Cheng Po Tsai in Hong Kong

Do you know that a great amount of pirate treasure was hidden somewhere in Hong Kong?

Or so people said. Have you heard of Cheng Po Tsai (張保仔)?

Cheng Po Tsai’s original name was Cheng Po (張保), “Cheng Po Tsai” was a nickname given by the Canton people, meaning “Cheng Po the Kid”. He was a famous 19^th century pirate who roamed the Guangdong coastal region during the Qing Dynasty, and were said to own over 600 ships and lead over 50,000 pirates!

He was an ordinary fisherman’s kid until he was kidnaped by the pirate couple Cheng I (鄭一) and Ching Shih (鄭一嫂 / 鄭氏) at 15. The couple treated him as their adopted son.  After Cheng I’s death, he married Ching Shih (don’t ask…) and inherited the pirate army his adopted father once owned. He took over the pirate business and caused great headache to the government. However, after the defeat of his piracy mate, he surrendered to the Qing government and, in return, he became the captain of the Qing imperial navy to fight against other pirates.

What a legendary life…what’s more legendary is that, it was said that he hid lots of treasure during his stay in Hong Kong! A lot of places are rumored to be the treasure spots: Tap Mun, Lamma Island, Chung Hom Kok…

But the most famous location would be the Cheng Po Tsai Cave (張保仔洞) in Cheung Chau. While it’s called “cave”, it’s more or less just a narrow and winding passage inside a cliff. Scholars believe that the legend about the treasure cave is probably fake, since it’s too small. And even if the cave was used to store something, that “something” would be nothing more than gunpowder. What a way to crush a man’s dream…Still, it’s a popular tourist attraction visited by many even as of today.

So, next time, when you walk by the beaches in Hong Kong, and you find something glittering among the sand…pick your shovel and start digging!

…Heck, who am I trying to lie to?

Everyone knows beaches in Hong Kong are notorious for marine trash.

That glittering thing is probably just a plastic bottle.

Bela Vista Villa in Hong Kong

Do you know that the Bela Vista Villa (東堤小築) of Hong Kong is a famous place for…suicide?

Bela Vista Villa, locates in Cheung Chau, Hong Kong Island, is a cluster of vacation bungalows. The villa is close to some historical temples and an awesome beach, a beautiful place with beautiful scene and a beautiful name. Who would have thought it has something to do with such morbid things?

There is (are) reason(s) behind the suicides…or so people believe.

One famous rumor is that in 1989, a divorced woman brought her kid with her to the villa. She killed her kid, and then hung herself in the bungalow while wearing traditional red clothes and shoes (legend said women dying with such clothes would turn into vengeful ghosts). Since then, people have been seeing this “woman in red” wandering in the area and hearing some bone-chilling sobbing from time to time…

Another saying is that a woman broke up with her boyfriend. Feeling upset, she went to the villa and threaten her ex-boyfriend with suicide. But her ex-lover thought that she was only kidding and ignored her. The heart-broken woman thus killed herself by taking sleeping pills and burning charcoal.

The villa has been rumored to be haunted and cursed ever since. What’s worse is that many death-seekers seemed to be affected by the rumors and chose to end their lives at this place. Many people in turn believe the place is heavily shrouded by the “force of yin” and where grudgeful spirits gather.

This creates a vicious cycle of: people commit suicide à the place becomes haunted à more people come to commit suicide in this haunted place à the place becomes more haunted…

Whether you believe in the ghost stories or not, Bela Vista Villa, or even the name Cheung Chau, has more or less become the synonym of “suicide”, and over 20 suicide cases at the resort has been reported.

Maybe people try to imitate what others have been doing unconsciously?

Or maybe…the deceased are lonely and desperately need companions…?

Family Size in Hong Kong

Do you know that Hongkongers prefer to have small families?

According to the statistics of the Hong Kong government, the average household size has decreased from 4.5 persons in 1971 to 3 persons in 2006.

