A look back at 2007

I am sure the papers and the telly will be full of retrospective looks at Hong Kong. Anson Chan and democracy all of that, but for me it will be another year when the opportunity to effectively regulate red and green minibuses has been missed. This in the face of continued traffic accidents, death and general moronic behaviour of the drivers. It appears that it is just to hard to fit tachos to vehicles, have speed cameras with cameras in them, train drivers and instant loss of licence for traffic offences etc etc etc. The last prominent case where two minibuses were racing through red lights and killed a few people resulted in a six year driving ban and a short term in prison for one of the drivers. If you earn your living from driving a mini bus the penalties should be such that you think twice about breaking the law. For those who think this is a load of wittering jibberish read on Lo So lan, told Kwun Tong Court she was taking Tam Yee Kwan to school and had just alighted from the bus in Mong Kok about noon on January the 7th. with her daughter behind her when she heard the girl cry "mummy" once. "I turned around and saw her runing alongside the moving minibus" Lo said, bursting into tears. Resuming her evidence after she had composed herself, Lo said that her daughter was running alongside the moving minibus when she fell to the ground and her head was run over by the vehicles rear tyre. "I cried out for help. I chased after her," she said. "She was lying motionless on the ground. When I brushed aside her hair that was tangled and covering her face, I saw her vomit blood, but she didnt move. So I told her, "mummy loves you very much" and she moved her fingers once" The child had become trapped in the minibus door as the driver pulled away. She died in the accident. If that was your child I think you would want the book thrown at this guy. As a parent who sometimes uses these buses I do. But, like the double deckers that reguarly throw passengers through the top window and travel on expressways with people standing like sardines, the commuters have the smallest voice and often no choice. Governments are supposed to protect their people, not by erecting stupid notices or adverts on the telly, or saying dont walk on escalators, but by introducing legislation that requires minibus operators and drivers to operate in a sensible manner and buses to not have people standing when they are on expressways. Stiil Im sure the transport commitee are too busy discussing where the next road will be to worry about protecting commuters and if they do it will be a token jester like a half seat belt rather than a proper over the shoulder one.

Christmas

As I watch it unfold year after year I think back to my childhood with a great amount of, well im not sure really, but I loved Christmas as a kid. Sometimes they were white and I can remember one really well. The 24th was overcast but on the 25th as I woke there was silence and that strange glow that can only mean snow. It was, hooray. However, Christmas started long before that all of the last week in November there was a rumbling before, lights were turned on, trees put up and Christmas decorations taken down from the loft to be dusted and put back on the tree. I remember the little bits of paper with a sticky end you licked and made chains with, the misletoe and the holly. I remember Blue Peter and the collection of stamps for kids with no food in Biafra or other such worthy causes, followed by John Noakes, Peter Purves and good old Valerie, she was never Val setting light to the Blue Peter studio or standing in Elephant shit. Was life more simple then. Probably not but I rtemembered it as a special time, much the same as my son who is 3 is running around like a mad thing with his hay and food for the reindeer, and his eyes positively shone when we turned the lights on , on our tree at home. Christmas itself was different it was the only time you saw dates and tangerines and dried figs. Stockings had matchbox cars in them and nobody got a CD or a video game. But all the family came and spent the whole day stuffing themselves silly. Do I miss it, yes I do. About 6 or 7 years ago I visited Shek Pik Prison here in Hong Kong. The prisoners were to stage a nativity play, and as is the wont with males, the virgin Mary came in for a bit of stick and ample bossom stuffing. Actually there was two nativity plays one after the other, because you cant have all the prisoners together. Shek Pik is a glum place from the moment you walk in to the moment you leave it is unnerving, windswept and barren. But on that day a little light came into the lives of the prisoners. Imagine being dressed in brown all year and then the shear pleasure of dressing up as an angel or a sheperd, just dressing in some colour for a change, and not needing the sandals because you have them already. Imagine being able to have a laugh and a joke and listen to the salvation army brass band. And I guess, if you can imagine that, then I suppose you will have grasped what the spirit of Christmas is all about. For many of the prisoners that would be a day they would hold in their memory much longer than most of the toys others were given would last. I guess that it took that day to make me reaslise once again, that Christmas is not about what we get but, it is about what we give. For people who want to read what I wrote about that day, the article was published in the St Johns Catherdral magazine. If you do find a copy send it to me because I lost mine years ago. And on that note I would wish my reader a Merry Christmas

