Wing: Segregation of HK and China settles the feud

Segregation of HK and China settles the feud

Translated by Chen-t'ang 鎮棠, Edited by Karen L., Written by 翼雙飛 (Wing Wing)

Original: http://www.passiontimes.hk/article/03-13-2014/10958/ 

[Translator's note: Ah Kong refers to Hong Kong, Cathay refers to mainland China in this article]

Ah Kong and Cathay had lived in the same orphanage since they were small. They had been through thick and thin in the same dilapidated premise, and they had a so-so friendship. One day, a foreign lady from afar saw Ah Kong was smart though he was weak in body. She adopted him and brought him home. Not long after that, the orphanage closed down because of poor management.

The lady had taken good care of Ah Kong, from clothes to education[1]. She taught him the way to do things properly. The lady was not poor, but she required Ah Kong to give most of his income from his part-time job while studying. Some neighbours said the foreign lady did not love Ah Kong, and merely treated him as a cash cow. But Ah Kong knew that she treated him with benevolence: not only did she allow him to study and to be sensible, she also let him acquired living skills. Most importantly, she had really taken a good care of his life. He did not need to worry about every aspect of his life. If she did not save him, he might have already died in the decrepit orphanage.

When Ah Kong grew older, he suddenly thought of Cathay, the guy next to his bed in the orphanage. He used all means to ask for Cathay's whereabouts, and eventually they had a reunion. They talked about what happened after the orphanage closed down. It was a sad story for Cathay, who roamed on the streets with rough times. Ah Kong could not help but bring some food and stuff to visit him. Cathay was so impoverished that he wanted to take Ah Kong's pants. But Ah Kong understood him, and did not blame him. He even brought more pants to him [2].

All good things must come to an end. When Ah Kong grew up to be an adult, the foreign lady had to return to her home country, but she was unable to bring Ah Kong back. She reminded Ah Kong: "You are smart, diligent and flexible. You might look tough but you are nice. Do you remember the time when someone was hit by a car? You helped lifting the car immediately [3]! I love you a lot, but I can't put you aside. But bear this in mind, Ah Kong, pay attention to Cathay, he isn't that good as you think. He's now too weak and feeble, so he can't threaten you now. If he tries to be ferocious in the future, you will not be well-prepared[4] to deal with him. Always be careful, got that?" Ah Kong nodded without understanding a lot.

After bidding the lady farewell, Ah Kong has formed a family, and started a grocery store by his own efforts. Ah Kong's products might not be the cheapest one, but the reliable quality and long-lasting integrity gain him goodwill, and his store has gradually had a brisk business, even foreign tourists come to patronise. On the contrary, the place where Cathay lives suffered from natural disasters like flood[5] and earthquake[6]. Ah Kong was zealous in assisting Cathay when he was in trouble. In normal times, Ah Kong had been providing some capital for Cathay to do some small business.

On the other hand, by unscrupulous means, Cathay eventually accumulates his wealth, and becomes a parvenu. Once he becomes rich, he has to avenge, so he brought his underlings to make scenes everywhere. Finally, they arrived at Ah Kong's store. They urinated, defecated, shouted loudly, and bought all the groceries in the store. Tourists dared not to patronise[7]. Ah Kong coaxed Cathay and his underlings out of their behaviours, especially not to buy out infant formula. Due to limited supply, infant formula will be in shortage if Cathay take up infant formula crazily, then not even Ah Kong's neighbours and he himself, can  feed their own children. But Cathay knows that he is gullible, and said, "Running dog of that foreign bitch! [8] How dare you be so arrogant before you get prosperous[9]?  What do you eat upon if we don't spend money here[8]?"

If Cathay genuinely thinks Ah Kong is a running dog, then what Cathay and his underlings do is grabbing dog's food from dogs! Paying lip service to his own words, actually, it is jealousy Cathay has over to Ah Kong. Yet it would be easy for us to understand this mentality, even Ah Kong is not as rich as Cathay, Ah Kong has cultivated by civilisation, attaching importance to rules and regulations, as well as credibility and goodwill. Such are all absent in Cathay. For parvenus, "Poorness" is their pronoun, as they have nothing but money.

