0870 HKSAR Name of the Day

Prisca Lo Yan Lok, solicitor, Hong Kong

About Novel HKSAR Names
Name Category: Rare

0869 HKSAR Name of the Day

Kenith Leung (Mr), investigator, School of Hotel and Tourism Management, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong

About Novel HKSAR Names
Name Category: Creation; Insertion

He Said, He Said

Don't you just love newspaper op-ed pages? Newspaper editors believe, incorrectly of course, that they must give a "balance of views". With reference to yesterday's post (Hong Kong great city, shame about the locals) it was expected that there would be a response that was diametrically opposed ... just for "balance", you understand. That letter can be seen below.

Newspapers, editors and the media in general mistakenly believe that they have to give a "balance of views", which is typically seen as giving equal weight to both, or all, sides of the argument. This is extremely irresponsible.

Instead, they should provide some numbers (simple statistics) of how many letters were submitted in support and in opposition of the issue in question. Granted, this is not the best way to represent views, but at least it gives a sense of which way many people may be thinking. Next, a public opinion poll would be more interesting, rather than just reading what "He Said and He Said". Newspapers, editors and the media need to step up and be responsible.

Remember: Anecdotal evidence is not data, and data trumps anecdotal evidence every time.

Residents living in Hong Kong, have a sense of how "friendly" the people in the city are, in general. However, a poll would reveal what most people think, generally.


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Hong Kong great city, shame about the locals

Reference (SCMP; paywall)
This visitor has nothing but praise

Jul 25, 2011

On reading the letter from Australian visitor Steve Stefanopoulos ("Great city, shame about the locals", July 20), I could not let it go without a reply.

My husband and I are presently on our fourth visit to Hong Kong and while I agree with him that it is a city full of life and excitement, I cannot agree with his other comments.

Many times when I have been on the MTR, I have been offered a seat, rarely have I ever had to stand and there is always that friendly smile.

On other occasions when we have been lost and trying to sort out where we are, we have been approached by local people offering their help who soon have us on our way again.

Unlike Mr Stefanopoulos, we have encouraged family and friends to visit Hong Kong, telling them it is a wonderful place to spend a holiday, and we will continue to do so.

Robin Mead, Brisbane, Australia

0868 HKSAR Name of the Day

Sherman Lui Siu Yung, doctor, Hong Kong

About Novel HKSAR Names
Name Category: Rare; Phonetic-based?

Hong Kong great city, shame about the locals

For all friendly Aussie readers of this blog! A down-to-Earth and truthful letter from one of your own (see below), particularly considering whenever I am Down Under I usually experience the friendliness of locals.


Reference (SCMP; paywall)
Great city, shame about the locals

Jul 20, 2011

I recently returned to Australia from a week-long holiday in Hong Kong and found the city to be an eye-opener - full of life, excitement and colour.

The streets were bustling, the food was amazing, and the shopping was great. But I am sad to say that the locals were very rude.

I have never come across so many rude people. No one held the door open for another person to walk through. No one offered their seat to a pregnant woman or elderly person. No one said please, thank you or excuse me. Yet there are plenty of signs asking everyone to cover their mouth when they sneeze or cough.

I would not recommend Hong Kong as a tourist destination, purely because of the rudeness of a large number of local residents I encountered during my week-long stay.

Steve Stefanopoulos, Melbourne, Australia

0867 HKSAR Name of the Day

Wilkie Lo Wai Kei, solicitor, Hong Kong

About Novel HKSAR Names
Name Category: Creation; Phonetic-based

English and English Schools Foundation in Hong Kong

This is an excellent letter in the SCMP (see below), defending the internationalism and apparent multiculturalism of Hong Kong. The only slight kink is that the writer—no apparent relation to Friar—lives in Macau!

Tuck also makes the excellent suggestion that those Hongkies who claim domestic helpers are "privileged" should swap places for a month. Wife-maid-swap reality TV anyone??


Reference
English has always been an integral part of Hong Kong's international trade

Jul 20, 2011

Cynthia Sze, in her diatribe ("If English is so important, firms should move to Belfast or Glasgow", July 15) not only shows ignorance of Hong Kong's history but the worst kind of flag-waving chauvinism. Claiming to find previous correspondents' opinions "one-sided", she essentially shouts "gweilo go home" and expresses her views against "foreigners" (read: domestic helpers) as well.

Demanding to know who needs "foreign firms and workers that can't compete in the local business environment", she conveniently ignores the integral part English has always played, and continues to play, in that very environment.

Hong Kong was built, from the beginning, on international trade, much of it British and most conducted in English. If foreign firms today help make Hong Kong a world city, it is not, as Ms Sze states, the business opportunities that China has made available to the city, but rather the business opportunities that the city itself has made available to the world.

Betraying her true stance, she states categorically that "ESF schools discriminate against Cantonese-speaking students". Really?

Is it just possible that the admissions process at the aptly named English Schools Foundation favours English-speaking students? Perhaps, if Cantonese is so important, Hong Kong's non-Putonghua-speaking businesses should set up shop in Guangdong?

Interestingly, on the same day there was on the facing page an article by Amy Ho, a senior recruitment specialist for banking and financial services ("What it takes to make city a home for talent"). She said: "ESF is not a colonial hangover, it is an important element in Hong Kong's standing as a world city", and went on to say that if the Hong Kong government "wishes to fill jobs with international workers, it needs to confront issues that increasingly deter those workers. If it wishes jobs to be filled by local candidates, it must address deficiencies in education and training. If it does neither, we all know which cities stand to benefit."

Hong Kong has always been a city of immigrants, multicultural and multilingual. And if Ms Sze truly thinks Hong Kong's domestic workers are "privileged", I suggest she take the job for a month. Perhaps she would enjoy six 12- to 15-hour work days per week, disciplining someone else's children, scrubbing their floors and their toilets. Perhaps she would enjoy sharing a flat with her employer, effectively placing her on call 24 hours a day. This, after all, is the privileged life of a domestic helper.

Reuben M. Tuck, Macau

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