Greenland is huge

Wedding card street

For those who were imagining that no action would be taken on demolishing wedding card street until the next meeting of the Town Planning board. Forget it they are knocking it down now. And how do you thread a sycraper through a 1930s market without ripping the guts out of it, filling it up with lift cores and columns and fire escapes and after all that claim its a really really good idea. Not half as good as leaving it as it is and leaving the independent traders to continue to ply their trade. Ar***oles with imagination removed. For those people who want to get to Sun Yet Sen park go quickly because after 2 years of operation it is closing to be replaced by a swimming pool which is in turn being moved from Western by the new MTR. The new pool park is budgeted at 500 million, yes thats right 500 million. Got to keep all those guys in government busy. Of course if the harbour wasnt full of shit we could swim there, and on the subject of shit glad to see Hang Seng bank is building bio toilets in China, just imagine all the shit in Hong Kong will in the next 4 years end up on stonecutters to be screened and dumped in the outer harbour. Now imagine you collect the gas before you dump it how many street lights would that power. Still it will never happen because that infrastructure project would require imagination and maybe people having to pay more for dumping their shit which we are told people dont want to do, although they dont mind paying to clean the air. Ho hum Ive decided to become a celebrity socialite and will hang around parties and getting my mug in the celebs column in the SCMP,

Celebrity model

Hard on the heals of Terri Im an ex model socialite we are today gifted with Vanessa Yeung who apparently is a celebrity model. Im not sure if that means she models celebrities, sleeps with them or if fact a new genre has been created. Removing my fingers from my throat I press on with the article in the standard, which apparently was not sponsored by Ka Wah and read all about the art deco nature of a development in Shatin. This is called " the great hill" obviously straight out of the imagination of the same author who gave us "Nobb hill" Vanessa as I like to call her apparently had a familiar feeling when she first stepped into the appartment complex. Maybe it was the security guard touching her arse, the feeling is not explained. Ill leave the rest of how Vanessa thought she was in Manahattan but was really in a crap place in Shatin for you to read yourself. And now I turn to LOHAS park the newest scheme by Li Ka Shing to put people on the housing ladder in estates built adjacent to rubbish dumps and industrial estates, wrapped in touchy feely environmentalism. Apparently this housing estate, sorry luxury development with abundant greenery will have recreational facilitiers to suit every need. This luxury is all to be found in an appartment of about 500 feet useable directly above the MTR station, read shunting yard. Again the article is not sponsored and lofty ceilings are mentioned indication people who are not taller than 6feet should be able to stand up. Noise free toilets are to be installed, now that I would liuke to see after a night on the lager curries. Ho hum, if you can believe all this you can believe that somebody can be a celebrity model.

