Wing: A Sophistic Farmer Fooled the Whole Village

A Sophistic Farmer Fooled the Whole Village

Translated by Wong Poon-cho 王本初, Edited by Chen-t'ang 鎮棠, Written by 翼雙飛 (Wing Wing)
Original: http://www.passiontimes.hk/article/01-15-2014/7300 




There was once a chief in an old but prosper village. Being respected and experienced, he regulated the operation by setting up rules which were deemed to be followed by everyone and no one should disobey his wordings or punishment would be received.

Helping those in need, villagers with sufficient crops should submit a certain portion to the common warehouse at designated times, because sometimes people cannot help planting because of accidents or their old age. Also, one could seek help whenever it was necessary.

Meanwhile, more and more poverty-stricken aged males decided to marry women from the next village despite being unable to maintain a steady family. While in the beginning the new-arrivals were not permitted to take any food from the public institution unless they had stayed in the place for not less than seven years, a local farmer suggested that the newcomers were also a significant part of the village so they should be cared and loved in the same way. After considerations, the chief decided that length of stay was no longer a necessary requirement.

You can get the rest picture. The food was all taken, and noises were sound among the indigenous inhabitants.

'The warehouse was full; and now it is empty! We once expected for a fruitful year; and now the stock is all gone! '

'I know that I am not rich enough to get married and I succumb to fate, but why should I feed their wives with my own food? Should they share their wives with me in this case?'

'My neighbour, Granny Chan was born to be a local. There are rodent biting her food stock from her and now she is starving. She could only get a small portion from the warehouse because all the food were taken by those foreigners. She is absolutely eligible in getting sufficient food! Why should she share something that belongs to her with the newcomers?'

And so a group of furious villagers surrounded and vigorously condemned the farmer, who yelled, 'It is legal and reasonable for the immigrant to enjoy the right!'

'Being legal is not the same as being reasonable! Don't try to fool us with words! ' exclaimed the villagers.

'Considering a debt of gratitude, Granny Chan should definitely be privileged in receiving abundant amount of supply in order to thank her hard work in building our village and her generosity towards those in need; nonetheless, you only mention the so-called positive contributions of the newcomers but intentionally neglect the sweat and tears of the old woman all over the previous 80 years.'

'Considering principles and reasons, it is extremely unfair that only the immigrants from the next village can skip means test but Miss Cheng, the wife of Mr Lee living in the next door, from the 'Forformosa Island' could only move in after passing the test. How is it reasonable if there are double standards?

The farmer argued, 'The right to family reunion is a kind human right, and money shouldn't be the only yardstick! '

'Then why don't you help her to fight for the exemption from the means test? Why are you only assisting the newcomers from the next village but not those from 'Forformosa Island'? You claimed that we are discriminating the immigrants from our neighbourhood, but aren't you doing exactly the same thing to those further from us? '

'You farmer, what you are doing is neither fair nor reasonable! You are just exploiting the chief to deceive and fool all the villagers. No one shall go to hell but you! '

* The first character of 菜農 (choi nong, vegetables farmer) is a homophone of Tsoi, the family name of Richard Tsoi, member of the Democratic Party of HK and member of Society of Community Organization (社協), which the director Ho Hei-wah and another member of SCO, Sze Lai-shan (new immigrant coming to HK at the age of 11) are said to be 'traitors' of Hong Kong by some critics. Richard Tsoi was condemned because he helped the mainland woman, Kong Yunming, in appealing the court rules by the High Court, thus allowing non-permanent HK resident to get Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) within in one year's stay.

Lewis: Filipino maids and middle class dream

Filipino maids and middle class dream

Written by Lewis (無待堂), translated by Chen-t'ang (鎮棠)
Original: http://dadazim.com/journal/2014/01/middle-class/

One day I saw a Filipino maid and a "young master" (the kid of the master) on a minibus. He was five or six, throwing tantrums. The maid held her on her lap. The kid cried for getting off, and was so loud that the driver turned his head and scolded him: "Kid, stop annoying. There are other passengers on the minibus." Holding his reins for two seconds, he came full circle, and waved his hands, thus the maid's face was hit.

