Back in the mid-eighties, prompted by this news report, multi-millionaire Bob Geldof organised a global musical event called Live Aid to raise money for the ongoing famine in the Horn of Africa. An accompanying festive single was released entitled “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” in aid of Muslim Ethiopia. The world was transfixed and the crusade raised £150m.
However, in 1991, famine scholar Alex de Waal argued that the “humanitarian effort prolonged the war, and with it, human suffering.” Aid was routed via the communist military junta (the Derg), led by Mengistu Haile Mariam, who were also fighting a war in the north – a conflict that part caused the famine. The war was thereby extended by 6 years with Médecins Sans Frontières estimating that the aid may have led to as many deaths as there were lives saved.
During the years that followed, reforms changed how aid was distributed in crisis zones and there were also lasting changes in how such tragedies were covered by the news media. The BBC’s Adam Curtis noted how the complexity and grey areas surrounding the use of aid money was underreported. It was a story that did not conform to a simple, good vs. evil cold war narrative. After the equally complex Rwandan genocide in 1994, modern news effectively stopped analysing political struggles and instead reported only on their often bloody outcomes, without context.
Standby to unleash your feathery fury! Feel the fervour of cushony rage!… This year’s Pillow Fight Day will take place on March 31st in Statue Square, Central (near Central MTR exit K). Join the event on Facebook. [Suported by Timable.com.]
DISCLAIMER I am not the ‘organiser’, everyone is the organiser! I am not responsible for anyone’s safety. Press/media are attending – you agree to be filmed by participating
My trip began much how it ended, with a half-serious enquiry as to whether I was going to die. “I’m not sure yet” was the less-than-welcome response from the attendant aboard my terribly turbulent Garuda Airlines flight. I was en route to Timor-Leste (located here), having encountered what the Germans might call a ‘luxury problem’ in that I’d seen just about everywhere else in Asia. This was the continent’s newest and poorest nation, the world’s most oil-dependent economy and home to the largest UN peacekeeping mission on Earth. Emerging from decades of bloodshed and occupation with barely any infrastructure intact, war-ravaged Timor attracts just 1,500 tourists per year. Roads are amongst the world’s worst (where they exist) the postal service is rumoured to take one-and-a-half years, the humidity is oppressive, healthcare minimal, poverty rampant and the dinky shot-up capital, Dili, would make even the most modest of British towns look like a megalopolis. It is isolated and inaccessible with just 3 ports of entry (Bali, Singapore and Darwin, Australia), so why would anyone care to visit?
Abandoned ‘ghost island’ Yim Tin Tsai was once home to 1000+ Hakka people. By the late 80s/ early 90s, all of the inhabitants had resettled elsewhere in HK, in Britain and Poland. It is now home to just a caretaker, a small organic farm and a small, recently restored UNESCO protected chapel. Many of the buildings are now being slowly reclaimed by nature as it is often not known who owns them.
There are several $35 public ferries from Sai Kung pier on weekends and holidays only. Departure times from Sai Kung: 10am, 11am, noon, 1pm, 2pm… Departure times from Yim Tin Tsai: 12:30pm, 2:30pm, 4pm, 5pm. There are snacks available on the island – it is only around 1sq km, so an afternoon visit of around 4 hours would be enough to complete the short hike around the village, cemetery, lookout point, well and abandoned salt farm.
This hike traces the south western coast of Lantau from Shek Pik Reservoir to Tai O. Here is a full-resolution gallery of the pictures below. It’s a relatively flat hike of around 3-4hrs or 20km.
Catch bus 11 from Tung Chung, alight after the bridge over the reservoir. Continue from the reservoir for around an hour/5km and take the first trail on the left after the waterfall. If you trace the coast, it continues through woods, abandoned villages, old farmland and empty beaches. Fan Lau Tsuen is a ghost village at the mid-point that was once home to 200 people.
Towards the end of the hike are some abandoned salt plains where you’ll now find mangroves (and a terrible amount of washed-up litter).
A 30 minute detour takes you to the 300-year old remnants of Fan Lau Fort.
This travel piece, adapted from my journals, was featured in Hong Kong Time Out Magazine on 26.10.11. More photos here.
As your flight descends into the dark heart of the Evil Axis, rumours of 50c heat, a presumed threat of kidnap and the danger of a terrorist free-for-all weigh heavily upon the mind. However, Iran’s terrifying reputation and wildly inaccurate stereotypes mask what must be one of the friendliest and safest hidden gems in all of Asia. From magnificent mosques to bustling bazaars, the Islamic Republic is home to a sophisticated culture and rich history, all showcased with a famously heartfelt level of hospitality. And as for the intense desert heat – long-suffering Hong Kongers may actually find the lack of humidity strangely tolerable.
The lightly beaten tourist trail begins in the ‘City of Love’, Shiraz. No longer a wine producer, this small city is centred around the elaborate Vakil Bazaar. The colourful marketplace comes to life at night and shoppers exploring the endless maze will find locals offering to pay for things (or even dinner!) as shopkeepers chase them down dark alleys merely to return their change.
On Saturday, October 15th 2011, hundreds of protesters occupied Exchange Square in Central. Since then, dozens of activists have been occupying the space beneath Central’s HSBC building. Here are a few links to local/international coverage:
Tom on Reuters (video), on TVB (video) Sina (press), CRI English (radio) and a longer quote on RTHK 3 (radio) after the Exchange Square protest on 15.10.11.
An unpublished piece I wrote about the relevance of #OWS in Hong Kong…
At a time of deep cuts and austerity measures in Europe and the US, booming Hong Kong is enjoying such a surplus that the government is offering personal US$700 bail-outs to all residents, subsidising electricity bills and allowing families in public housing free rent for 2 months. However, not all is as it seems beneath the Tiger Economy’s glittering skyline.
Last Saturday, over 300 ‘Occupy Hong Kong’ activists gathered at the city’s Stock Exchange. As the freest economy in the world and the third most favoured tax haven, one would doubt that the thriving ‘Capital of Capitalism’ would have seen anything of the Occupy Wall St movement. However, the turnout exceeded all expectations as demonstrators were keen to raise awareness of the territory’s shameful growing income disparity.
A photograph of mine is featured in the New Internationalist (wiki) 2012 diary planner. NI is a non-profit co-op and is a favourite of mine, focusing on world poverty and inequality.