Book signings & MTR stations

The man with the Bow tie was getting Sinclaires signature in the FCC last night. How he can walk in there is a wonder but he did. Sinclair appears to have written best wishes from Sinclair. For a man that has not got long to go saying it how it is would have been better. Sad that even in in his final days the need to self censor is still prevalent. A lady appears to have some editorial function in the standard. Her name is Mary Ma She feels today that taking the piss out of the person who gets loads of dosh from taxpayers is unfair and Legco should stop doing it. Apparently Hong Kong is what it is today because people "sort a better deal". Apparently the bit that only the really connected got it was lost in the print run. She goes on "instead of continuing to hound Chong, one should be trying to determine where the blame lies" Well my dear Mary, I guess asking the CEO whether the Chairman approved it is a case in point especially when the bloke at the TB said she did. Selina has no recollection I presume which probably is a similar answer to I didnt inhale, she didnt swallow etc etc. Glad to see our poloticians are at least learning. She goes on to explain that other matters are of equal import such as bonuses for performance when no performance benchmark is set. The reasoning behind all this Mary is that if you can determine the CEO is on the gravy train and the Driver Selina has the lights on but is not steering then the rest is QED. It appears to be yet another example hard on the heals of the department for silly inventions. Apparently Mary expects that the legislators will be able to determine whether the board gave value for money. So how will they do that. Work out how much the government got in tax fro tourism, take away what the tourist board cost and if its a plus say yes. I do not think you have to be a genius to realise that once again this is an organisation that is run on the basis of grace and favour of the CE. Now onto more stupidity. The South Island line. You build a line to South Horizons, Ocean Park and that apparently is pretty much it. Well it would be except there must be a massive scramble on at the moment for all the derlict buildings in Aberdeen so that the developers can make a killing on tuscany towers adjacent to the Ocean Park MTR station. But there is no stop at Happy Valley, Nothing to relieve Causeway Bay or Wanchai, through which the line runs. If the jockey club want one they will have to pay for it themselves. Now forgive me if I appear stupid, but the jockey club maintains a monopoly on gambling in Hong Kong and I believe is some sort of Quasi charity. Its revenue is shrouded in secrecy as is its governance, however its punters are the people of Hong Kong. This institution effectively taxes those who often miss the net and passes it back to the government aften wining and dining on the proceeds. So if the Jockey club pays, it reduces the money it could give to charity and reduces money returned in tax. Does this mean we pay but in the process mostly the poor and stupid who gamble pay. I think it does, nothing like widening the tax base and getting the poor to pay for tourists to visit ocean park in comfort and to add to developers profits after they have left the trough.

Meanignfull carrers to aspire to

Terri (bloody ) Holladay Thats her name Apparently she is a former model and socialite What the hell is a socialite, a sychopantic drinker of other peoples largess, what is the world coming too, next thing you know it will be possible to be famous for being a big fat Essex girl and getting the puppies out on TV. Sorry thats already happened. Ok wearing no knickers and getting a photographer to snap the nethers, sorry thats happened to. Bring back Lilly Langtree all is forgiven

Amexed or daylight robbery

Normally I throw all the drivel in the bin that comes with my statments advising that I am seriously in debt. Today however I glanced at a document from Amex that fascinated me. Here goes its a retrospective introduction of changes. Well thats what it seems to me, the thing is dated December 2007 but relates to changes in July 2007. But the real gauling thing must be the charges 44.8% APR for a cash advance wow and 42.0% for goods and services. I may be wrong but I thought there was a level at which interest fell into the loan shark catergory, I thought that was about 36%. FBT your comments please

What is it Kuked up to be

An extremely powerful organisation exists in the new terrortories known as the Kuk. A conglomeration of village leaders bought off by government on a regular basis to make sure they tow the line. A leftover of British colonisation this powerful group has great power when it comes to new terroritories policy and indeed sits in many areas of local and regional governmemt in Hong Kong. On the face of it they are a charity, helping the poor and needy, in reality they control to their benefit policy, infrastructure construction and a multitude of other services. Now, they are saying that idling coach enginers are ok if they are for tourists. They want an exemption because apparently idling in a well ventilated area is not as polluting as in a non well ventilated area. Idling engines will not be stopped by legislation, but watering that legislation down because of vested interest is ridiculous. Whatch this space for copious watering by Kow Towing Manadarins, seeking election.

Starbucks, road accidents and bloodied Burbury handbags.