Probably because the maid abuse becomes the social concern, passengers around him was quite astonished. The kid kept his noises, and the maid just condone him, with her face and head being hit twice or thrice. That's just suffering. The journey was around six to seven minutes, and the kid was noisy for that long. The driver again turned his back, said: "Shut up!" He can't help much. I think something should go behind that sentence, "Screw your mom!". What kind of mom would born such kind of monster? Such distorted relationship of powers will breed such kind of "young master". Foreign maids work in HK as a servant, and the one who employ her is the master, whose children are young masters. Foreign maids take care of their basic necessities, and she can't pretty much help on other aspects. When the "young master" did wrongly, the maid can only condone and forbear, and will not rectify them. Because the gap on powers are shown on the faces of every pair of master and maid.

First, they are here to earn money, but not to teach your son; Second, even the young masters are impertinent, to maids, the only way is to endure the pain. The maids can't afford to have issues when they are the breadwinner of the entire family. Just take that inside. Erwiana endured for a long time even her face was severely swollen. For small stuff, you can rule that out.

More than a half of middle class families' children are brought up by foreign maids. The consequence is that next generation of HK are spoiled since they are born. Their moral characters are problematic, but no adults rectified it. If I am the parents on the minibus, I would have slapped him. Problematic character, problematic competitiveness. Surely does the foreign maid system exploit the 'third world', Hong Kong is quite selfish on its own, and allow those countries foreign maids come from continue their lives depending on foreign exchange and foreign maids industry.

To Hong Kong, it's some kind of convenience for hiring foreign maids, but in the long term, it distorts the labour market. Those who need to take care of their kids can come out and work. The more the job seekers, the lower the salaries. Dual-working-parents families become the norm. The next generation is brought up in an environment 'without dads and moms', distorting the kinship. And eventually, those so-called middle class find somebody to express their querulousness: their maids. So they can enjoy the hallucination of 'better class', and temporarily eschew from the cruel fact that they are actually exploited by big capitalists.

Without maids, many people in HK cannot afford to have kids. Why? High price levels, high property prices, low income. Parents have to work in order to be feed their children. If the entire society does not allow you to continue your family tree, the disgruntles of the entire society will accumulate - that's a sad fact. But we have foreign maids system, using a cheap cheap price hiring maids from the 'third world' to take care of our kids, so we can continue to do what we have to, to study, to work, to born a child and to wait until retire. We don't have to face the sad fact. We can have someone to call upon, and feel like a yuppie middle class.

So the invention of foreign maids system is indeed superb! Just hallucinate people as if it's a drug. Just like the dream machine in Inception, we can have an old school dream once we connect to the machine. We graduate, we find jobs, we marry, we buy cars, we buy properties, we have kids. Our happy little family shall convert to Christian as well, with a maid to serve!

'Maria! Time for sending James to school!' yelled you. James is the son in your dream. How is it possible for kids form middle class not having Christian names! Maria politely replies: 'Come on! James!' Your son goes to school happily. The dream is so sweet, so 'love and peace'. I have a dream - but a dream woven by the tears of Filipino maids, the quality of the next generation and exhaustion of the future between HK and the 'third world'.

Image:

 Foreign maid employment centre ad

Wing: Even my mom won't tolerate me!

Even my mom won't tolerate me!

Translated by Chen-t'ang 鎮棠, Written by 翼雙飛 (Wing Wing)
Original: http://www.passiontimes.hk/article/01-28-2014/8314 


When I was small, my mom brought me on the street. We went to a stall selling toys. A pink sponge racket caught my eyes, and I squeezed it. It was very special, and as I squeezed it, it's torn.

The hawker didn't discover that but my mom did. So she asked: "How much is this?" After compensating the hawker, she slapped on my wrist. I cried loudly.

I was so severely beaten that I am still very impressive. That scene caught hordes of people's attention. One of them said, "It's hard for kids from keeping her hands from herself. Don't blame her, just tolerate for once!"

Staring at and pointing her finger at that rubberneck, my mom inquired her: "Tolerate? Are you the one who will compensate? Will you compensate whenever she can't keep her hands from herself? Shut up if that's not the case!" The nosy pedestrian simply shut up and left. Since then, I always keep my hands from myself.

