When did Hong Kong become Dullsville?
I have lived, worked, loved and married and scored enough of home runs in Hong Kong in different fields of dreams to write a song about the city that’s longer than Bob Dylan’s “Desolation Row”, direct a film longer than “The Irishman” and create and produce a television series that’s longer than “The Masked Singer” and “Amazing Race”, combined.
Why be modest? I am damn good in whatever I am passionate about doing and have an impressive portfolio of game changing hits on the board, because I am not happy being a one trick pony and just another horse with no name.
Having said all this, Hong Kong today comes across to those of us who still care very much about what’s not happening here as The Big Snooze: The Most Boring City In The World.
Yes, it’s safe, and though not perfect, Hong Kong is mercifully without the outrageous levels of corruption and nepotism and rancour taking place in America under the erratic behaviour of an 80 year old man too old to lead, but fixated by greed, and enabled by his hand picked administration that’s not too far away from being kissing cousins of the Village People.
Where little old Hong Kong that really could be The Little Engine That Could keeps tripping over itself is by not being able to look past the obvious and becomes so bereft of excitement that it’s more exciting to sleep and not wake up than bother going out and trying to enjoy living in the city.
Why? Because there’s really no reason to go out these days for the simple reason that there’s not much of anything out there, especially if having seen The Greatest Hits Of Hong Kong and lived in an international city that never slept.
Whatever happened to the Happy Wednesday brand I created for the Hong Kong Jockey Club when the city had passed the Canton and JJ’s years, but still had Dusk Till Dawn, and the fun of slumming it at places like Carnegie’s and Sticky Fingers?
Happy Wednesday today is looking more like Sappy Wednesday and if that is the best musical talent available in the city to perform at the Beer Garden, just create a Spotify playlist and bang that through the speakers for the Selfie People.
No one will care because no one really knows what to care about and therefore wouldn’t know good from mediocre and crass from class.
On the subject of horse racing in Hong Kong, with the twice a week dose of racing taking a break until September 6 plus a fear of another Covid outbreak and people masking up and not wanting to be around “crowds”- Hong Kong still has crowds?- the city has gone back to suffering from shrinkage and into its shell.
Frankly speaking, what this HAS done is made me think of making a short film about the dullest person in one of the dullest cities in the world. It might win one of those meaningless film awards somewhere or another that might put Hong Kong on the map for at least winning something. I have so many choices to play the lead role…
Whatever happened to those city elders and organisations like the Hong Kong Jockey Club that promised how a global event like the World Cup will “rock Hong Kong like it’s never been rocked before”?
Are we being ROCKED or are we just stoned and Valiumed out?
As a longer than longtime Hong Kong Belonger, never have I seen what has been such a wonderful home to me look so dazed and confused and just deadly dull with standards of everything, especially English, allowed to fall into an abyss of stupidity and ignorance.
There’s no point going down memory lane of what Hong Kong used to be, because what good will this do? It will just have me pining for an original Jimmy’s Kitchen Madras Chicken Curry.
If trying to raise kids in this environment, I would be fraught with anxiety wondering what to do next to ensure that they grow up to be well adjusted young adults with no need for “wellness” programmes and singing drums.
These are the days when I wish that Daniel Ng was still with us and part of today’s Hong Kong, because here was a positive force of nature who gave this city so much more than McDonald’s through him owning the McDonald’s franchise
Having known and worked with Daniel for over twenty years on things other than the McDonald’s business, but also helping him with the charity work he quietly did, the English Language Teaching music company we formed and his work for the Ronald McDonald House, he was an incredible ball of infectious energy and sunshine and always fun to be around.
He was someone who always believed that he could make those dark clouds disappear.
If alive in today’s Hong Kong, Daniel would do something more than talk. He despised those who did.
For him, it was always about positive action and positive reaction where he wouldn’t ask, but would say, something like, “Hey, let’s have McHappy parties throughout the city as McDonald’s gift to Hong Kong! Let’s create a year long McHappy citywide treasure hunt! Let’s create a McHappy Day and let people show us how they would celebrate this!”
We would Just Do It like a Nike ad because we trusted Daniel and were inspired by him and never wanted to let him down because we would be letting ourselves down in the process along with our love for Hong Kong.
This is half the battle- for those who lead to have the trust of those who will follow and to whom the baton of Inspiration can be passed.
By this, I don’t mean waiting for others to start something before becoming involved in a half arsed way. This makes one look as if not having any real emotional attachment to something that matters and making anything done appear superficial and part of vacuous corporate speak.
When I started my little Garden of Hope project and held a party last year at the Poolside Restaurant of the Grand Hyatt for people I like and those I believe could make a difference, this was done on my dime and on my time to try and create a chain reaction of positivity and to inspire similar projects. I’m still waiting to see something from anyone.
My next party for the Garden of Hope? Very probably in Sri Lanka where I was born when the island paradise was known as Ceylon and where I was happily digging for earthworms and okay being around those with goitres in a fascinatingly grotesque circus childhood straight out of Nightmare Alley.
Sri Lanka is an island with so much of everything, and, has as always been the case, needing funding to attract those from outside with vision, a good Rolodex and creative marketing skills to make things happen.
There’s no such thing as a free lunch even if this is string hoppers with fish curry and pol sambal- though Sri Lanka has very quickly become a popular tourist destination because of everything it offers through word of mouth advertising.
Maybe for my garden party, the music will bring together Kandyan dancers, baila rhythms and where Bad Bunny becomes John from Indigo Town and we create a seeni sambol with pittu mix? Why not?
When in Hong Kong, I sit and watch those I have met a number of times who are still up there onstage somewhere and pontificating just as they have been doing for the past 3-4 years. I don’t see results. I don’t see sharing. I don’t see any giving nor anything that they have actually done.
What I see is showboating, because, at the end of the day, they might have all the “right” credentials and family names, but nothing else.
These are what I call shallow serial piggybackers- and I know this breed exceptionally well.
They are those who follow the thinking that There’s A Sucker Born Every Minute and wait to see how they can grab another free ride on the gravy train.
Methinks those days are over.
I am extremely aware that I don’t have the right people and energy force around me in Hong Kong, and have no idea how to attract these people.
What I do have is probably the only “solution” to what I think ails Hong Kong- ageism. And this is to play for time and tell yourself that you’re 42 and party like it’s 1999.
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