Ged Carroll

Category: hong kong | 香港 | 홍콩 | 香港

哈囉 – here you’ll find posts related to Hong Kong. That includes the territory, the culture, business, creativity and history. I lived and travelled to Hong Kong a number of times, so sometimes the content can be quite random.

In addition, I have long loved Cantonese culture and cuisine, so these might make more appearances on this category. I am saddened by the decline in the film and music production sectors.

I tend to avoid discussing local politics, and the external influence of China’s interference in said politics beyond how it relates to business and consumer behaviour in its broadest context.

Often posts that appear in this category will appear in other categories as well. So if Apple Daily launched a new ad format that I thought was particularly notable that might appear in branding as well as Hong Kong.

If there are subjects that you think would fit with this category of the blog, feel free to let me know by leaving a comment in the ‘Get in touch’ section of this blog here.

  • Walk Walk Walk Home + other things

    Walk Walk Walk Home

    Tokyo based digital experiential agency teamLab came up with an interesting installation in the basement of GINZA 456. But the exhibition was live-streamed so that viewers from around the would could enjoy Walk Walk Walk Home. Walk Walk Walk Home was designed to provide a COVID-safe experience, that still fostered community.

    Consumers were invited to colour one of a range of characters and upload it. The characters that consumers submitted walked in real time on the YouTube Live Stream. When a character is touched, the character reacts, sometimes stopping temporarily interrupting Walk Walk Walk Home. When a new character walked out, the name of the town where the character was contributed from is shown. teamLab did Walk Walk Walk Home for Japanese telecoms provider KDDI. It runs until the end of the COVID-19 epidemic. More related content here.

    Anita Mui biopic

    Anita Mui was a giant in the world of Cantopop, she was often considered to be its Madonna. But the Madonna analogue doesn’t really do Anita Mui’s career justice. Given that most things have become political in Hong Kong; it seems like the right time to reflect on Hong Kong’s historic role at the centre Asian popular culture for much of the 20th century and the Anita Mui biopic sits at the centre of it. Mui kept performing up until the last prior to her dying of cancer. Judging by the trailer the CGI of Hong Kong up to the early 2000s is amazing. Mui remained at the top of her game from 1982 to 2003, when she died at the age of 40.

    Greater Bay Airlines

    Cathay Pacific has been bleeding like a stuck pig due to COVID. But that also means now is an ideal time to set up a new airline. Greater Bay Airlines looks to connect Hong Kong with other cities in China and some parts of the belt-and-road. It looks like it might be a discount airline judging by the planes. The have started with a fleet focused on Boeing 737s. What is obvious is that there hasn’t been much money spent on the GBA brand. It’s almost like non-branding, see for yourself. That sea green looks its a tint lighter than Cathay Pacific’s palette but otherwise the same.

    Matrix Resurrectons

    Since the entertainment industry has been riding on the success of the John Wick franchise, it made sense for the media to return to The Matrix. Matrix Resurrections is the fourth instalment of the series. It is hard to judge from the trailer, but it doesn’t seem to be a neat take-up from the third instalment.

    Rethinking Chinese politics

    This is a great discussion with the author of the book Rethinking Chinese Politics. In his book and the interview the author Joseph Fewsmith discusses the challenge of power transition in China. He doesn’t discuss the rumoured assassination attempt against Hu Jintao during a PLA Navy inspection visit to Shanghai. More information on the book here.

  • ABC + other things

    ABC logo redesign

    ABC the American network broadcast brand has had its logo redesigned. Like some of the best design in corporate American the logo owes its roots to designer Paul Rand back in 1962. It went colour when TV broadcasting did and went skeuomorphic web web 2.0 and early versions of iOS were in vogue.

    ABC-Logo-Redesign
    ABC logo redesign

    The design has gone flat again, very close to Rand’s original design with slight changes in the proportions of the letters. This will work for everything from station ID and watermarking to app logos. You can read more on the ABC logo redesign at Variety.

    Shang Chi

    Shang-Chi is a character that Marvel came up with with the kung fu craze started to kick off in the early 1970s. Originally his power was derived from his father being Fu Manchu.

