New HK movie 'Dream Home'

This looks interesting and kind of different to the usual Hong Kong movie. Stars Josie Ho and Eason Chan:

Side by Side

Being a BBC is a bit like inhabiting two worlds: The Western, British world and the Chinese world. This can be taken literally if you have spent a lot of time in both the UK and Hong Kong. So I wondered if it would be interesting to pair up some familiar, everyday things from both worlds and show them side by side - a sort of pictorial description of the world through BBC eyes.

This isn't meant to show that one side is better than the other or anything; It's just to try and show the 'two worlds' that we become familiar with as BBCs.

What do you think of the pairings? Accurate or off the mark?

(If it isn't obvious, the left side is always UK and the right side HK)











More later... :-)

Photo credits: Priceinspector.co.uk, dlade, rfeldman11, thesocialistway, dailymail, hongkonghustle.com, kellynwrites.com, paperin.org, uk.gamespot.com, webs-of-significance, absolutginger, coinnetwork.ning.com, travlang.com

Introducing bbc-Youtubers, MissYau and bubbiosity!

Asian American youtubers have already gained a degree of fame and notoriety (see thewinekone and Peter Chao)

So it's great to see some bbcs getting in on the act with their own distinctive Youtube channels - and very good they are too. Check out the sample vid from MissYau (aka Garbo from Swansea) below and go to her Youtube channel here.



Keep it up MissYau! Respect! :)

And from Northern Ireland we have a Triad-based epic from bubbiosity who seems to be playing at least three roles here:



You'll find the multi-talented Bubbi's channel right here.

Enjoy!

Communism has never been so funky

Courtesy of Youtube...

Strange, old song, 'Chinatown, My Chinatown'

You might have heard this odd little song on the video game 'Mafia'. It actually dates from 1910 and is a jazz interpretation of the 'exotic Orient' done by the popular songwriters of the day William Jerome and Jean Schwartz. It ends with the immortal lyrics.. "wing, wong". Erm, yes, classic.



Related: Wikipedia

Hong Kong tourists caught up in Manila hostage incident

Truly awful news; A tour group including 22 Hong Kong citizens was caught up in an hostage drama in Manila. Tragically 7 people have been confirmed dead in the ensuing shoot-out. No information as yet on whether the Hong Kong tourists were amongst the casualties.

Story: Evening Standard

UPDATE: Video of the incident shows what must be one of the most incompetent police operations of recent times. It is being reported that officers took 45 mins to break their way into the bus after the first shots were heard.

Story: Hong Kong Standard

Miniature Hong Kong

Found this nice video online that shows typical views of Hong Kong but with a special camera effect that makes everything looks like it's a miniature toy set. Have a look:

Little Big City - Hong Kong Tilt Shift from Fershad Irani on Vimeo.

Large protests over attempt to 'push aside' Cantonese

Photos: China Droll

There have been reports that thousands of people in the Cantonese-speaking southern Chinese city of Guangzhou staged a peaceful protest when the government announced it would switch most local television programming to Mandarin, the official national language of China.

Beijing has promoted Mandarin for decades to unite a nation with thousands of dialects and numerous minority languages.

Cantonese is still widely spoken in the booming southern province of Guangdong, thanks in part to the spillover influence of Hong Kong's wildly successful and racy vernacular pop culture, but some people fear for its future.

Chinese newspapers and Internet sites have reported on companies where employees are fined for speaking Cantonese at work, prompting anger.

"I support Cantonese. If we don't speak it, we are shaming our ancestors," wrote "Bright Star" on the popular Chinese internet portal Sina.com.

I have to say, even as a rubbish Canto speaker living in England, I feel quite proud that people are willing to stand up for our language like this.

Language preservation is a contentious issue; The Communist party and its supporters see language adoption as an important tool in promoting homogeneity and unity in China. But for those whose native dialect is not Mandarin, language is a vital part of their identity and heritage.

How can China protect and - dare I say - promote local diversity in language without conflicting with its goal of homogeneity? Is that even possible?

Source: Reuters via SkyscraperCity

Related: The Changing Sound of Chinatown