Job Discussion Forums

[kowlooner]

So is 11:59 still spouting? At least we now know he's an equal-opportunity bigot! HKers, Christians, PNETs ... Let's drop this topic people. Yes, some funny comments here and there, and some examples that HKers should in truth be a little worried about, but the entire original purpose of this topic by the OP was to be as offensive as possible without fear of reprisal (can't say this stuff publicly to his coworkers, assuming he's actually working, can he?) and with no constructive angle whatsoever. The OP used this only to vent racist rhetoric, in various posts for some reason citing the ridiculous "works" of a more well-known resident HK curmudgeon, clearly unable to adjust to life outside of his/her hometown. Though Annie's friend allegedly witnessed a racist event by a Chinese teacher in a local classroom, that pales in comparison to the trash talk in this thread. No reason to continue it. Frankly, it's a bit embarrassing.

[11:59]

Here we go again, Kowlooner the Great, Kowlooner the cultural gatekeeper. Why don't you do yourself a big favour and give it a rest, Kowlooner? If you don't like the topic then why don't you simply refrain from reading the contributions? At the end of the day, no matter what you say, the only reason you teach primary school is that you can't hack it with the big boys at secondary level, let alone at university level. You simply don't have what it takes. You have neither the requisite qualifications nor the experience � let alone the intellect or 'inner stuff' � to progress beyond teaching days of the week and weather words to infants who are still wetting their pants. And that's cool � not everyone can be a university instructor or lecturer, so there's no shame in that. But nevertheless, you do have to learn your place.

[11:59]

51. Following on from the acute lack of general knowledge evinced by your average Hong Konger, why can such a large (certainly a statistically significant) proportion of the Hong Kong Chinese population be best described as nothing other than gormless brain dead morons? And why are there so many people wandering around the streets muttering away to themselves ten to the dozen? They haven't all got hands-free mobile phone units. It is often said that talking to oneself is the first sign of madness. Well, what then should we say about all these Hong Kongers who are meandering around not only talking to themselves but actually also answering themselves too?

52. Why does your average Hong Konger display such atrocious general apathy towards life? Nothing (apart of course from the release of the must-have new model mobile phone/PDA/camera/PSP/etc.) seems to be able to stir them from their apathetic existence. Near the anniversary of the Tsunami for example (you know, that trivial little natural disaster that snuffed out some 300,000-odd people but a few years ago not exactly a million miles away from Hong Kong) I thought I would have a brief discussion on this topic with some of my postgraduate students. However, the response from most if not all was 'What Tsunami?' Now, I initially took this as meaning 'What is a Tsunami?', figuring that were simply not aware of this loan word in English, and perhaps only knew the Cantonese term. But no! They did indeed mean what Tsunami? What can one say about that? But, then again, when you think about it, how could they know about it? They don't watch or listen to any news, they certainly never read any newspapers, and when they engage in discourse with others they never actually seem to exchange any information, but rather just say 'Hi-ja' and 'Hi-la' a few thousand times per minute. So how could they ever know? Besides, they don't know anyone who perished in the disaster so how does it concern (let alone sway) them?

53. Why do most Hong Kong Chinese people have memories like flies? Did SARS not occur in the SAR of HK but a few years ago? Why do most still persist in engaging in filthy, uncivilised, unhygienic, and downright antisocial behaviour of the type that certainly served to help spread the lethal bug as if SARS never happened? Has any non-Chinese male in HK ever seen a Hong Kong Chinese guy wash his hands after going to the toilet? I certainly never have. They may occasionally go through the motions and turn the tap on but their hands will only be under the water for the briefest of milliseconds and they never use soap. And after that you see them shake hands with others, pick their teeth with their fingers, rub their eyes, pick their nose and force their index finger into their ear so far it must be close to touching their actual eardrum. What is this aversion to washing their hands, and indeed, to water in general?

54. Why are so many Hong Kongers so shallow, superficial, pretentious, and ostentatious?

55. Why do the Hong Kong Chinese have the curious habit of peppering their Cantonese with English words, phrases and expressions, especially (and often exclusively) when within earshot of westerners? (This is not linguistic phenomenon of code switching, which has radically different features and properties.) Well done, 'Ms' Chan! After 30-odd years of English language input you have learned to throw 'Saturday', 'supermarket', and 'bank' into your non-stop jabbering of 'Hi-la' and 'Hi-ja'. Very impressive, indeed. By the way, doesn't Cantonese have its own words for these English lexical items? Is this another reflection of the deeply entrenched personality crisis from which so many of them seem to suffer?

56. Why on Earth do they invariably have the air conditioning set to such a cold temperature? The worst offenders in this regard seem to be Wellcome and ParkNshop where the in-store temperature is quite often reminiscent of sub-arctic conditions. Indeed, why do these supermarkets (neither of which are actually particularly super) bother with refrigerators for frozen produce in the first place? The KMB buses warrant mention, too. Newcomers to Hong Kong are often struck by the sight of HK Chinese girls carrying cardigans under their arm despite the fact it is 34 degrees and 99% relative humidity. When one steps onto a bus though one soon realises why they have such back-up clothing with them at all times. Stepping onto the bus is often similar to entering a industrial size walk-in refrigerator. What was that rhetoric about preserving the environment again? I seem to have forgotten. Perhaps all the involuntary shivering in supermarkets and on buses has shook it out of me.

57. Staying for the moment with Wellcome, why is it spelt with two ls? Are they perhaps confused with the German 'willkommen'? And why do so many other stores have such ridiculous names? I refer of course to outlets such as 'W_anko' which still manages to make me shudder each and every time I see it.

58. Why, when they are boarding a bus, do they insist on attempting to do it with one step from the curb of the pavement to the vehicle, even if they can clearly see that the distance needed to be covered in that one step is well beyond their capabilities?

59. Why do the school kids � often even kindergarten-aged ones � have rucksacks loaded up to such an extent that they resemble British paratroopers yomping with a full military kit? I have even seen kids walking to school with their head reclined at an angle of around 15 degrees from their feet as a saliently direct result of their 20 or 30 kilogram rucksack pulling them backwards. Does your average boy or girl of six years really need so traipse to and from school everyday with more books than the teachers or a top professor?

60. And, staying with young kids, why do primary and secondary school students � and even kindergarten and playgroup kids � 'graduate' from their respective institutions? When I finished primary school all those years ago I did just that: I finished and then left. Here they 'graduate' from primary school. And when I left secondary school I did just that: I left. Try as I might I don't seem able to recall any secondary school graduation ceremony. Indeed, my first graduation was when I completed my bachelor degree studies. By the time kids here get to university though they have often already had no fewer than five graduations (play school, kindergarten, primary school, secondary school, and sixth form college)! And why do so many of the kindergartens and primary schools have such ridiculous and laughable uniforms? I have seen kids who are so young that they can barely even walk in an unaided fashion dolled up in waistcoats and bow ties!

[11:59]

[kowlooner]

Still only able to name call, 11:59? Most of us grew out of that way back in junior high school! You still have trouble with acne too?

I must say your Nazi store theme story had me laughing a bit at the hypocrisy considering the bigotry you continue to spout about locals. Though, perhaps - like HKers, apparently - you're not being intentionally racist at all. Maybe just simple ignorance and utter lack of knowledge?

Come on, little one. What next?