    The Castle of Fu Manchu
    The Castle of Fu Manchu

    Dr Fu was invented as a character in the early 20th century as a kind of super villain in the mood of Marvel or James Bond films. He predated Marvel but appeared in the origin story in a Wold Newtonesque way. It tapped into stereotypes around yellow face portrayals of Chinese culture, eastern devilry and unemotional cruelty. Themes of orientals invading the west and white slavery came up in the books and films.

    Marvel have since had to rewrite the origin story considerably for Shang Chi as they want to sanitise the original racist back story. Dr Fu becomes Xu Wenwu. Marvel managed to get Hong Kong cinema’s equivalent of Cary Grant or George Clooney Tony Leung Chiu-wa aka ‘small Tony’ to play Xu.

    Despite all that work the Marvel film may not open in China at all. A straw poll of Asian friends found that the costumes felt ‘dated’ in comparison to local dramas and films of a martial arts fantasy or ‘wuxia’ style.

    The veteran Hong Kong actors outshone the ‘heroes’. The main hero was ‘ugly’ and looked like a young Xi Jingping.

    Iron rings are generally used for training in martial arts, in a similar way that a runner may run with ankle weights to build strength. There have been a few films where the rings became an offensive weapon notably Kung Fu Hustle, which got memed. (They are also used for fighting in the Return Of The 5 Deadly Venoms – you have to be a fan of cult kung fu films to be familiar with them. Iron rings appear as part of the training regime in Drunken Master & The 36th Chamber of Shaolin. )

    D.P.

    Netflix have had a ht on their hands with D.P. (Deserter Pursuit) – Korean soldiers tasked with tracking down deserters who have left the army during their conscription period. The series seems to have struck a nerve with the armed services who denied that the bullying shown in the show is tolerated any more.

    But the media has plenty of conscripts willing to admit that it has and was even worse in real life.

    Lady Dior bag

    The Lady Dior bag is an iconic design for Christian Dior. It appears year after year in their range. It was made famous by Princess Diana. Back then it was called the Chouchou. Confused yet? You can see the bag being made from lambskin leather by hand in this video.

    The bag is built around a last like a shoe, the last has a split in it, which I think is designed to aid its removal from the bag at the right time. More related content here.

  • Chinese institutions & more news

    Chinese institutions

    CSIS has a great talk that looks at the resilience of Chinese institutions. The CSIS is a US think tank better known as the Center for Strategic & International Studies. They held a talking on Rethinking Chinese Politics – in terms of having a better understanding of the dynamics and the resilience of the Chinese institutions involved. The recentralisation of power under Xi Jingping was seen to subvert Chinese institutions, but Jiang Zemin’s actions had a similar role in previous years.

    Interesting discussion on the resilience of Chinese institutions

    Consumer behaviour

    China’s Generation N: the young nationalists who have Beijing’s back | South China Morning Post – Nationalism has been on the rise, encouraged by the Communist Party and put to effective use by President Xi Jinping. Younger generations’ perceptions and expectations of their country differ from those of the past, offering the government support but also challenges – basically China might get screwed over by its own rhetoric and propaganda to its people. However it poses problems for western businesses that rely on the Chinese market

    State Media Calls on Hong Kong to Compensate For Tide of Emigration — Radio Free Asia – “There is a high proportion of professionals — 12 percent — among those emigrating,” the article said. “The Hong Kong government should pay close attention to the increase in the number of professionals emigrating, and set out a long-term response strategy,” it said. The article appeared particularly concerned over the loss of medical professionals from Hong Kong, suggesting the government focus on recruiting healthcare workers from mainland China and overseas. The exodus looks set to hit the healthcare sector hard, with the Hospital Authority (HA) reporting the loss of 4.6 percent of doctors and 6.5 percent of nurses in public hospitals – there is a similar impact in third level teaching as well

    Economics

    George Soros: Investors in Xi’s China face a rude awakening | Financial Times – George Soros on Xi Jingping. There isn’t anything in Soros argument that Xi Jingping doesn’t admit himself in this op-ed in Quishi – the CPC’s political theory journal Understanding the New Development Stage, Applying the New Development Philosophy, and Creating a New Development Dynamic

    Chinese media back diatribe calling for crackdown to be expanded | Financial Times – “The capital market will no longer become a paradise for capitalists to get rich overnight . . . the cultural market will no longer be a paradise for sissy stars and news and public opinion will no longer be in a position worshipping western culture,” – pretty much on point for Chinese state belief. There has been concerns that K-pop idol culture with its androgynous dressing stars would be ruining Chinese macho culture. This also fits into the dialogue about left behind women considered responsible for the decline in birth rate

