Hi Monching, Your impressions of Hong Kong are different from what that Ken guy told me. Perhaps because you do not live in HK but instead just visit from time to time. Of course Hong Kong has great infrastructure. Of course it is a clean city. The Chinese government considers it as one of its showcase cities. Of course it is peaceful. The full weight of the Chinese government will be on your neck if you dare to speak out too loud.
What my guy Ken was talking about was what was going on beneath the surface. Away from the glitz and glamour. The people - not the tourists - are very unhappy, according to Ken. They want to bring the British back. They want Hong Kong to invest in social programs (health care, pensions, etc.) instead of on infrastructure. Anthony must have the perspective of the top 1 to 2% in HK since he is one of the lucky ones there. It would be very interesting to know what he thinks, but I'm afraid he will stay out of this discussion because we don't know who's listening in. Anyway, on my next trip to RP I will take a side trip to HK. Regards, old chum. C On Thu, Sep 12, 2013 at 9:23 PM, Ramon Franco <[email protected]>wrote: > Ay Naku, Chay, I am afraid you may be right. Anthony Golamco who lives > in Hongkong could easily verify this. It is the same everywhere one goes. > I have been to Hongkong at least 4 times. The last time two years ago with > our grandchildren, and yes that is true about how clean and safe the place > is. My first trip about 20 years ago was really not as nice as it is now. > We stayed in Kowloon and it was dirty and did not feel so safe, specially > at night. But Hongkong is now one of my favourite places. It is very clean > and very safe. The taxi drivers are great and honest and the fare is > relatively cheap. The transport system is one of the best we have seen, > specially the train from the Airport to Kowloon and Hongkong Island. Very > fast and always on time, clean and again cheap enough. They have an Octopus > card that is very efficient for use in travelling and buying stuff from > stores. It is Australian Technology and very good and which we in Sydney > have been trying to use the past 20 years, but our idiot bureaucrats don't > have a clue. Dumb as hell. In Hongkong Island the old train that is about > 40 years old that goes up and down the Island from one end to the other is > very clean, efficient, popular with both the tourists and the locals and > for HK$2.00 is a real bargain. The Star Ferry that goes across to Kowloon > from Hongkong Island and back is the same and for us elderly people it is > free. They do not even ask you for an id to prove your age, just one look > and they know. Food is relatively cheap and very good. But shopping can be > a bit expensive if one is not careful. And yes the place is booming and we > find the hotels are getting a bit expensive, but nothing like Singapore, > where it is worst. The Makati Hotels are imitating Hongkong and Singapore > of late. In our last trip there 2 years ago, I stood for 15 minutest at > the corner of a street in Times Square in Hongkong Island and I kid you > not, I counted in that short period of time no less than 15 luxury cars > passing by, everything from Mercedes, Lexus, BMWs and yes Rolls Royce. > Hongkong is number one for Rolls Royce. Amazing. On Sundays while we were > there, we saw all the Filipino domestics (there are about 500,000 of > them)having their weekly picnic and they occupied every spare space they > could find, from the parks (packed) to corner streets and under the > overpasses. It is their day off and they are the only ones allowed by the > government to congregate in such large numbers on side walks and only once > a week on Sundays. It is something to behold. Marco and I where there > after our reunion in 2009 and he can tell you pretty much the same thing. > And their airport is one of the best I have seen, efficient, clean and big. > I would rather go to Hongkong than Singapore or Bangkok or Manila if we are > to travel to Europe from here. It sure is booming and it is the place if > one wants to make money today. Anthony is in the right place at the right > time with the right business. Kakaingit.LOL > All the best, > Ramon > > > > > On 12/09/2013 9:20 PM, Cesar Lumba wrote: > > > A guy who was absent from my dance club for four months decided to show > up last night. His name is Ken (last name not for publication), who grew > up in Hong Kong and was recently in Hong Kong for an extended period > because he and his wife were taking care of their latest grandson. > > I told him that I had visited Hong Kong in 1967 on the way to Seattle > from the Philippines. I said I found Hong Kong very progressive even back > then, though it was not the safest place to be at night, since there were > nightly bombings going on, courtesy