Comments on Hong Kong events in the news recently.
To no one’s surprise, it was just announced that 2000 or over 12% of English Language teachers have failed their certification tests. They have had 3 years to prepare and are allowed to take the test multiple times but now the final deadline is approaching and many of those teaching English will either have to leave or teach something else.
The problem isn’t so much reading and writing as it is listening and speaking. I have previously written about the decline in English Language skills in Hong Kong in an article on comprehension and in another posting on the difficulty of making oneself understood. These problems arise even in situations where the person is in a position where English Language skills are required.
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In case you were planning to swim to Hong Kong instead of arriving by other means, you will be happy to know that the beaches of Hong Kong have improved to where you can actually swim in the water. I recommend, though, that you avoid Victoria Harbour as it continues to be polluted in spite of the efforts of the Pearl River and the tides to keep it clean.
When most people think of Hong Kong, they generally do not conjure up images of beautiful, pristine beaches. The truth is Hong Kong has some great, accessible, family friendly beaches. This has not always been the case. A recently released government study reports that the water quality at Hong Kong’s beaches has improved significantly in the last 20 years.
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A group of musicians and their fans engaged in a scuffle Sunday with Leisure and Cultural Services Officers, responding to noise complaints and trying to shut down their performance in Tuen Mun Park.
Was this a group of young, hip, funky musicians and their rowdy, beer-soaked fans? No. These musicians are well into senior status as are their fans and they play and dance to Chinese Folk Music.
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Continued from yesterday:
I wanted to take an extra day to think some more about the implications of what the government is trying to do with its so-called “anti-racism bill. It certainly isn’t to wipe out racism as anyone with dark skin who has tried to rent a flat will attest. Nor does the government seem interested in alleviating the prejudice and racism, the 225,000 domestic helpers face every day. Instead it is focusing on the few hundreds of expats who have benefits that differ from those given to local hires.
My wife and I are U. S. citizens and permanent residents. Both of us, when we were employed, have always worked here on local terms. Quite frankly, this gave us an advantage over expats who needed an “expat package.” As anyone in Human Resources will tell you, the “expat package” is going the way of the dodo bird whether the government passes the bill in question or not. It’s just bad business to over-pay expats. One company I am associated with has reduced its Hong Kong expat staff from over 30 to one, in the last 20 years
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I recently posted a message about how Hong Kong people rated low on the happiness scale and opined that maybe it was cultural and they were happier than they appeared.
Smellokitty disagreed with me and this is what she said. What are your thoughts?
HongKong people ARE unhappy. Fullstop. The rise of social illness has been apparent for long what with the cleaver chopping that goes on once a week on the news. People’s general lack of honesty with themself regarding their personal lives let alone EXPRESSING their discomfort, then add to that a shortage of psychologists is one big boiling pot for misery. In the long run HK peoples’ EQs are and has been diminishing rapidly -dont take any excuses… They DONT smile. They dont have any reason to smile, and if they did, they have to force it -it isnt too hard to tell a fake from a real smile. If a hongkong person doesnt like you, theyre too inhibited to say it. If they like you they’re too inhibted to show it. Go figure why their self opression is causing enough mental illness to keep a shrink in overtime.
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I wish I could say I was surprised when the Antiquities Advisory Board, in a closed door meeting, voted to demolish the colonial-era, Bauhaus style Central Market. Instead, in an act of supreme foolishness, they recommended that detailed photos of it be taken for display in the future.
Even though the architects on the board disagreed, one of them actually walking out on the meeting. The board decided it wasn’t even genuine Bauhaus and that there were other buildings in Hong Kong in this style, some of them even more attractive and having more architectural merit: this in spite of 80% of interviewed architects desiring to retain the building in some form.
The fact that the site will fetch in the neighborhood of HK$5.8 billion at auction, I’m sure had nothing to do with the decision. Developers could be heard licking their chops from miles away.
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Time to ‘fess up. I have taken an unpopular stand.
The feedback in the local newspaper, The South China Morning Post, in both Talkback and Letters to the Editor indicates that many, if not most, people believe the Tuen Mun Park traditional Chinese musicians should pack up their instruments, especially their amplifiers and leave. Some felt unamplified music would be OK.
I was the only correspondent who was in favor of letting them play. I must be either an amplified music nut or out of touch. The truth is that, having lived in urban environments almost all my life, I believe …
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Evidently tourism authorities are worried that budget tour operators are ruining Hong Kong’s reputation as a desirable destination.
The prices of many tours, especially from the mainland, are less than the actual cost to the tour operator. So how does the tour operator make any money: by insuring that visitors spend a good part of their holiday time shopping in establishments that pay the operator a commission. Some of these commissions run as high as 50%, which indicates the buyers of such products are not getting a decent value.
In the past, there have been stories of customers not being allowed to leave the shop until they bought something. I believe that practice has disappeared and been replaced with an itinerary that takes people to shop after shop after shop until they buy something.
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Calling a law that requires employers to justify what they are offering to overseas employees an “anti-racism” law has me confused. Anything that benefits one race over another is by definition racist. The proposed law would not allow an employer to offer generous benefits such as housing, education, etc. unless they can prove that such expertise is not available locally. It is obviously aimed at U.S. and European and perhaps Japanese, companies that want to bring in their own people and have traditionally offered them certain benefits to make the overseas posting attractive.
It appears to me that the assumption behind …
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So, I’m driving down Interstate 90 about 10 miles East of Bozeman, Montana listening to a local radio station when the newscaster presents a story about how the Hong Kong Disneyland employees wearing the Mickey Mouse costume have had numerous injuries because of the weight of the costume. He goes on to say that labor activists are petitioning the government to pass new laws to eliminate this kind of “abuse” (their words, not mine).
Aside from the weirdness of such a minor story making it all the way to Bozeman Montana, I have concluded that every group in Hong Kong …
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