China seizes toilet paper bearing image of Hong Kong leader

Saturday, February 07, 2015 | 12:12 PM    

BEIJING (AP) — Authorities in southern China have seized about 8,000 rolls of toilet paper and another 20,000 packages of tissues containing unflattering images of Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing chief executive, according to an official of the small political party that placed the order.

The items were to be sold at a market in Hong Kong during Lunar New Year celebrations later this month, said Lo Kin-hei, a vice chairman of the Hong Kong Democratic Party.

The seizure came after Hong Kong was shaken by a massive pro-democracy movement in which demonstrators demanded greater electoral freedom than Beijing is willing to grant. During the demonstrations, protesters expressed anger at Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, calling him a puppet of Beijing, and asked him to step down.

No reason was given for the seizure of the $12,900 worth of goods in the city of Shenzhen, outside of Hong Kong, Lo said.

“I guess (the Chinese authorities) don’t like people mocking government officials, especially high-ranking government officials, after the movement. They have become more cautious about criticisms about them,” he said.

The party’s 4,000 rolls of toilet paper with Leung’s image sold out at last year’s seasonal market, and it decided to get more this year from a factory in Shenzhen, Lo said.

The images of Leung on the novelty products are cartoonish and unflattering. One has him bearing two fangs, and another has the word “lying” on his forehead. The sickle-and-hammer symbol of the Communist Party of China also appears on some products.

The order was placed under the name of a friend to obscure the party as the true buyer, and all communications were done through the friend instead of the party, Lo said.

Citing the need to protect the manufacturer, Lo declined to reveal the factory’s name and said he had no information on the whereabouts of the factory owner. “We are worried about what has happened to him,” Lo said.

Calls to Shenzhen police rang unanswered on Saturday, and there was no official report about any seizure of toilet paper.

Lo said he found the act worrisome because it indicates further tightening by Chinese authorities on freedom of speech, which is guaranteed in Hong Kong’s constitution.

“Many productions in Hong Kong rely on the mainland. This kind of tightening means in the future it will be more difficult to make products in the mainland,” Lo said. “It’s alarmful for Hong Kong people that they keep suppressing freedom in Hong Kong. We will become the mainland if this kind of mocking will be not allowed in Hong Kong.”

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China seizes toilet paper bearing image of Hong Kong leader

China seizes toilet paper bearing image of Hong Kong leader

Saturday, February 07, 2015 | 12:12 PM    

BEIJING (AP) — Authorities in southern China have seized about 8,000 rolls of toilet paper and another 20,000 packages of tissues containing unflattering images of Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing chief executive, according to an official of the small political party that placed the order.

The items were to be sold at a market in Hong Kong during Lunar New Year celebrations later this month, said Lo Kin-hei, a vice chairman of the Hong Kong Democratic Party.

The seizure came after Hong Kong was shaken by a massive pro-democracy movement in which demonstrators demanded greater electoral freedom than Beijing is willing to grant. During the demonstrations, protesters expressed anger at Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, calling him a puppet of Beijing, and asked him to step down.

No reason was given for the seizure of the $12,900 worth of goods in the city of Shenzhen, outside of Hong Kong, Lo said.

“I guess (the Chinese authorities) don’t like people mocking government officials, especially high-ranking government officials, after the movement. They have become more cautious about criticisms about them,” he said.

The party’s 4,000 rolls of toilet paper with Leung’s image sold out at last year’s seasonal market, and it decided to get more this year from a factory in Shenzhen, Lo said.

The images of Leung on the novelty products are cartoonish and unflattering. One has him bearing two fangs, and another has the word “lying” on his forehead. The sickle-and-hammer symbol of the Communist Party of China also appears on some products.

The order was placed under the name of a friend to obscure the party as the true buyer, and all communications were done through the friend instead of the party, Lo said.

Citing the need to protect the manufacturer, Lo declined to reveal the factory’s name and said he had no information on the whereabouts of the factory owner. “We are worried about what has happened to him,” Lo said.

Calls to Shenzhen police rang unanswered on Saturday, and there was no official report about any seizure of toilet paper.

Lo said he found the act worrisome because it indicates further tightening by Chinese authorities on freedom of speech, which is guaranteed in Hong Kong’s constitution.

“Many productions in Hong Kong rely on the mainland. This kind of tightening means in the future it will be more difficult to make products in the mainland,” Lo said. “It’s alarmful for Hong Kong people that they keep suppressing freedom in Hong Kong. We will become the mainland if this kind of mocking will be not allowed in Hong Kong.”

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China seizes toilet paper bearing image of Hong Kong leader

Shaggy laments negative image of Ja

THE negative image of Jamaica, in particular Kingston, is affecting Shaggy’s ability to promote his charity concert to an international clientele.

