HUMAN NATURE

The Government's decision to give every PR in Hong Kong $6,000 has opened up a huge can of worms, the gory details we read almost daily in the media.  It is a solemn, albeit sometimes amusing, sideshow of human nature. We are human beings, are we not, so displaying our nature comes with the territory, right?  Damn right! 

We hear a mixed bag of responses such as; .. 'I will definitely spend it, we are supposed to, for the sake of the economy, right' .. 'I will save it for rainy days, since I never know how much longer I can keep my job given the dire state of the economy' .. 'I will buy that ring my husband refused me' .. 'This can contribute to my savings for the wedding' .. 'It comes just in time for the opening of a new school term since books, stationery, uniform are such a huge expense, we have 3 kids' .. 'At 80 of course I want the $ now, how do I know if I am still alive if I wait' ....... the list is endless, and the voices are representative of the Hong Kong matrix, each and everyone of them contributed to the success of this town.

Then again we have those who emigrated, the born again 'foreign citizens' whom our Motherland does not recognize, who flooded the phone lines with enquiries on entitlement, who do not want to be 'left out' which to a Hong Kong Belonger is the worst case scenario.  Having disowned our little island from the 1967 riots, the 1984 signing, the pre-1997 tremors etc without ever looking back, some would even return, for the first time after literally decades, to stake their claims. How the economics work is simply baffling to me!  One spends $6,000+ on airfare, sitting upright in Y-class (I guess C-class seems foolish here) just so one can renew one's HKID and then collect $6,000?  Hello?

The 'Oscar of Creative Justification' has to go to, sadly, the following ex-Hong Kong Belonger, now a proud naturalized citizen from nether-nether land.  I quote, in verbatim ' .... the only reason I want to come back is not about the $, it is to prove the HKSAR Government is stupid, to allow me to renew my HKID after 20 years of absence (a more appropriate description here is .... arrogant and singularly unjustifiable aggressive indifference) and then let me collect the $ ... they are just stupid, and I now have proof!'  We were at the same lunch table when this proclamation was made, I was glad I did not eat much dim-sum lest my sudden puking could have been embarrassing. 

Seriously, can you imagine?  Is this the best Hong Kong can produce, is this human nature at large or is it  just a pitiful statement from an even more pitiful individual?  I continue to be amazed!