You might remember last November when the world’s press was full of stories about Hong Kong’s sordid culture of hedonism after two Indonesian sex workers were allegedly murdered by British banker Rurik Jutting.
Well, it seems the hysteria might be revving up again, although this time just because some girl put paint on her boobs and jiggled them about in front of a camera phone.
Notoriously trashy (glass houses, we know) British newspaper the Sun today released a sensational “exclusive” entitled: “Brits gone mad in Hong Kong’s Magaluf: Expat antics horrify strait-laced Chinese.”
(If you don’t know what Magaluf is, it’s a formally idyllic resort in Majorca, Spain, that the British and Russians ruined with general debauchery many years ago.)
The piece is in response to a video clip circulated this week that shows a young British fashion designer rolling around topless in wet road markings while slurring like a trooper (see above).
The article opens:
Hordes of drunken Brits stagger along the streets, shouting as they knock back cans of lager. They thrash through pools of vomit as a fight breaks out with locals when boozed-up revellers barge past the taxi queue. But this isn’t a Club 18-30 resort — this is a knees-up for well-heeled expats in Hong Kong.
Well, at least they’re not being overdramatic.
The Sun reporter, who clearly did some very in-depth investigative journalism for this piece, does reveal some truths, however, such as the battle between the clubs and the convenience stores, and how illegal drugs are pedalled on every corner. That must have taken some figuring out.
British expat Peter Gordon, 40, was quick to finger the usual suspects.
“There’s the tourists and businessmen in Lan Kwai Fong, the party area. They’re the ones getting p***ed and vomiting in the street and getting their t*ts out,” he told the Sun.
“Then you’ve got the banker w***ers and their fancy clubs with champagne, and cocaine and high-class hookers.”
(We think that’s “pissed”, “tits” and “wankers”, FYI.)
“Then you’ve got the Wan Chai crowd, which is much more low grade, with the easy availability of drugs and sex workers. That’s expat life when you’re young and single.”
Seems like old Gordon knows what he’s talking about, to be fair.
The article inevitably then swings back to last year’s horrific murders, which at the time came hand-in-hand with similar reports of Hong Kong being a drug-fuelled, prostitute-filled playground for rich white men.
Thankfully, however, even according to the Sun’s investigation, Hong Kong has its limits:
Another young expat male, who declined to give his name, admitted: “Last week I was able to score coke off an African guy in a 7-Eleven, snort it across the road in a little park in full view of the cops.
“But when I went to relieve myself in the street, the Chinese friend I was with freaked out.
“He told me, ‘No, no, no, don’t do that! You can get arrested.”
See. Proper British standards.
Now everyone flash your arse at the Sun.
Got a tip? Send it to us at hongkong@coconuts.co.
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