Job Discussion Forums

[11:59]

[BeckyBen]

Ok, thanks for that interesting reply. I have been to Lamma Island before. I am going to give it a go there, yes you were right the school were not entirely pleased about me wanting to live there and have been trying to persuade me into the last NETs flat somewhere very close to the school but I am probably naively set on lamma for the time being anyway and have said to all that I'll give it 3 months.

[hkteach]

Well. we're all different and what some like, others detest.
I must admit that I was surprised when I read that BeckyBen had chosen to live on Lamma. Many expats, including yours truly, usually want to live in or near Central midlevels or Wanchai or somewhere equally as full-on so that they can be a part of the social scene. Lamma seemed rather a strange 'first-up' choice.

11.59 has pointed out a lot of negatives of Lamma.
The positive aspects would be that Lamma is quiet, there are several restaurants serving 'western' food and rent would be cheaper than many (most??) other areas of Hong Kong.
But as a place to live, it would surely rank behind most other places in Hong Kong that I can think of.
Discovery Bay (and other parts of Lantau ) and Park Island are quiet havens too but are more convenient and are heaps more attractive.

I've been to Lamma twice - once to see what it was like and the second time to take visitors to see an 'alternative' part of Hong Kong.
On both trips I've noticed foreigners carrying household items (from IKEA and Pricerite) or lots of supermarket bags full of groceries. You need to go offshore to get all your homewares and groceries as there are only a few little mini grocery stores that don't stock much that you'd want. There's an ok bottle shop that sells wine at reasonable prices, a deli and a couple of greengrocers - that's it. So that's something that you need to be aware of and factor the off-island shopping trip/s into your schedule.

I really can't imagine why a new arrival would choose to live on Lamma first up (maybe ok after you've developed networks/made friends and become tired of the entertainment and shopping options and feel the need to get away from it all) but life for a single young female could be quite bleak there.

[11:59]

I hate to say it but I think it is a very bad omen if the school are overtly trying to persuade you to live in close proximity to the school. Why would they want to do that unless they know that you will be expected to have heavy workload plus numerous extra-curricular activities both before and after school? Also, I am not convinced that you can just up and leave rented accommodation after three months. Usually if you leave before the end of the first year in a place then you will forfeit your deposit.

[BeckyBen]

Points noted, thanks!
The flat is for three months trial (there is a get out clause.)
The school seems very reasonable.
A great friend of mine that I taught with in Beijing recommended the island (she lived there for 5 years and has never been happier) she took me there earlier this year when I started applying for the NET job.
I'll see how it goes...
I must admit those are the first bad things I've heard.
Thanks for your info.

[Smoog]

I would hazard to say that our dear friend 11.59 has yet to visit Lamma as his opines and descriptions of it exist only within his feverish imaginations.

There are no unlicenced bars on Lamma for one thing. The only reason a local would ignore you would you come into a drinking establishment on Lamma is if you were to come in with an smug air of superiority and condescension towards the locals, as our estwhile friend here displays.
On my first trip to the local I had several locals welcome me to the island and was introduced to many more. THe day I moved in I had one neighbour help me move and then invite me to his friend's BBQ the following weekend and another offer to install a sattelite dish for me (which entailed him travelling to Sham Shui Po to buy it and 1/2 a Saturday setting it up). Hardly examples of an "extreme clique and closed-shop".

The 7am ferry to Central is called the "Teacher's Ferry" for good reason - prob 70% of the passengers are teachers at schools somewhere on HK (myself one of them come Sept - sigh). Only once in the past 3 years that I've been living there has the ferry been cancelled (a couple of weeks ago, during school holidays). If it ever does happen when I'm on HK side, I have several friends (something that apparently our friend 11.59 is bereft of) with whom I can crash the night if necessary.

My theory as to why the local teachers don't like the idea of anyone living on Lamma is because:
1. They have a very negative view of the place and it's inhabitants, as expressed so eloquently by 11.59.
2. They had to come here back when they were students themselves for a school outing (it seems to be a popular destination for school outings for some reason). This is usually the first and last time they go there and, as a result, have fixated in their minds that Lamma is a remote isle somewhere hidden in the murky haze of the South China Sea.

The rents are cheaper here than elsewhere - I'm paying $7000 for a fully furnished 750sq ft flat with two bathrooms (including a jacuzzi), largish (for HK) kitchen with a proper oven (yay!). From my door I can be in Central within 30 minutes. About as long as it'd take someone living in the midlevels to get down to LKF.

