Chugani 'picks up his pen again'

Veteran journalist Michael Chugani announced that he has moved to New York and will continue to write.

In a commentary, entitled "The thrill of picking up my pen again," published on the CitizenNews website yesterday, Chugani, who was born and raised in Hong Kong, said he left for Los Angeles, United States, four months ago and currently resides in Manhattan, New York.

Back in April, Chugani said he wanted to take a break to enjoy life, after resigning from multiple journalism positions, including being the host of the TVB program Straight Talk.

But he said yesterday that he "picked the pen up again" after seeing the "bizarre comments" made by Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and Legislative Council election candidate Andrew Fung Wai-kwong.

Chugani was referring to Lam's interview with state media outlet Global Times this month, when she said a low turnout for the Legco election does not mean anything as it shows the public is happy with the government's work and credibility. "This alone shows Lam, an overpaid and cloistered bureaucrat, is clueless about how ordinary people think," he said.

Chugani also recalled the chief executive election in 2017, when Lam, who was a candidate then, was caught on camera not knowing how to use an Octopus card or where to buy toilet paper.

"If a low turnout means nothing, why spend millions of taxpayer dollars in newspaper advertisements to urge people to vote?" he said, while also begging forgiveness if he had offended Lam with these remarks.

Chugani also said that Fung should learn how to exercise his right to free speech without making himself look silly.

Chugani said he opposes both colonization and the whitewashing of history after Fung said in an election forum that Hong Kong should decolonize by eliminating the legacy of British rule.

"Fung needs to know if he wins he has a moral obligation to do what he said as a candidate," Chugani said, adding that Fung will have to first shame those so-called patriots who hold British passports.

"Beijing can see through the sudden patriots," he added.