- so local (Swansea too, I might add) that they have trouble following a simple instruction that is to have my credit card posted to my registered overseas address.
It’s not difficult, really. After getting all my stuff nicked back in February, i’ve cancelled and subsequently had my HSBC credit card re-issued. One month later there was no sign of it – a call to the card centre revealed my card was in my ‘local’ branch. Centre said they’d arrange for a transfer – instead, I now got a letter informing me if I don’t collect my card soon it would be revoked.
Another call to the call centre, who issued me with yet another new card, promised to send it to Hong Kong – but of course, it went to Swansea again, and all i’ve received here is yet another letter telling me the card is ready for collection.
I’ve called again yesterday, but frankly i’ve given up… wagers on the table please for the number of re-issues i’ll have before I get my card!
I don’t need the card, I have local ones here, but that’s not the point – for such a large ‘global’ corporation to fail to carry out such a simple instruction is just disappointing (though sadly not surprising). They have my overseas address registered in the system, so they should just send the damn card there – it’s not against policy, they’re just incompetent.
They definitely got the local part right… they’re just seriously having problems knowing where the rest of the world is.
Went to the 798 district last week for the end of some arts festival… I enjoy strolling around the area, if not for the art galleries themselves, even the atmosphere is very pleasant: old soviet era factories, some still in use, litter the area with a strange air of nostalgic glamour.
Someone put me out of my misery though – what the hell are these pipes for?
That would be, of course, Guy Goma – a Congolese man who was first reported to be a taxi driver but later confirmed to have been applying for a job within the BBC. He was broadcast live on BBC World – a channel which unforunately I have not seen much of lately since being in Beijing.
It started with the victory of Apple Computer over the lawsuit by Beatles’ Apple Corps, for which presenter Karen Bowerman welcomed Goma into the studio as computer expert Kewney. Not realising she had the wrong person, she proceeded to interview ‘Kewney’ by asking “Were you surprised by this verdict today?”
Goma responded:
“I’m very surprised to see the verdict come on me because I was not expecting that… When I came, they told me something else.”
The look on Goma’s face when he discovered he was live was just priceless. In fact, you can view a copy of it online.
Meanwhile of course, the real Kewney was sitting at reception watching himself on TV – live. Now that’s something you don’t see every day.
As for Goma – there is no word yet on whether he got the job he applied for.
China |
Posted by Terence
May
18
2006
People over here need to learn to use daipers – and i’m not talking about the crap that comes out of the mouths of politicians (that’s another story entirely!). For convenienence and to save money it is common for families to equip their young tyke’s with pants that simply have a slit in them at the back : when the child feels a tingling sensation at their rear end they need typically just find a spot, kneel down, then take care of business.
It is a marvellous invention – but not so good for fellow urban dwellers who have to dodge defecation on the streets, not to mention the hygiene problems involved. This easy squat-and-go system is brilliant in the countryside – you can leave your kids to roam freely wherever they want and never have to worry about them finding a toilet, nor changing nappies. It’s cheap too – it leaves me wondering whether these kids even bother with wiping afterwards!
In the cities, however, this sort of “everywhere is a potential toilet” mentality should be eradicated. Indeed in Hong Kong you’d get a $1,500 fine for spitting – goodness knows what you’d get for public defecation! As Chinese cities slowly embrace new migration from rural areas, in exchange for the comparatively higher wages on offer I think it’s fair that certain standards and expectations are demanded and maintained. I’m all for on-spot fines for littering, spitting or defecating, and the government should be too: heck they love taxes so much here, with the frequency of offenders the entire government would have a field day – every day!
General |
Posted by Terence
May
17
2006
I’m now back in Beijing after a week’s holiday in Sydney and the North Coast, topped up with a few days in Hong Kong where, amongst other things, I have taken in my brand new Macbook Pro for repairs. As nice a machine as it is, it does unfortunately suffer a few design faults. For those thinking of purchasing, beware of overheating, hanging on graphic intensive tasks, and failure to wake up from a slumber.
Australia was, as expected, extremely pleasant: the weather was perfect and air was fresh. I have been starved of both for the past few months so it was a good cleansing experience. Sadly i’ve now returned to the furnace that is China, and indeed already i’m coughing and spluttering again.
Pics from the trip can be viewed in the gallery (nothing exciting this time), but now that i’m back, expect more posts to my blog soon.
According to the BBC (sorry, but you can’t access it in China) – a token payout of ¥70,000 has been made in “hardship assistance” to the family of Zhou Guocong, then 15, who died in police custody in Chengdu in the aftermath of the 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations.
This is an interesting development as it represents a gesture that somewhat contradicts the official Chinese verdict and their subsequent handling of actions after the incident, which they claim were justified. This is the first payout of its type, and may be a sign of further relaxation of the somewhat controversial official version of events, not to mention possible further compensation payouts.
Activist Ding Zilin, however, does not find this development significant:
“This is a first, but I must point out that hardship assistance does not amount to compensation”
That is true. But as China furthers its integration with the rest of the world and continues it’s gradual political reform, eventual endorsement of the real events of the day are, I believe, inevitable. At that point we can finally put history behind us and move on.