It may be difficult to see the connection in the title but its contained in the Standard. The propensity for Hong Kong journalsim to plumb the depths of, well, of stupidity, bad taste and all those things we have come to expect from Rupert Murdoch. What is it with the pictures, photofits or cartoons in the Standard. Are we going to have to put up with the Apple Daily cartoons, I hope not but I do fear for the worst. Do we really need to know what a gun looks like pressed to the neck of a Starbucks employee or where the car hit the lampost. Are words, (the reason a newspaper exists rather than watching it on TV), insufficient to get the message across. Of course when a 20 year old loses control (for this read driving like a f**king maniac) and clobbers a lamp post while trying to decide which lane he should be in (actually he nearly managed to be in both) we have to put up with the pictures of blood and burbury handbags in the road, blood splattering on the air bags, and all that makes us really believe that driving 2 Hondas, that appear to be one, leads to fatal consequences, if you should be unlucky enough to lose control of the vehicle at a speed approaching Mach 1. Of course the police were unable to confirm the car was speeding because they are plainly devoid of the ability to measure how far the bits ended up from the lampost. They couldnt even confirm that the car was in fact two cars, something the 1000 licensed EMSD mechanics could I assume do immeaditely. I for one knew when I saw it that somebody had forced two similar cars to mate with the obvious consequences. The outcome of this is, as one would expect, a rapid struggle for the statute book, blank page and pen. In a city where passing the driving test involves, if you are lucky,sitting in a traffic jam for half an hour or in the worst case having to reach the heady heights of 30km/h it is little suprise that our poor youth find themselves losing control of their cars. After all most of them lost control of their ability to think when they entered the Hong Kong education system. God forbid that the use of a roundabout should enter the test or even the training on how to use one. After all, this is Hong Kong, where passing is everything and everything is geared to passing. The ability to drive is secondary to the ability to pass the test. The introduction of P plates on cars will I assume, notify other incompetant drivers that a new and slightly less skilled pointer of a motor vehichle has joined their ranks. This person however will be only allowed to travel at 70KMPH thus causing chaos on the airport expresseway as other cars plough into the back of the individual who doggedly sits in the fast lane. Could the answer be to train these people instead of accepting that they have passed the test but cant in fact drive. Will a P save the lives of individuals who are determined to show that a Honda will knock down a lampost if you hit it hard enough. I doubt very much that it will have any affect at all. While the police huddle around a laser seeing how many people are speeding between the hours of 9.00am and 5.00 pm the mini buses will, with impunity rocket up the Tuen Mun highway at 140km/h with the driver texting his best freind regarding the racing results. Only 1 third of the speed cameras will have cameras in them, and those that have will only catch out the drivers who are not on the underground network. In Asia's world city, digitally linked cameras to a central billing service would avoid the need for the police to climb the ladder and thus inform drivers that the camera is operational. Painting them in camoflage and putting them in hidden locations would also help. But for me it comes down once again to education. Teaching somebody to drive at 30KM/H does not prepare them for driving at 110kmh on an expresseway when its raining. Maybe therefore pictures of blood guts and Burbury's is the best way of educatingf them, however I dont think so.

The Hong Kong Government gives it all away

It does make you wonder. A medical policy that costs as much as some peoples salaries, drinks parties that require people to swim in the alcoholand, trips to places to encourage poor tourists to come to Hong Kong who if they could afford it would not spend 1% of the advertsing budget which gets them here. In Thailand last week the press were asking "why are our tourist board spending money going to places to encourage people to come to Thailand when those countriers have such a low GDP". This is a country that is sort of democratic (coups aside)and they can ask the questions. Here we get the questions but the people responsible can slip the net, slap on the wrist is the worse case. Selina Chow should be asked how she can possibly substantiate her salary as Chairman (I think) when she couldnt run a raffle. And then today I read that we, thats you and me the tax payers of Hong Kong are about to spend 93million on factories across the border owned by Hong Kong companies. This is apprently for environmental reasons, so China tries to close the factories, Hong Kong says no matter we will provide you with the capital to stay afloat, then they set up a fund to make the factories comply with legislation. Not only did the jobs go we are now paying for green initiatives that will benefit the owners. I am pretty sure China has the legislation if not surely that is where the lobby should be. So the tax base in Hong Kong is maintained which is surely prejudicial to Hong Kong business and bussiness across the border benefits. Where is the logic, who knows. Maybe the money should be spent in Hong Kong on cleaning up our own act. However the council for sustainable development has said that this would cost 20 billion to 30 billion. Good job the man who came up with that spread of numbers, works in a government position. However that seems a drop in the ocean to Dons infrastructure spending of 250billion and potentially would create jobs and better environment. Of course it will be down the list after concreting the harbour to provide a car park.

Bugger I missed the plane

But im back