Just want to draw your attention to a fabulous blog post over at Hong Wrong – The Heartwarming Kindness of Hong Kong’s Heroes.  It tells the story of Benson Tang, someone who took his HK$6,000 tax rebate and used the money to buy food (only from mom-and-pop stores) and distribute it to the needy.  His actions have inspired others to follow suit.

I hope he won’t mind my quoting the final two paragraphs, they’re important and need to be seen:

At a time of deep cuts and austerity measures in Europe and the US, booming Hong Kong is enjoying such a surplus that the government is offering personal HK$6000 bail-outs to all residents regardless of income. They are also subsidising electricity bills and allowing families in public housing free rent for 2 months.  However, despite producing more millionaires than any other country last year, HK also shares the more dubious accolade of ‘widest poverty gap in Asia’. According to the UN Gini Coefficient, which measures income inequality, Hong Kong society rates as the most unequal amongst all highly developed economies. The wealthiest 10 per cent of the populace control more than a third of the city’s income, whilst the bottom 10 per cent share only 2 per cent.

Our city features the world’s highest per capita ownership of Rolls-Royces – yet luxury cars are almost as common sight as the elderly people forced to rummage through bins in search of items they can sell to recyclers. With little in the way of welfare, these workers, mostly old women, have a median income of just US$40 per month and often labour throughout the intense summer heat.

In some ways, I think it’s even worse than that.  Because it’s not just the poor.  Maybe the middle class don’t have it as bad as the poor, but rising inflation is squeezing the hell out of the majority of the population here.  Donald Tsang and his cronies apparently never cared as long as the billionaires were happy.  Will C.Y. Leung change things in any substantial way?  Color me dubious.

(I always find it a bit odd when someone who hasn’t blogged in awhile comes back with something trivial.  ”They haven’t blogged in days/weeks/months and this is what they decide to share after all that time?”  Mayhaps I’m guilty of that with this post.)

For those who don’t know, 3 is one of the major mobile telecommunications providers in Hong Kong.  It is owned by the richest man in Hong Kong, Li Ka-Shing.  (Incidentally, Li’s son Richard is the owner of PCCW, the major fixed line provider, internet provider and also a player in the mobile field.)

For reasons I won’t go into (but you can probably guess), I needed to pay my gf’s mobile bill.  Okay, fine, there’s a 3 shop that’s right near my office so I went there at lunch time today and told them I needed to pay the bill.

“You can’t do that here,” I was told.  ”But this is a 3 shop – not a reseller – an actual 3 shop, I can’t pay my bill here?”  ”No, you have to go pay it at Watson’s.”

Watson’s is one of the two large chains of pharmacies that sit atop the market in Hong Kong.  Watson’s is also owned by … Li Ka-Shing.

I don’t get it.  I mean, I suppose that Watson’s has more locations in HK than 3 so it’s convenient to be able to pay the bill there.  But why can’t a 3 shop do it?  Is it some nefarious scheme, someone thinking that if I have to go into Watson’s to do it, I might buy some shaving cream or Panadol as long as I’m there, and therefore not buy it from rival chain Mannings or supermarket Wellcome or supermarket Park ‘n Shop (also owned by Li Ka-Shing).

All right, it is what it is and I’m not gonna argue with the poor schlub sitting behind the counter who doesn’t make policy, he just carries it out.  So how about, can I get a copy of the latest bill on this account, because it seemed awfully high to me and I’d like to check it out?

Him – “We can’t do that here. You have to go to the internet to view it.”

Me – “But I have two registered phone numbers with 3 [long story] and every time I go to your web site, I can only see the records for one number, not the other.”

Him – “You forgot your password?”

Me – “No, but your web site is broken, I can’t view both accounts.”

Him – “You forgot your password?”

Me – “Okay, I forgot my password.  Can you help me?”

Him – “No, we can’t do that here.  You have to go online to the internet and reset your password.  Do you know how to do that?”

Me – “You mean go online to the login page and click where it says ‘reset password’?  Yeah, I can figure that out.”

Him – “Anything else I can help you with today?”

Considering you didn’t help me with anything at all, nope.

[I have been posting much more regularly at SpikesPhotos.com so please do feel free to check that site out.  I've had two occasions to go out and shoot the Hong Kong harbor at night with the amazing Nikon D800 and I think I've gotten some fabulous shots so scoot over there and take a look?  Aside from work and photography, I've just been extremely occupied with matters that are not really bloggable.  But I am, I assure you, still around.]

