Falling (canto) stars

Late last month Jill Vidal and Kelvin Kwan, a pair of Cantopop lovebirds, were caught shoplifting in Tokyo and were arrested. To make matters stickier for their respective record label executives, a small amount of weed was found on Kwan, and now both are being detained in Japan for possession of an illegal drug.

They are expected to return to HK next week, but may face "freezing" (suspension of work) by their labels as punishment for their actions, in addition to plenty of public outcry that they are bad examples to HK's youth. Only a last year, both singers appeared as guests at an anti-drug function.

The Chinese people are notorious for covering things up (recall SARS?) and keeping up appearances at all cost. For the sake of health and safety, it is time to accept certain drugs as common among even the best of us, and, as a society, to stop judging things to be "bad" without knowing the first thing about them. Click here to read The Economist's detailed analysis on how and why drugs should be legalized.

Crazy airport lady receives apology

More than 5 million people worldwide have now watched the "Crazy Asian lady at airport" (that's Hong Kong's airport!), making it the most watched and commented Youtube clip this month.



The "Crazy Asian lady" has come to her senses, and initiated a four hour meeting with Cathay Pacific's executives claiming that all her friends and relatives have seen the clip, causing her much embarrassment (although she didn't seem too embarrassed to stop herself from acting irrationally upon missing her flight!). As a result, Cathay has given her a public apology and a free flight upgrade for her next trip.

The Cathay staff member responsible for filming the incident with a cell phone has been issued a warning, and all staff are reminded to respect the privacy of all passengers.

Among the comments:

"My goodness, how shameful and how embarrassing. Well this family has no "face" anymore.
Honestly, didn't she listen to the check-in counter attendant that she must be at the Gate early? Even the E-ticket says so. HKIA is notorious for taking ages to get to the Gate, including taking the MTR.
How shameful. A grown woman like that to chuck a tanty, it's disgraceful. This is rewarding people for bad behaviour, terrible. "

"I have written a complaint to Cathay Pacific. What the heck are they doing, if every person throw a tantrum then get an upgrade? If this was JFK or Australia that lady would get cufed and arrested."