A beam of light to fall on the wall of the Law Uk Folk Museum in Chai Wan, Hong Kong. The museum is a restored Hakka home. The 120 square metre dwelling is modest: Featuring a drying room, workshop, dining room, and lofted bedrooms.

The Hakka people, from Guangdong Province, China, moved to the Chai Wan area during the 18th century. They cleared the land and farmed. The last of the families moved away during the 1960s. The Hong Kong government decided to save the last Hakka home in the 1970s and opened it as a musuem in 1990.

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red Ravine is helping out with a contest! Put on your writing caps and go to town.

Chaucer calls it the worst sin there is. ENVY.

Filmmaker and journalist Barbara Rick calls it a hard, rotten knot of a word. Sinister. Secret.

Her film company, Out of The Blue Films, Inc., is making a film about ENVY. Seeking the best minds in the world on the subject to help. And they want you. Your essays, short stories, poems, haiku, watercolors, oils, collages, drawings, photographs, music.

One of you will win a prize: an Amazon Kindle, the wireless reading device that holds in its memory books so that you can read anywhere, anytime. Any and all entries could end up in the groundbreaking and revolutionary documentary about ENVY.

What do you have on ENVY? You’ve got until August 15 to share.

Go to these links on red Ravine for more information:

Cracking Envy (Or How I Learned To Stop Romancing A Deadly Sin)
Call For Entries!!! – Out of The Blue Films “ENVY Contest” at red Ravine

Behind the outer security door of a Mongkok, Hong Kong apartment. Hong Kong and China have a low crime rate for major, violent offenses. Less serious crimes: B&Es, theft, and pick-pocketing, are such a concern that most windows are covered by bars, and most doors have an outer, vault-like shield.

Even in the small village of 200 people, my in-laws lock up everything if they are leaving, no matter the distance.

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Many people think of Hong Kong as a bustling financial center, one of the Asian tigers. The small SAR is also a hub of international shipping. Hong Kong imports most of its goods as it has little in the way of raw materials. It also re-exports materials from mainland China and other Asian nations.

The city is one of glass sky scrapers and back-street markets, of big money and age-old traditions. A stark contrast, black and white, thanks to  Hong Kong’s colonial heritage.

While the city is a contrasted marvel, the harbour, full of dredgers and container ships, is not nearly as picturesque.

There’s a different kind of shopping on Hong Kong Island. To most tourists, shopping in Hong Kong is about big designer names: Gucci, Prada, or Chanel. Or tailored suits, copy watches, and cheap electronics. There’s another dimension to Hong Kong shopping: The alleys of Central District.

Midday shopping in the dark, at the Central Market on Hong Kong Island.

Even at midday it is dark in the alleys. Walking through the twisted, canvas-covered passages is akin to exploring a network of caverns. The stalls are a riot of color: Fresh meat and fish, vegetables, and medicinal herbs via for attention. Hawkers call out in Cantonese, and shoulders brush as locals do their shopping in the claustrophobic byways.

A stall owner calls to a neighbouring stall. Central Market on Hong Kong Island is not a quiet place.

The Central Street Market encompasses the areas of Graham Street, Peel Street, and Gage Street, and currently has 130 licensed stalls. The market dates to 1841, it was originally called Middle Bazaar. The area is currently slated for redevelopment, with parts of the market area slated for destruction.

Shopping for clothes in Central Market, Hong Kong Island.

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The Battle of Hong Kong was lost before it started. The politicians knew it, the generals knew it, and the officers and soldiers knew it. That didn’t stop Company Sergeant Major John Robert Osborn from giving his life for his comrades.

The statue of Company Sergeant Major John Robert Osborn in Hong Kong Park

The Allied forces valiantly resisted the Japanese during the Battle of Hong Kong: 14,000 British, Canadian, Indian, and Hong Kong soldiers. On December 8, 1941, 52,000 Japanese soldiers invaded Hong Kong’s New Territories. The Canadian troops: The Winnipeg Grenadiers, and The Royal Rifles of Canada, had only been in Hong Kong six weeks, and lacked experience and equipment.

The Allied forces withdrew to Hong Kong Island. On December 17, with two requests for surrender ignored, the Japanese assaulted the island, splitting the allied forces in two.

The Winnipeg Grenadiers fought at the Wong Nai Chung Gap. Company Sergeant Major John Robert Osborn, a Canadian and veteran of the First World War,  and his men captured a hill from the Japanese but withdrew after reinforcements arrived. Osborn covered the retreat of those in his charge. In a new position, they came under renewed attack.

Company Sergeant Major Osborn’s citation for bravery, published in the The London Gazette, in April 1946 reads:

During the afternoon the company was cut off from the battalion and completely surrounded by the enemy, who were able to approach to within grenade throwing distance of the slight depression which the company was holding. Several enemy grenades were thrown which Company Sergeant-Major Osborn picked up and threw back. The enemy threw a grenade which landed in a position where it was impossible to pick it up and return it in time. Shouting a warning to his comrades this gallant Warrant Officer threw himself on the grenade which exploded, killing him instantly. His self-sacrifice undoubtedly saved the lives of many others.
Company Sergeant-Major Osborn was an inspiring example to all throughout the defence which he assisted so magnificently in maintaining against an overwhelming enemy force for over eight and a half hours, and in his death he displayed the highest quality of heroism and self-sacrifice.

Company Sergeant-Major Osborn was awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest military award in the British Commonwealth. It was the only VC awarded during the battle of Hong Kong, and Canada’s first of the war. Osborn’s body was never recovered. A statute of Osborn (above) graces Hong Kong Park, a former British garrison. There is also a marker in the area where he died.

The Battle of Hong Kong was over less than a week after Sergeant-Major Osborn’s death. It was Christmas Day when the Colonial Governor surrendered to the Japanese. A cynic would call Osborn’s death pointless: Men saved only to live a hellish existence in POW camps. I’m not a cynic. Giving you life for your nation may be patriotic, giving it for your comrades is a sacrifice that cannot be reproached.

Shopping in Hong Kong

If nothing else, Hong Kong is a shopper’s paradise. From glitzy malls to street markets, consumerism is king.  I prefer the backstreets and alleys. There’s a lot to be said for the sidewalk vendor. They are far more interesting than the uber malls with cold salespeople, full of things I can afford. A month’s salary for a tie? Nay, I say.

I am of the belief that every women’s bathing suit in Asia has a skirt attached. It’s a strange place.