Yay! It’s Renee’s birthday today!!
In other news, I read the saddest article about Hong Kong today. I have friends who are extremely active on the political scene. They go to demonstrations, they work behind the scenes for certain democratic groups, they use social media to bombard all of their friends with their views on Hong Kong and China… A long time ago – we’ve been friends for a very long time – they used to ask me to go with them to the rallies and demonstrations, and when I declined, they tried to talk me into it, but I was quite firm about not doing it, so they just took me as apathetic. I don’t think I’m as apathetic as they think.
The thing is… the things that matter to me, no one talks about. Most of the political hoo-haa is about democracy (or the lack of), and about how the government is pro-big-corporations (I have no clue what the “proper” term for this is, I’m sure there is one), blah blah. Those things matter, but they aren’t close to my heart enough that I would go out and fight for it. Education and wealth gap. Those are things that are close to my heart. And no one talks about it. Wealth gap, yes, in passing, only because it’s part of the pro-big-corp-govt thing, but not enough that anything is done about anything.
Anyway. I read this in Time Out Hong Kong today. It’s so accurate. And it’s so sad. I’m not one of those who has to count pennies – I’m not rich, I am financially challenged and in the red, but I’m very blessed – but I’ve been to the poor areas, I’ve seen how they have to live, I’ve seen the repercussions on the children, I’ve seen how it’s a damn vicious cycle.
So here’s the article: Why Tycoons Take All Your Money: How we have unwittingly helped make five men multi-billionaires. It’s required reading for anyone and everyone who lives in, or gives a shit about, Hong Kong.
The Prancing Horse 