One day in quarantine was all it took for pro-China lawmaker Junius Ho to condemn the harsh, knee-jerk pandemic restrictions his government has imposed on Hong Kong citizens for nearly two years.
"The government’s work is completely out of line!” Ho wrote on his verified Facebook page, after learning he’d been needlessly quarantined over a false positive COVID-19 case at a party of some 200 people he attended last week with dozens of political elites. "I could have asked my driver to pick me up!” he said, bemoaning his sudden release to a local subway station, after less than 24 hours in isolation.
Ho’s reaction, and the revelation that politicians flouted their own guidance on avoiding mass gatherings to attend the Jan. 3 birthday celebration of an official with ties to Beijing, has sparked schadenfreude among weary Hong Kong residents snickering at well-to-do aristocrats who are finally experiencing the weight of their own restrictions.