Hong Kong culture

I bought a pair of trainers recently from a shop in Fa Yuen Street –also nicknamed Sneakers Street (波鞋街). It was one of many shops there as the nickname will tell you, most of them nondescript except for the names of the major brand names emblazoned on the store fronts. 

Got the shoes home and the shopping bag sat there for several days... This morning I looked the bag they gave me. I laughed.

Hong Kong people won't think anything of such a name, which has simply been transliterated from the Cantonese word "允", which means "allow", and is probably somebody's name. "記" is a common term that simply denotes a business. So, together, this means "Wan's enterprise". There's also a well known local fashion chain selling women's clothing with the name Wanko.

The word "wank", of course, is British slang, the verb and noun for masturbation. As parochial sexual slang goes, its limited usage means few in the Orient are sensitive to its connotation in a non-Brit setting. It may also be funny to a Westerner, for the "ee" suffix might sound like a caricature (as in Fu Manchu) and "orientalisation" of the word.

See also:
*Engrish.com

Monkey Business

Up close and personal

On the second day of Lunar New Year, my hope of enjoying hiking at one of Hong Kong's country parks with my children (aged 6 and 8) became a minor ordeal . A short time after we alighted the bus at Kowloon Reservoir station, we were accosted by a very aggressive monkey which came after the snacks in the hands of my children. The snarling beast not only succeeded in having my children in tears, it then came baring its teeth at me when I blocked its path to my sons. Fortunately, I was able to leave without causing it physical harm.

Feeding of wild monkeys is forbidden.
up to $10,000 fine if convicted

The boys had just began to recover from the shock by the time we reached the nearby Shing Mun Reservoir. There, I was encouraged to see banners and posters in abundance warning of the dangers and penalties for feeding the wild animals. However, on entering the Kam Shan Park area, I was horrified to witness people flagrantly flouting the prohibition worthy of a HK$10,000 (US$1,280) fine. It seems that families, in their ignorance of physical risks posed to walkers, continue to amuse their children with drive-by monkey-feeding from the safety of their vehicles. Angered by our ordeal, I attempted to warn the occupants of one such vehicle against throwing food to monkeys, but in vain.

Something which carries a $10,000 fine is clearly no small matter, but it strikes me that the the policy is marred by half-hearted execution by officials. On a day when drive-by feeding is highly foreseeable, it is likely that park staff were also enjoying their holiday. We did not we see any inspectors, park wardens or other such staff at any time that day. Incidentally, we spent the whole day there on 9 February, and the level of patrolling was equally non-existent. A small number of uniformed staff close to the park entrance would have had a strong deterrent effect, their presence would also have been largely self-financing. Furthermore, I feel banning vehicles inside the parks would also help eliminate drive-by feeding. The growing monkey population is clearly not a problem that will go away. A policy of culling will be highly unpopular, but can be avoided by much stricter execution of the feeding-ban. Another alternative may be to turn a blind eye to monkey poachers from the mainland... ;-)