Ordinary Gweilo

It's not big and it's not clever, it's just a Brit in Hong Kong writing (mainly) about Hong Kong

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Month: Mar 2004

  • Walk the Walk

    Good stuff from Fumier on the vexed problem of the way people walk in Hong Kong. We all know that we have some of the crowded places on the planet in this city, and at times it seems like everyone else is conspiring to make life even more uncomfortable by getting in the way wherever…

  • Surveys

    The Reader’s Digest survey quoted by Conrad (below) is just another example of one of the most common ways that PR people manage to get stories into newspapers. I guess they’re cheap – according to the SCMP, only 200 people in Hong Kong were questioned for this survey, which hardly makes it scientific. The journalist…

  • Too cynical by half

    Conrad reacts with disbelief to a survey in the Reader’s Digest that says 4 out of 5 Hong Kong people would return a wallet to its owner if they found it, and goes on to say that: No one in the entire recorded history of Hong Kong has ever returned any found item, as anyone…

  • Blogs by humans, ads by robots

    I love these ads that some people have on their blog. Giles at Sweet Chariots has “Exclusive Insider Intelligence Analysis by Israeli Experts” and “Latest Israeli and Jewish News Worldwide”, plus searches for “hamas” and “hong kong radio”. I assume this “ad by Google” was prompted by his article about the new leader of Hamas.  Targeted…

  • Tunnel Vision

    I jumped in the cab, told the driver (in Cantonese) where I wanted to go, he repeated it and I responded with “Ho Ho” to confirm.  So far, so good.  Then he asked me a question!  Help!!  I grunted something to indicate I didn’t have any idea what he was talking about, he repeated what he had just…

  • Showing his true colours

    George Adams claims that his stupid website is in favour of press freedom and against censorship. Except, it seems, when China blocks access to some blogs (in case you missed the story, Typepad blogs such as this one are currently blocked in China): From QQ in Peking China’s on-line community breathed a sigh of relief…

  • Use it or lose it

    Another slightly puzzling story about Hong Kong business. And guess what – it involves a Li Ka Shing company! A long time ago, there was a mobile phone operator (whose name escapes me) offering services on the TDMA network. Eventually they sold the business to Hong Kong Telecom CSL, who rebranded it as 1+1 and…

  • Everyday Stranger

    I am amazed that some people manage to read so many blogs. No criticism of anyone else intended here, but I don’t spend my time at work reading blogs or updating this one (except for the very rare occasions when I post before I start work, and the odd comment or two here and there).…

  • The Gweilo whinge

    p6 of Spike – “Expat TV”: a list of made-up TV programs, having fun at the expense of local TV and whingeing gweilos.p8 of Spike – regular column by whingeing gweilo Liam Fitzpatrick.  Past subjects have included pollution, the state of the harbour shoreline, Chinese New Year, rudeness, queues, shotcrete and film censorship.  You get the idea.This week’s is a classic, though,…

  • Drinking water found on Mars

    After my recent mention of Dasani (bottled tap water with added bits, most of them not harmful to humans), this amused me.