Unlike traditional Chinese families, where “the more the merrier” belief prevails, Hongkongers don’t really want to have too many kids (who love taking care of those crying and screaming demon spawns anyway?), especially since 1970s, when Hong Kong’s population started to grow and the British Hong Kong government tried to implement the non-mandatory two-child policy. The Family Planning Association of Hong Kong helped by launching the “two is enough” (兩個就夠晒數) campaign.

However, the post war baby boom period and the two-child campaign in 1970s led to the shift in population structure and population ageing is becoming a serious problem in Hong Kong. Seeing that, the association made an advertisement in 2015 and, instead of promoting birth control, suggested that Hongkongers should have larger families, even to the point of saying “you can even form a basketball team”.

This, of course, led to criticisms and disagreements. Some said that it’s kind of inconsiderate and irresponsible to have so many kids at once (we are not hares after all), and some argued that it’s hard to raise children in Hong Kong because of the housing problem and economic difficulties.

Man, lots of adults can’t even take care of themselves, and you ask them to take care of more? And don’t forget that Hong Kong is already over-crowded, both on the city level or individual level. I know that we need to find a way to deal with the aging population, but trying to solve the problem of having too many people by giving birth to even more people?

No…just no.

Emotional Quotient in Hong Kong

Do you know Hongkongers have been paying more attention to Emotional Quotient (EQ) in recent years?

Be it education institutes, managerial class from business sectors or even psychologists, they all start to realise the importance of having high (or at least not bad) EQ.

The measure of EQ refers to how we recognize our emotions and using the information to guide our thinking and behaviors. Even though the whole EQ theory is under lots of criticism and challenges, we Hongkongers like to use it as a yardstick to gauge how well people can handle stress.

In Hong Kong, while the business sectors try to introduce EQ training for their employees and the education sectors suggest the implantation of EQ education to help students cope with stress, some psychologist claimed that EQ is actually “nothing new” to Hongkongers. The reason is that EQ is more or less the emphasis of virtues and concentration, which is similar to the Confucian teachings and Hongkongers should be familiar with. He also points out that hobbies like listening to music, painting and practicing calligraphy would do us lots of good if it is EQ that we want to train.

However, “having high EQ” somehow develops a negative meaning in Hong Kong. It becomes a  mockery which basically means that people’s stress handling ability is so high that they are “willing to be put up with anything but not having the guts to fight back”…So, in other words, a patronizing way to call others “spineless coward”.

Now that I have mentioned it, let’s look at what’s in Hong Kong: corrupted and inefficient government, exploitative employers, lack of housing, and ridiculous price of daily necessities…We are not lumberjack, but we are still ok.

Hongkongers are…“emotionally strong”, aren’t we?

Braided Girl in Hong Kong

Do you know that you shouldn’t talk to a crying girl at night, especially when you are in the Chinese University of Hong Kong?

Right…those horror movie-lovers probably got the idea…

Dare to sit here and listen to one of the most famous ghost stories in Hong Kong, “The Braided Girl” (辮子姑娘)?

During 1960s - 1970s, the mainland China was undergoing the Cultural Revolution. Lots of mainlanders hoped to escape from the political and social instability and thus illegally immigrated to Hong Kong. And our heroine, the braided girl, wanted nothing different. It was said that the young lady was not only pretty, but also had a long and beautiful braid.

So how should our gorgeous heroine make her way to Hong Kong? How else but hiding on a cross-border train? Everything went fine. She hid on the train, sneaked into Hong Kong, readied to jump off the train and start her new life here.

As the train reached the part close to the Chinese University, she took her leap.

But there was one thing.

There was one thing that got in her way.

Her braid.

That long and beautiful braid she loved so much, she cared so much, that she was so proud of, got stuck on some part of the train. Her braid got stuck WHILE she was already in midair!

Her face got ripped off and her body got thrown onto the tracks…

Needless to say, it’s a horrible and painful death.

Years later, a boy walked past the road near where the tragedy happened and saw a girl crying.

The boy, being a gentleman (or maybe just curious) walked to her and asked what happen.

The “girl” turned to face the boy and…I will let you imagine how “she” looked like.

