When I Was Young

'Senile delinquents' roam HK's streets, all sharp elbows and killer shopping carts

Tabitha Wang

voices@mediacorp.com.sg

IT ONLY took a few seconds. I had chosen my stuff at a Salvation Army charity shop and placed it on the counter to pay.

In the time it took to open my purse and take out the money, someone had swiped a choice buy, a branded sweater selling at HK$20 ($3.65). I chased after the "thief".

It turned out to be an old woman, looking as fluffy as a kitten but with claws like a tiger. She refused to relinquish her ill-gotten gain even after I asked the shop assistant for help. "How dare you young people gang up on a helpless old lady," was the gist of her lament.

Except this was no helpless old lady. She was a member of the Hong Kong Ah Pak and Ah Por club. You know, the kind who leap tall buildings in a single bound and chew sheet metal for breakfast.

The Hong Kong elderly are a deadly species. They may look like the next typhoon would blow them away but don't be fooled.

That one-foot-in-the-grave image is all an act. These are no shrinking violets. They make their own rules - because they believe they are above the law of the land.

There's no stopping these "senile delinquents". Jaywalking, queue jumping, a bit of petty "thieving" ... when they're caught, they just invoke the Confucian "respect thy elderly" tenet and confidently wait to be let off.

When buses come, they insinuate themselves into a queue of people who have been waiting for hours and expect entry. Woe betide you if you get in their way - they have elbows of steel.

I've lost count of the number of times I've been jabbed in the stomach trying to board a bus with Ah Paks who look like they were about to collapse from lung cancer.

It's not just bus or train queues - they expect people to give them way everywhere. My friend went to a recent consumer fair hoping to get some bargains.

She came home empty-handed but with bruised toes. The old folk were bulldozing their way to all the good buys by running their heavily-laden shopping-bags-on-wheels over everyone's feet.

Another friend had a run-in with an Ah Por at a supermarket. He had selected some tomatoes and put them in his trolley, which he left at the end of the aisle to pick up something else.

He returned to find an old woman happily putting his tomatoes into her trolley. He tried to stop her by pointing out the pile that was on sale behind them.

Instead of apologising, she glared and said: "But these are so much nicer than the ones over there." And left with his tomatoes.

A Singapore friend says there are just as many senile delinquents back home. "It's the whole Confucian thing. They think they can get away with murder because they're old and we must respect their age."

Tsk, tsk, old people these days. Whatever happened to the nice old ladies that I had known when I was younger? They were always so patient and lovable ... and never stole branded sweaters from under your nose.

English poet Jenny Joseph's Warning, When I Am An Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple probably best sums up their attitude.

Voted the United Kingdom's most popular post-war poem in a 1996 poll conducted by the BBC, it spoke of how the poet planned to misbehave when she grows old and included the lines:

I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired

And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells

And run my stick along the public railings

And make up for the sobriety of my youth.

I shall go out in my slippers in the rain

And pick flowers in other people's gardens

And learn to spit.

Well, hopefully what goes around comes around. Maybe I should start working on those elbows of steel now.

Tabitha Wang is going to booby trap her tomatoes the next time she goes shopping, so senile delinquents beware.

From TODAY, Voices – Thursday, 24-Sep-2009

Creeps and jeeps at high…

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Posted: 22 June 2009 0918 hrs

Qantas plane

SYDNEY: Seven people were hurt when a Qantas Airbus A330 hit severe turbulence flying from Hong Kong to Perth Monday, the company said, rejecting any links to other incidents involving the same type of plane.

Six passengers and one crew member were treated on board after the mishap, which happened about four hours after take-off. The plane, with 206 passengers and 13 crew, landed safely in Perth.

One passenger described hearing a loud bang before a sudden drop in altitude sent people flying. Two overhead panels were slightly damaged and two oxygen masks were dislodged.

"As the plane was flying we got the normal turbulence but what happened this time was a sudden drop in altitude," the passenger, named John, told Fairfax Radio.

"I was sitting at the exit door and I had this lady, (who) was waiting at the restroom and she flew up and hit the ceiling and came crashing down to the floor," he said.

