Hoarding Hong Kong's trillions

When I was the Secretary of the Clover Lodge owners' association, the executive committee decided to replace the rusty water pipes, install security lights to deter burglars, and pave the driveway which was badly in need of repair. The association had reserves of over $600,000 at that time and the cost of the three essential, long overdue projects would have come to around $300,000. Yet, we faced severe opposition by some house owners and were accused of plundering the assets which "had to be saved for a catastrophic event". I was later told that this was typical of house owners' associations in Hong Kong: reserves would be hoarded at the expense of much needed repairs and improvements.

I was reminded of this recently after to Hong Kong's Financial Secretary John Tsang announced that the budget surplus for this year is over HK$70 billion. As Jake van der Kamp, financial columnist at the SCMP has pointed out, the Hong Kong government has reserves of HK$1.3 trillion, which is invested and therefore increasing all the time. By any standard, Hong Kong, with only 7 million residents, is sitting pretty.

Yet, being a bureaucrat not answerable to the people, Tsang is miserly with cash. Citing the need for prudence in these "volatile" times, he's planning to hoard the money. The outcry for the money, which after all belongs to the people of Hong Kong, to be spent in innovative ways has been ignored. The bureaucrats always know what is best for us.

In a city full of Mercedes and BMWs, of flats that sell for the highest square foot rates in the world, we have very poor people among us, many of them elderly, who live in cage homes or scavenge in the streets for scraps. They deserve a better life.

Seen in Sai Kung

While the needy are deprived of a decent living, money is squandered on unnecessary projects. One example in Sai Kung is the covering of the stream between the police station and Fuk Man Street. The stream, sometimes a bit smelly during high tide but in no way a nuisance, is being covered by concrete slabs in what is a multimillion dollar, completely unnecessary project. I looked for an explanation and found a small sign (only in Chinese in an officially bilingual city) which showed a green patch with flowers on the concrete. While the starting and anticipated completion dates are stated, I saw no mention of the cost. In all the concretification that goes on in Hong Kong (slopes, paths, streams, hillsides), there is no sign which indicates the cost of each project. This should be mandatory so that we could raise an outcry on how our tax dollars are being wasted.

The construction site between the police station and Fuk Man Street.

On a happier note, I recently walked up to the High island Reservoir in Sai Kung Country Park, and came upon this breathtaking view. Now, this is one project which has benefited Hong Kong.

Notice to guests at the Civil Aviation Hotel, Shenzhen

"Attention:

Gambling, go whoring, prostitution, stealing, freak-out, smuggle etc. illegal activity are strictly prohibited in the hotel; guns, ammo and restricted knives are prohibited carrying into the hotel ... For your safety, please obey the above mention or you will suffer the punishment of the administratnt . Think you for your cooperation."

Note: Spelling errors as in original.

"Waiting for my lover in the night"

No, it's not the first line of a poem, although I am told of a Chinese novel with a similar title. It's a pub that we chanced upon when we wandered away from the guest house on the first evening in Lijian. From the street, we saw and heard a girl singing her heart out, accompanied by a guitarist, and went in. In the end, I returned to the pub four more times.

I don't visit pubs; they are noisy and smoke filled. But this was a pub with a difference. The customers sat in comfortable chairs, chatted or played cards quietly, and drank moderately. The songs, usually by a guitarist, was soft and lovely, and customers would sometimes go up to the open mike. The young owner was welcoming and made room around the charcoal brazier. Of course, I didn't understand what was being sung in Chinese (though they always sang an English song for me) but the music and the atmosphere was thoroughly enjoyable. I would sip a beer or share a bottle of wine, and that would last me till 11pm when the pub closed.

The pub is on quiet Zhong Yi Lane off Guang Yi Street. The owner, whose English name is Bingo, is from Jiangsu Provice. He had met his wife, who is from Hunnan, in Lijiang. He, another dreamer, left his family's lucrative business in heavy equipment for the life of a pub and guest house owner.

The two musicians. The first guy is a better guitarist and the second sang better.

I liked the pub so much that I took a room there for my last night in Lijiang.

Unfortunately, I have to end with a sour note here. The beer and a shot of whiskey, which cost only Yuan 28 when I first visited the pub, had been jacked up to Yuan 38 on my last evening. Most visitors o the bar are college students on a tight budget and these prices would be a rip off.