remi leclerc, Hong Kong, 1999

published in tofu#1

Hong Kong, China
One country, two systems
East meets West
But were never introduced

Opium War
Western mud
Take it in
Down your throat
- Not my cup of tea

Forced agreements
Permanent divorce
Ménage à quoi?
Honourable retreat?

From colony to BDT
Switch-back to SAR
West met East
But would never really blend

Colonial oppression
Now centralised repression
Latest impressions
Itís global depression!

Motherland,
Father-figures
Kow Tow to Beijing
Rivalise with Shanghai

Colonial backwater
To top financial center
- 150 year-old
Golden-egg-hen!

"Fragrant Harbour"
"Barren Rock"
"Pearl of the Orient"
"Riviera of the East"
"Asia's Hollywood"
"Cultural wasteland"
"From fishing village to
Hyperdense metropolis"
ìBorrowed place
In a borrowed time"
-" ìBlessed piece of land!"

Either way
Either side
Some named it
More made it
You will, too
Itís up to you
Colonial clockwork
Glaring immigration mirage
Circumstances
Perspectives
" It's all a matter of"

Pearl River Delta
South China Sea
Getting at the border
Going into China
Stopping at the border
- There you were in China!

Hills and harbours
Rocks and sand
Coves and beaches
Streams and waterfalls
Floods, landslides, typhoons
That blow you out!

Going going… gone?
Air, Water, Land
Waste not "3Rs"
Want not ìPî word

Vertical city
Integrated territory
Concrete canyons
Wall to wall neons
Skyscraping dwellings
Piled up office towers
Double decker buses
Double decker tramways
Double decker ferries
- Still and mobile buildings!

It's TOPOvertical
Kind of GEOvertical
ARCHIvertical
I mean archiTECTICAL
SOCIOvertical
Like, DOLLARvertical!

We, the people
At sea level
Middle Class?
At Mid Levels
Filthy rich?
On The Peak!

GET up!
           WARM up!
START up!
           WALK up!
LIGHT up!
           LOOK up!
READ up!
           CATCH up!
STAY up!
           LIVE up!
CHEER up!
           SHUT UP!
PICK up!
           MOVE up!
CLIMB up!
           MAKE up!
BUILD up!
           EARN up!
ROLL up!
           STACK up!
ADD up!
           PILE up!
SUM up!
           WRAP up!
CRASH DOWN!

All shoots up
Along this verticality
Money moan
Power pang
Me on top
- The very top!
Sight and sound
Smell and taste
These and touch
Hey what's up?
- Senses up!
Who will get me high?

If you want to see a line
That's a horizontal line
The one and only one
Is the Wan drawn by the sea!

Nurturer by Nature
Import, or export:
Ominous transportway
Beginning ñ and end ñ
Mother of it all
You know, the sea!

City by the sea
Mainly land over the sea
Big city, you see?
Indeed a new territory
Island mainland manned land
A cross-roads
A gateway
The most South-eastern city
A NEVER ENDING CITY

Port-franc
Rule of law
Can do
Laissez-faire
Go getter
Quick buck
Workaholic
Bite the bullet
Made in Hong Kong?
- No problem!

Got to work?
- Get a job
Want a job?
- Meet the boss
Strike a deal?
- With the boss
Need the cash?
- See the staff

Doom or gloom it is
Rags to riches
And back again
Hang Seng index
Dollar peg
Market crash
- And rebound!

Tai low
- Tai ga jeah!
Nouveaux riches
- Sandwich class
Globe-trotters
- Jet set
Expats
- IIs
Spies and triads
- Rats and roaches!

Cosmopolitan
- At 2%
Chung King Mansions
Lan Kwai Fong
- Immigration Tower!

Mother tongue
Putonghua
Lingua franca
Tagalog
Do you read me?
Nice to meet you

Cage dwellers
Five-star hotels
Posh villas
Hillside squatters
Tiny hamlets
Crammed estates
Tai pai tongs
Jumbo restaurants
Mall hopping
Shopping freaks
Golden Rolls
ñ Pink Royce
Show off
Or give face
But network.
- I mean Guang xi!

Nationalists, communists?
Liberals, democrats
Pro-Taiwan, pro-Beijing?
ñ Die-hard capitalists!
Independents, dissidents?
Activists, feminists?
Environmentalists?
- Wake up to the call!

At the races
At the table
Pick your horses
Push your tiles
Turf addict
Mah jong hooked
You want more?
- To Macau!

Daan taaht and Yuen yeung
Kai yeahk and Leng tsaa
Holohk, Beah tzow?
Mein or Faan?
Juk, Dim sum?

Roots or herbs?
Beans or greens?
Swims or flies?
Crawls or creeps?
Hopping? Walking?
- Do you taste what I mean?

Whatís your element?
Whatís your sign?
Wind and water
When in order
Wonít upset
The mighty Dragon

Must Bai saan
To dead folks
Cong Tzi teaches
To know your place
Low Tzi tells
To enjoy life
Buddha says
To do the rite thing
Tin Hau, well
She runs the sea
But for me
It's Low Foo Tzi!

Flag a taxi
Hop in a cab
Ride a mini bus
Dart to death
Double deckers
Climb on one
From a tramway
Gaze through town
Star Ferry:
Just relaaaaaax...
Squeeze yourself
In the MTR
Getaway
On the KCR
Just commute
With the LRT
Kai Tak
Now Chek Lap Kok
Fly away
- Don't look back

Magnetic
    And kinetic
Dense
   I mean intense
Unforgiving
   But rewarding
Integrated
   "Wonder" rated
Ubiquitous
   That's obvious
In transition
   In expansion
In recession
   Not secession
Trans-forming
   Re-morphing
It's business
   As usual!

Understanding HK
Through the Mainland
Take a HiKe
Understanding SAR
Well it's part of China

Come with no
Preconceptions
Any question
Will be answered
Like a riddle
With more questions

Yau Tsim Wong
Kowloon Hong Kong
I love Hong Kong
You'll have to, too

East at Ease it is:
Chinese refugees
From China to China
One PEOPLE
Two systems

22°15’ N, 114°10' E
Hong Kong geographical coordinates

BDT
British Dependent Territory

SAR
Special Administrative Region

Kow Tow
formal bowing to the Emperor

“3Rs” Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Wan bay

Tai low
elder brother; colloquial for male leader

Tai ga jeah
elder sister, colloquial for female leader

Sandwich class
middle class eligibility criteria coined
by the HK Housing Society

Chung King Mansions
huge commercial complex of
eateries, retailers and guest houses

Lan Kwai Fong yuppie night life area

Tai pai tong cooked food market

Guang xi networking,in Putonghua

Daan taht egg tart

Yuen yeung
tea, coffee and condensed milk drink;
literally: “perfect match

”Kai yeahk chicken wing

Leng tsaa lemon tea

Holohk Coca Cola

Beah tzow beer

Mein noodles

Faan rice (cooked)

Juk rice porridge

Dim sum
steamed, fried, or boiled Cantonese breakfast tit-bits; literally:
“dots of heart”

Bai saan
ceremonial act of reverence to dead relatives and friends

Cong Tzi Confucius

Low Tzi Lao Tse

Tin Hau
South Chinese goddess of the sea

Low Foo Tzi
“Old Master”, famous Hong Kong comic book character

Wind and water Fung seui

MTR Mass Transit Railway

KCR Kowloon-Canton Railway

LRT Light Rail Transit

Kai Tak former inner city airport

Chek Lap Kok new extramuros airport

Yau Tsim Wong
district in Kowloon; short for Yau Ma Tei, Tsim Sha Tsui, Wong Kok, three Kowloon areas