"It was just a matter of a few seconds but it was really sudden and things went flying."

The incident comes just 11 days after a cockpit blaze forced a Jetstar A330 to make an emergency landing, and follows the June 1 Air France disaster when 228 died in a mysterious accident involving the same model of plane.

Last October, a Qantas A330 went into two steep dives over Western Australia, causing several serious injuries and forcing an emergency landing.

Australian flag-carrier Qantas, which also operates budget airline Jetstar, dismissed any links between Monday's incident and previous ones.

"There is no reason to link the incident to other recent in-flight incidents involving A330 aircraft," Qantas said in a statement.

It said an investigation had been launched.

- AFP/yb

From ChannelNewsAsia.com; see the source article here

Veronica Zaragovia, TIME.com

Posted: 12 June 2009 1124 hrs

Police officers stand guard near a box covering a bottle of acid where two bottles of acid were thrown at Hong Kong's shopping district Mongkok

Something is amiss on the streets of Mongkok. Ordinarily, the bustling 4.4 square mile patch of shops and food stalls is packed with some of the highest rates of pedestrian traffic in the world. In Hong Kong, Mongkok has become synonymous with the city's best bargains and slowest-moving sidewalks, but its over-saturation has always been part of its charm. Until this week. "The atmosphere has changed — I'll tell you that," says Daniel Clermont, a tourist from Toronto who visits Hong Kong frequently. "Usually it's filled wall-to-wall with people here."

There's a good reason for the thin crowds. On the rainy night of June 8, an unidentified person hurled an acid-filled bottle from a Mongkok building onto pedestrians below. It was the third acid attack in the neighborhood in six months, and it left 24 passers-by — including a four-year-old girl — with skin burns to their faces, shoulders, limbs and feet. Sammy Chan, a salesman at a shoe store across the street from the crime scene, said one family from the Philippines ran into his shop to throw water on their wounds. Five of them went to the hospital.

It's a bizarre serial crime by any city's standards, but especially for one with a relatively low crime rate on paper. While drug offenses have been up this year, Hong Kong police say the majority of all other reported crimes dropped several percentage points. In last year's Global Peace Index, a yearly listing of nations' peacefulness by Vision of Humanity, Hong Kong ranked a serene 23 out of 140. Yet when violent crimes occur, they can be exceedingly gruesome. This month, for instance, a mentally ill man was convicted of randomly butchering a three-year-old boy to death. In March, a man beheaded his former girlfriend for ending their relationship. "Any person with a sane mind would not do things like that," says Regional Crime Prevention Officer Peggy Yip.

In a city where a lot of people share a very little space, violent crimes leave a lasting impression on the population — and the police. After Mongkok's last acid attack, which occurred May 16, police installed eight CCTV surveillance cameras on two buildings in the area to try to catch the culprit the next time he or she struck. But after spending about $220,000 on the equipment, none of the cameras' footage caught this week's attack. Senior Superintendent Edward Leung Ka-ming of the Kowloon West regional crime unit said the collected footage needed to be "enhanced" because of its poor resolution to prove useful. While the district council decides what step to take next with the cameras, the police hope pedestrians might have some tips of their own. A large police van parked near the latest crime scene has posters in Cantonese and English offering a reward of over $37,000 for information.

In the meantime, dozens of policemen now roam Mongkok's normally chaotic streets — ubiquitous reminders that the neighborhood remains on alert. Circle Lo, an employee at a clothing store next to the attack spot, says she has noticed the drop in foot traffic and hopes business will return to normal within a week. But not everybody seems concerned. A LensCrafters employee, identifying himself as "Jacky Chan," works a only a few feet from where the bottle fell. "Some of the people who got hurt sat down," he said, "but it was like nothing happened." Perhaps, but judging by the pedestrians still looking up for a lurking villain two days after the attack, the mood in Mongkok is definitely down.

This article originally appeared on TIME.com

From ChannelNewsAsia.com; see the source article here.

