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  • Walter's Blog.
  • Home
  • Introduction
  • About Walter
    • 1980 Joining Up - Grafton Street >
      • Arrival and First Impressions
      • First Week
      • Training
      • Passing Out
    • Yaumati Cowboy >
      • Getting on the Streets
      • Tempo of the City
      • Jumpers, pill poppers and the indoor BBQ
      • Into a Minefield.
    • Why Tango in Paris, when you can Foxtrot in Kowloon? >
      • Baptism By Fire
      • Kai Tak with Mrs Thatcher.
      • Home; The Boy Returns
  • 1984 - 1986
    • PTU Instructor & Getting Hitched
    • Having a go: SDU
    • Starting a Chernobyl family
    • EOD - Don't touch anything
    • Semen Stains and the rules
  • 1987 to 1992 - Should I Stay or Go?
    • Blue Lights, Sirens & Grenades
    • Drugs, Broken Kids & A Plane Crash
    • 600 Happy Meals Please!
    • Hong Kong's Best Insurance
    • Riding the Iron Horse
  • Crime in Hong Kong
    • Falling Crime Rates - Why?
    • Triads
  • History of Hong Kong Policing
    • History 1841 to 1941
    • History 1945 to 1967
    • Anatomy of the 50 cent Riot - 1966
    • The Fall of a Commissioner.
    • History 1967 to 1980
    • Three Wise Men from the West
    • The Blue Berets.
    • The African Korps and other tribes.
    • Getting About - Transport.
    • A Pub in every station
    • Bullshit Bingo & Meetings
    • Godber - The one who nearly got away.
    • Uncle Ho
  • Top 20 Films
    • 2001 - A Space Odyssey.
    • The Godfather.
    • Blade Runner
    • Kes
    • Star Wars
    • Aliens
    • Ferris Bueller's Day Off
    • The Life of Brian
    • Dr Strangelove.
    • Infernal Affairs
    • Bridge on the River Kwai.
    • This Is Spinal Tap.
    • Chung King Express
    • An Officer and a Gentleman
    • PTU
    • Contact
    • Saving Private Ryan
    • Family Guy Star Wars
    • Zulu
    • Hard Day's Night
  • The Long Read
    • How The Walls Come Down
    • War in Ukraine - the narrative and other stuff.
    • The Hidden Leader
    • The Big Game
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Walter's Blog

"But how can you live and have no story to tell?" Fyodor Dostoevsky
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Reflections on recent events, plus the occasional fact free rant unfiltered by rational argument. 

"If you want to read a blog to get a sense of what is going on in Hong Kong these days or a blog that would tell you wh at life was like living in colonial Hong Kong, this blog, WALTER'S BLOG, fits the bill."  Hong Kong Blog Review

19/1/2022 0 Comments

Carrie's Hamster Hell

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"Phrases such as ‘hamster holocaust’ and ‘genocide’ are over the top, however indicative of public sentiment."
Carrie Lam has another PR disaster on her hands, and again, it is of her making. Sure, no matter how you package it, culling 2000 plus pet hamsters was never going to be an easy sell. But then rushing the decision while admitting you are not sure that the hamsters transmitted the virus to humans was bound to produce an over-reaction from the public.

One hamster owner stated, "If people who attended Witman Hung's birthday party are culled, then I will hand my hamster to the government." Oh dear! Phrases such as ‘hamster holocaust’ and ‘genocide’ are over the top, however indicative of public sentiment.

The SPCA expressed shock at the government decision noting, "it did not take animal welfare and human-animal bonding into consideration."

A veterinary scholar called the government's decision "super harsh" and expressed fears that it could lead to mass abandonment of animals. Also, we know Covid has brought much mental strain to the populace, with pets providing a degree of comfort for many. To remove that support invites more mental health issues. Was that factor considered?

We've long learned that Carrie can't summon up much in the way of empathy. Yet, if any occasion called for a display of sympathy, then this was it. And what did we get is silence. Finally, a few lesser officials muttered contrite words, then soon moved on.

The hamster 'holocaust' has brought the Internet to life with innovative memes, none of which are kind to Carrie. But, in the longer term, if hamster to human transmission is established, appropriate protocols can minimise the risks. Yet, the US Centre for Disease Control already advises that the risk of pet to human transfer is low.

So, this morning kids across Hong Kong say a tear-filled farewell to Hamish the hamster, who is conveyed to a killing centre based on weak science and a knee jerk reaction. The question everyone is asking, which species is next?
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    Walter De Havilland was one of the last of the colonial coppers. He served 35 years in the Royal Hong Kong Police and Hong Kong Police Force. He's long retired. 

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