Small apartments, big talk. Enough already.
Hong Kong – city of neon lights, dim sum, ebullient Filipinos, texting and walking, cheap taxis and – most importantly – tiny, cramped, shoe-box-like apartments.
That’s the impression I would have if I listened seriously to the complaints emanating from the beery mouths of anyone ‘condemned’ to living in this fantastic, has-it-all city.
Never mind the world’s most amazing skyline.
Never mind the beaches just a 30-minute ferry ride away from anywhere.
Never mind the fantastic food, short-skirted nightlife and daily sense of damn-this-place-is-the-SHIT, man!
What people really, conscientiously, unshakably need to concern themselves with is the meager size of their living space.
After all, if we didn’t complain about that we’d only complain about how we had to wait SIX WHOLE MINUTES!! for the MTR the other day.
Or how you didn’t get a cup of tea before your foot massage last week. (I mean seriously! It just ruined the whole experience.)
This obsession with picking out the worst of the best is irritating on a good day, and downright idiotic on a bad one.
There’s a lot of talk about Hong Kong “princess syndrome” – that condition expressed by Hong Kong females (and suffered by their beleaguered boyfriends) where every part of the face except the pouting lips gets sucked into itself and the whole body exhales in one, long, drawn out, protracted whine about something that they didn’t get but reallyReallyRIIIIIIILLY want, punctuated with an arm-crossed “Hmph” and a foot stomp.
But these girls are relatively easy-going, positively tolerable, compared to the brattish sense of entitlement on display whenever the British, or the Australian, or the American or French expats get talking about property.
Yes it’s expensive. Yawn.
Yes your mother’s closet is bigger than your living room. Yaaaawn.
Yes you can see your fat neighbor peeing every morning barely three feet from your kitchen window. OK that one does kind of suck.
But take a look out the other window! Take a walk around the block and tell me honestly that these things detract from this awesome, spectacular, one-of-a-kind city that is Hong Kong.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – if you don’t like it, leave.
But if you do, remember this – you’re like the guy who runs out of Halle Berry’s bedroom because he doesn’t like her wallpaper.
Yes you’re right – no one’s done that yet. You would be the first.
The Tantrum 
Was living in HK for 3 years in a flat smaller than 400sqft…. absolutely love it! Mopping the floor takes 10 mins! 🙂
Exactly! Look on the bright side right? Thanks for commenting 🙂
You are truly disconnected from the big picture. Its easy for you to rave about how fabulous your flat is (assuming that picture at the top is your flat) but have you seen the living conditions that are home for a lot of HK residents? The SoCo has published a piece about the “caged homes” a 40′ square foot unit subdivided into smaller cubicles for several tenants. Maybe you should try living in one of those caged homes enduring bed bug bites night after night and write a blog about it talking about how awesome it is because it is Hong Kong. At least YOU can leave whenever you want, these people can’t, it is their home and the only space they can afford. Wanker tourist.
Here is a link to further elaborate on the topic;
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=802_1362945082
The only reason I came across your blog is because I was researching the contrast of the living conditions in HK. You are in the 1% and I felt compelled to point out how ignorant you are.
Did you actually read my post? I never once raved about my flat being fabulous. I said the opposite. That accommodation is small here, yes, but that constantly whining about it when you get the chance to live in a city as great as Hong Kong is stupid. And I am certainly not the 1%. The 1% in HK live in huge mansions costing hundreds of thousands of dollars a month. My flat IS a cage compared to what the 1% live in. So before you start calling people ignorant wankers, perhaps you should actually read their posts and take on board their point, without projecting your own ignorance into the mix.
it’s not just that it’s small, but that the small size is basically a product of collusion by a few property developers which frankly engage in fraud, cronyism, and corruption.
Reblogged this on Passion For Property and commented:
This is a post from The Tantrum. Read his blog for some delightfully frank views on life and hilarity in Hong Kong.