Hong Kong, March 19, 1992

香港深井麗都花园 1992年3月19日

License Plates & Feng Shui

License plates [for cars] in Hong Kong come in two varieties: letters + numbers (the usual kind) or numbers only. The second type are sold at auction. Some numbers are far more popular than others. The trouble is that the Cantonese word for 4 四 "sei" (mid level tone) is quite similar to 死 (death).  This is also true in Mandarin.  This is in additition to Chinese notions of Feng Shui (Wind and Water), basically a complex form of superstition.

The combination of Western and Chinese superstition leads to the omission  of both 13 and 14 [certainly dead] from floor numbers in some (not all) buildings. The Nan Fung Centre (where I work) has Floor 15 one level above Floor 12, but served by different banks of elevators so that 12 and 15 don't appear on the same control panel making it obvious.  On the other hand, Lido Garden where I live [5 36-storey buildings] doesn't do that.

Hong Kong, March 18, 1992

香港深井麗都花园 1992年3月18日

Picked up my new tailored suit today. A tailored suit is a first for me.

Shopping in Hong Kong

HK has frequently been promoted as a shopping paradise.  From certain points of view, this perception is accurate. For sample in Sham Shui Po [part of Kowloon], there is something called the Golden Computer Centre with many computer stores in 1 building [ in the basement of a housing estate]. In another district in kowloon called Mong Kok (旺角), the most densely populated area on Earth, there are countless shoe, camera, jewelry & audio stores. While some of them are a mite unscrupulous, it certainly qualifies as a mecca for such items.

Many kinds of food are quite cheap here.  Most of it comes from China or California. Some items noticeably more expensive than in the US or Canada are: apples, apple juice, fresh milke (984ml milk costs HK $16.80 or about US$2). Imported UHT (ultra-high temperature) milk from New Zealand costs half that. [Note in 2009, I think this is wrong, it costs more].  This reflects the smaller importance of milk here [Hong Kong]  and milk's scarcity in China.

[Note from 2009: recently milk's profile was rising in China prior to the recent melamine poisoning scandal]

President de Klerk got his "yes" vote but I'm not hopeful about South Africa's future

[Note from 2009: fortunately I was wrong about that]

More on shopping

For quality things, however, you can expect to pay as much or more than [you would pay] elsewhere.

Hong Kong, March 17, 1992

香港深井麗都花园 1992年3月17日

The Canon Wittenbach

On sunday, I visited St Andrew's Anglican church in Kowloon [Note: this church is on Nathan Road, near the tourist district].  According to a church leaflet:

"During the Japanese occupation of World War 2, St Andrew's was put to a different use. The Vicar, the Rev (now Canon) Wittenbach, was interned during the war.  

This is all I've been able to discover so far about Canon Wittenbach. I'd like to know more.

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OK With the Internet now in 2009 we have a bit more information about Canon Wittenbach.

For instance at http://www.ttc.edu.sg/csca/rart_doc/ang/sing/wittenbach1953.htm

we find 

Harry August Wittenbach was Church Missionary Society's East Asia Secretary from 1947 to 1957, and their Asia Secretary from 1957 to 1961. His East Asia tour to Nippon SKK (Anglican Church in Japan), the newly reconstituted Diocese of Hong Kong and Macao, and finally to the Diocese of Singapore from 1953 to 1954 sought to assess how the churches fared in the new socio-political situation following the Communist take-over in China. Wittenbach formerly worked as a CMS missionary in South China, and was interned in the prisoner-of-war camp, Hong Kong during the Japanese Occupation. In 1947 he succeeded Gurney Barclay to become CMS's East Asia Secretary.

Also, I found out that the St Andrew's building was made into a Japanese Buddhist temple during the war.