For diehard enthusiasts of scandal/serious murk, or those who have a taste for the surreal: kung fu movie star Lau Kar-leung’s widow Mary Jane Reimer delivers a one-hour video on the theft of her husband’s remains last year and the sleazy Buddhist/celebrity scene. Includes a peek inside the plundered tomb, plus musings about the disposal of corpses in general, her past exposure of corrupt abbots, weird goings-on at columbariums, triads’ links with Cambodia and Burma, the holding of ashes for ransom, and more. (“Legally, ashes are not considered property under Hong Kong law. They are considered waste.”) As with many expansive works, it is best to dip into it.
There’s something almost nostalgic about all this: post-2019 Hong Kong has lost much of its ‘wacky mayhem’ mojo.
(Standard story from two months ago. Would anyone care to compare and contrast authorities’ attitudes towards corruption in the Buddhist establishment and within the building maintenance industry?)
Speaking of Hong Kong nostalgia on YouTube – a celebration of our proud tradition of lame tourism promotion, from the early 1960s. Yes, it was hackneyed even then.
For anyone out there needing more mind-bending content: the ever-jaunty Nippon TV on the World War II origins of Hello Kitty.
And Mrs Betty Bowers – top 10 tips on how to be a conservative Christian.
The God Industrial Complex, though always historically very ripe for exploitation and profit in the states, has definitely seen a boom recently for grifters and charlatans as the former “republican” party has thrown down the gauntlet and is identifying as a one stop “Christian nationalist white supremacy” shop guided by divine righteousness.
Hallelujah!