of communist agitators. > > He called 1967 Hong Kong's "political" year. He says Hong Kong is > peaceful now. However, it is not the place to be anymore, according to Ken. > > Every day almost, he said, people are protesting the high prices. > People who make $10,000 HK a month have to shell out about $7,000 HK to > rent a tiny tenement. That means they have to live on about $3000 HK a > month, something that Ken says is almost impossible to do if you have a > wife and kids. > > Most people in Hong Kong, according to Ken, are unhappy. The social > services are terrible. Prospects are bleak. People remember when Hong Kong > was a British colony. There was adequate health care, there were pensions, > there were social services. > > Nowadays, health care is the pits, there is a very inadequate pension > system, people rent almost all their lives because they can't afford to buy > the super-expensive housing. The gap between the rich and the poor has > widened substantially since the communist government of China took over. > > The difference between the British system of governance and the > governance of the People's Republic is night and day, according to Ken. > > There are no labor unions because the Communist Party is *the* labor > union. > > People are demonstrating daily, in small groups, and some are carrying > the Union Jack flag, begging to bring back the British government. > > Maybe Americans should do the same. Maybe we need the British to come > back here and install a more fair and just system. > > Here's the latest flash from Newsmax: > > *Breaking from Newsmax.com* > > *Richest 1% Earn Record Share of US Income* > > The income gap between the richest one percent of Americans and the rest > of the country widened to a record last year, according to an analysis of > Internal Revenue Service figures dating back 100 years. > > The analysis of IRS records back to 1913 found that the nation's very > wealthiest — those making more than $394,000 — earned 19.3 percent of all > household income in 2012, while the top 10 percent took home a record 48.2 > percent of total earnings, The Associated Press reported. > > In 2012, incomes of the top one percent rose nearly 20 percent compared to > a one percent increase for the remaining 99 percent. > *Read More > Here<http://news.newsmax.com/?KKO6.HlQ7Y063Azic701vG-HRDgfNLU1K&http://www.newsmax.com/US/wealth-inequality-income/2013/09/11/id/525061?ns_mail_uid=29895797&ns_mail_job=1537175_09112013&promo_code=14D6B-1> > * > > C > > > > > __._,_.___ > Reply via web > post<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DLSHS59/post;_ylc=X3oDMTJxNHQzYWRkBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzEzMTc3Njk5BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTA3NzYyNARtc2dJZAM3OTg4BHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA3JwbHkEc3RpbWUDMTM3ODk4NDg0OA--?act=reply&messageNum=7988> > Reply > to sender <[email protected]?subject=Re%3A%20Hong%20Kong> Reply to > group <[email protected]?subject=Re%3A%20Hong%20Kong> Start a New > Topic<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DLSHS59/post;_ylc=X3oDMTJmY2p1dW41BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzEzMTc3Njk5BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTA3NzYyNARzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNudHBjBHN0aW1lAzEzNzg5ODQ4NDg-> > Messages > in this > topic<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DLSHS59/message/7988;_ylc=X3oDMTM1bGMxYTA1BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzEzMTc3Njk5BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTA3NzYyNARtc2dJZAM3OTg4BHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA3Z0cGMEc3RpbWUDMTM3ODk4NDg0OAR0cGNJZAM3OTg4>(1) > Recent Activity: > > > Visit Your > Group<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DLSHS59;_ylc=X3oDMTJmbXY0aHQzBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzEzMTc3Njk5BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTA3NzYyNARzZWMDdnRsBHNsawN2Z2hwBHN0aW1lAzEzNzg5ODQ4NDg-> > [image: Yahoo! > Groups]<http://groups.yahoo.com/;_ylc=X3oDMTJldWRkZDZyBF9TAzk3NDc2NTkwBGdycElkAzEzMTc3Njk5BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTA3NzYyNARzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNnZnAEc3RpbWUDMTM3ODk4NDg0OA--> > Switch to: > Text-Only<[email protected]?subject=Change%20Delivery%20Format:%20Traditional>, > Daily > Digest<[email protected]?subject=Email%20Delivery:%20Digest>• > Unsubscribe <[email protected]?subject=Unsubscribe> • Terms > of Use <http://info.yahoo.com/legal/us/yahoo/utos/terms/> • Send us > Feedback > <[email protected]?subject=Feedback%20on%20the%20redesigned%20individual%20mail%20v1> > . > > __,_._,___ > > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Center for Good Governance" group. 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