Some said her head had no skin but just bleeding flesh, while some said she had another braid right in her face…*shiver*

And here’s the hearsay. My friend’s teacher once claimed that he had a co-worker meeting that “girl”. And after the encounter, that poor co-worker got sent to asylum. When his (let’s assume he is a male) friends asked him about that night, he went on an emotional outburst, yelling, screaming, hitting others, and pulling his own hair.

No one dared asking what he saw that night again…

King of Kowloon (Hong Kong)

Do you know that Hong Kong was once under the rule of the King?

What king, you ask…?

Blasphemy!

How dare you not know about our great king, the King of Kowloon, Tsang Tsoi Choi (曾灶財)?

For those who don’t know, Tsang was a famous (I wonder if “famous” is the correct word) old man in Hong Kong because he believed that his ancestors once ruled Kowloon, thus claiming himself to be “the King of Kowloon” and said the government should pay him the taxes for “his land”; though these seem to be nothing more than his delusion. Annoyed by his claim and behavior, his family disowned him and his wife left him.

However, what makes him really famous is not his claim of being the king, but his calligraphy. He painted the messages about his title, his family tress, how he owned Kowloon and the like on almost everything on the street. Post-boxes, lamp posts, walls, telephone booths, pedestrian underpass…everything was covered in his calligraphy. He was arrested and fined a few times, and his graffiti was always cleaned up afterwards, but he would always come back and re-apply his messages. And he has been doing that for over 50 years (dedicated, isn’t he?)!

His writing can’t really be called “beautiful”, but it sure is unique. The calligraphy has inspired the art community and he was deemed as “one of the earliest modern graffiti artists in Hong Kong”. There were even exhibitions of his works held by those who admire his typography.

Sadly, Tsang suffered a heart attack and passed away in 2007. People from the art community thought that was a pity, and urged the government to preserve Tsang’ legacy because of its artistic and cultural value. While the government promised that, it failed to do so (as if it has succeeded in doing anything good) and only a few pieces of Tsang’s works remain nowadays.

Some people think Tsang’s writing is a nuisance to a modern city like Hong Kong, but I think his graffiti gives Hong Kong a sense of cultural uniqueness and has already become one of the most symbolizing images of this place.

Requiescat in pace, King Tsang.

Avian Flu in Hong Kong

Do you know that the Influenza type H5N1, which had its outbreak in Hong Kong in 1997, is the first known avian flu that can infect human?

This kind of virus was actually first found in mainland China in 1996. The virus killed some geese but didn’t catch much attention because it was merely deemed as normal avian flu which could affect birds and poultries only.

…Until a 3-year-old boy in Hong Kong died from it. The boy suffered from multiple organ failure and his blood even clotted! The specialists in Hong Kong could not determine what was happening and had to forward the virus sample to over sea labs and CDC.

The result they had, unexpectedly, shocked the whole medical field. That is because doctors and scientists thought that only virus type H1, H2 and H3 could cause flu in humans. But this time, the boy was killed by a flu caused by virus type H5, which was thought to only affect birds.

The case led to deep concern of health organisations all over the world. A total of 18 Hongkoners were infected and 6 of them died. Fearing the spread of the disease, the Hong Kong government had no choice but to killed over 1 million chickens and had to pause importing live chickens from the mainland.

Two years later, a new virus strain H9N2 was found in Hong Kong. The virus keeps on mutating from then on and the nightmare of humanity continues…

Air Pollution in Hong Kong

Do you know that the air pollution in Hong Kong can be considered as serious?

What’s weird is that you probably won’t get such impression simply by looking at government’s air quality index.

Hong Kong’s air quality is not as good as the authority claimed. It may not be serious to the point where you have to wear gas mask, but you can tell by the air clarity. And if you are willing to check on some statistics, you will find that days of which visibility is less than 8 km in Hong Kong takes up about one third of a year.

Economic-wise, studies also found that the air pollution in Hong Kong contribute to 90,000 hospital admissions and 2,800 premature deaths per year. Not to mention the medical expense that have to be spent on air pollution-related disease and how the pollution drives away the potential investors…

Hong Kong’s electricity mainly comes from burning coal, together with the high vehicular emission, and let’s not go deep into the factories working day and night in the neighboring Pearl River Delta…There is no way the air quality in Hong Kong can be good.

