Gettin' hot in 'ere
So it's the hottest November in Hong Kong in
120 years. But that didn't stop many fashion victims today from donning their fur coats, I guess 21 degrees is an excuse to wear coats.
Then Donald Tsang said our air quality is comparable to Tokyo (also with LA and Barcelona), what rubbish! Tokyo is way cleaner while LA, which arguably is also dirty, still they've done a lot more to clean up their air, while here in Hong Kong people are still debating and fussing over any initiatives to deal with it.
Actually, to counter his comparison, according to figures by the Institute for the Environment HKUST, Hong Kong does have dirtier air by average than those three cities. Maybe if he said at least we have better air than, oh I don't know, Jakarta or Bombay, then at least there'll be some shred of truth.
But hey, even if Hong Kong's air does improve over the near future, does it matter when global warming really starts heating up? When the drastic flooding, storms and heat waves starts making an impact on a global scale? Will the dirty air in our teeny 430 square mile concrete jungle of a city matter when compared to a global scale?
The more I spend time here the more I realise the majority of people don't give a damn or are not motivated enough to help reduce pollution. Even restaurant staff grumble at you for bringing your own lunch box when ordering take away... do you think people like this care about reducing packaging waste? Let's get real... only highly educated, intelligent and people in power (and certain expats of course) are really capable of sacrificing convenience for the sake of a better environment. Not to mention that going 'green' can be quite costly, especially for businesses.
Now i'm not saying that most people in Hong Kong are dumb, they just don't know what it means to go green, much less the reason behind it when they see someone recycling in those quirky different-coloured bins.
I for one have no confidence in enough people getting on board so I'm all for any draconian measures dictated by the government. Ban plastic bags, enforce recycling, put heavy taxes on private vehicles, whatever. Doing some things via a democracy just isn't quick enough. (well, democratic enough anyway)
Bad taste graphics...
Anyone see the graphics on i-Cable's News today on the story of Hong Kong's biggest ever drug-bust? In case you have no sense of news: Police arrested around 15 Africans containing HK$14 million worth of heroin in large pellets - wait - who swalloed them.
But anyway... the graphics they used were a bunch of obviously black people, with bushy hair, teeny eyes (literally just dotted) and hah wait for it, huge lips! It was so obvious, they just painted a big pink oval shape over each of their faces.
Bah I wish I had a picture to show it but seriously we all laughed our arses off and then bowed our heads in disgust... well at least I did.
It's Al Jazeera, English-style!
Quite a commotion at 8pm after our newscast as we witnessed the birth of Al Jazeera English, yep as in the English version of Arabic News.
I must say their sets and offices during the those crane zoom shots looked quite impressive. It even looks like some futuristic space ship.
And what a night to begin as they broke into the news of a tsunami about to hit Japan, in 5 minutes!
They also had reporters on stand by in every continent as the green screen rolled past some familiar faces from CNN and BBC and even David Frost!
Based in Doha, it's funded by the wealthy Emir of Qatar so wonder they've got big Western journalists on their payroll.
Funnily enough, in a poll, 53 percent of Americans opposed the launch of the channel and two-thirds objected it to be aired in the US.
It'll be worth watching to see what their angles are, considering that its policies might deviate from its mother channel on international affairs.
Will it be the Fox News of the Middle East? I'd want to see their version of Bill O'Reilly, eek.
'Tis the winter of my... content
Well, I wouldn't go so far as saying discontent, but it's been pretty uneventful the past few weeks. My last minor flare-up was the only real stirrup and going to Vietnam the second time was hardly inspiring.
We've finally finished our submission for the IFVA (International Short Film Festival), with all new improved features! Nah, just a few extra interviews and cutaways. I'm glad I don't have to deal with it for a while. Editing the same thing is like eating the same sandwich over and over again. You just want to change your taste for a while you know?
Sad Diane To has left our ATV News. She was always the clown (and I mean that in the most respectful way) of the office. But she's gone onto better things now... such as staying in her pj's all through the afternoon.. but hey I go to work at three so I can't say much!
It's one of those 'dry-spells' again where the monotony of normal living just slaps you in the back of the head now and again. Sure it's not too bad but it does get you thinking about where you want to go and what you want to do in life and all that pondering.
For the moment, I'll relish in my hard-fought but puny 7-day annual leave when I go back to Ireland for Christmas. I do miss home and everyone else. Seeing how I live here and what I do now makes me wonder about how it's all connected to me leaving home in the first place. Well, the immediate future's blurry but cautiously safe I'd say.
Borat!!
Can't wait till Borat's movie comes out... Cultural Learning of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan... genius title!
For some good profane humorous previews of Borat, search for videos on YouTube or whatever for when he appears on the Daily Show, Conan, Letterman and even CNN. His humour is just one of a kind. For Sacha Cohen to maintain his character like he does, it's just impressive and ingenius - even does who hate what he does must appreciate that level of improv. Kazakhstan ought to work with Borat, not against him. After all, Borat probably exposed more Americans to Kazakhstan (esp those who never heard of it!) than its government ever could.
Calling indie film makers
Went to this meet up via Meetup.com for people interested in independent documentaries.
Only seven of us turned up, with two people due to leave HK! Even the guy who organised it!
Didn't really get off to a flying start as I expected, since the ones who are staying in HK aren't directly related to the film or media industry. But nevertheless it was good to meet them.
If you're interested in networking with like-minded film-makers (or just wanna be involved), join this group
The Hong Kong Documentary Films Meetup and stay tuned for future 'meet-ups.'
