Pre-packaged food is so integral to our lives. So much so, that most of us know wasabi only as the paste out of the tube. In fact, it is made from finely grating the root of the wasabi plant. And of course it comes in different qualities. The seller shows us just two, the lower quality one shown above, and the more expensive one below.
We are becoming so far removed from where our food comes from, and with it the respect for the difficulty in production. Large volumes of fruits and vegetables are wasted daily because they do not met aesthetic requirements. Consumers select to buy only the those deemed a suitable size and shape. It is time we celebrate variety in nature, and accept that vegetables, like people, come in all shapes and sizes.
Back in the 70s, being a printing technician was a well earning profession. In pockets of Sheung Wan still remain a few printers, but many have closed down, or will in this coming year. Digital technology has changed the nature and speed of printing, and rising rents are forcing printers to sell their machines and retire. This printer tells us how their machine is only for printing numbers (such as on memberships cards or receipts), their next door neighbour does the foiling, and another printer does the letters… It is truly a complex collaboration for even the most seemingly simple things. Paper products have become so disposable as a result of the speed and convenience of digital production. If our forests are to stand a chance of survival, perhaps we need to slow the process down again.
It’s not so unusual in China to open the menu of a temple restaurant to find an array of imitation meats; fake duck, fake chicken, fake fish… Not that there is anything wrong with imitating meat, it is however a strange concept given buddhist beliefs. So it is somewhat refreshing when you stumble across a temple canteen in the hills that serves simple flavourful vegetarian food that is not pretending to be anything else.
Bai Ying, director of Earthpulse, enthusiastically pulls out stamps and postcards of Eskimos and nordic european countries. Rummages through his desk for books and photos of native American Indians. Retrieves from bookcases birchbark items from Russia. All these people live in the same latitudinal band as the Oronchen, and over the years have developed lifestyles to cope with similar challenges of living in such a harsh environment. While each of their traditional way of living have distinctions, they also show fascinating similarities, arising from the fact that their environment has presented to them the same materials in their living habitat. Appears nature has circumnavigated the Earth to link these people together.
The ivory trade threatens a whole host of endangered species. Despite the bans, despite the publicity of the long term negative and irreversible effects of poaching, there is still a thriving ivory market. While I fail to see the appeal of ivory, it is time for those who do, to reflect on where their ivory comes from, the selfishness of contributing to such an economy, and seek alternative materials.
Birdkeepers own birds to admire, compare and show off. They walk them every day, inside the cages, socialising with fellow bird-walkers. Apparently only a healthy bird will sing, and those paraded in the parks, they sing. But what are they singing? Singing to join the birds flying around outside the cage in the trees?
Historical building preservation, something to celebrate right?
Not for everyone. The owner of this house had been waiting for compensation and relocation. Wing Lee Street had originally been part of a redevelopment plan, until the film “Echos of the Rainbow” made it famous and indestructible. Under this new preservation scheme, residents will only be able to sell their buildings at market value, which despite their location is relatively low, as the buildings are in very bad repair and over 60 years old.
While I am glad that this little snippet of old Hong Kong charm will be saved the destiny of becoming another high-rise block, I am only too aware of the irony. For the residents, the sudden increase in historical value of their homes has decreased the monetary value, and for the time being taken away from them an immediate improved standard of living. As the surrounding area is proliferating rapidly, whether they will benefit in the long term, only time will tell.
