Archive for December, 2012

• BLOG – Teacup Storm Over HK Magazine Crap Rape Joke

  Date: 2012.12.24 | Category: Blog | Response: 0

  HK Magazine found itself at the centre of a social networking shit-storm this week over a humorous ‘suggestion’ that folks celebrate the apocalypse by ‘molesting’ pretty women on trains.

  The original Facebook post was removed but the hard copy and PDF copy remain available.

  

  Redditors fought over the issue whilst Facebook fans left outraged comments, including SlutWalk – which HK Magazine supports and, arguably, also adopts a humorous approach in its ongoing campaign against public harassment…

  Screenshots below from the mostly-female-led magazine’s publicly accessible FB page…

  This is a preview. Read the full post (89 words, 4 images)

• PHOTOGRAPHY – HK’s Boom Years: The Best of Fan Ho

  Date: 2012.12.20 | Category: Blog, History & Abandoned HK, Photography & Wallpapers | Response: 2

  Since 1956, highly acclaimed Chinese photographer Fan Ho has won over 280 awards from various exhibitions and competitions around the world. Largely self-taught, he is best known for documenting HK during the boom years in the 50s and 60s. Ho was born in Shanghai and developed a fascination with cities – exploring urban life, alleyways, markets, slums and streets with his camera.

  More at Wikipedia.  Click for more photography and historical entries.

  
  
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• HK LIFE – Comprehensive Map of HK Markets & Hidden Malls

  Date: 2012.12.19 | Category: Living in HK | Response: 0

  Best viewed over at Google Maps, this map shows some of HK’s popular and lesser-known markets and malls. Blue represents general shopping, pink is electronics, orange is living things, and green is food/medicine…

  Posted with permission from Reddit-user Jort, the map will slowly expand to include more shopping hotspots and wet markets. Many of the electronics arcades may not be news to locals, but – for humble foreigners – these malls can be hard-to-find and often lack English signs.

  This is a preview. Read the full post (121 words, 1 image)

• BLOG – WTF Licence Plates of the Rich & Shameless #12

  Date: 2012.12.18 | Category: WTF Licence Plates | Response: 1

  

  This is a preview. Read the full post (11 words, 1 image)

• PHOTOGRAPHY – Poverty & Property: The Claustrophobic Reality of HK Shoeboxes

  Date: 2012.12.17 | Category: Blog, Photography & Wallpapers, Politics: All Posts | Response: 10

  Benny Lam’s photo series gives us a claustrophobic glimpse inside HK’s sub-divided ‘shoeboxes’…

  

  The South China Morning Mouthpiece reports today that up to 280,000 Hong Kongers are living in subdivided flats and paying exorbitant rent…

  

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• MUSIC – Shots from Free Space Festival 2012

  Date: 2012.12.16 | Category: Art & Music, Blog, Events | Response: 0

  

  Photos from Free Space Festival 2012 at the West Kowloon Cultural District waterfront…

  

  
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• BLOG – Shots & Video from Hong Kong SantaCon 2012

  Date: 2012.12.15 | Category: Blog, Events, Video | Response: 0

  Shots and video from Saturday’s SantaCon 2012 – keep up with the group on Facebook. Video coming soon. Donate to Pencils of Promise here.

  
  
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• EVENTS – This Weekend: Amnesty Gig, SantaCon 2012 & Free Space Festival

  Date: 2012.12.14 | Category: Blog, Events | Response: 2

  Three exciting events this weekend…

  Friday - HK favourites 9 Maps, Sun Eskimos and The Gatling Gun Revival, a minimalist folk group play The Fringe tonight, 10pm, in aid of Amnesty International. Tickets: HK$150 (in advance), HK$180 (on the day) with a free drink. Facebook event.

  

  Saturday - Santacon is a non-denominational, non-commercial, non-political and nonsensical Santa Claus convention that occurs once a year for absolutely no reason. HK’s Santacon kicks off at noon, Saturday at Red Bar IFC. Costumes are available from Pottinger St, Soho. The gaggle of Santas will then proceed by tram/MTR/ferry to drinking hotspots around the city! Over 1000 already confirmed to attend – Facebook event.

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• ART – The HK Political Art of Winnie Davies

  Date: 2012.12.13 | Category: Art & Music, Blog | Response: 1

  Winnie Davies, founder of The Joy Art Club, draws much of her inspiration from HK’s widening poverty gap…

  

  …Her art reflects the contradictions inherent in Hong Kong’s “one country, two systems” relationship with mainland China…

  

  …The blue, white and red striped plastic sheets in her oil-on-canvas paintings have not only come to symbolise Hong Kong, they are also seen as a ‘poor man’s material’…

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• POLITICS – Why Does Jackie Chan Hate Hong Kong?

  Date: 2012.12.13 | Category: Blog, Politics: All Posts | Response: 2

  It’s difficult to muster any kind of appreciation for Jackie Chan which isn’t ironic. Most hold HK’s celebrated cultural icon in the same tongue-in-cheek regard as The Hoff or fellow irritating martial artist Chuck Norris (who, incidentally also harbours a disdain for his homeland). However, as the South China Morning Mouthpiece highlights today, the extra-curricular activities of our beloved Jackie are worth more critical consideration…

  

  Jackie Chan pandering to Beijing yesterday.

  Speaking to Southern People Weekly, Chan stated that “Hong Kong has become a city of protest. The whole world used to say it was South Korea. It is now Hong Kong…  People scold China’s leaders, or anything else they like, and protest against everything… The authorities should stipulate what issues people can protest over and on what issues it is not allowed.” Quite.

  

  Loves puppies; dislikes freedom.

  Cultural critic Leung Man-tao responded that “Chan doesn’t bother to understand why some Hong Kong people choose to take to the streets. He just tends to think that whatever the government does is correct.” Meanwhile, Civic Party chair Audrey Eu Yuet-mee said, “I think it’s a shame for the movie industry, because the freedom of expression is fundamental to his line of business,” she said. “Just as the government cannot lay down rules on what movies can be made and what can’t, he ought to appreciate that there should be no restrictions on which protests can be held and which cannot, as long as they comply with the law.”

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