My mom won't 'tolerate' me. She needs me to know I'm wrong immediately, and she will punish me right away. She makes sure I will bear this in mind, and not to err again. Although she loves me, but she won't condone me.

So, for those who ask people to 'tolerate' mainlanders - no matter officials, artistes, media, netizens, or mainland mothers (who will ask you to tolerate her kid urinating/defaecating whenever they want) - want us not to point out the uncivilised behaviours of mainlanders, but then how (and when) can they learn a lesson? How will they correct themselves? So such 'toleration' is the same as 'condonation'!

Also, I would like to ask those who superficially ask people to 'tolerate': Will you clean up after mainlanders urinate or defaecate? Will you fight for milk formula if HK babies haven't got enough of them? Will you pay the bill if Chinese new arrivals rush to get CSSA in HK? Will you be able to bear the consequences on your own? If not willing nor able, then what's the difference between you and that nosy rubberneck?

Some people say mainlanders are not familiar with HK, so HK people have to 'tolerate'. But if we have to 'tolerate' because they are first time offenders, how many times do we need to 'tolerate'? We 'tolerate' because it's their first time of spitting? Of jumping lines? Of littering? But not scolding nor prosecuting? When will they be able to learn manners and consideration if we 'tolerate' them every time without pointing out their faults?

We commoners have to choke with silent fury against the mainland 'cultural' maelstrom in all aspects of life. It's easy to say 'tolerate', but it's a schadenfreude in our ears. So I sincerely hope that whoever you are, don't abuse the word 'tolerate', because we, in an unconscionable amount of suffering, will think that you are 'condoning' them irresponsibly.

(Picture from the Internet)

Wing: KH Cheung, screw your 'free market' thought!

KH Cheung, Screw your 'free market thought'!

Translated by Chent'ang 鎮棠, Written by 翼雙飛 (Wing Wing)
Original: http://www.passiontimes.hk/article/01-21-2014/8159 

*KH Cheung (張劍虹, also known as 沙膽虹), is the chief editor of Apple Daily, a prominent HK 'pro-democracy' newspaper.
====

Caption translation:
Apple Daily betrays HK by advocating more IVS visitors
KH Cheung: "...suggest the government putting a cap [for IVS visitors], it's moronic! Firstly, it's hard to say whether the government has an accurate estimation. Even if it's accurate, what HKers have to do is to prepare the reception of these visitors. The government shall only ensure accessible entrances for tourists, and build the 3rd airport runway in order to fulfill the needs of visitors. For the else, [one] can just leave them to the private sector.
[Yellow boxes]: The headcount of visitors [last year] is 48.61 million, 677% more than the total population of HK - 7.18 million
[Yellow text]: Jimmy Lai and KH Cheung, go to hell!

I was much aggravated when I read such ridiculous opinion by KH Cheung on Apple Daily.

When the overcrowded environment affects people's well-being and livelihood, Cheung simply says: 'Suggesting the government to put a cap is moronic', and suggests HKers shall be 'prepared to receive these visitors', and 'leave others to the private sector.'

Are you f**king kidding me?

I will make an example. Suppose Hong Kong will import a batch of beef with hormones, and men become hypersexual. The frequency of johns seeking fornication increases from one time per week to one time every other day. But we can imagine that the supply of sex workers cannot be increased immediately, even though some compensated dating workers enter the market. And they only have 24 hours a day, and there will be restrictions even if they would like to earn more. So, what happens?

Firstly, the suppliers - vice dens and self-employed sex workers. If the supply increases, the price of their services will increase.

Secondly, in order to receive more johns, the service time will be shortened each time, i.e. worse service with same price. And the sex workers will be exhausted, and it affects the service quality.

These are inevitable consequences under KH's so-called 'free market'. Besides price hike and declining quality, there will be adverse effects if there are lots of vice dens, such as creating nuisance to the surrounding area and affecting the district's image in the eye of the external. We can estimate the community impact brought by soaring tourist headcounts.

