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Sunday, November 3, 2019

Hongkong

Before I even went to HongKong, I already heard a lot about the HongKongers. According to many, the Hongkees were very rude people. If you shopped in Hongkong and asked to see a certain item but decided not to buy, the salesperson involved would get mad and abused you orally. ‘You better not ask to see anything if you don’t intend to buy’, these were warnings from friends and relatives alike who had been there.

The Chinese in Hongkong are mostly Cantonese, while majority of the Chinese in the Philippines are from Fujian. The Fujian  people are hospitable and nice, while we consider the Cantonese as more patriotic and enterprising. Patriotism is good. Being enterprising is not bad either, but not to the extend of being too materialistic and rude. This opinion maybe regionalistic and bias; but honestly I think people from certain area tend to posses certain kind of characteristics, developed through long years of associations and practices. There is always some truth to it when the criticism has become widespread.

I went to HongKong for vacation several times. My Chinese brother Uy Chiong Bian lived there with his wife and children. My maternal aunt Josefina Sen too, worked and resided in Hongkong as a pharmacist for a long time. She retired as chief pharmacist at St. Mary or Queen Mary or St. Elizabeth Hospital (I don’t quite remember the exact name.)

The first time my husband Lucas and I visited HongKong was in 19- -, with his brother Dr. Domingo Tan and his wife Jackie from Virginia, USA, and our family friend Roberto Atienza and his wife Alma from Manila. We were three couples, all six of us. We stayed at the Holiday Inn, Kowloon side. We went sightseeing during the day, ate at the Jumbo floating restaurant, also ate at some popular food center places and yes, shopped at night.

From my own experience? Indeed, the Hongkongers were very very rude!!!
1. Filipinos like to do small talk. When Berto Atienza tried to do so, the salesperson from the shop rudely told him to take a walk. My husband heard the comment and was simply aghast at the rudeness of the shop keeper. This kind of comment would simply never happen in the Philippines.
2. When my husband Lucas was searching to buy an accessory camera lens from another store, somehow the salesperson inside the shop was showing him several items which he didn’t take fancy to. He asked to see another item from the display counter and the Hongkee salesman said.....” If you can not afford the cheap ones, more so you can’t afford this one.”  My husband was taken aback by such rude presumption. ChiongBian my brother heard it, he quickly tried to appease my husband by saying “If you like it, we can make bargain.” But Lucas was already very angry. He said, “No more! Even if I can afford it, I have totally lost interest to shop here.”

3. On another time and another trip, this time with my children Roy, Tom and Emil. Lucas and I brought the three kids on a vacation from China to HongKong. We brought them to Ocean Park to have fun. The place was great and the children were enjoying the rides tremendously. During lunch time, we took a break. Thankfully despite the crowd, we were able to find a table at the park for ourselves. I told Lucas to sit with the children while I go ordered some food. The line was long and of course I queued with the throng of people waiting in line. When it was my turn to put my order at the counter, all of a sudden the line was broken up. People came to my left and those behind me at my right were placing orders before me. But being a mother hen, knowing that my children were already hungry, I quickly defended myself. I said first in Mandarin “Wu sien” then folllowed it up in English “I am here first”. When the counter attendant heard me thus speak, he quickly turned and attended to me first. Tsk, tsk, tsk.....maybe they thought I was an ignorant Filipino nanny. Haha!

4. My auntie Josefina Sen was very kind and hospitable when she knew we were in HongKong. She treated us to a sumptuous buffet dinner at Parklane Hotel, which my three boys were completely at awe and delighted at the array of good gourmet. Aunt Josefina was very pleased with my kids, the next night she further brought us to a newly opened restaurant. She treated us like VIP. We were chauffeured in her Mercedes Benz. (She had two including a van!). Inside this newly opened restaurant, she ordered Peking duck and plenty of other dishes. But alas, Auntie had a fit of tantrum when the waiter did not pay heed to her repeated request. (I guess it is in our blood line that we become very fierce when mad. Hehe.) She scolded the waiter in Cantonese. She said she belonged to a group of people who go out often, eating at popular places in Hongkong and she will tell all her friends not to eat there. “Your restaurant is so new and you’re so arrogant already.” She said. The restaurant quickly changed our waiters and kept on apologizing to her the whole night through. After dinner, they even gave us freebies of fresh fruits and special tea. But auntie Josefina was so angry, she didn’t take a single bite, all through out the night.

5. Despite that, I still went to HongKong several times more. I brought my twin girls for their first out of the country vacation from China to HongKong. HongKong for me was a great place. It was nice and clean, the food was superb. But I will tell you frankly, I honestly don’t trust the Hongkees much. Even the concierge at the Ambassador Hotel where we were staying, was acting superior and insisting for us to take the cab when I was asking him for certain direction. Luckily a Filipino Chinese family man heard us, and told us how to take the subway. The young man said he was helping us because he hated the rude Hongkees much. Hahaha. Luckily my brother ChiongBian was very helpful. He was always available to bring us around the metropolis. He guided us through the train transit and all. My twins had a most wonderful time in Hongkong.

6. But my experience in Hongkong was getting better. The last time I went there with Lucas and my siblings, we had better experiences with the Hongkongers. There was even a young man who voluntarily helped us buy our train tickets. He looked at my husband and told Lucas, that he could avail of senior discount. Hurrah! Things have changed. The shop people where also more engaging and friendly to us that I was able to buy more things. Maybe they were getting much competitions from Singapore, Korea and Japan. We all thought.

But alas, with the recent demonstrations, riots and destructions of properties, I say the young Hongkongers are foolish, readily destroying their own place and future. The older generations had built up Hongkong to such prosperity. Why do the youngsters want the Americans instead?! Have they totally lost their sense of history and/or geography? You are a small part of China. You are attached to the mainland no matter what. You are not an island that can be segregated. What do the foreigners care? The tourists can always go somewhere else. And America now a days does not want more immigrants specially trouble makers. Such a waste of energy. Maybe the people should just learn to be more kind, than arrogant. And things can get better.........