Third attack in six months, Hong Kong believes culprit could be the same person

05:55 AM Jun 10, 2009

Victims of the acid attack receiving treatment by the roadside. AP

HONG KONG - Residents ventured out unafraid yesterday as police searched for suspects behind a third acid attack that injured 24 people in one of the city's most densely-populated shopping districts.

The latest attack on Monday night dominated headlines in Hong Kong, with several newspapers showing photos of victims washing off the acid on the roadside.

Police said a bottle filled with a corrosive liquid was hurled into a crowd in the busy Mongkok district, injuring 24 people. None of the victims, aged four to 49, were seriously burned.

It is the third such attack in six months in the neighbourhood, and 100 people have since been hurt.

On the same street last month, 30 people suffered burns when two plastic bottles filled with acid were thrown down into a crowd. Another 46 were injured in a similar attack in the same neighbourhood in December.

There were no signs the attacks had sparked widespread panic in the city of 7 million, as locals mostly went about their business.

But in Mongkok - a shopping hotspot that attracts thousands of people daily - some shoppers were staying away.

Hong Kong leader Donald Tsang condemned the attack, saying it was "cold blooded and evil" and that the assailant was "scum of the society".

Police superintendent Edward Leung was quoted as saying in the South China Morning Post yesterday that it was possible the same person had carried out all three attacks.

He added in a radio interview that officers were reviewing surveillance footage taken by cameras recently installed to monitor the area of the attacks.

Investigators have also posted a HK$900,000 ($170,000) reward for information leading to an arrest. - AP

From TODAY, World – Wednesday, 10-Jun-2009

Posted: 09 June 2009 1336 hrs

Shoppers walk in the busy district of Mongkok in Hong Kong.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong police were Tuesday scouring CCTV footage for clues as to who tossed a bottle of acid from a building onto one of the city's busiest shopping streets, the third such attack in six months.

The attack in the Mongkok district of the city on Monday evening injured 24 people, including a four-year-old girl, who all suffered from burns to their limbs and faces.

"We are still investigating the incident and do not rule out the possibility that the same person or people were behind the three attacks," a police spokesman told AFP.

In December, 46 people were injured when two bottles of corrosive liquid were tossed down from a building onto the street. Another similar attack occurred near the same spot in May, injuring 30 pedestrians.

No one has so far been arrested over the attacks.

The latest incident came just hours after a new surveillance system was installed in the district, one of the most densely-populated parts of the world. The system was brought in as a result of the previous attacks.

The police are offering a reward of 900,000 Hong Kong dollars (115,000 US) for information leading to the arrest of those involved.

Hong Kong's chief executive Donald Tsang on Tuesday condemned the attacks.

"This was a cold-blooded and evil act. These people are the dregs of society," Tsang said.

He pledged that the police would do all they could to catch the culprits as soon as possible.

- AFP/il

From ChannelNewsAsia.com; see the source article here.

BUDGET TAI-TAI

The husband's been retrenched — and they didn't do it kindly

Tabitha Wang, voices@mediacorp.com.sg

IT HAS finally happened. The day had started well. My landlord had offered to lower our rent, I'd just won a plushie on Facebook ... then my husband came back with the dreaded news: He'd been retrenched.

There had been no warning. One moment he was working his heart out, grateful for a job, and the next he was called into the office and told to go. No, not fired — because then they'd have to pay him compensation.

He didn't fit in with the culture, they said — which is a bucketful of horse manure because if that had been the case, they'd have told him that during his annual review. They were simply looking for a chance to trim their budget.

Just like that, he will be out of a job soon. Which leaves us stuck after having cut ties and moved here. Worst, as we didn't see it coming, I didn't go for a full-time position in my office when it came up last year so now there is no job security for me either.

It's all the more worrying, given the figures. That same week, it was announced that Hong Kong's jobless rate is now at its highest in three years and expected to rise to 8 per cent, higher even than during the Asian financial crisis in 1998.

So, I am not optimistic about him finding a job soon.

