Just Saying | Enough of Crazy Rich Asians, think of crazy poor Hongkongers
Yonden Lhatoo says a big ‘bah humbug’ to the crass celebration of wealth behind the Hollywood blockbuster while the city can’t get a grip on grinding poverty and homelessness
On my way home from work late at night, I often walk through what passes as a public park in this concrete jungle of a city.
It’s essentially a cemented strip, separated from the main road by dusty trees and bushes blackened by soot from vehicle exhaust fumes. Several park benches sheltered by flimsy roofs line the strip, offering spartan refuge to a couple of homeless men who sleep there on a regular basis.
I can’t help noticing how the government has gone out of its way to make them feel unwelcome, putting up notices against street sleepers and taking it a mean-spirited step further to install iron dividers on every bench, rendering those precious pieces of real estate physically impossible to recline on.
And yet the street sleepers are there every night, nodding off while sitting upright between the iron dividers, or slumped over them in tortured slumber, bodies contorted in painful positions.
It’s a truly depressing sight in a city where the plight of the have-nots like these is magnified by contrasting, vulgar displays of wealth and privilege all around them – the park is also a magnet for dog owners walking, or wheeling in strollers, their freshly shampooed and manicured poodles.
Everyone was outraged about the dog being abused but there was zero sympathy for the owner, who was living in his car and had basically left the pet “home” alone. Homelessness for humans takes a back seat to comfort for animals in this city.
