Hong Kong – Side B

“Hong Kong’s a really transient city,” my cousin Leo said as we trudged up the slopes of ultra hip Lan Kwai Fong.

A successful investor, money-multiplier type fellow, Leo’s one of Hong Kong’s many expats who’s come to reap the rewards of this financial hub, which seems to move at warp speed 24/7. He lives on MacDonnell Road. Travels the region. Holds conference calls at night in his condo.

“Nothing stays the same for long. They’re always moving with the times,” he said.

This conversation took place about a year ago - June 2006 if I remember correctly. What he said still holds true. I vouched for it last year. Still do today.

But this year’s visit is different. I learn that there is a flipside to one of Asia’s wealthiest cities.

Today, I’m off the bustling island. We get off the MTR at Kwai Fong and head to an unglamorous mall (Kwai Chung or something like that).

Here, there are no expats, no hotshot bankers and no designer boutiques.

This is where middle class Hong Kong shops. A shop owner hawks his T-shirts in the mall, just a few feet away from a crowd gathering in front of a screen bearing the Hang Seng reports.

My wife and her mum walk into a 10-foot wide shop and rummage around for shoes. I quickly walk away before I collapse with boredom.

Just around the corner from the shop, out of nowhere, is a row of restaurants. Here is where I see the locals who slog to keep up with the rising costs of living: old men making cheap noodles, middle-aged women eating the cheap noodles, young men in cheap suits and cheap briefcases waiting for their lucky break, and retired folk who could be just seeking refuge from the sweltering heat of their 300-sq-ft apartments.

It also seems like it is here that the dregs of humanity come out and play.

A man in singlet and tattoo sits on a stool and looks around – as if keeping watch on his domain. Another overtakes me from behind, talking on his cellular and spitting out profanities. It was startling and it made me realize how little people in Hong Kong swore.

A rather effeminate old man wearing a tight turquoise t-shirt and pink boxers walks past – holding hands with his grandson (I pray and hope and pray it’s his grandson.)

Today, I saw the human side of Hong Kong. Beyond its world-renowned skyline – where buildings like The Center, The Bank of China Tower and the rest paint us images of businessmen and power women – are millions of others like you and me. Chasing after their own elusive dreams. Working regular jobs to eke out a regular subsistence.

Welcome to Side B of ultra modern Hong Kong.