‘Mr Boombastic’ told journalists at the weekly Jamaica Observer Monday Exchange yesterday that just the mention of Kingston as the venue for the major event drives fear into many.“There are some people that I linked overseas, because we travel the world and buck up rich people all the while. Some of them I have invited down to Jamaica for the experience. The biggest problem for these people once they hear Kingston, they start [to] fret, as sad as that is,” he said.Shaggy said he tries to convince these persons that it is safe for them to attend, by explaining that he lives in Kingston and raises his three daughters in the city, but this does precious little to reverse the mindset.“I have a very wealthy person coming for the event who is sending an advance party. This person is worth millions and is sending an advance party to come down and set up everything first, including security. They don’t want any of our security, they want their own, just because they are scared of coming here. I have convinced him to come, but he’s taking every precaution — coming in on his boat, he’s not even staying in a hotel. He’s coming just for the show, but I’m gonna convince him to stay longer…,” Shaggy related.He accused Jamaicans of airing their ‘dirty laundry’ in public and, as a result, earning a bad reputation.He added that he feels more at risk in Trinidad than he feels here at home.“Mi a go deh fi years, and once I hit there, mi can’t walk there, can’t do dis, can’t do that. You always hear that Trinidad is the place where you come to carnival and party, while Jamaica is the place where everybody a kill everybody. I have been to many other places where the crime is heavier but, yet still, because we are the flagship of the Caribbean, and we are Brand Jamaica, and we are the ‘boasiest’ set a people in the world, wear the brightest colours and gwaan de baddest, so that sometimes puts us in a negative light,” he noted.The diamond-selling artiste further said that, for his part, he tries to put a positive spin on this negative outlook on Jamaica by launching his albums here, and even named his 2011 album Summer in Kingston.Shaggy autographs yesterday’s Observer Page 3 for Marsha Wright (left) which reported him being voted the sexiest Jamaican man by the newspaper’s women. Looking on is Michelle Daley. He was at the Observer for the weekly Monday Exchange.

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Shaggy laments negative image of Ja

Sapphires DVD image prompts apology

6 August 2013 Last updated at 06:02 ET O’Dowd is more prominent on the US cover (r) than he is on the Australian one The US distributor of Australian film The Sapphires has apologised for a DVD cover appearing to focus on Bridesmaids actor Chris O’Dowd at the expense of his Aboriginal female co-stars.

Anchor Bay Entertainment it “regrets any unintentional upset” and that it was now considering new cover art.

The Sapphires tells of an all-female Australian Aboriginal singing group that entertained US troops in Vietnam.

It was a box office hit Down Under and won 11 AACTA awards earlier this year.

The Australian DVD cover places the actresses playing the Sapphires in the foreground, with O’Dowd standing behind them.

Their positions are inverted on the US cover, which places O’Dowd front and centre and relegates his co-stars to the background.

The design has prompted some commentators to accuse Anchor Bay of being both sexist and racist.

The Sapphires’ cast and director talking to the BBC’s Rachel Curtis last November

“The Sapphires is fantastic,” wrote blogger MaryAnn Johanson on her Flick Filosopher site. “It really is. It is pure cinematic joy.

“But it is not, as DVD distributor Anchor Bay would have you believe, the story of a white man and his blue-monotone backup singers.”

Johanson’s blog prompted Melbourne resident Lucy Manne to launch an online petition calling on Anchor Bay to change the DVD’s “sexist, racist cover”.

Since its launch last week, the change.org protest has attracted almost 18,000 supporters.

The members of the singing group that inspired the film have also voiced their objections in a letter written on their behalf by the Aboriginal Medical Service.

The cover, its chairman wrote, “reinforces precisely the sort of bigotry that Naomi [Mayers], Beverly [Briggs], Lois [Peeler] and Laurel [Robinson] fought so hard against.”

Replying to questions on Twitter, O’Dowd said the cover was “pretty vile” and “certainly not my choice”.

“It’s ridiculous, it’s misleading, it’s ill-judged, insensitive and everything the film wasn’t,” the IT Crowd actor told one of his followers last week.

O’Dowd, who plays the group’s manager in the film, won best actor in January at the awards for the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts.

The event also saw his co-star Deborah Mailman named best lead actress, while Jessica Mauboy received the best supporting actress prize.

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Sapphires DVD image prompts apology

Indecent child image teacher jailed

29 July 2013 Last updated at 08:30 ET Simon Clannachan admitted 14 counts of making indecent images of children A primary school teacher who was caught with indecent images of children and extreme pornography involving animals has been jailed for six months.

Simon Clannachan admitted 14 counts of making indecent images of children and seven of possessing pornographic images portraying a sexual act with an animal.

The 40-year-old was sentenced at Bournemouth Crown Court.

Clannachan, of Richmond Park Avenue, Bournemouth had resigned from his job at Kingsleigh Primary School.

He was placed on the sex offenders register for seven years and disqualified from working with children.

In a statement, Richard Gower, the head teacher at Kingsleigh Primary School, said the school “accepts the six month sentence”.

“This brings closure of the matter and allows everyone in our school community to continue to move on. We have much to be proud of at Kingsleigh and look forward to staff and pupils returning in September,” he said.

None of the offences are believed to have involved pupils attending the school.

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Indecent child image teacher jailed