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Friday, May 14, 1965 University Daily Kansan
Page 3
Overpopulation, Busy Trade Usual in Hong Kong
By Lacy Banks
"Bickshaw Sir?"
"First time in Hong Kong Sir? Want Chinese dinner?"
"Want cheap suit, Sir? Custom tailored?"
"Rickshaw Sir? Rickshaw?" a Westerner will constantly hear as he walks the streets of Hong Kong.
"It IS LIKELY THAT the Westerner will rent the Chinese rickshaw and after the ride pay his fee and, while stepping down, will ask himself this question: "Is it right for one man to pull another?"
But after a close study of Hong Kong, the Westerner might well conclude that the rickshaw man was not just pulling him, but in a broader, economic, sence, he was pulling his household, his family and an entire colony in a fierce economic tug of war contest.
This is part of Hong Kong, the international bargain house. It is where one can get a suit for a nominal sum. It is where one can buy products from around the world more cheaply than in their countries of origin. Here one can become rich quickly or become poor even more quickly. This is Hong Kong, a seething den of international intrigue.
BY THE MODERN standards of world politics, Hong Kong should not exist. It is a British Crown Colony in an era when colonialism has been submerged beneath the surging tides of nationalism. As a galling reminder of a century of Western imperialism, Hong Kong is at a dangerous location: a mere southeastern appendage to Communist China, a sworn enemy of Western Imperialism.
Nevertheless, Hong Kong, as it exists, is as valuable to Red China as it is to Great Britain. It serves as China's information window to the Western world.
Despite the trade boycott that the U.S. has against China, it still finds a good customer and market in Hong Kong.
Through Hong Kong, China gets Western currency either through trade or through the industry of its refugees who send money home.
HONG KONG first evolved from a quarrel between Britain and China in 1841. The two countries warred over trade squabbles. The price that China paid for Britain's departure from the mainland was Hong Kong.
One of the first things that the British did when they took over was to make the colony a free port. Even today, people around the world come there to trade and no duties are levied on exports or imports.
The fact that Hong Kong is the leading point of embarcation for Chinese refugees has made it, in effect, the West Berlin of East
Asia. It has absorbed much of China's populational overflow and exposed them to new opportunities.
THESE PEOPLE, four million today, have, in turn, applied their thrift and industry to make Hong Kong a strong industrial colony as well as a leading trade center.
A stroll through Hong Kong will expose one to the manifest vitality and industry of the Chinese people. Practically everyone is busy at something; he must be in order to live.
The Colony is already crowded and competition for jobs, education and mere existence is fierce. A man needs only to sell oranges on a street corner to be gainfully employed and to support a family. Many do exactly this.
TAILORS WALK the streets of Hong Kong, strike up conversations with tourists, then present their sales pitches. A tailor will sell five suits in an average day in such a wav.
Cooks cart food on wagons through the streets selling warm soup to passers-by. During the day a back street is usually lined with small food markets and portable jewelry shops where watches, rings, transistor radios and ball-point pens are spread on the ground atop blankets.
It's thousands of little enterprises like these that keep Hong Kong going. Although each merchant's profit is very small, when the profits are all added, the sum is substantial.
HONG KONG also owes much
HONG KONG'S MALL—A typical back street in Hong Kong is a thoroughfare lined with small food markets, portable jewelry stores and cafes.
There are no huge supermarkets in Hong Kong. One finds, rather, a network of small shops.
of its fortunes to its geographical advantages. It has a natural sheltered bay, Victoria Harbour, that is considered one of the most ideal harbours in the world.
Although Hong Kong has many assets that play important roles in its livelihood, she has one major disadvantage — land space. Its present huge population has given the land the very difficult task of providing accommodations for all.
Because of the lack of ground space, builders in Hong Kong must concentrate on vertical construction of buildings rather than horizontal. Nearly all the city's buildings are several stories high. Laterly, the British have been hacking dirt from the mountains and emptying it into the seas, swamps, ravines and ditches to provide space.
ANOTHER STEP in the solution to the space and housing problem is the Colony's massive program of low-cost housing, Gigantic, seven-story, H-shaped dormitories are being constructed to accommodate the overwhelming inflow of refugees.
With all its problems and successes, Hong Kong is still growing. It is proof as is Japan that East and West can meet each other along various lines, and associate with each other.
THERE ARE many modern Western nightclubs and movies, with Chinese sub-titles, that await people looking for evening fun. The flashing signs and glaring neon lights of Chinese restaurants, serving Western and Oriental dishes, are also signs of entertainment. Hotels are modern as those anywhere in the world are numerous in Hong Kong.
One can easily find interesting and beautiful Chinese sculpture likely that the Westerner will buy and many other souvenirs. It is likely that the Westerner will buy many of these souvenirs and, later, he may find waiting to take him to his hotel, a man crying: "Rickshaw Sir? Rickshaw?"