During an afternoon chat with a friend living in Hong Kong today, the city of billionaires, the discussion eventually turned to its current situation and future. While it is not shocking to know about the gap between haves and have-nots widening, a familiar story around any capitalist society, it was rude surprise to find there is more room for shock, it is also number one in many other rather unflattering categories. It is the most expensive place to live, least hopeful city in the world! And slowly going up the ladder of most youth suicide rates. For the city with diamond like night sky, it also has a very rotten underbelly, literally. People living in worse than third world like shoe box rooms with leaking roofs, three generations living in three rooms, no sanitation, power or running water. Its quite astounding to know that almost half the people live this way.

Government spends hundreds of billions on welfare, but not on providing cheaper hosing to the have-nots. A place where a two bedroom apartment costs ten million Aussie dollars, I don’t know what hope the young people would have. No wonder they are leaving Hong Kong in droves, similar to South Asian youths flocking to rich Arab nations in the Middle East. The net result is same. Another consequence of this is the old ones ending up in streets or living in literally rat holes.

It seems almost that this city, built by the British Empire and handed over to the Chinese as the goose that lays golden eggs, wants you to become rich, nothing else. Nominal taxes, lax business rules, world class infrastructure at fraction of cost of other developed nations.

But what if you don’t? Or what if you failed? If you are not rich, it appears it does not know what to do with you. So basically, if you want to make it this is the best place. But with current generation losing hope at this rate, and things don’t improve, how long before it turns into a junk yard of billionaires?

 

 

“Look in the mirror Stevie, see, that is Stevie!”, the father yells at his comatose boy. The boy stares at himself in the mirror wondering who he is looking at. Is it dad? is it mom? The irony of not recognizing himself does not bother him, because it does not even occur in his mind. I saw a father and his unresponsive son in a bathroom at a local shopping mall, having this conversation today, I saw a completely different world in front of me. The mirror I was also looking at and seeing them was like a curtain to the other world they live. Little boy was probably around four, otherwise looking healthy except for his lost and expressionless eyes, opened mouth. Probably a case of severe autism or some kind of brain development issue, father a young guy in his mid forties. Our gazes met for a couple of seconds, I had nothing to offer. The boy can’t talk back, what kind of conversation would they have? I got out controlled, but my mind was numb. What is the point of creating such a world?

On the way driving back, my son was playing with my wife at the back seat of the car, I was occasionally glancing at him through the rear view mirror and looking at us all being reflected, my world. My mind kept drifting to the father and son in the shopping mall, wondering what is going on in their world at this very moment, if the boy had been fed.

If luck was rationed, we all have our potions. Sad and grateful.

Like a Dire Straits song..
There’s so many different worlds
So many different suns
And we have just one world
But we live in different ones..