May 12th, 2002 by Eshin
Okay, as I mentioned on my home page, I wanted to go diving when I got to HK. After 10 months, its finally becoming a reality. I guess it was laziness, better things to spend my money on (?), and well, the way the weather took me by surprise. It get’s bloody cold here!
Now that the weather is heating up, I’ve finally signed up for the Advanced Open Water certification programme. It ain’t cheap, at HK$2,500 + course material but that includes the rental of the equipment.
Next week I start “lessons” in the theory again. The programme’s quite simple. Basically, I need to do a total of 5 “adventure” dives. Adventure dives are basically scaled down versions of PADI’s specialist programmes - sort of like tasters, if you will. In order to get the PADI AOW - I need to do the Underwater Navigator and Deep Diver programme plus 3 other specialities of my choice.
When I say “my choice” it depends on who you go diving with, the local conditions and more importantly, the course structure offered by the dive centre. Diving Adventure, who I’m doing the course with, are offering the Night Diver, Search and Recover, and the Multi-level (or) Wreck Dive.
I must say I’m a little apprehensive about the some of it. Firstly, I need to brush up on what I learned when I got my certification. The only dive time I’ve logged since my certification was the pool in my old school in Highgate for a refresher course. The Night Diver, Deep Dive, and possible Wreck Dive make me just a little, well not nervous, but excited???
They tell me its the best time to go diving in Hong Kong. It’s not too busy yet (that’s because the weather seems to be undecided on whether its hot or its raining, I think) and more importantly the water isn’t too murky. This, was another reason why I procrastinated signing up, because whenever I’d mention to people I wanted to go diving in HK, they kept giving me funny looks (and “Have you seen our water?!”).
Well, I’m not to sure where I’m going to be off diving yet but I’ll find out when I go for the lessons. Annie, my colleague, suggested that it was most likely to be near Sai Kung or somewhere from there. I’m not too sure…but in any case, it will do me good to get out of this urban jungle for a while.
Anyway, keep you informed.
Eshin
**Update** 26-04-02
Bad luck…not going until the 12th May! Oh well, gives me a chance to go practice.
May 11th, 2002 by Eshin
I recently had a discussion with my old boss when he came to Hong Kong recently. For me personally, and as I explained to him, is that I really don’t like the place. They’ll describe the place as the Las Vegas of Asia but I beg to differ. I personally feel the place is built on the depravity of human nature and it is for this reason why it profits. In my opinion, if there was one place that could be described as hell on earth, it would be Macau.
My former boss, who takes a much shinier view of the locale, tended to agree with me for once. He concluded that in fact, the Special Region could in fact cater for every one of the seven deadly sins. This led to us ponder what exactly they were and we managed to figure out six… a later search on the net revealed the last, which was envy. For those of you unfamiliar with the sins, they are…
Gluttony
Sloth
Anger
Envy
Pride
Greed
Lust
For those of you who are unfamiliar with Macau, here’s a little background. Macau was a former Portugese colony in China, similar to Hong Kong. Although under the Portugese, and as trading port, it developed on different lines than the former British military trading post. It was established by Jesuit missionaries and declared the ironically, The City in the Name of God, Macau.
The Dutch originally had coveted the prosperous city state, but combined with the Spanish occupation in Portugal and the Dutch effectively starving trade to Macau with their hand in isolating Japan and capturing Malacca, the state soon dwindled in importance by the mid-18th century. It was then once known as the “City of Women” where prostitution and child slavery was rampant.
It enjoyed a renaissance towards the 19th Century as a state where many companies could establish themselves in order to enter China but, as Hong Kong’s star rose, its popularity dwindled.
To cut a long story short, the city state effectively became a backwater of the near non-existant Portugese trading empire. It’s handover, a year before Hong Kong’s, saw the Chinese receiving a city that is full of triads, prostitutes and gamblers. It remains very much that today…although, as a “City of Women” it should still be called.
What I plan to do, for the purposes of exploring the city myself, is to take take each of the seven deadly sins and over the course of the next few months explore each. I keep an open eye and as of yet, no plans on how to do it. But this is the fun of the endeavour.
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The Sins
Let me elaborate each sin and my proposed plan of action.
Gluttony
I reckon that I should start with the simplest of tasks that involves relatively little exposure. Macau is a popular destination for the Hong Kong crowd for dining.
The Portugese have left their mark on the cuisine of the place and so many Portugese dishes can be found. Other cuisines can be found in the area which, I am sorry to say, I am not aware of…but that is the whole point of this endeavor.
Sloth
Not quite sure what I plan on doing for this and how to explore any dimensions on this. Any suggestions would be helpful.
Anger
Macau, as most places in China are, full of triads. Prior to handover, there was a recent spate of public violence which ensued with a half-hearted crackdown. Under the Chinese, it appears to be little different. The underground societies are an intergral part of how a lot of Chinese businesses operate and they have their hand in two of Macau’s principle raison d’etres - gambling and prostitution.
For me, however, I plan on a less risky path of exploration. I plan to make this of a more cultural trip to museums and churches. I figured that the bloody history of Macau and the Catholic churches own bloody repression, will serve to be enough of a discovery of this sin.
Envy
From its beginnings, when the Dutch coveted to it, to the more micro-scale envies of human nature - the desire to have what your neighbour has, the desire to have the beautiful girl sleep with you, the desire to be more liberal than Hong Kong and China - I believe that envy is a sin that Macau has exhibited and caters for neutralising. The dreams of many arrive in Macau, which it promises to deliver.
