One of the Big Lychee’s more embarrassing icons, has-been actor Jackie Chan, declares in a Twitter message that “HK is a nation.” Maybe this is an attempt to atone for his widely reported comments that Chinese people need to be controlled and Hong Kong has too much freedom. More likely, it is a well-intentioned gesture to fulfill his role as Hong Kong tourism ambassador, goodwill ambassador for UNICEF, Chengdu panda ambassador or one of his other quasi-diplomatic positions by helping to avert what many see as an imminent catastrophe: a massacre of innocent Filipinos in the streets of Hong Kong as a backlash after the deaths of the eight tourists in Manila.
Others think such an outburst is highly unlikely, though admit it would be interesting. As the reaction to the bus killings shows, Hongkongers these days are mostly a soft bunch, unaccustomed to real violence. Filipinos, on the other hand, are a hardier breed and especially good with knives. Maybe actually being a nation helps, too. Time says we are a semi-autonomous sliver, which sounds like something surgeons cut off one of your internal organs even though it’s benign, just to be sure.
A far more appropriate way to avenge the fallen tourists – and possibly do the Philippines a favour as well – is for Hong Kong to conduct a full investigation into what happened, as mentioned by Secretary Security Ambrose Lee. With the benefit of hindsight, plenty of ‘How The Manila Cops Screwed Up’ articles to cut and paste from, and their smart, well-pressed uniforms, the Hong Kong Police could issue an authoritative, withering and humiliating indictment of Philippine law enforcement, national leadership, community ethos and Malayo-Polynesian culture in general. Such a public slapping for the Republic’s venal and amateurish leaders at the hands of a mere semi-autonomous sliver might wake up Filipinos, who are as sensitive to criticism from outsiders as they are oblivious to bad governance.
That’s assuming that the semi-autonomous sliver’s sovereign power would let it do such a thing. Beijing is eager to be friendly and cuddly in the eyes of Southeast Asia, and may not want Hong Kong to go around baiting the neighbours. In which case, unable to be Jackie Chan’s nation that does not hate, we will just have to be Hong Kong Silent And Restrained.
Jackie Chan: he does his own stunts, but unfortunately, he does his own jokes too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zA2J0H12prQ
JC: “American stuntmen are smart – they think about safety. When they do a jump in a car, they calculate everything: the speed, the distance… But in Hong Kong, we don’t know how to count. Everything we do is a guess.”
I don’t think Filipinos are ‘oblivious’ to bad government, just resigned to it.
Well, I am a Honky, and I hate. Specifically, I hate Jackie “too much freedom is not a good thing” Chan’s stupid movies (you’re no Mr Miyagi, JC) and his pandering to the whim of the Chinese Communist Party leadership regarding the appropriate ‘message of the day’ to the people of a region he has gladly stays out of for 95% of his time.
As for being “a nation built by a lot of different people”, perhaps this should read “a nation built by four colluding property developers”.
I always find it funny that these ethnically aware Hong Kong film stars suddenly change colour from brown and yellow to pink and white when they are photographed.
I’ll say what no one else will but most of us know:
No-one in the Philippines really gives a s#it.
1Life is cheap for most of the population, really cheap.
2 the very last thing you do in the PI is involve the police
2 for every happy maid, plenty go back with stories of beatings, lack of food and very restricted freedom thanks to their HK masters.
3 The Hong Kong Chinese are regarded with distane by many across Asia, because of their lack of manners and arrogance, not just in the PI
Dont misunderstand me, I have every bit of sympathy for the familys who lost loved ones, especially that poor woman who lost her husband and daughters, and I think the whole operation was a joke but that doesnt begin to excuse some of the hate that is being directed towards both the Filipinnos here in HK and in Manilla
On a different note, I dont recall this amount of breastbeating over the Bali bombing, even though more Hong Kong residents were killed….
oh yeah, they were white.
So are you suggesting that since HK is not a “nation” then people should have no rights, and be controlled and be ready to step over by foreigners like you.
So are you suggesting that since HK is not a “nation” then people should have no rights, and be controlled and be ready to step over by foreigners like you.
I dont think so. More like ‘HK people have no rights and are controlled and stepped on by their glorious motherland’.
Got it now?
Probably not this much breast beating in HK for the Bali bombings as most of the population in HK has very little reason to identify themselves as similar to the Bali victims. There is no “this could happen to me or someone I know” factor. On the other hand, a tragedy involved a bus load of HK tourists is a lot more closer to home.
Because they’re not white…is that what your saying? Because the Bali bombing was HK tourists. Two of those on the bus were carrying British passports.
Why are you more likely to get shot on a bus by a lone madman than you are blown to pieces by an organised group of Islamic madmen who’s express purpose is to kill the infadel??????
Yes, because they are not white. You may be disturbed by this revelation, but not many Hong Kong people see a great deal of similarity between their lives and those of white people in HK. The latter tend not to speak the language, conglomerate (driving rents out of the range of the poorer locals whose “authenticity” attracted many of the whites to the area originally) and generally are a world apart from most Hong Kong people.
Add this to the many tragedies and injustices that befall white people.
Ah scratch the surface and good old racisit claptrap comes out.
You may also be disturbed by the fact that there are white people living here who’s lives have a great deal of similarity with “Hong Kong people”
You might also be disturbed by the fact that they resent people like you who sweepingly imply that its not possible to be a Hong Kong person unless you’re chinese. You either havent done your research into the race of many of the founding families of this barren rock, or you choose to ignore it.
As for the rents, last time I looked the landlords in these so called “Authentic Areas” were Chinese and they have f@ck all sympathy for poor people….. of any race, local or not.
Lastly, the demonstration yesterday was a crass display of childish emotion and only adds fuel to the, quite frankly, ugly fire of anti Philipino sentiment sweeping through Hong Kong. we know what happened on the bus, a mad ex cop armed with a M-16 hi-jacked the first bus that would let him on. The police in the PI are not unfortunatly, anything like ours.
They are badly trained and under paid. On a final note, its actually something to be thankful that they weren’t all killed. An M-16 in a confined space like a bus……
I’m being racist? Oh dear, some of my best friends are white.
I’m not saying that a white person in Hong Kong can’t be a Hong Kong person. I’m just saying that your average Hong Kong person of Han extraction doesn’t feel that much connection with said white people, hence doesn’t have anywhere near as much concern when white people from HK encounter tragedy as they do when Chinese HK people do, regardless of whether the whites in question have been here since the Opium Wars or before.
It’s much the same in any country. White Australians expressed far more concern for the white trash bint who got busted in Bali carrying pot through customs than they did for the Viet-Australian guy who got hung in Singapore – although, to be fair, the Australian press did champion his cause more than I expected they would.
Tiu Fu Fong is right. He’s stating realities that we need to deal with.
Ah Tiu, I didnt say you were racist, I said “scratch the surface….”
Agreed, its human nature that you empathise with those of youre own race, thats not my point. My point was that this outpouring of “grief ” and demands for “the truth” are an over-reaction thats taking on an unpleasant racist turn.
If you dont believe me read some of the comments here
http://www.chinasmack.com/
or this stupid cows comments here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJA8vTQGohE&feature=player_embedded
As for your point about drug smugglers, I couldnt care less. Hang the idiots, they knew the rules…
I love ‘Shackie Shan” – he’ll shack up with anybody and endorse anything.