Seriously? This is the "racism" that gets people all upset?

Being an ignorant foreigner, I only learned about the D&G incident when a fellow Libertine posted this link on the facebook (it seems that CNN has been reduced to publishing Google translations of Apple Daily articles).  Apparently, when Chinese people working for D&G discriminate against Hong Kong Chinese people in favor of Mainland Chinese people, it's called racism.  Generally speaking, "racism" is not something that occurs between people people of the same race.  Discrimination?  Yes.  Stereotyping?  Yes.  Racism?  No.

Ok, you say, so it's not racism, but it still sucks.  That's true, but it's hardly the shittiest thing happening in Hong Kong right now...though you wouldn't know that from looking at my facebook news feed, which is full of anti D&G rage.  I think this is a case of the historical discriminator becoming the discriminated against and not liking it.  If you're used to being a member of a richer, more powerful group who has historically discriminated against other groups, it can be quite shocking to find that the shoe is suddenly on the other foot. I've seen this before, in my own motherland.  Believe it or not, there are tons of white people in the US complaining about what they call "reverse racism" (I love the term, since it exposes them as racists who think that racism has a proper and an improper, or "reverse," direction).  From affirmative action programs which give tiny advantages to the historical victims of white racism, to the color of the current president's skin, these people think they're losing their own country, and they're pissed off!

I think something similar is going on in Hong Kong between Hongkies and Mainlanders.  Hong Kong people are used to treating Mainlanders like....well....Filipinos (ok, maybe they never treated Mainlanders that bad).  Problem is, many Mainland tourists have money now, and very little sense about how to spend that money, so all the overpriced European fashion outlets now prefer Mainlanders to Hongkies, since Mainlanders make for easier victims of the mental colonialism that D&G trades in (in the US, these same gaudy fashion firms mainly target nouveau-riche black people with their marketing campaigns).  If D&G wants to discriminate against me because they think I'm not dumb enough (or rich enough) to buy all their ridiculous overpriced crap...well they're right, and I take it as a compliment.  Look, does anyone have any doubt that D&G has been discriminating against Filipinos, Indians and Pakistanis in exactly this same way for years and years?  But suddenly D&G does it to the group that's used to doing the discriminating, and it's an outrage!

The difference is that Filipinos are used to being the victims of racism in this city, and ethnic Chinese Hongkies are used to being the victimizers (just like white people in the US).  Remember the "bus incident" when some crazy Filipino dude randomly killed some small number of Hong Kong people in the Philippines and suddenly every Hongkie in the city was firing their Filipino housekeeper and spewing all kinds of racist anti-Filipino vomit all over facebook?  I do, and I also remember that fellow Libertines Henry and Eric were the only Hongkies I knew who were pissed off not at the Philippines, but at racism against Filipinos.  So here's the bottom line: if you weren't pissed off by all the anti-Filipino discrimination then, then you don't get to be angry about this stupid D&G shit now.  If you've never spoken out against the very real and very serious racism directed at Filipinos, Indonesians, South Asians and Africans in Hong Kong, and you're suddenly speaking out about this, then you're not really against "racism," you just think it has a proper, and improper, direction.

Hong Kong returns a peaceful and ethical society from now on!

From now on, the drug problem that has been seriously damaging our society will be no more, because without all the thugs and triad members, where the hell could junkies possibly get hold of their highs? Yesterday, we finally found a remedy to the long standing problem of thugs and triad in this village. In face of scary creatures like the one below, even thugs get totally pwned (and expelled from the Legco chamber):

The footage of what happened yesterday can be found here. Watch at your own risk; it's as spooky as the Walking Dead.

Kudos to our seafood police! Of course also to SCMP...

The Hi-Tech Village starts this week off again with exciting news like the upcoming Mayor "election" that every single sane person here gives a fuck about, so the SCMP decided to give us something different this morning: the story about how our brave coppers busted HK$5.64 million worth of seafood smuggled to motherland first half of this year. This headline breaking news is supplemented by another enlightening story telling us that "Marine chases dangerous, police say".

To honour our fearless boys in blue, what's better than featuring a portrait of their seafood loving faces on the homepage of the SCMP site?


Thank you, officers! You saved our seafood from the all-evil motherland! By the way, any news from the investigation on the infamous Marine Police Seafood Feast back in 2009?

Transformer 4: Dark of the Mall

Have you watched Transformers 3? Pretty confusing, isn’t it? For example, I can’t tell the good robots from the bad ones because they look pretty much the same. I can’t catch up with which transforms to what as the transforming process is so fast and the final product is so different from its original that I feel completely lost.

