"Hong Kong Fire Wasn't Due to Bamboo! It was flammable nets!" | David Zhang
Like I thought. Bamboo is not easily set on fire. I know. We've got a lot of bamboo and we tried. It doesn't like to burn.
Bamboo scaffolding has been used for over a century in Hong Kong, never had a burn. Until now, with the Netting. Which comes from Shandong, China. With China certification, not Hong Kong's standard certification. Until now.
Bamboo has big advantages: it's light, it's cheap, it's ecologically sound and has a tensile strength stronger than steel.
It's the green covering, the netting, which is at fault. Which one commenter said was like "solid petrol". It comes from China and there's hints of corruption around its approval.
David Zhang strikes me as correct, pretty much all, in his analysis.
The deadly fire at Wong Fuk Court shocked the world — but the tragedy wasn’t caused by fate. It was the result of a full-scale system failure.
Substandard mainland-made materials, illegal safety nets, ignored complaints, failed inspections, and politically backed contractors all created the perfect storm.
Officials blamed bamboo scaffolding, but residents point to the real culprit: collapsing oversight and declining standards under Beijing’s rule.
This disaster exposed how Hong Kong’s governance has deteriorated and why such a fire could only happen today. In this episode, we unpack what truly caused the blaze — and what it reveals about Hong Kong’s future.
The public in Hong Kong is overwhelmingly saying that it's the Green "Safety" Netting. Not the bamboo scaffolding. And you can see from what's left in the burnt out buildings. The Bamboo scaffolding is still there. The netting is all burnt out.
Time for ICAC. The Independent Commission Against Corruption. Time to resist mainland standards in Hong Kong. After all: "One Country; Two Systems".
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Meantime, via comments, and AI:
Q: "The HK Police just arrested a citizen who started a petition for thorough investigation into the disaster."
Fact check (AI): True
Claim: HK Police arrested a citizen who started a petition for a thorough investigation into the disaster.
Verdict: Accurate. On Nov 29-30, 2025, Hong Kong police arrested university student Miles Kwan for suspected sedition after he launched an online petition (via Tai Po Wang Fuk Court Fire Concern Group) demanding an independent probe into the Nov 26 Tai Po fire (128+ deaths, renovation negligence suspected).
Context: Petition sought resident aid, conflict-of-interest checks, supervision reviews, and official accountability. Authorities warned against "exploiting the disaster"; petition closed abruptly (~10k signatures).
Related: Separate arrests (11 total) target construction firm officials for manslaughter/corruption in the fire; unrelated to petition.
Please note the nasty use of the word "sedition" by the HK Police. Sedition!! For wanting to find out what actually happened in this worst tragedy of the last century!
"Sedition" means "the crime of inciting people to rebel against a government". It does not mean seeking a thorough investigation into a tragedy.
This is the same playbook as China did to Australia when we sought to have an investigation into the origins of Covid. Beijing stopped importing goods from Australia. That's bullying. And that's not sedition.
