Ordinary Gweilo

It's not big and it's not clever, it's just a Brit in Hong Kong writing (mainly) about Hong Kong

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Month: Feb 2004

  • Boring books

    The Irish writer Roddy Doyle has caused a certain amount of controversy in Ireland by criticising James Joyce. I have to say I’m with him on this one! When I studied English at ‘A’ level, we weren’t given a very attractive selection of books – there was the obligatory Dickens (Bleak House) and Shakespeare (Coriolanus!),…

  • The sack race

    Being a manager of a football team is one of the strangest jobs going.  No specific qualifications or experience are required, and the recruitment process is often carried out in full public view, with some candidates announcing to the world that they want the job, others that they don’t (even when they do).  Nothing can…

  • Just trying to connect you…

    It goes something like this: Me: "Hello, can I speak to Ms —— who is staying in your hotel" T: "Yes, can you repeat the name for me?" Me: (repeats the name) T: "Can you spell it for me?" Me: (spells the name) T: (spells out the name using the Tango, Bravo, Charlie, notation) Me:…

  • ESF – Extraordinarily Stupid & Foolish

    Yesterday the executive committee of the English Schools Foundation voted against the appointment of Mike Haynes as chief executive, thus rejecting the advice of the ESF chairman and vice-chairman, who promptly resigned. The original decision to select Mr Haynes for the job was highly controversial because (1) he was a member of the committee that…

  • Price Wars and sweatshops

    I recently wrote about sweatshops and suggested that there was a conflict between the “social responsibility” policies of large retailers and the pressure they put on their suppliers to cut prices. It seems I am not the only one who thinks this may be a problem, as this report in The Guardian points out. Using…

  • Mad

    Today’s newspapers report a very strange story that is a direct result of what passes for housing policy in Hong Kong. The government appears ready to forgo nearly HK$800 million in lost revenue to get out of a controversial subsidised housing project in Hung Hom that the developers could either tear down and replace with a more…

  • Set a book free today

    I have read about this before, but someone sent me an email (that nearly got deleted as spam) about it, so I thought I’d mention it here. The concept of BookCrossing is that you “set a book free” by giving it to someone or just leaving it around where it might get picked up. Then,…

  • Assault with a deadly weapon

    Good stuff from Fumier about umbrellas. He points out that Hong Kong people can be very dangerous with an umbrella in their hand. I propose a new offence of “using an umbrella without due care and attention”, and I think I shall write to the government propoganda office and ask if they would consider making…

  • It’s party time

    There’s an interesting piece in this week’s Spike magazine about McDonalds, and it mentions childrens birthday parties as one key part of their business model. Having attended no less than two birthday parties in McDonalds this weekend (both in the same branch, as it happens) I feel well qualified to comment on this subject. According…

  • Elvis Costello link

    Any Elvis Costello fans reading this might want to watch him here performing at the House of Blues in L.A.