But didn’t the government’s measuring suggest that the air pollution in Hong Kong is only mild?

Well…the Air Pollution Index (API) Hong Kong has been using from 1995 to 2013 did not measure those very small particles like PM2.5, and the standard was way outdated. While the new Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) takes these particles into account, experts criticized that it is still lagging behind the international standard (air pollution level considered as “low to moderate” when the PM2.5 reading exceeding the WHO standard) and commented that could only create a false sense of security for the public.

“Fight for the blue sky”, they said.

“All of the city should participate”, they said.

The sky in Hong Kong is still not that blue, but our future generations probably are… 

Death Penalty in Hong Kong

Do you know that death penalty in Hong Kong was not abolished until 1993?

In the early years, executions were mainly carried out in form of decapitation (like that of the Qing government), and usually took place in the opening in Kowloon Walled City. At that time, the executions were open to public. They were later carried out inside the prisons for humanitarian reasons (seriously, who except psychopaths would enjoy seeing people‘s head chopped off?).

Later, hanging, instead of decapitation, was practiced. Death penalty was usually reserved for serious crimes like kidnapping and murder. The hangings would usually be carried out in early morning, when other prisoners were still asleep. The death rows would be standing on a platform, with the noose around their neck. The executor would then pull the lever, opening the drop below the death rows, and then…you know the rest.

The executors would receive bonus every time they pull the trigger (haha…oh I shouldn’t be laughing). The prisons got to keep all the belongings the death rows had, including their bodies. Therefore not even the death rows’ families were allowed to retrieve them.

The last execution was carried out in 1966. After that, all capital punishments were changed to life imprisonments under Hong Kong governors’ prerogative of mercy.

However in 1973, the Tsoi Kwok Cheung case heated up the debate of whether he should be executed. Lots of Hongkongers, and even the Governor at that time (Sir Murray MacLehose) agreed that Tsoi should be executed. But after Tsoi’s petition, Queen Elizabeth decided to grant Tsoi a pardon. The decision led to Hongkongers’ disappointment and widespread criticism, with politicians and officials condemning the British Government for “going against the public” and “having political motives”.

After years of debate, death penalty was officially abolished in 1993, under the Offences Against the Person Ordinance. Life imprisonment has become the most severe punishment in Hong Kong since then. 

The Devil Cop in Hong Kong

Do you know that one of the most infamous criminals in Hong Kong was a cop?

I hate the police and make this up to defame them? No, I didn’t.

Have you heard of Tsui Po Ko (徐步高)?

Tsui Po Ko was born in Fujian and grew up in Hong Kong. After graduation, Tsui tried several jobs, but eventually became a police constable in 1993 because he thought the job was well paid and had good benefits. He was an excellent shooter (once scored full mark in training) and had an outstanding performance while in police college, which earned him a “silver whistle”. He was also calm and independent, where his superior thought highly of him.

Wait a minute… Tsui sounds like a fine and full-of-potential young man. That statement about him being a criminal…is that a mistake?

It’s not.

In March 2001, he killed another cop Leung Shing Yan and stole his revolver.

In December of the same year, he committed a bank robbery, stole about HK$500,000 and killed a Pakistani security guard.

And five years later, in 2006, he ambushed two police, Sin Ka Keung and Tsang Kwok Hang in Tsim Sha Tsui. After a ferocious gun fight, Tsui was shot to death. However, Tsang also lost his life while attempting to arrest Tsui, leaving Sin the only survivor.

No one can say for sure why Tsui would fell from the grace, but psychological experts theorize that it was the frustration from never being promoted drove him off the path. While his performance was good, he was too stubborn and self-centered when it came to communication. After failing the promotion tests a few times, he started to act weird, like suddenly singing national anthem in the canteen and stalking Hong Kong political figures.

