John Lee's announcement of new gig-worker protections, reported by The Standard Thursday, reached the Kwun Tong and Kwai Chung sorting hubs as something between relief and skepticism. Three platform delivery workers, all Kowloon-side, all earning between HK$9,000 and HK$12,000 a month net, said the same thing: they want injury compensation parity with regular employees, and they want to know which platforms will fall under the rules. Neither the timeline nor the coverage scope appeared in Thursday's reporting. The workers have heard policy language before.

The HKMA held at 4% Thursday, which is the number that actually governs most SME lending in this city. A Cheung Sha Wan garment accessories supplier told me this week he has been rolling an HK$800,000 credit line at prime-plus since Q3 last year, waiting for a cut that has not come. The budget cleared the legislature with the HK$11 billion surplus intact. The government has money. The rate is not moving.