Lesley in Hong Kong

We are all connected?

In my down-to-earth-women-from-the-north way, I go about my day to day, week to week, month to month 'stuff' that needs doing in a straightforward manner.  I believe that people who make a drama about the mundane are just attention seekers in an attempt to make their lives appear a little bit more interesting than yours (or mine).

And in my straight forward, let's call a spade a spade northerness, I find wild and weird talk of spirituality, meditation, mindfulness a tricky topic.  Although if I was assessed I would probably get a 'satisfactory progress' rather than a 'must try harder' on my report card these days.  

The past merely exists in our imagination.  We only have the now.  The future has not happened yet and so there is no need to worry about it.  And if you don't like the now then it will soon be in the past anyway. 

As much as this notion can take the pressure off my tendency to worry about the future, I do find it a flippant way to live life because it infers that no planning for the future is necessary and of course we all need to plan ahead to some extent. We'd run out milk too often for that to be fun.  A little forward planning is surely necessary?  I mean, insurance men would be out of a job wouldn't they?

I have indulged in meditation recently.  I have Ommmed and Hummmmed and thought about my third eye while concentrating on a candle flame.  I am at peace during these times but now I'm beginning to think that such indulgence cannot be of any benefit unless the world joins in. 

It seems that the rest of the world is not cooperating in such Ommmmness or Zenness and is actually on a mission to cause me complications to add  drama to my life which I simply do not want!

My solution is that all employees of NOW TV all sit down and think about just what they are doing to help the mental health of Hong Kong.  I know the answer is zilch.  In fact I strongly suspect that they go out of their way to cause mental health issues with unsuspecting customers by promising outrageous things like a faster service and interesting channels.  They could make a start by having staff who answer the phone who can actually answer questions and staff who come to my house who actually have solutions to problems instead of finding my situation of paying more money for an even worse service funny and openly laughing.

A further solution is to extend Zenness to the Government Motor Vehicle Inspection Centres and help them to understand that an appointment three weeks after my road tax runs out is not in the spirit of calmness or mindfulness and is just plain inefficiency on their part.  I feel sure that a little bit of candle staring will help them to bring my appointment forward enabling me to drive my car again.

Then there is BUPA Claims Department.  I feel certain that a little bit of humming in a darkened room with their eyes closed will really assist them is assessing my recent claim.  After such a calming session they will then fully understand that my aged doctor didn't mean to write Groft (with a G)  and that I am the person he saw that day and so process my claim.  They will stop being pernickety, pedantic and downright bloody awkward.   Unless of course there is a Lesley Groft who lives quite nearby and by pure coincidence has the same BUPA Membership number as me, lives at the same address and consulted the same doctor on the same day with the same symptoms?

An extra special session of mindfulness needs to be arranged for my Landlord who, after being asked to think about his inner critical voice, will be moved to withdraw his latest random 20% rent increase and to look at the level of inflation in Hong Kong (on average 4.58%).  In his new serene brain he will then also arrange to have any repairs done with a huge grateful smile on his face given that I am such an excellent tenant.

 

Corrupt Leaders of the world, and C.Y. Leung.

The new Chief Executive of Hong Kong, C.Y. Leung, is under scrutiny by the Hong Kong media.  They are like a dog with a bone constantly referring to his questionable integrity and honesty. 

So let's just have a look at how bad other world leaders have been and then let's compare C.Y. Leung's alledged 'illegal activity'

 Ferdinand Marcos - President of the Philippines from 1972 to 1986 embezzled $10 billion dollars for his own personal use and a few pairs of shoes for his lovely wife.

Slobodan Milosevic  - President of Yugoslavia/Serbia from 1989 to 2000 embezzled $1 billion and found guilty of crimes against humanity involving torture, murder and medieval savagery against his people.

Jean-Claude Duvalier (Baby Doc) - President of Haiti from 1971 to 1986 embezzled $800 billion, violated human rights related to disappearances and abuse of his people.

Richard Nixon - President of USA from 1969 to 1974 forced to resign from office after Watergate scandal revealed his involvement in a cover-up which he had initially vehemently denied.

Bill Clinton - President of USA from 1993 to 2001 world wide humiliation for himself, his lover and his family as a consequence of sexual improprieties in the White House Office involving a cigar and Monica Lewinsky.  The world's conservative media had a field day in lambasting him once he stopped denying it and said "Yeh I did it!"  Doh!

Now here is the shocking heinous crime of Hong Kong Chief Executive C.Y. Leung ...

Having an office fitted with some extra partitions and, brace yourself, having an extension built on his luxury home. Illegal Structures - Lesley's blog

I know that your world is rocked by this horrible and vicious act committed by Mr Leung and I genuinely hope you are not traumatised by my revealing the extent of his corruption. 