It was even found out that Tsui had all those philosophical writings stuck on his bed, like “What is the meaning of life?”, “Clashes, conflicts and wars lead to rebirth” and “Ruling class could not tolerate suspicion towards the god because that lowers the god’s legality”, revealing how he was dissatisfied with the ruling class and believe he could change the world. Experts therefore considered him suffering from schizotypal personality disorder.

The story of Tusi ends. His doing shocked the society and earned him the title of “Devil Cop”.

Case closed…or is it?

The devil tempted a once capable and strong-willed young man and turned him into a notorious criminal. How many people could resist the temptation at the end?

The gun is in your hand. Will you pull the trigger?

Amah Rock in Hong Kong

Do you know that there is a weird-looking rock called Amah Rock on the hilltop of Tai Wai?

Well, weird enough for me to write hundreds of words about it, at least.

This 15 meter-tall rock looks like a standing human figure, carrying a child on its back and staring down the hill.

What’s weirder is that the rock is called 望夫石 in Chinese, which means “stone that gazes at the husband”. Sounds really creepy based on the description here, huh?

But it’s not creepy at all. Instead, there is a touching story behind.

Legend has it that there was a poor family in the past. Some said that the husband was a fisherman; some said that he had to go overseas to make money for the family. Whatever the reason was, he headed for the sea and didn’t come back. While common sense tells us the husband was probably dead, the wife believed otherwise. Believing that her husband was still alive, the wife carried their child and head for the hilltop watching for the return of her husband. She simply stood there, days after days and years after years, hoping that the day of their reunion would come. Her faithfulness and dedication towards her husband deeply moved the Goddess of the Sea. Thus the Goddess turned her into a rock so that her spirit could reunite with her husband (or “granted her a stone-body that could never get old, so that she could live long enough to see her husband return”, depending on how you interpret the story).

Aww…wipe your tears. It’s just some made-up story. The peculiar shape of the rock actually results from million years of weathering, nothing magical or touching here. And the tourists have probably heard of this story thousand times before since the rock is a famous attraction, not to mention it locates right next to a popular hiking trail.

Still, what if the story WAS real…?

Imagine that the husband really returned at the end, seeing his wife.

Both of them wept out of happiness and hugged each other.

“You…have been waiting for me? After all this time?”

“Always.”

Fried Breadstick in Hong Kong

Do you know that Hongkongers eat ghosts for breakfast?

No, not real ghosts (if they are real to begin with), but a kind of ghost called “Deep Fried Ghost” (油炸鬼).

You still have no idea what I am talking about? OK, 油炸鬼is actually a kind of slightly salted fried breadstick which is not only popular in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Mainland China, but also in East Asian regions like Singapore and Malaysia.

Where does this weird name come from though? 油炸鬼 [jau4 zaa3 gwai 2] is actually the Cantonese name of the food, it’s mostly called 油條 (“oil stick”) in Mandarin speaking region.

It is said that during Song Dynasty (AD960 - 1279), the notorious government official 秦檜 (Qin Hui) framed the famous and patriotic general 岳飛 (Yue Fei). This led to Yue Fei’s death and people were angry with Qin Hui’s doing because Yue Fei had been fighting hard for the country. Out of anger and hatred, people made this kind of food and called it油炸檜 (“deep-fried Qin Hui”, 檜 [kui2] and 鬼 [gwai2] are kind of similar in Cantonese), symbolizing “traitorous people like Qin Hui deserved to be deep-fried and eaten”. Changing its name to 油炸鬼 is probably a way to further derogate Qin Hui.

Well…no one knows if the story is real or should we eat it with hatred, but that doesn’t stop us from loving this food, and it’s a popular choice for breakfast. Just order this and a bowl of congee, and you will have the most classic combination of Hong Kong-style breakfast!

Make sure you don’t eat too many油炸鬼 though, since it’s oily and probably not the healthiest food in the world…

Bride’s Pool in Hong Kong

Do you know there is a tragic story behind the beautiful Bride’s Pool (新娘潭)?

…Actually not so tragic. The story’s not long enough for you to get emotionally attached anyway…

The pool located in Tai Po, northeast New Territories, with several other waterfalls around. While the scene there looks pristine and calming, a well-known folklore surely adds melancholy and even eeriness to the place.