The current ish of Rolling Stone has an extended interview with President Obama conducted by RS publisher Jann Wenner.  In responding to a question relatively early in the interview, Obama is quoted as saying, “I’m not going to make news in this publication.”  That in response to a question on marriage equality.  Nevertheless, he has some interesting things to say, as always.  Here’s the bit that caught my eye:

The free market is the greatest generator of wealth in history. I’m a firm believer in the free market, and the capacity of Americans to start a business, pursue their dreams and strike it rich. But when you look at the history of how we became an economic superpower, that rugged individualism and private-sector dynamism was always coupled with government creating a platform so that everybody could succeed, so that consumers weren’t taken advantage of, so that the byproducts of capitalism, like pollution or worker injuries, were regulated. Creating that social safety net has not made us weaker – it’s made us stronger. It liberated people to say, “I can move to another state, but if I don’t find a job right away, my kids aren’t going to go hungry. I can start a business, but if it doesn’t work out, I’m going to be able to land on my feet.” Making those kinds of commitments to each other – to create safety nets, to invest in infrastructure and schools and basic research – is just like our collective investment in national security or fire departments or police. It has facilitated the kind of risk-taking that has made our economy so dynamic. This is what it means for us to live in a thriving, modern democracy.

Now that made me stop and think about many things, Hong Kong included.  After all, Hong Kong always gets voted the freest market or economy or whatever by some conservative think tank.  HK is the free market economy taken to its furthest extreme.  And yet ….

Is it really possible for HKer’s to start businesses these days?  Yes and no.  We have a large group of (mostly) young people trying to do things in the internet space.  Very few if any will ever succeed on a global scale but plenty of people are earning a living and getting ahead.

But for those trying a more traditional path, I believe the doors are increasingly closed.  Anything that has any requirement for real estate – shops or offices – seems doomed from the start.  The balance of power has tipped in the favor of the landlords and in particular those few companies that basically own everything else worth owning.  We don’t have a real free market any more because these people have locked up everything.  Why are there only two major supermarket chains, and both are owned by real estate companies?  Why are all the mobile phone companies owned by real estate companies?  Why don’t we have Wal*Mart or Costco or Carrefour in Hong Kong?

The answer is because the doors aren’t really open, even for major global corporations like those, unless they’re willing to join forces with the local moguls and let them take their cut.

I’ve seen what’s happened to my weekly supermarket bill in the past year.  I’ve seen how the price of the crap I buy at 7-11 every day has gone up by 50% or more in the past year.

I heard a story the other day about a retail company, they’ve got 5 branches in HK.  Their branch in TST is all of 200 square feet.  Their rent was $50,000 per month or 10% of their revenue (not sure if gross or net), whichever is higher.  Now their “rent” has increased to 20% of revenue.

It takes million of dollars these days to start something up, at least in the bricks and mortar arena.  Innovation is discouraged because it’s too expensive to take risks – it’s safer to copy others’ success than to try something really new.

Let’s not even get into the bit about the “social safety net” because Hong Kong doesn’t really have that.

Here’s a photo I took of the HK skyline yesterday (posted over at Spike’s Photos).  I’m not sharing this with you because of the photo (though I think it’s pretty darned good, if I say so myself, do view it full size to get the full effect).

I’m sharing it because I also posted it on Facebook and here’s one of the comments it received:  ”Really good one, showing the mood of people towards the future of HK….”

An interesting piece in The New Yorker on April 30th, titled China’s Crisis, by Evan Osnos (no idea who he is).  Wanted to share a bit of it with you:

The gap between rich and poor has become so inflammatory and unsustainable that the Chinese government has simply stopped releasing an official measure of the distribution of wealth. (Unofficial studies now put China’s inequality beyond the point that a former Prime Minister once estimated would trigger social unrest.)

For now, the streets are quiet, because one thing that all factions of the Party agree on is that they could lose everything if the Bo Xilai case opens a wider schism. But do they recognize the longer-term problem: that their refusal to share the affairs of state with their own people is the greatest peril of all?

There’s an interesting point there. Sometimes it seems as if all we ever see in the media are stories about how rich everyone is in China, how many millionaires and billionaires there are, the astonishing amounts of money they spend.  And yet we also get the stories about Foxconn workers working 80 hour weeks for US$300 a month.  And these Foxconn workers are doing far better than at least 1/3rd of the country’s population, those that don’t live in or near the big cities, those who have yet to be “uplifted.”

So what is the truth?  Are the poor and dispossessed keeping their mouths shut in the traditional hope that if they keep their heads down and work hard they or their children will one day join the ranks of the rich?  Or will all these tales of massive corruption lead to unrest and instability?

Everyone has their theories, no one really knows.  Least of all me. But I find this to be interesting stuff.

From The NY Times:

Foul Play Ruled Likely in Case of Spy Found Dead in Bag

Deepening the mystery surrounding the death of a reclusive MI6 agent found doubled up inside a padlocked duffel bag in his London flat, a coroner said on Wednesday that it was unlikely that the case would ever be solved, but that the “balance of probabilities” suggested that he had been unlawfully killed.

Really, ya think?

And this is a great one:

“Several Attempts to Cover Songs By The Velvet Underground and Lou Reed for Neil Gaiman as His Birthday Approaches.”  It’s by Amanda Palmer.  No idea if it’s any good or not but will have to check it out given that title.

Apparently she raised $100k on Kickstarter in just 6 hours to fund her recording projects so she’s got a few fans out there already.

For those of you who might care.  Here’s a shot of her outside the Ritz Carlton (not taken by me, btw).