Just as it had been five years ago, the crisis has shown me who my true friends are. One dropped everything to spend a night with me while my husband was away to make sure I didn't do anything stupid, another invited us to her home for a brainstorming session while numerous others generously shared contacts and job opportunities with us.

The ones who drive me up the wall are those who say: "You think that's bad? Wait till you hear about my life" then go on to complain about something banal like some guy not liking her or kid not doing well at school.

Watch your words

If you meet someone who has lost his job, please don't say:

"How are you today?"
(Just as miserable as yesterday, thank you.)

"Found a job yet?" (What? In two days?)

"Why don't you go to church/temple/synagogue?" (To everything there is a season and this is not it.)

My mum said the right thing: "Come home." But it's not that easy. Singapore also has problems of its own, with its unemployment rate at a four-year high.

As Hong Kong's economy is still faring slightly better than Singapore's, we probably stand a better chance staying put.

Besides, the stories I hear coming from Singapore are equally depressing. One guy, a vice-president in a big firm, was summoned into his boss' room and scolded for bad performance.

That, after 20 years of brilliant appraisals.

The boss kept at him until he agreed to resign. That was the boss' aim all along so that, as in my husband's case, they wouldn't have to pay compensation. The company was still making money and the truth was, the boss wanted to put his own man in that post — the credit crunch was just an excuse.

Never mind that the poor guy had two young kids and that his wife's contract was already not going to be renewed.

In the face of the 2Cs, credit crisis, it seems that employers are missing the third C: Compassion. The worst are opportunists who see the crisis as an excuse to fire even through the firm is still profitable.

So newsflash, employers: When making someone redundant, don't come up with pathetic "it's not me, it's you" excuses like bad performance or not fitting in with company culture. Just tell the real reason: You want him out because well, maybe your mum wasn't married to your dad.

The excuses may help you sleep at night but think about the poor employee who will have to piece back his self-respect before he can look for another job again.

Well, I firmly believe that what comes around, goes around. So, employers, how you treat your staff in these trying times will find a way to get back to you.

The day you lose your job, your hair falls out, your kids turn juvenile delinquents and you have to take up residence with my old friend Mr Loony in the lift lobby, know that your former employees will be queuing up for front-row tickets to your downfall.

Tabitha Wang wants to know if anyone has any openings for an editorial director, financial analyst or business/finance academic.

From TODAYOnline.com; see the source article here.

Well, at all times, crime does not pay… or at least, the wrong thing you do will find you out, and the repercussion? No less than the damage wrought by your wrong act… so many lives destroyed by this scandal…

By Channel NewsAsia's Hong Kong Bureau Chief Roland Lim | Posted: 29 April 2009 1547 hrs

Sze Ho Chun

HONG KONG : In Hong Kong, a computer technician who leaked sex pictures of disgraced pop idol Edison Chen with female stars, has been found guilty, and faces a maximum of five years in jail. Sentencing will take place on May 13.

The celebrity sex photo case was the biggest scandal to hit Hong Kong's entertainment scene last year.

24-year-old Sze Ho Chun appeared in Kowloon City's magistracy on Wednesday, and was found guilty of stealing, copying and distributing about 1,300 photos showing actor Chen having sex with at least half a dozen women, including several Hong Kong starlets.

In his defence, Sze's lawyer said that his client was being made a scapegoat by those hiding their involvement in the case. In particular, fellow co-worker Chris Tse and shop owner Terry Ip were both accused of being untruthful witnesses.

But Chief Magistrate Tong Man was satisfied with the evidence put forward by prosecutors, adding that jail time was inevitable, in view of the serious breach of trust.

The lewd images that Sze stole became widely circulated on the Web in late January last year, and he was arrested by police in February.

Chen was forced to quit showbiz and fled the country, going into self-exile in Canada.

Female celebrities including Canto-pop star Gillian Chung, actress Cecilia Cheung and singer Bobo Chan have also been keeping a low profile. - CNA /ls

From ChannelNewsAsia.com; see the source article here.