Legend has it that centuries ago, a bride passed throw here on the day of her wedding. While she sat on her comfy sedan chair carried by four men, happily waiting for the sedan to reach her lover and start her new page of life, an unfortunate accident happened. The chair-porters got slipped by the slippery rocks and the whole group, including the bride, fell into the pool. The bride, wearing heavy wedding dress (cheongsam, to be accurate), could not escape and…

Yeah, you can guess the rest. As a result, the pool is named “Bride’s Pool” in the memory of the drowned bride.

What’s creepy is that people seemed to have found some mysterious cremated remains and abandoned spirit tablets around there a few years ago; the road right above the pool is an infamous sport for fatal traffic accidents; lots of people have claimed seeing a womanly figure there at night and locals always warned others against visiting this place after dark.

Maybe that bride was lonely and tried to look for companion? Or maybe she was still waiting there, believing that her lover would come for her?

…Nah, people probably made these up for fun.

This place holds a popular hiking trail, and there are a few barbecue sites around as well.

You think ghosts dare show up at a crowded tourist attraction like this?

But, in case you are alone by the pool, and you saw a suspicious female wearing cheongsam, looking sad and, more importantly, soaked…

It may be a good idea to run away as fast as you can.

Just saying.

Mark Six in Hong Kong

Do you know that Mark Six (六合彩) is one of the few gambling activities which is legal in Hong Kong?

In early 1970s, there was lots of illegal gambling in Hong Kong. Fearing how it would harm the public moral and how it might fund the organized crimes, the British Hong Kong government set up the 多重彩 (which was also called “Mark Six”) as legal gambling, aiming to fight the illegal one.

However, 多重彩 was not very popular because it’s difficult to win. The Hong Kong Lotteries Board thus set up another lottery game with new rules. That new lottery game is the六合彩 we have nowadays.

When playing Mark Six (the one we have today), players will have to guess what numbers (within 1 and 49) will be drawn out from the lottery machine. Seven numbers will be drawn every time, with six being “drawn numbers” and one being “extra number”. And of course the more numbers you guessed correctly, the greater the prize is (though you have to guess at least three drawn numbers correctly to get the participating prize). What makes this exciting is that, if no one wins the 1st or 2nd prizes, the money will be added to the Jackpot for the next game. So if this repeats a few times, the Jackpot will pile up, and the dividend of the 1st prize can be accumulated to over HK$100million!

To ensure the fairness of the game, there will be live broadcast of the number drawing. There will also be two to three people (usually people with high social status, like Justices of the Peace) to witness and supervise the whole process. The game is never “fair” to begin with though, in statistical sense (that expected value thingy). But it’s only “unfair” if you lose, I guess?

Yet you don’t get all the money for the top three prizes. You will only receive about half of the dividend. The rest will either go to the government through lottery duty, charities or the Hong Kong Jockey Club as operation fee. 

Still, it doesn’t matter to broke people like me. I mean, half of “a lot”, is still “a lot”, right?

Mandatory Provident Fund in Hong Kong

Do you know that the Mandatory Provident Fund (強積金, MPF for short) is a compulsory saving scheme for Hongkongers? The saving is for the retirement…well, supposed to be for retirement.

It was officially implemented on December 2000. Hongkongers have an employment contract of 60 days or more are obligated to join the scheme. Under the scheme, both employers and employees have to pay a total amount equal to 5% of the employees’ salary. The MPF providers will then use the sum as investment fund.

The fund is portable. When the employees change jobs, the accumulated fund will be transferred to the plan operated by the new employers. While employees can allocate the fund asset, they have no direct control over the investment. And employees won’t be able to withdraw the accrued benefit until they are 65 (the official retirement age in Hong Kong).

The scheme sounds comprehensive, but the effect is…um, let me put it this way: it sucks.