Firstly, price hike of public transportation. Because public transport companies cannot raise their supplies [i.e. public transport services] immediately. They need a lot of arrangements, such as improve their frequency and routes, and all these procedures need to follow the established practices. Besides price hike, soaring number of passengers will extend the waiting time, and aggravate the overcrowdedness on buses. Then the quality becomes worse.

Also, restaurants will raise their food price (what's more, tourists are usually more generous than locals)! Shop owners will less likely rent their shop to grocery stores or watch repairer, which would not be benefited from the tourism industry. It causes a great inconvenience to locals. You might realise that there are less and less stationary shop in your community, right?

Besides these, adverse effects of having too many tourists include: jam-packed the pedestrian road, vehicle-pedestrian conflicts and noises and nuisance to locals' lives. Jewelery shops and pharmacies are all along Nathan Road, but the locals have to continue their lives. They have to walk a long long way to get basic necessities, causing lots of grumbles.

Gregory So (SCED), who keep himself aloof from the public with his private car, even said [the local version of the famous French phrase 'Let them eat cake']: 'Why not wait for another train?'. And after him, a chief editor who is supposed to know about the plight of the public even say 'leave them to the free market'. Does such irresponsible thought imply that he would like to be an enemy of the public?

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Wing: An Avaricious, Brazen-faced 'Customer'

An Avaricious, Brazen-faced 'Customer'

Translated by Chent'ang 鎮棠, Written by 翼雙飛 (Wing Wing)
Original: http://www.passiontimes.hk/article/01-10-2014/7238 

---

Yesterday I was eating noodles in the restaurant downstairs. When I was eating, a man came in and talked to the boss: "Sorry, I haven't eaten for three days, can you do me a favour?"


Being lenient, the boss gave him a bowl of noodles and a cup of water.

He didn't dig in immediately, but rather gazed at chicken wings ordered by other customers. He then said to the boss, "Sorry, I would also like to have some chicken wings." I stared while the boss hesitated for a while, but in turn he said, "Fine." I felt the boss is so magnanimous!

After a while, he gazed at the lemon tea on my table. I sensed that, and I stared back. He then said to the boss, "Boss, she has a cup of lemon tea, can I have a cup as well?"

Cannot take it anymore, I said, "Sir, would you be too greedy?"

"It's normal to have beverages when you are eating. It isn't greedy. You've got a cup of lemon tea as well." said he.

"I bought this with my own money, you're asking for somebody to help and you're still so demanding? Why can you be so brazen-faced?" said I, angrily.

"I haven't had a taste of lemon tea for three years. I'm indeed poor." says he.

"Find a decent job if you wanna drink lemon tea!" said I.

"Oh, you're discriminating against me being jobless." said he.

"I am scolding at you because of your avarice, not because of your nationality, race, gender or appearance, and you call this discrimination? You came in just for filling your stomach, , and now you keep asking for more and more. Don't you feel ashamed to be insatiable?" I scolded.

The boss just gave him a cup of lemon tea, and said, "Let it go, this is my voluntary treat."


"Boss, I'm afraid that you're just conniving these lazy people. A person who wish to be his own breadwinner but meeting his trough will not be so insatiable and demanding. You shouldn't let him take what he wants for granted!" I checked the bill after replying to the boss.

I told this to my dad when I went back home with grudges, "How can a brazen-faced person exist in this world? The most annoying thing is that the boss succumbed to his unreasonable demands!"


"There are tonnes of these cases." said my dad. Google-ing for a while, these news titles popped out:

'53.2% Poor children haven't joined study tours before, orgs urged gov't to allocate more funds'

'Half of Students receiving CSSA did not travel for the last three years'

'Bless HK sends out CNY football matches tickets for free'

(P.S.: Nice to meet you, I am Wing Wing (翼雙飛), a little online author. Thank Passion Times for giving me chances to issue my work here. I usually comment on social phenomenon. Thank you my friend, White Shadow, gave me the column title as '講人是飛' (Wing is the one discussing other people, homophone of 'gossiping others', and 飛 is one of the character of Wing's Chinese screen name.) This is the first passage, thank you for reading. )


(Snapshots online)