Budget Tai-tai is one column that I'm looking forward to in TODAY paper... the wit, the veracity, the preciseness, the humor... and although I don't always agree to her points (of view), I would always welcome a view that is coming from another perspective; who knows, I could be wrong, and dead wrong at that. Enjoy reading!
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by Tabitha Wang, news@newstoday.com.sg

05:55 AM May 15, 2009

I WAS passing by Wan Chai on my way to a dinner with friends last Friday when the bus I was in hit a massive traffic jam. Everybody on the top deck craned their necks. "What is happening?" asked an elderly woman.

"They're letting out the people who have been quarantined at Metropark hotel now," the woman next to her replied.

I peered down. Television cameramen were stacked five-deep, some with stepladders a metre high for best vantage view. Policemen had to hold back a crowd. Some excited people were armed with cheery fake flowers.

The doors opened, a group of people walked out and everyone went wild. Flashbulbs went off and a cheer rose through the crowd, so loud that they could be heard inside the air-conditioned bus.

"They're out, they're out," the old woman said, almost in tears.

The scene of delirium was reminiscent of the time hostages were rescued from the Taj Hotel last November. There was the same euphoria and the hotel guests were being treated almost like conquering heroes.

Except that they had done nothing more heroic than spend seven days in a four-star hotel eating, partying, blogging and generally whinging about their lot.

The Hong Kong government's swift action in quarantining some 350 guests after a Mexican guy who had stayed there was found to have the H1N1 virus was called "draconian" by some. The guests had been deprived of their civil liberties, others argued. They were effectively suffering under house arrest.

House arrest? Suffering? While I sympathise with those businessmen who had to cancel million-dollar deals and mothers who were cooped up with restless kids during that period, I think what they had gone through was hardly suffering.

Sure, the food could have been better. After all, these people had come to a Chinese region but woe betide anyone who forces another to eat Chinese food. Even so, after a day or so, some were getting catered meals brought in by their embassies while everyone else was offered free food from restaurants and fast-food chains.

They received so many gifts from well-wishers that they couldn't carry them home at the end of the quarantine. One British couple managed to collect 41 boxes of unused gifts and vouchers, totalling more than HK$33,000 ($6,255) for donation.

Every day, yet another Hong Kong official publicly apologised for keeping them there. "Please don't hold it against us," the officials kept saying. "Come again, we will give you freebies galore to make up for your free board and lodging."

Even so, the government was still taken to task by critics who called the quarantine "overkill". Overkill? Excuse me, this city saw more than 300 people die from Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars) the last time, so I think it is entitled to be more than a little wary.

The outcry has led the health authorities to declare a no-quarantine rule with regard to the flu now but it looks like we're relaxing our vigilance too soon. The World Health Organization (WHO) still believes a pandemic is imminent and, just two days ago, Hong Kong confirmed its second swine flu case (but as he was caught at the airport, the quarantine point is moot).

Having gone through Sars in Singapore in 2003, which effectively caused the whole country to be quarantined, I don't think the measures were too extreme.

Haven't these critics heard of "better safe than sorry"? I take that back. I'm sure they have because, during the height of Sars, Singaporeans and Hongkongers were apparently either denied entry or given extra-stringent checks at airports overseas. At that time, showing a Singapore or Hong Kong passport has the same effect as covering yourself with sack cloth, ringing a bell, and yelling: "Unclean, unclean."

Actually, the one who should be apologising is that 25-year-old Mexican who came here despite the lockdown in his country. News reports said he already had a fever and sore throat but was travelling - for pleasure presumably as he was with his girlfriend.

He was discharged around the same time as the hotel guests and asked to be whizzed straight to the airport. No interviews to the press, not even a single word of "sorry" to those he had inadvertently inconvenienced.

But then again, given the mood of the average Hongkonger (many of whom are angry that this one incident caused them to fear for their lives and for their city's tourism reputation) maybe he was better off scurrying away before a lynch mob formed.

Maybe he too felt it was better to be safe than sorry.

Tabitha Wang still has 4,683 facemasks leftover from her bulk-buy frenzy on May 1 so you don't have to worry about her.

From TODAY, Comment, Budget Tai-tai – Friday, 15-May-2009