Hong Kong used to be a place where you would go to shop. My Dad got a very fine Japanese Transistor radio from here back in the sixties when cruise ships disgorged thousands of heat affected westerners looking for a bargain.
A host of seedy little shops flourished, stacked with the latest cameras, radios,electric shavers and later CD players, pagers and mobile phones. There were no fixed prices. Perspiring Australians could haggle, confidently believing that almost any agreed price was a good one because they didn't have to pay Australian sales tax. The salesmen, who earned less in a week than a decent meal cost in a tourist hotel, were always keen to come to a deal.
This was what Business schools call a "win-win" situation. Certain Australian tourists felt good because they thought they had saved money by browbeating an Oriental. The local salesmen felt good because they knew that these ugly foreign devils were usually willing to pay more than the fixed price in the department store around the corner. Everybody went home happy.
These days, many of the tourists come from mainland China, particularly during "Golden Week" which in Hong Kong, is curiously celebrated on May Day, as well as the National holiday in October. According to the People's Daily, "The mainland's tourism golden week has become a prime consuming week in Hong Kong, and purchasing in the so called "shopping paradise" has already become a major destination for many Chinese
mainland tourists, as visiting scenic spots has become their spare time programs."
But what would hard working mainland factory workers buy during their visit? A little less than usual it seems. According to the South
China Morning Post, Golden Week went a little leaden this year with business dropping by twenty percent, as a result of high hotel prices and unscrupulous business rip offs turning mainland tourists away.
Maybe they should have shopped at Hong Kong's huge air chilled malls where you can buy anything from to HK$3,000 flourescent sneakers to shaggy Shetland Island sweaters. Such items would be unique on the assembly line!
Shoppers can meanwhile look up to gigantic wallposters of pouting, naked, sixteen year old super models, clutching Italian, crocodile skin hand bags. I could never understand why a teenager should want such an expensive accessory but then it dawned on me that just everyone needs something chic to hold one's credit cards,
particularly if one is going commando in extremis in the Orient.
Joyce Boutiques are regarded as Hong Kong's fashion leaders. The Joyce chain was founded by Joyce (get the connection) Ma with a little help from low profile, retail and property tycoon, Walter (get the connection) Ma King-wah. Adrienne (get the connection) Ma, managing director of Joyce Boutique Holdings, told
China Daily that fashion was becoming much more accessible in Hong Kong. Ma Junior described the new Hong Kong consumer as "still very brand
conscious, likely to be wearing US$500 Hermes jeans and carrying a bag that could be an unusual piece rather than just big brand". This may be so but Joyce fashions seem to be designed for other than the common herd. The Joyce store in Central recently featured a window display with stick thin mannikins clinging to an upturned grand piano, suspended from the ceiling by wires.
Meanwhile, Joyce, the matriarch, never lost her common touch. She spoke movingly of her relationship with a 93 year old woman "who spends her days kneeling by the ferry pier on Lamma Island, asking disembarking boat passengers for their recyclable Coke
and beer cans". "I see her every time I travel to eat at the big restaurants on Lamma", Joyce told
Timemagazine. "When we see each other, we shriek like a couple of long-lost sisters, and give each other big hugs. She calls me hergod-daughter and often takes me to her home nearby."
Maybe Joyce should have lent her a handbag and taken her to lunch some time. She could have kept the empty cans.