    China to Cleanse Online Content That ‘Bad-Mouths’ Its Economy – Bloomberg 

    Finance

    Affirm soars 47% after partnering with Amazon to bring buy now, pay later service to the online retail giant | Markets Insider 

    Hong Kong

    SenseTime heads for IPO on Hong Kong exchange | Financial Times – SenseTime said it was subject to “complex and evolving” laws around data protection, including new draft regulations for cyber security reviews in China. “We cannot predict the impact of the draft measures, if any, at this stage,”

    Singapore

    PM Lee acknowledges work pass holders bringing in social practices and class distinctions that cause frictions – The Online Citizen Asia – Indian caste system exported

    Technology

    ARM China Seizes IP, Relaunches as an ‘Independent’ Company – ExtremeTech – It is not clear how much pressure was put on SoftBank to form the merger, but this looks like one of the most blatant examples of IP theft that we’ve seen. The Chinese arm of a company has gone rogue and refused to obey the ruling of its own board. The head of that company is essentially treating it as a personal fiefdom, and Chinese authorities do not appear to have taken meaningful action to reign in Mr. Wu. While ARM China does not currently have access to the ARMv9 instruction set or any additional ARM IP, it appears that the company will attempt to use previously transferred assets to bootstrap its own transformation into an “independent” company – yes, sounds about right. China waging war by other means, also splitting fits into China’s desire to self-reliant

    Apple CEO Tim Cook Expected To Retire After Completing One Last Product Category / Digital Information World – Tim Cook noted that, when asked, he would probably not be around for Apple in approximately the next ten years. And just like that, one of the most influential men in the world steps down, leaving an unpredictable future in his stead. However, 10 years is a long time, and Tim Cook seems to have an idea as far as establishing a legacy goes. – the hubris of John Sculley and the Newton comes to mind….

  • Buy now, pay later + other news

    Buy now, pay later

    Paidy considers listing as ‘buy now, pay later’ catches on in Japan | Financial Times – Japan is a microcosm of what’s happening in terms of buy now, pay later on the web. Japan is notable, because like Germany, historically it has been a heavy cash focused consumer payments market. Mobile payments were mainly used for daily expenses like commuter travel or shopping at the combini. Many consumer e-commerce sites now have Klarna involved. Even Amazon is getting in on the buy now, pay later theme:Amazon Enters the ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ Space Through Affirm – All of this looks like a consumer credit iceberg that might catch bankers et al by surprise. The buy now, pay later model itself isn’t new. Its payment by instalments model was used by catalogue businesses to furniture stores. It is lay away for more impulsive times.

    Business

    Strategising for Success in Winner-Take-All Industries | INSEAD Knowledge 

    Ethics

    Cantopop star Denise Ho flagged by law enforcement agencies: Sing Tao | The Standard – a few things are interesting which are further evidence of the maximalist interpretation of the Hong Kong National Security Law. Going after Ho is an indication that none of the pro-democracy movement will be tolerated, even as a Potemkin village type construct.

    Chinese Official Dismisses Wave of Emigration From Hong Kong — Radio Free Asia – “Neither Beijing nor Hong Kong officials are willing to admit that there is a crisis in Hong Kong,” Cheng said. “Hong Kong residents lack confidence in the future and can’t tolerate the current situation, so a considerable number of people are choosing to emigrate.” 

    “I think the central government must care about that, because it will affect how its policies in Hong Kong are perceived in the international community,” he said. Cheng, who has himself recently emigrated, said the feelings of the people of Hong Kong are no longer being taken into account by Beijing. – I honestly think the Xi administration doesn’t care

    Why are these state media artists disrespecting the CCP? – by Kevin Carrico – I have been hearing about this from other people as well. I am surprised Twitter is blue ticking them. YouTube and Twitter are building up bad reputations for enabling Chinese and Russian state directed propaganda

    Legal

    Hong Kong censorship law to check old films for national security breaches | Yahoo! Singapore News – guessing that this would rule out a lot of the old police and triad films from Infernal Affairs to Election and pretty much the whole of the John Woo back catalogue

    Luxury

    The new threat to China’s luxury boom: What to know | Vogue Business – Xi Jingping’s push to a less rich society