Just stop focusing on this pathetic accusation, no one cares.

Letter to the Transport Department HK - an ode.

Dear Transport Department,

The continuing saga of my change of address

When I wrote you a letter informing you of my change of address you kindly replied immediately to my new address returning to me my used envelope and stamp, my original letter plus a pre printed letter from you asking me to provide proof of my new address by sending you copies of a recent utility bill so that you could confirm I had, in fact, changed my address.

I obliged immediately and copied a recent phone bill which I put in a new envelope and addressed to you, put my first letter in the new envelope together with your letter asking for a photocopy of said bill, the photocopy bill and then posted it to you.

Upon receipt of the letter, your letter and the requested photocopy bill showing my new address, you very kindly phoned me to tell me that I had failed to include a photocopy of my HK ID Card so could I either fax a photocopy of the HK ID card to you (because you can't receive emails) or go to the Transport Department and produce the HK ID Card so that you could verify that I am the person I say I am and that I have in fact changed my address.

After a little bit of negotiation we decided between us that I would post a photocopy of my HK ID Card to you so you informed me that you would post the original letter I sent to you informing you of my change of address, the letter you sent to me at my new address asking for the copy utility bill plus another letter asking me to send a photocopy of my HK ID Card to you so that you could verfy my new address.

I received in the post this very morning a fairly bulky letter from you, at my new address, returning my original letter, you letter to me asking for a utility bill, my photocopy of a utility bill, your letter to me asking for a copy HK ID plus my used envelope with attached used stamp duly stapled to the whole pile of papers.

I have today sent you a (to the tune of '12 days of Christmas' now)  copy of my HK ID Card, your letter asking me to send my HK ID Card, my copy of my utility bill addressed to me at my new address, your letter to me at my new address asking for a copy bill and my first letter to you informing you of my new address.

I am now wondering if the information I have sent you will surfice or will you need a photocopy of my arse before you are satisfied.

Regards

Lesley in Hong Kong

 

Hidden Extras - Hong Kong Property 'haunted house'

25 Cromwell Street, Gloucester  - demolished

Seriel Killer's Homes are not desirable

If there is, say, a man arrested and subsequently charged with murdering at least 11 women over a number of years we are able to read about such a heinous crime in the newspapers.  As was the case of Fred West and his wife Rosemary.  Biography of West Their house, pictured above, was the scene of the murders and was demolished in an effort to rid the neighbourhood of the legacy of such an evil couple.  The not so publicised reason for the demolition was to prevent the property prices being negatively effected in the area.  I doubt that any estate agent's particulars would mention the fact that Cromwell Street was once the home of a serial killer?   That isn't what any one wants from a des res.

Independent 1995

Buying and Selling uk/hk

Having dipped my toe into the Hong Kong property market quite recently I am becoming familiar with the system of buying and selling compared with the system in the UK.  It is quite different, a little bit more scary - no actually much more scary. 

Exchange of Contracts

In the UK a house can be on the market with an agent and if someone wants to put an offer in then the vendor can accept that offer.  Both parties then approach their solicitor to begin the legal conveyancing process.  No one is actually legally obliged to complete the purchase ie. pay for it, until exchange of contracts takes place.  The exchange may not take place for months and so at any time either party can withdraw from the agreed sale or purchase.  This can be disappointing and frustrating but nothing can be done when this happens. 

In Hong Kong once an offer has been accepted the purchaser must immediately stump up a deposit of 5% of the agreed price and two weeks later another 5% must be paid when an official Assignment is signed with an agreed date for the completion to take place and also when the rest of the money is handed over.

If either party decides not to continue with the sale or the purchase the deposit is forfeited by the purchasers and they are legally bound to pay the double deposit to the vendor.  If the vendor decides not to sell they must return the deposit plus the same amount again to the potential purchaser as compensation for withdrawing from the agreement.   See - scary isn't it?

Valuation

Another aspect which is different, is the valuation of property.  In the UK an Estate Agent will come and have a look at your property, tape measure in hand, and will poke about in your roof space, garage and bathrooms tutting and humming as he values your pride and joy, your home sweet home, your castle.   Once a valuation price has been established it will go on the market for that price.  If someone then wants a mortgage to purchase the property a qualified representative of the bank or building society will call around with a bigger tape measure and do more tutting and perhaps humphing at damp proof courses and roof insulation thicknesses.  Only after that quite thorough inspection will you be offered money to make the purchase.

Virtual Valuation

In Hong Kong the valuation of a property is done either online or over the phone.  No one from the Estate Agency or the Bank will actually view the property or even care what state it is in but will come up with a price.  The valuations are done based on the square footage and sales of similar properties in the area.  Not really that skillful or accurate in my opinion.  So if you spend pots of cash on that lovely new bathroom with Italian fittings it means bugger all and will have little impact on the bank valuation. 