Since the fund providers don’t really care about your investment, how much you can get by your retirement is unstable and luck-dependent. And the investment return is just too negligible when you compare it with the ever-increasing living cost and life expectancy in Hong Kong. Not to mention that the actual amount a retired Hongkonger can get would be further reduced because of the high fund management charges. Oh, and don’t forget the offset mechanism, which allow the employers to pay their employees’ severances and long-term serving payment with the fund instead.

See that no one except the fund providers actually benefit from the scheme?

Calling it “ineffective” or even “unfair” would be an understatement. That is why employees in Hong Kong simply call it “Raping Provident Fund” (強姦金).

You have to admit, that’s far more accurate.

Kai Tak Airport in Hong Kong

Do you know the story of Kai Tak Airport in Hong Kong can be dated back to 1910s?

Well…people these days keep mentioning how modern and beautiful the Chek Lap Kok Airport is, so why not look into the past and be reminiscent of our outdated yet classic airport?

Where was I…? Right.

In 1912, two businessmen Ho Kai and Au Tak formed the Kai Tak Investment Company to reclaim land in Kowloon for development. However, the business plan failed and the land was later turned into runway airport for the Royal Air Force. It was not truly an airport until its first control tower and hangar were built in 1935, with the first domestic airline established in 1936 by the Imperial Airways. It experienced the Second World War, and was developed into a larger airport.

The history class ends here. But Kai Tak is not just a historical heritage; it was also part of Hongkongers’ lives.

It’s actually pretty fun to see an airport of that scale to be located in the middle of an overcrowded town (not so fun for those who live near it, imagine the noise). Thanks to that, Kai Tak was not just an airport, it also served as an attraction to plane lovers, photographers looking for inspiration, and even tourists.

And since the airport was in the middle of a town, surrounded by mountains and low residential buildings, it takes the pilots some great skill to land on such a narrow and packed space. Even people who lived there admit that watching the planes descending is “dramatic and breath taking”…That must have been some great scenes.

It’s a pity that Kai Tak caused great deal of pollution to the nearby area, and can’t keep up with the increasing need of air traffic in Hong Kong.

It was eventually closed on 6 July, 1998, with the last plane departed at 01:05.

Soldiers! Salutation to Kai Tai and its irreplaceable contribution to Hong Kong!

And what do we say to Kai Tak? Louder! I CAN’T HEAR YOU!!

“GOODBYE KAI TAK, AND THANK YOU!!” *salute and shed manly tears*

Lotus in Hong Kong

Do you know that lotus is edible?

From petals to leaves, from rhizome to seeds; almost every single part of lotus can be turned into food.

In Hong Kong, lotus-related dishes are actually pretty common.

The petals can be used to brew tea; the leaves can be used to warped food; the rhizome can be cooked into either savory dishes or sweetened snacks; while lotus seeds are usually used for desserts: lotus seed paste buns, moon cakes, lotus seed soup…

Sometimes, Hong Kong people simply forget that all these things they put into their mouth comes only from a flower.

How about you? You can also give them a try.

All you have to do, is to visit a “Dim Sum House” (茶樓, basically a Cantonese restaurant where you can eat “dim sum”, or snack) and you can order all you want.

I recommend lotus seed paste buns.

No place to die in Hong Kong

Do you know that it’s a bad idea to die in Hong Kong?

Well, it’s always (or at least most of the time) a bad idea to die, but what is especially bad about dying in Hong Kong?

Land scarcity is a pretty well-known problem in Hong Kong. The problem doesn’t only mean that Hongkongers have no place to live, but also means we, as suggested by our old saying: 死無葬身之地 (die without a place to be buried).

Because of the lack of space in Hong Kong, burial is never the best option (imagine the price of a proper burial plot). Therefore, most Hongkongers prefer cremation for the deceased. However, we still need a place to store the ashes, right? Then there comes the problem: we don’t even have the space to build columbarium.

While the government tries to look for potential columbarium sites, lots of businessmen and landowners disagree on that because they fear that such facilities would drag down their land’s price. Not to mention the indigenous villagers in Hong Kong have privileges because of their shady relation with the government and can expand their graves (which means lots of space) anytime as they want. What is more ridiculous is that, some people actually see it as some kind of business opportunity, and try to promote urn storage speculation / flipping.

