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https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-02/tai-po-fire-hong-kong-mainland-grief-red-lines/106087732>
“Before the smoke had even cleared at Wang Fuk Court, Hongkongers were already
drawing their own conclusions.
A construction worker who grew up climbing bamboo scaffolding looked at the
charred tower and spoke with quiet certainty: Certified nets do not burn like
that.
"A cigarette can't light them," he said. "Even a blowtorch barely gets bamboo
to burn — it only chars."
Online experiments that circulated within hours appeared to confirm what
residents had long suspected: Bamboo under intense heat darkens, but does not
spread flames.
In Tai Po, the nets were reduced to ash while the bamboo frame remained almost
unscathed.
It was this unsettling contrast — and the speed at which the fire tore upward —
that led a 24-year-old university student to launch a petition demanding an
independent investigation.
He barely had time to gather signatures before police arrested him for
"incitement".
The message was clear: Even grief had boundaries, and asking questions was now
a political act.
From that moment, sorrow gave way to anger. And the city's fault lines —
rights versus sovereignty, people versus power — snapped sharply back into
focus.”
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