That makes me think of the Hi-tech Village as well, especially our favourite shopping malls. One evening, I had a movie date with a girlfriend and days before our date we had decided to head to Union Bar and Grille at IFC for some fatty foods and men-hating chat before the movie. We’d been there a lot of times over the years so we decided to meet directly at the bar. Turns out, I forgot my phone and when I got there, Union Bar and Grille was gone. What’s worse, my girlfriend just changed her number so I had to call a guy to hack into my email to find it. The stupidest thing I’ve done in the 21^st century.

You know what happened to Union Bar and Grille? It transformed into a jewellery shop. It’s a million times harder to get a guy buy you a diamond ring than buying you a drink. Now one less place for central ladies like me to hang out. Quality of life downgraded from B- to D-.

Other transformers that make you wonder whether the Village has been attacked by some dark forces in the Universe.

Starbucks to Louis Vuttion at Pacific Place. Frappuccino transformed to luggage boxes.

Seibu to Harvey Nichols. Shoes you can splurge on transformed to shoes that will cause you bankrupt.

Kelly and Walsh to a greenhouse that is going to incinerate the only few readers alive. The original location of the bookstore, again, will be transformed to a palace of Our Majesty, Louis Vuitton.

Let’s pray the leather of the luxury goods can keep us alive when the Village has come to an end.

An Urgent Question for our Bald Eagle Copper Chief

In the early morning of July 2, 200-odd hordes from the LSD and People Power were arrested by the coppers "on charges of illegal assembly and obstruction of public places". As these punks from the LSD and People Power are infamous hooligans and could easily blow the whole Hi-Tech Village to smithereens, our boys in blue decided to pepper spray them in the face and handcuffed them upon arrest. Chief of the local coppers, the Bald Eagle Tsang Wai-hung insisted that there had been appropriate use of force, as they had worried that the thugs would hurt themselves and others. As an open suppressor of civil liberties and human right, I of course see eye to eye with the Bald Eagle and can in no way see why the hell Human Right Watch asked us to investigate into the coppers' action...

Until I saw this thread at the Hong Kong Golden Forum. The poster dug out some journalist pictures of arrests in the Village in the past and asked why those under arrest were not handcuffed. Among them are:

A driver who beat a pedestrian up and refused to undergo an alcohol breathalyzer test

Francis Ng Chun-Yu who allegedly wounded others

A man who allegedly murdered his girlfriend

Another man who allegedly stabbed his neighbour

An alleged murderer who had her hand free to give us a finger

So Bald Eagle, why aren't they handcuffed? I demand an immediate remedy to this lawless situation. I hereby suggest that anybody under arrest in this Village to be turned into a human centipede so that they cannot hurt themselves and others. Kids who steal chocolate bars from supermarket, prepare to eat shit.

Apple Daily Juxtaposition FAIL! Or WIN?!

Last night, when I was busy leveling my character on World of Warcraft, Icarus asked me the most awkward kind of questions you can get in-game: "Hey, is Jiang Zemin dead?" Upon hearing that senseless important question in the midst of a fight realer than anything in the motherland, I almost stopped throwing heals on Icarus and let the mobs fucking rape him. But Icarus had his point. The rumors are so real because ATV, the pro-Beijing TV channel that nobody watches in this village, had the nerves to report that last night. Worrying so much about the motherland's dearly beloved former president, I have been keeping an eye on the update, but till now we still have no clue. After a whole sleepless night and prayer after prayer wishing Comrade Jiang well, I dragged myself out of bed this morning heavy-headed to find the below on the headline of the most trusted paper in this village:

Now that is clearer. Long live Comrade Jiang!!!

How to Raise an Autistic Child

The DSM IV (the main diagnostic tool for psychological disorders) lists several symptoms of autism that I see in many of the high-achieving students I work with in HK. Among these are: marked impairments in the use of multiple nonverbal behaviors such as eye-to-eye gaze, facial expression, body posture, and gestures to regulate social interaction, failure to develop peer relationships appropriate to developmental level, a lack of spontaneous seeking to share enjoyment, interest, or achievements with other people, a lack of social or emotional reciprocity (not actively participating in simple social play or games, preferring solitary activities), and apparently inflexible adherence to specific, nonfunctional routines or rituals.

These teenagers I work with are not actually autistic, but their social skills are so impaired that when I walk in the room and say "hello" they just sit there and stare straight ahead, not responding to me verbally or even looking at me. When I leave the room, it gets even weirder. They do not speak to each other like normal children would, and continue to stare straight ahead at the empty whiteboard or take out their phones and play video games. They all hope (or their parents hope for them) to attend elite schools in the US. When they get there, they are destined for years of being the weird Chinese kid who doesn't speak to anyone. Most of them will make tons of money, and live totally unfulfilling lives, and then repeat the pattern with their own children.

So how can you turn your normal happy child into a borderline autistic child who will raise your social status by attending elite schools and making tons of money? Ask Amy Chua, she wrote a how to manual on the subject.