So our short-sighted and lack-of-planning government has no choice but to promote “burial at sea” instead…

Maybe Hongkongers should consider “toilet burial”, and have their ashes flushed away down the toilet?

Earth to earth, ashes to as…somewhere else.

Teenagers' stress in Hong Kong

Do you know that lots of Hong Kong teenagers have no confidence in themselves and don’t know how to pursue their career goals? This conclusion comes from a survey done in 2015 by City University. Sad, isn’t?

The survey was conducted upon 2000 Form 6 students in Hong Kong. While 4 out of 5 students plan to further their studies and know well that they want jobs that provide good development opportunities, 65% of them simply don’t know how to pick a career. They don’t think they can control their career path.

Another survey done recently also suggests that half of the interviewed secondary school students show symptoms of depression, with about 20% being moderate to severe. What’s astonishing is that, about one fourth of the students considered committing suicide just two weeks before the survey. Together with the news of 22 youngsters killing themselves (one of them was only 11) in the first quarter of this year…

Just what is wrong with this society?

Of course the experts will try to give reasons like “the education system is too stressful”, “students cannot handle stress”, “they lack family support’, and some smart dude from the Education Bureau even said “they lack life planning”.

But you know, they know and I know that the problem is way more complex than that.

“Low self-esteem”, “don’t know what to do with life”, “depression”, “suicide”…these factors seem somewhat inter-related to me, but aren’t these signs of middle-age crisis?

Why would Hongkongers facing these while they are still in their 10s or 20s?

Is it because they are too mature?

Or is it because the society expects too much, yet provides too little? 

Work for living in Hong Kong

Do you know that some Hongkongers died from overworking, because they have to take two jobs at the same time? Sound pretty ridiculous, huh?

Not really.

Working on continuous shift; engaging in another job once you finish your first one; working for 15 or more hours each day; sick leave not being permitted…Such is the life of employees in Hong Kong. So you can’t really blame them for, um, dying, can you?

Even though these news are from a few years ago, it’s still true that most Hongkongers have to overwork in order to have a (slightly) better quality of living. When you consider that Hong Kong has some of the worst labour-related laws in the world, and how much a standard Hongkonger has to spend on bill, food and rent, it’s not surprising to find out that people are taking part time jobs even they do have a main job.

What? Hobbies? Savings for something big?

If you actually HAVE MONEY LEFT, yeah, why not?

“Those losers should just look for jobs with a better pay.”

Yeah, it may be their faults for taking those sucky jobs…

But it’s not like they are begging, and they are even willing to take two jobs, merely in the hope of pursuing something which should not have require so much effort…

Can these people truly be called losers? Or should we call them…victims?    

Some people say that having one job is only enough for you to “survive” in Hong Kong; in order to “live”, you need two. Now I have to wonder if two jobs are enough…

Vegetable in Hong Kong

Do you know that only around 3% of produce consumed in Hong Kong is locally grown?

…OK, that’s really negligible, and is far away from self-sufficient.

But when you remember that Hong Kong is a concrete jungle, where the land is scarce and expensive, this figure becomes kind of interesting.

There are actually more than 1900 farms in New Territories, and Hong Kong’s overall climate is good for growing, with winter being the most productive season. In winter, people can grow choi sum, bok choi, pumpkin, carrots, taro and the like. During warmer seasons, lettuce, bitter melon, lychee, mangoes are some welcome produce.

Moreover, people start to pay more attention to health and environment. “Eat green and organic” has obviously become a topic. Together with the bad news about how imported produce from mainland China is full of pesticide and chemical, it’s only natural that people would want something “safer, fresher and greener”.

So it’s not necessarily a joke when people said “let’s farm in Hong Kong”, as you can see both the potential and demand.

Still, restricted amount of land, development projects that tends to destroy green valleys, lack of surveillance, high cost of organic farming…All of these post great challenges to the “farm in Hong Kong” idea.

Well, there is still a long way to go, a really, really long way, to be honest.

However, it is a long road that worth waking, if you ask me.