For my exploration of envy, I plan on making this a luxury trip. This will be an attempt to mingle with the social elite of Macau and do the things that they are accustomed to (yes, I will be using a stereotype as model). So, I plan on staying at a luxury hotel, eating in luxurious restaurant, appear in the casino’s “a la Bond, James Bond style”, play a round of golf and maybe take the helicopter back. This is perhaps going to be the hardest sin to explore due to lack of funds and contacts!
Pride
Macau caters for the sin of pride very well. Essentially, there are plenty of nightclubs and places where the rich can enjoy the showboating of their wealth. Nightclub culture is essentially one big pluming of the feathers and making the paying customer feel just right. Plenty of up-market shops are available in Macau and showing off the money, can be done here too.
I guess its this last option that I will explore under this heading. This sin will be explored from the point of few of shopping. After having ventured back from this sin, I will be able to tell you the shopping sites that are a must for a visit to Macau…and yes, I do mean interesting places to shop, not just Gucci or Tiffany’s. Will leave my credit card at home on this one I think.
Greed
Macau is notorious for its casinos. Personally, I think the only one worth visiting is the infamous Hotel Lisboa. Gambling was permitted and encouraged under the Portugese and the Chinese government seems also to be willing keep Macau open for this lucrative income generator. Chinese people like to gamble and the majority of the ferry passangers to Macau are out for an evening of gambling.
I don’t gamble but I think it might be worth just once setting myself an amount and see what fun I can have. The more traditional Western style games (roulette, black jack, poker) are available for foreigners like me and a whole bevy of Chinese gambling games exist. I plan on learning some of them and how they work and also enjoy the atmosphere of the Vegas-esque opportunity.
Lust
Macau has infamously been associated with legalised prostitution. I’m not too sure whether it is legalised. An influx of women come from Taiwan, Vietnam, Korea and Thailand to make their money in Macau. They work in the nightclubs and massage/sauna parlours that can be found around the city. Under the Chinese government, I think it is illegal. But as with the gambling, they are not likely to close down this lucrative revenue source any time soon.
For this, I plan on exploring, and not really doing. It is important to say this - partly because my parents will worry and partly, my girlfriend is likely to kill me if I do anything. I will be sticking to the nightclubs where it is possible to indulge in the sin of lust without having to commit sex or such like. Many of the customers take the girls out. That will not be happening with me. One or two night clubs for an evening entertainment…they are expensive you know.
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Execution
It will probably be a long term project. I’m not rushing out to get to the place and I plan on doing this over a space of a year or two. It is possible to do it quicker, but I do want to limit my exposure to the place.
It’s also a matter of funds and people…I don’t plan on going by myself. Hopefully, with my girlfriend, we can explore some of these sins together!
Keep checking back for more info on how the sins are going.
May 8th, 2002 by Eshin
What did I feel when I heard that Pim Fortuyn was shot dead? Shock more than anything. Sadness…not really for him. I guess I was more sad in the way in which it would affect politics in the Netherlands. My opinion is already somewhat of layman’s opinion considering I’ve never really had an interest in that small country’s politics. Anyone seen the mouse that roared?
The slaying of a Dutch minister is not just an attack on his views and politics. Whether he was anti-immigrant or not, it was an attack on the Dutch value system and political process that is central to it operating as a democratic society. Candidates who wish to voice an opinion can no longer do so without giving due to consideration to what is being said. Oh yes, I know, life will go on, and some may point out the post-John Lennon, singers have still voiced a differing opinion to some who would rather they didn’t. But there is a world of difference, work, status between the front singer for the band that plays at the local pub who shouts out opinions (who we can belt afterwards) and the multimillion popstar who is surrounded by an entourage of body guards and assistants.
Pim Fortuyn, while his opinions were not entirely right, represented an opinion that was shared by a substantial part of the Netherlands. To deny these people that spokesman is wrong. Not only do we not have the chance to question his views and notions (as is customary in a free and democractic society) but the only thing he will remain good for is his martyrdom for his support of racism.
While anti-immigration isn’t the same as racism, as it is possible to be anti-immigration at the same time as not being racist, it is what he will be remembered for. His supporters will only hear that he was assassinated for being a racist. North Africans apparently celebrated his death and they, too, only heard his racist persona.
The US media and its Euro-sycophants will be commenting on how Fortuyn was riding on an anti-immigration platform. This is easy for them to say….the US has one of the most stringent immigration laws I know of. I don’t get excited knowing that Republicans have kept the Mexicans out of the US. But they police that border regularly…of course, for the “war” on drugs.
Can the Netherlands not do the same? Is it absolutely necessary for the Dutch to be so tolerant…when in fact they are not. The reason I say this is that any of you who know a Dutch person will know that they have a peculiar way of being right but accepting that you might have your way of doing things. This mentality has led to the passive and tolerant approach that makes the Netherlands the “liberal capital” of the world.
Their tolerance has led partly to the situation that they find themselves in. A safe haven for immigrants fleeing hardship and troubles, where the Dutch tolerance will mean they live free from persecution. Admirable, yes. But we do have borders and the concept of a nation, and while this concept is still in existance…the protection of a nation’s borders and values will still be an important factor.
So all in all…it has been a bad day for Dutch politics. It has damaged more our political system and threatened a workable multicultural society than instill grief in me. With the resignation of the Dutch cabinet, last month, over something that I believe that they should not have resigned for, it makes this past month something to wonder about. Politics in Europe are not what they used to be…or maybe they have never really changed.