Here’s a pic she tweeted, a rare natural look:

Along with the above image she wrote, “Exhausted after Hong Kong spin class! I love this city, you can work out & buy a fake Birkin on the same street.”  (Note that someone commented on that tweet by asking, “Is it clean? Do they spit all over?”

We still don’t have tickets, still kind of tempted to go.  Would be a no-brainer if I could bring the D800 with me.

We saw The Avengers on Sunday night. 3D Imax version over at Megabox. I’ll get to the movie in a second.

Megabox.  Jeez.  First of all, on a weekend, the place is mobbed.  There was a two block line-up of cars waiting to get into the parking lot there (and due to the odd design of the building, you often end up having to park on the 16th floor).  The outside lot across the street was almost full, to the point where they were taking car keys and stacking cars in the aisles (so to speak).  For where we live, it would almost be better to call a taxi to go there.  Public transportation is out for us – I figured it would be two buses then two trains and then another bus vs. a 20 minute drive, go figure that one.  There’s mammoth branches of Ikea, Pricerite, Jusco, Suning (they had one Nikon D800E in stock!), H&M, some of the other stuff.  The ice rink is great for families and kids.  The outdoor observation deck is super nice, when it’s open.  Although honestly, we’ve never had a good meal there.  Perhaps the huge Cantonese places on the upper floors are okay but we’ve never tried those and any other place we’ve eaten there has ranged from barely acceptable to horrible.  (Of course we haven’t tried every restaurant in there so if you’ve got one you like, please share it with me.)  Also, I was looking to buy a USB card reader that could do CF cards and I couldn’t find it there.  (Maybe in Jusco? Suning didn’t have one and the Apple-ish shop closed down.)

Okay, now the movie, thanks for bearing with me.  If you like comic book movies, this is as good as it gets.  Really.  Joss Whedon and his team came up with a script that gave each main character plenty of screen time (and what passes for character development in this type of film) and even some of the “side” characters (Clark Gregg, Stellan Skarsgard, Cobie Smulders) had their moments.  Look sharp and you’ll see Powers Boothe and Jenny Agutter, too, but I completely missed Harry Dean Stanton.  Oh, and you’ll have to wait until almost the end for Stan Lee’s obligatory cameo.

I really admired the way the end mega-battle was shot and cut, the way it seamlessly moved from character to character, giving each one their moments.  About the only thing I could complain about is I’m so tired of some super villain or alien flying over the streets of some American city and seeing cars blowing up.  Really.  It’s been done.  To death.  It’s become the modern day equivalent of the car chases where a car always plows into a fruit stand.

And I gotta say, those alien invaders are pretty weak.  (Possible spoiler coming up.)  First of all, they hardly seem like an army, maybe there’s a hundred or two of them.  And then they’ve got these huge anthropomorphic ships that seem terrifying but Hulk can kill an entire ship with just one punch?  Let’s face it, this invasion didn’t really need a bunch of super heroes to stop it.  A few F-16s probably could have taken care of business.

Of course Robert Downey Jr. is the star and he gets his share of moments.  But a large round of applause to Mark Ruffalo, finally someone gets The Hulk right (if that matters to you).  And damn if Whedon doesn’t succeed in making Gwyneth Paltrow sexy and appealing (apparently not an easy task).

In other words, if this is the kind of thing you like, you’ll really like this.

Now, the 3D.  It sucks.  And keep in mind that I’m a fan of 3D, at least when it’s done right.  The 3D in Hugo is amazing and as necessary as 3D can be in a film.  But here?  I don’t know, there’s nothing that Whedon does that takes advantage of it.  The best 3D we saw the entire night was in the Imax trailer before the start of the film.  Was this even shot in real 3D or was it converted in post production?  Not even any of Hawkeye’s arrows shooting out into the audience – and really, what more obvious candidate for a 3D effect could there have been?  So let’s leave aside the technical issues of how 3D darkens the image and takes away resolution.  It’s just completely unnecessary to see this in 3D.  On the other hand, the super large Imax screen is always nice, especially in Hong Kong where most movie theaters are tiny little shitboxes.   Go see it in 2D.  You won’t miss anything and you can take the money you save and spend it on movie snacks.

I was thinking afterwards – I wonder if the film is meant as a metaphor for the state of the U.S.A. today?  Think about it.  You’ve got a handful of “heroes” who can’t stand each other.  They spend much of the movie arguing and pushing each other out of the way while a Norse god and a bunch of crappy aliens are chewing up the planet.  They don’t succeed in saving the planet until they can put aside their differences and work together for the common good (or at least to attack the common evil).

That being the case, there’s probably a game or two to be played of guessing which Avenger is which current politician.  Except I think that’s already been done better with Game of Thrones!

Incredibly busy week at work.  Plus on Wednesday I managed to get the Nikon D800.  Learning this camera has been taking up almost all of my free time as there is a bit of a learning curve, even coming from the D700 as I am.  However, I have been posting almost daily updates on Spike’s Photos about my progress with it.  So check it out if that’s the sort of thing that interests you or if you just want to see some nice pictures.

BTW, my Nikon D700 body is now for sale, including the MB-D10 battery grip and 5 batteries.  Drop me a line if interested.

So that’s settled then.