Death List

There is also one other issue I have just become aware of which does effect the valuation of property in Hong Kong and that is the 'haunted house', haunted meaning if any one has ever died in the property. 

Unlucky Number

As we all know the Chinese are very superstitious and any mention of the word death or dead or even just a word that sounds a bit like it ( the number 4 or 14 for instance) must never be uttered.  So there will be no house number 4 or 14 in a street, there will be no tower number 4 or 14 in a block of high rise buildings and no 4 or 14 apartment on floor 4 or 14.  

 

As well as that there is a published list of so called 'haunted houses' so that potential buyers can see if anyone ever died in the place they are considering buying.  If someone did die then it will mean the valuation is lower than the surrounding properties. 

Here is the link to the 'Haunted House' list Check this before making an offer

It is depressing reading and there are far too many 'jumpers' who committed suicide.  It is a fact that the preferred method of suicide in Hong Kong is either burning charcoal in an enclosed room so the fumes kill, or jumping from a high building and there are a lot of tall buildings in these parts.

Unlike the West's house, which has now disappeared from the street, it is not possible to demolish an apartment in a huge tower block so what happens to these 'haunted houses'?  Do people buy them at a lower prices and live happily ever after or do they avoid them and they remain empty for years...

 

 

Oprah Winfrey changed my life - How I decluttered my life.

Seriously folks, its true.  It all happened about ten years ago.  I was watching Oprah one afternoon and it featured a woman who went to people's houses and decluttered their lives by removing the things they were keeping for no good reason.  This included clothes, household objects, worn out furniture, make-up and even medicines.  It was a light bulb moment for me and as I was, yet again, just about to move house it meant that I took everything to heart (actually I made notes during the programme).  Most important of all is the fact that we only wear 20% of our clothes 80% of the time - so why have you got your wardrobes and drawers full of stuff you never wear?

A quote which I keep in mind at all times by William Morris 1834-1896 is "Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful" and quite recently I read a short article by Paul Coelho who, after years of collecting books for his personal library decided that it was nothing but a selfish act to hoard so many in one place where they would never be read.  He subsequently began donating them to his local library, charity shops and leaving them in coffee shops to be read by who ever found them there.  Books are meant to be read, not left on shelves for years. All of the above philosophy makes perfect sense to me and I have been under the impression that this is how I live. 

Last week I had to travel to my house in England which I packed up six years ago.  The house is to be sold and the grand plan of keeping very useful and beautiful things in boxes in the spare room until we return has crashed.  My job was to clear that room. I found that my philosophy was a complete shambles of inconsistencies and untruths. 

The boxes were full of useless clutter.  What was I thinking all those years ago?

So no longer could I continue keeping unuseful and ugly things in boxes wrapped in newspaper dated 1988.  No longer could I have any need at all for 4 large boxes of very old and worn books.  That record deck and video player were neither use nor ornament and why the heck were they packed away so carefully?

I spent four days solid sorting through and unpacking a pile of crap and wondering why on earth it had been there for six or more years.  In fact some of it had been packed to move to that house in 1988 and never made it out of their box back then.  After assessing the situation my first plan of attack was to order a skip which I filled very quickly.  The rest of the previously believed precious items were given to various charity shops in Holmfirth or sold or given away.  I whittled the prize possessions down to fill 3 tea chests which are on their way to Hong Kong and the majority of those items are photographs featuring me as a teenager, our wedding day,our baby photographs and pictures of our various travels abroad before we landed in Hong Kong, which I have longed to have with me for many years.  That made me very happy although they haven't arrived yet.

I do have one large black cloud hanging over me though.  Quite sensibly I gave away our record collection of LPs and 45rpms.  We have not had access to a record deck for at least ten years and after trawling various Internet sites to see if they could be sold, the general consensus was that old vinyls are only worth anything if they are in unused condition. If you played them, took them to parties, lent them to your mates, stood your coffee cup on the cover or wrote your name on them they are rendered worthless.  But it was hard parting with them.

Flicking through the stack and reading labels was heartbreaking because they brought back memories and because they were destined for the charity shop.  David Bowie, Starman.  The Beatles, Hey Jude.  Herman's Hermits, Something is Happening and the all time classic Black Lace, Agadoo!  Ok not everyone can be totally cool all the time. 

So I kept 10 LPs, some old Faces and Rod Stewart stuff and some reggae albums that I think my son might play one day.  The 45rpms I kept are:-

Land of a 1,000 Dances - Wilson Pickett on the Atlantic label.

20th Century Boy - T-Rex

Sittin' on the Dock of Bay - Otis Redding on the Stax label

I'm on my Way - Dean Parrish (which I am told is a valuable Northern Soul classic!)

What would you keep?