After the mess, Ah Kong calmed down and started calculating the business brought by Cathay. It is found that it only counts for 2% [10] of the entire business, but all other customers are scared by them, dragging great loss to the store. At the same time, the shortage of infant formula causes this stuck problem of which Ah Kong has to seek them elsewhere for his neighbours. Having no choice, Ah Kong has to either set new initiatives in putting a cap on the entry of Cathay's gang[11], or to impose entrance fee[12]/exit fee[13] on them, and by such means, the performance of his grocery store can be able to improve.

Shall we support Ah Kong's idea, or suggest him to do nothing, "embracing" his "bro" and avoiding any hard feelings? You, smart readers shall know the answer, don't you?

External Links (Chinese, for English readers' sake, titles are translated):

[1] Sir MacLehose announced 9-year free education will be imposed in 1978

http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%A6%99%E6%B8%AF%E6%95%99%E8%82%B2%E5%8F%B2

[2] Hong Kong Kilnt - Hongkongers queueing in Tsim Sha Tsui Railway Station waiting for trains, netizens say they wore several clothes and trousers to help relatives in mainland

https://www.facebook.com/hongkongkilnt/photos/a.561266657219899.132365.561234187223146/697680380245192

[3] A man said "Help if you're a man", 18 strong men lifted a minibus and saved a woman beneath

http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/news/art/20130426/18240934

[4] Mike HANSON, the former Information Secretary of the Governor: "If the society is not ready for facing the truth, it would be a serious problem, and Hong Kong is not ready for Communist Party" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cfZ_xR8ZAg

[5] 1991, East China was flooded (over 470 million was raised within 10 days)

http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991%E5%B9%B4%E8%8F%AF%E6%9D%B1%E6%B0%B4%E7%81%BD

[6] List of Wenchuan Earthquake donation (HKSAR government allocated 350 million HKD [=310 million RMB] assistance fund for this); 9 billion was appropriated in 2008 and 2009 in three stages; 9.35 billion HKD in total） http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B1%B6%E5%B7%9D%E5%A4%A7%E5%9C%B0%E9%9C%87%E6%8D%90%E6%AC%BE%E5%88%97%E8%A1%A8

 [7] 4% more mainland tourist in Lunar New Year, with less foreign visitors

http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/realtime/news/20120128/50062167

[8] Shi Junlong scolded at 'anti-locusts protesters': "You should go to UK to be UK's running dogs!"; Mainland tourists: "What do they eat upon if we don't spend here?"

http://www.passiontimes.hk/article/02-16-2014/8723

 [9] CY Leung: Hongkongers are 'arrogant before they become prosperous'http://hk.news.yahoo.com/%E6%A2%81%E6%8C%AF%E8%8B%B1%E6%8A%A8%E6%B8%AF%E4%BA%BA%E6%9C%AA%E5%AF%8C%E5%85%88%E9%A9%95-224536724.html

 [10] HK Govt: IVS contributed 1.3% to GDP, but public order is affected 

https://thehousenews.com/society/%E6%B8%AF%E5%BA%9C%E7%A8%B1%E8%87%AA%E7%94%B1%E8%A1%8C%E8%B2%A2%E7%8D%BBgdp1-3-%E6%83%9F%E6%89%BF%E8%AA%8D%E5%BD%B1%E9%9F%BF%E6%B2%BB%E5%AE%89/

 [11] Some organisations urged the govt to cancel "one visa, multiple visits" by Shenzhen residents

http://hk.news.yahoo.com/%E5%9C%98%E9%AB%94%E7%99%BB%E5%A0%B1%E4%BF%83%E6%94%BF%E5%BA%9C%E5%8F%96%E6%B6%88%E6%B7%B1%E5%9C%B3%E6%88%B6%E7%B1%8D-%E7%B0%BD%E5%A4%9A%E8%A1%8C-033200725.html

[12] A political party advocates imposing land entry levy of $100 HKD

http://hk.news.yahoo.com/%E6%94%BF%E9%BB%A8%E5%80%A1%E5%BE%B5-100%E9%99%B8%E8%B7%AF%E5%85%A5%E5%A2%83%E7%A8%85-224711531.html

[13] Exit levy on bootleggers can restore order for the tourism industry

http://www.hket.com/eti/article/76635b52-073a-433f-b92a-68eaef73d6d5-118899 

(Photo source: stranofly via Flickr)