Society

The audio-chat social networking app, Clubhouse is offering users in mainland China a taste of free speech. One user, John Lam, stayed up till 3am listening to participants talk about Xinjiang, an often taboo subject on the mainland. “An ethnic minority user in America talked about his family members being arrested in Xinjiang, and participants constantly reminded each other about their personal safety,” Mr. Lam said. Launched last March, Clubhouse drew 5 million users within a month when it streamed The Lion King musical in December last year. After registering with a mobile phone number, users get an ID. But joining a chatroom is by invitation only. Another user has to send you an invitation code via SMS, and each account only gets to invite two others. Clubhouse is free outside the mainland. It is ranked the number one free app at the moment. But in the mainland, users are cashing in on the invitations. On the e-commerce platform, Taobao invitation codes are sold for around 100 yuan each. More than two dozen shops on Taobao are selling the codes, with one store getting nearly 200 sales on average everyday. On Weibo, a Twitter-like platform in the mainland, people bid for cheaper invitation codes. Some are available for around 45 yuan. Clubhouse is offering users outside China a glimpse inside the country. Cici Wang, 20, a mainland student studying in America, learned about the Taiwan earthquake while listening to a discussion in the Cross-Strait Youth chatroom. “It was a rare opportunity for people in the mainland to discuss freely on serious political topics with people from other regions or countries,” said Ms Wang. Nearly 800 people joined the chatroom to listen to young people across the Taiwan Strait share personal experiences, opinions on living conditions, women status and politics. Moderators …

With the second lockdown in two weeks hitting the Jordan neighborhood on Feb. 2, small business owners in the area say they are facing serious financial problems.  The second lockdown was announced at 7pm on Tuesday in areas of Sham Shui Po, Jordan and Tin Shui Wai. Residents must remain at home until they test negative for COVID-19.  One resident in Jordan tested positive.  The first lockdown in Jordan finished on Jan. 23 and found 13 infections. “Difference between lockdown and usual? No business and little business,” said Mana Rupa Budhathoki Magar, a South Asian grocery store owner who was in the lockdown area.  Faced with a 60% decrease in daily revenue, Ms Magar’s South Asian food and daily supplies store has suffered financial pressure since the pandemic began, with the two lockdowns making the situation worse. “I support a lockdown, but my business got affected anyway,” said Shabbir Hussan, a Halal food store owner in Jordan who was also in the lockdown. The store’s delivery service has helped he said.  Many customers in Lee Mei’s Jordan nail salon have cancelled their reservations, Ms Lee said. “Spring festival period should be the hottest season for nails; however, now I only have several customers each day,” said Ms Lee, adding that the high rent is a burden.  The Hong Kong government has provided food packages for residents in the Jordan lockdown.