There's plenty of good restaurants within walking distance - Indian, seafood, Japanese, Thai, vegan, vegetarian, Chinese, Sichuan, Turkish, Pizza, Western, Sri Lankan, and no doubt a couple others I can't think of right now. All good quality and at very reasonable prices.

It has lots of great walks around the island and several swimable beaches where the water quality's about the best you can expect in HK.

I do agree about the dog crap - that's a disgusting negative for the island.

[11:59]

The post immediately above brings to mind one more distinguishing (and noteworthy) feature of the vast majority of weird ex-pats on Lamma Island: they are, for some reason, peculiarly intolerant of views and opinions that differ even marginally from their own, viz., from the accepted, 'official' Lamma Island viewpoints which are handed down from above from the outcrop's long-term residents (the self-proclaimed guardians, if not kings and queens, of the island).

In fact, methinks the cultural gatekeeper 'Smoog' (which, typographically, is close to an apt nickname given the foul air quality on Lamma) protests too much! From this I think anyone with even so much as a cursory knowledge of introductory psychoanalysis will infer that s/he knows full well that everything I write is arguably valid; it's simply that s/he doesn't want to hear the truth, especially not in such an explicit fashion. This is of course wholly understandable. After all, no one likes to have the illusions they live by (defence/coping mechanisms) openly shattered, do they?

Of course, that is not to say there is nothing to do on Lamma. On the contrary, there is nothing short of an abundance of things to do and see. Indeed, activities are abound! As rightly noted by Smoog, cuisine is highly varied. You can, for example, go to the Bookworm Caf� and enjoy the back alley outdoor hole-in-the-ground toilet, or you can frequent one of the countless seafood restaurants and fork out in excess of $200 HK for a bowl of rice, a dish of tofu, some prawns, and a beer. Or � if you do not happen to be on some old style gravy train $80,000-a-month ex-pat deal � you can just sit, relax and engage in some people watching, a form of amateur armchair social anthropology; it is after all always fascinating to watch people going about their business whilst simultaneously deluding themselves into thinking that they are not in Asia (and not slap bang right next door to a dirty great big power station).

Alternatively, you can participate in dog turd counting, which is a great weekend pastime for kids, especially those who want to contract worms and go blind in later life. And, whilst the kids are busily practising their to-the-power-of-ten arithmetic skills, the adults can play the game of 'Spot the Western Guy who doesn't have a Thai or Flip 'wife-to-be''. Or, if you are the active type and thus go in for physical exercise you are of course free to wander off the beaten track of the cram-packed high street and engage in some sprinting, in this case in the form of running for your very life from stray and highly territorial (not to mention ferocious) dogs. Or, if none of that takes your fancy you can always simply admire the sights. For those who have never been to Lamma I enclose some pictures below. As you can see, it is quite picturesque (though I am sure Freud would have had something to say as regards why so many males are willing to live in such close proximity to the phallic-like chimneys).











And it is only going to get worse. I suggest any future residents of Lamma take a look at the following:

http://www.epd.gov.hk/eia/register/report/eiareport/eia_1192005/HTML/Main%20Report/Visual%20illustration.htm

http://www.epd.gov.hk/eia/operation/english/chapter05_4.html

[YSW]

For the benefit of anyone who comes across this thread searching for some facts about Lamma, be advised that 90% of Mr 11:59's tirade is fictional.

A few specific points:

[11:59]

Certainly a nice try, but, unfortunately for you, the thought that will immediately spring into the minds of those with even so much as a cursory and superficial knowledge of basic clinical and forensic psychology � gleaned from introductory, undergraduate texts � is, 'methinks you protest too much!' (In layman's terms, it is blatantly obvious that I hit a raw nerve, and so hit the nail on the head with the non-controversial observations I made as regards Laah-maaa Island and its inhabitants, otherwise referred to as 'Lamma-Losers'). This is clearly evinced from the (zero) response to your (laughably pathetic) attempt at a riposte. But, as I say, nice try � it must have taken a semiliterate twerp such as yourself a long time. Better luck next time, sonny Jim.

[YSW]

[11:59]

Says you, which, given (or is it 'gibbon') your 'track record', is hardly saying much, it it?

[YSW]

[11:59]

Do you have an inner and unexpressed issue with your mother? An Oedipus complex, perhaps? Feel free to PM me for professional help,

[kowlooner]

[Henry_Cowell]

"11:59" must resort to snide, sarcastic, and cynical ad hominem attacks when he cannot support his own words. He either can't or won't refute YSW's criticisms and corrections.

I'm sure he'll have a kind word about me, too.