Notes
Fist of Humility
Wow, it's just like a scene in a Hong Kong-made kung fu movie.
With the release of the film Ip Man came a minor controversy in the form of 'disrespectful' comments made by mainland Chinese actor and contemporary martial artist Jacky Wu Jing, which boil down to him saying "Ip who?"
Such brazenness could not go unanswered, so the master of a Hong Kong Ving Tsun (aka Wing Chun; the style founded by Ip Man, who was also Bruce Lee's master) school challenged Wu to a three-round fight to see which style would prevail.
The last time something like this occurred was in 1954 when:
... master Chan Hak-fu, of the White Crane style, and master Wu Gong-I, of the Tai Chi school, fought three bare-knuckle rounds in Macau. A debate over which kung fu style was better sparked the clash, which ended in a draw.
The irony here is that in the film, Ip Man routinely turned away most challengers because he knew his kung fu was superior.
Hong Kong Dog Rescue
Between the notorious Mid-Levels Dog Poisoner and the myriad horror stories of abused pets, one might get the impression that Hong Kongers don't like dogs very much.
That's not actually the case, plenty of folks are responsible owners, but their image gets tarnished by those who aren't, in particular people who abandon their dogs.
They bring crowds of sentimental animal-lovers flocking to the cinemas - but dog rescuers groan in exasperation when films like the US Christmas number one Marley & Me, starring a Labrador puppy, hit the big screen in Hong Kong.
"Films like Marley & Me don't help our situation," said Sally Andersen of Hong Kong Dog Rescue, recalling how hundreds of huskies were bought and then abandoned after the 2006 movie Eight Below.
"After 101 Dalmatians, we saw a lot of abandoned Dalmatians - and just recently we've been seeing a lot of eight and nine-year-old schnauzers being dumped.
"I didn't understand why until one of my Chinese volunteers told me that about nine years ago, the MTR Corp had a big advertising campaign featuring a schnauzer. People in Hong Kong are very much influenced by trends like that. They see something on films or TV and they say, 'I want that dog'."
Sadly pedigree dogs often fail to live up to buyers' expectations. "Many of the dogs bought in pet shops are loved, dressed and wheeled around for a few months but then eventually get abandoned, especially the large breeds.
"We see a lot of huskies and we get golden retrievers all the time. We also see a lot of cocker spaniels. As puppies they are really cute because they are small with the big ears and the sad face but they are also hyperactive. They're not easy to look after."
Recalling a recent case, Ms Andersen said: "On Christmas Day at 1am someone saw a Pekinese being dumped on the road in Mid-Levels. They picked it up and it came to us. It was blind and very fat, but had been well groomed. So it couldn't see, it couldn't walk because it was so fat but it had a lovely coat. Someone just dumped it."
That's cold.
My friend and fellow photographer Carolyn Oneill has a documentary gallery featuring Hong Kong Dog Rescue on her site.
If you live in Hong Kong and want to consider adopting a dog, call Hong Kong Dog Rescue at 9448 1128 or 2875 2162.
Psst ... Wanna Buy A Road?
When I saw the Hong Kong news headline "Counterfeit street sellers nabbed" I was interested to read about who might be dumb enough to buy a knockoff road, but the article turned out to be about the seizure of fake watches and handbags.
I'm so disappointed.
Victim of Voraciousness
Another Hong Kong institution has become a victim of inordinate greed.
The 60-year-old Lok Heung Yuen Coffee Shop in Central was forced to close its doors after the landlord jacked up the rent 282 per cent.
Yes, you read that right: 282 per cent. From HK$128,000 per month to HK$360,000. You have to sell a heck of a lot of pineapple buns and coffee to meet that burden, let alone pay your staff and make a profit.
And so the family-run shop, nicknamed "Snake Home" by the regulars, has shut down, and the owner is now searching for a new location in which to transplant the business, decor and all.
The family-run restaurant got its nickname from its popularity among office workers, who like to take a break during office hours - or "eat snake" in local vernacular - at the restaurant with a snack and a chat.
"My hands are tired after collecting so much money," owner Kwong Yut-sing, the father of Kwong Kui-wing, said. "But even with the amount of business we're doing today, we won't be able to pay the new rent."
[ ... ]
"A lot of us will wait for the reopening and not seek new jobs," said Kwong Kui-wing, out of breath from bellowing orders to the kitchen staff.
Sixty-year-old Tommy Lo Cheuk-fong has been a regular since 1961 and calls himself a "gold medal customer". Now head of a tailor shop on the same street, Mr Lo said he had been a fan of Lok Heung Yuen's pineapple buns, pies and coffee since he was a teenage apprentice.
"I come here at least twice every day, but mainly for breakfast. I've been drinking their coffee for 47 years. The coffee you get elsewhere just doesn't measure up," he said.
Eating his last lunch at the location was "slightly depressing".
Lawyer Paul Tang Chi-keung, a fan of the shop's pineapple buns for more than 10 years, said he was drawn to the shop's nonchalant ambience.
"No one here cares who you are and what social status you have. To them, you are just another regular customer," he said.
While the bustling shop was often noisy, visiting Lok Heung Yuen gave him peace of mind, he said. "There's nothing you can do about it closing. I will miss it for sure."
Kwong Yut-sing said such overwhelming support had given him cause for celebration.
"I am happy to see so many fans come back," he said, adding that some had come all the way from Macau for a last meal.
"We will burn fireworks tonight and I have called some regular customers for a round of late-night beer after we close."
In its place will probably go yet another 7-11 or skin-whitening shop, because as everyone knows Hong Kong has so few.
It's sad and ultimately unnecessary, but that's life in the Big Lychee: out with the old and in with the new.
If you were to look up rapacious in the dictionary, you'd see a photograph of a typical Hong Kong landlord.
Christmas Nightmare
My good friend Ryan, the genius behind Zombie Pumpkins, has applied his slightly twisted mind to a beloved winter icon, and just in time for Christmas (hit the thumbnail; it's hilarious).
Perhaps I appreciate it even more so as Hong Kong has no snow.
So to you, gentle readers, Merry Christmas!
Hope you can run fast.
Dim Sum
HK Photographic
Friend Finder
Good Feng Shui