’ departments. It’s this module which realises enormous operational benefits and insights for the resort.
“We, at Eleanor, are humbled and honoured that our clients have provided such positive reviews. Feedback from our clients, partners and hoteliers are incredibly valuable for us and we will continue to improve our offering and services”, said Caple.
To celebrate this success, Eleanor is currently offering resorts a free one month trial, together with free setup and training and discounted monthly fees.
Eleanor, founded in 2018 and has its headquarters in the United Kingdom. Created from over 15 years of hands-on expertise, Eleanor allows resorts to deliver consistent, superior service levels to its guests across all stages of their journey with contactless features helping to alleviate sensitive touch-points in the post pandemic period. Eleanor also helps to unlock operational efficiencies and boost incremental revenue and guest loyalty.
Hotel Tech Report’s Best Concierge Software 2022 Runner Up, reviewed as a preferred and reliable hotel software product by the global hotelier community.
For more information, visit www.eleanorapp.com.
Emirates, the world’s most global airline, is seeking talented people with a passion for service to join its award-winning cabin crew team.
As air travel returns with a vengeance, the airline’s recruiters are busy meeting and hiring candidates in 30 cities from now until the end of June. In this latest drive, Emirates’ teams will travel from Australia to the UK, and dozens of European cities in between, as well as Cairo, Algiers, Tunis and Bahrain.
Abdulaziz Al Ali, Emirates Group’s Executive Vice President for Human Resources said: “There’s no more exciting airline than Emirates for anyone interested in a flying career, and we’ve received tremendous interest since we began our recruitment drive for cabin crew in November.”
“While parts of the application process are done online, we always make the effort to meet our candidates in person whenever we can, and that is why our Talent Acquisition team is doing a whirlwind 30-city tour over the next 6 weeks to assess prospective candidates.”
Emirates’ truly global cabin crew team represent 160 nationalities, reflecting its customer mix and international operations in over 130 cities on six continents.
All Emirates crew are based in the exciting cosmopolitan city of Dubai, with company-provided accommodation, tax-free salary and more benefits.
Interested candidates can read more about the Emirates cabin crew role, and apply online at: https://www.emiratesgroupcareers.com/cabin-crew/
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