    Xi Jinping’s call for wealth redistribution threatens luxury groups’ China boom | Financial Times – A small group of ultra-wealthy people — Jefferies reckons they number about 110,000 and each spend more than €100,000 a year on fashion and jewellery — account for almost a quarter of luxury sales to Chinese consumers

    Chinese gold jewellery sales shine amid demand for traditional designs and national pride among young consumers | South China Morning Post – modern simplicity is out and tradition is in when it comes to jewellery. The idea of guo chao seems to be moving into the luxury sector with an interest in ‘heritage gold’ jewellery designs

    Media

    Chinese government fines surrogacy controversy actress Zheng Shuang US$46.1 million for tax evasion | South China Morning Post – is it me or can anyone else understand how these stars are pulling down such huge sums? No explanation as China’s billionaire actress Zhao Wei blacklisted from Chinese internet | South China Morning Post 

    Philippines

    Accused of harassment, Gigil co-founder files libel complaint | Advertising | Campaign Asia – the Philippines might have its #metoo moment thanks to Deng Teng

    Retailing

    Urban Outfitters Is Launching an Online Thrift Store This Fall | Business Insider

    Security

    From Pearl to Pegasus: Bahraini Government Hacks Activists with NSO Group Zero-Click iPhone Exploits – The Citizen Lab – these are bought in services from the likes of NSO rather than homegrown hacking skills

    Tailoring Deterrence for China in Space | RAND 

    Chinese state hackers: Huawei data centre built to spy on PNG 

    Spies for Hire: China’s New Breed of Hackers Blends Espionage and Entrepreneurship – The New York Times 

    Beijing drafts rules to rein in the algorithms used by Big Tech to push videos and popular apps in widespread crackdown | South China Morning Post – new rules will ‘regulate algorithm-empowered recommendation activities on the internet’ – this is an interesting development and will likely impact TikTok overseas as well

    Technology

    Google confirms it’s pulling the plug on Streams, its UK clinician support app | TechCrunch – interesting that Google Streams is being abandoned now. Worthwhile reading this essay on Google’s messaging apps as well: A decade and a half of instability: The history of Google messaging apps | Ars Technica – both seem to be part of endemic behaviour at the heart of the Googleplex

    Data Stolen in Microsoft Exchange Hack May Have Helped Feed China’s AI Project : NPR

  • Video arcade and other things

    Vintage video arcade

    Found footage shot of a hvideo arcade in Tokyo, Japan. The footage was apparently filmed in June 1979. A few things that surprised me about the video arcade:

    • I didn’t realise how nostalgic I would feel for the vintage Space Invaders cabinet design. I had played one a number of times but wasn’t any good at it
    • I was surprised to see English language on the screens rather than Japanese. Usually games had to get translated into English for use outside Japan
    • The table service to table top games was really interesting. I remember seeing a few of those glass table cabinets in pubs and motorway services cafes (usually not plugged in). The use case in Tokyo was much more social than arcade designs became with stand up cabinets
    • The 1960s era music playing in the background, I was expecting more current for the time western and Japanese pop
    https://youtu.be/-AtA4SJicsE

    Liam ‘Aidyn’ Fitzpatrick

    I knew Liam from my time in Hong Kong. He’s a journalist, a muso and so much more. He did an interview and picked a playlist on the Beats & Peaces podcast hosted by Jeanette Slack for Clockenflap. Think of it as a cooler version of Desert Island Discs.

    Liam shares his love of post-punk music and the kind of material that I imagine would have been on the turntable at Q magazine. His love of Japan might seem odd, given the discussions around cultural appropriation now, but I think that his experience has never been more important. Jeanette and Liam also get on tear on the importance of ambience in restaurants and why music programming in restaurants is so important. You can listen to the podcast here.

    Skateboarding

    Nike has been having a great Olympics kitting out some of the skateboarding gold medals. Skating has featured prominently in advertisements targeting women to do sports.

    Wieden + Kennedy have put together an advert that evokes vintage Disney with its style. The descriptor of ‘New Fairies’ made me think of the content by Korean professional long boarder Ko Hyjoo.

    Tangerine Dream documentary

    There is Tangerine Dream documentary to support the Tangerine Dream Zeitraffer exhibition at the Barbican Music Library.