Movie tickets were cheap in Hong Kong this past weekend, about 75% off usual prices. There are special food fairs. Next month a “Chill All Night” event will feature free admission to a waterside theme park — not to be confused with July’s “Harbour Chill Festival."
It's all part of the government-sponsored “Happy Hong Kong” campaign.
City officials say it's designed to boost the local economy, along with the mood of residents.
It's been a little more than two months since Hong Kong lifted its mask mandate, ending nearly a thousand days of COVID restrictions.
While the city was slow to eliminate its COVID rules, now it's trying to make up for lost time.
"Happy Hong Kong" follows another promotional campaign aimed at winning back international travelers.
The “Hello Hong Kong” marketing push will also give away a total of half a million airline tickets to the city.
But Hong Kong is trying to recover from more than COVID.
Washington Post columnist Keith Richburg reported that “no amount of spin or rebranding can disguise how this once free and vibrant city has been irreversibly transformed. Civil society has been decimated. Pro-democracy politicians and activists are mostly in jail, in exile, or too fearful to speak out.”
Despite new pressures on press freedoms, even the cautious South China Morning Post chided the “Happy Hong Kong” campaign.
A weekend editorial noted “it would do well for officials to tackle the wider issues that are still hindering recovery and come up with more effective solutions.”
