Ordinary Gweilo
It's not big and it's not clever, it's just a Brit in Hong Kong writiing (mainly) about Hong Kong
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Month: Nov 2003
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The letters page of the SCMP is currently running a debate about the pronounciation of the Cantonese word for “year”, following on from the way that it was written in English in SCMP’s centenary edition. Natasha Rogai (“Linguistic tide”, November 17) and Hugh Tyrwhitt-Drake (“Linguistic tyranny”, November 19) are wrong to have claimed that no…
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An inauspicious 44% of those eligible to vote in yesterday’s elections for the District Council did so, and the big losers were the DAB, whose leader Tsang Yok-sing said a lot of stupid things about the 1 July march against the anti-subversion laws (which arise from Article 23 of the Basic Law). The BBC website…
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It’s election day in Hong Kong. Never mind that the District Councils have been stripped of most of their power, or that Mr Tung will appoint his own representatives to supplement the elected councillors, the excitement is palpable. Well, no it’s not, actually. Last time less than 40% of the electorate bothered to turn out.…
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Being English, I get quite used to sporting disappointments. So when England started beating the southern hemisphere nations in the lead up to the Rugby World Cup, I fully expected that they were peaking too soon, and would contrive to lose in the quarter-finals. The game against South Africa seemed to confirm my worst fears…
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Visiting the doctor in Hong Kong is quite an experience. I tend to avoid going unless I think it’s something serious, but my wife was brought up to believe that the doctor can help even if you’ve just got the common cold (or “flu” as it mysteriously seems to be known by most people). Patients…
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After the fiasco with their preview edition (or was it just me that couldn’t read their PDF file?), the first issue of Spike was widely available (as promised), even in the New Territories. Having read most of the first edition, I have to report that it is very good indeed. My only real criticism is…
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In amongst all the economic gloom of the last few years here in Hong Kong, one bright spot has been the garment industry. Exports to the United States and Europe have growing rapidly, and 2002 was a particularly strong year for many companies. Not that they do much manufacturing in Hong Kong (too expensive), and…
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Coming to Hong Kong after living in London for so many years, one of the positive differences is the much lower level of crime and the general feeling that it is a safe place to live. It was therefore a rather rude shock to find that someone had stolen a package of DVDs that I…
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Monday 17 November It’s the middle of November, but the outdoor swimming pool is still open. Perhaps this is compensation for the delayed opening at the start of summer caused by the panic over SARS, but very welcome nonetheless. Swimming in the open air is much better than being inside. Most people think its too…
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The Guardian has been losing columnists at an alarming rate – mostly to The Times, which apparently pays twice as much. This seems to have prompted them to employ an 84 year-old woman to bleat about how some bad people in Hong Kong stole money out of her bank account. This is more of a…
Ordinary Gweilo 