Just as anything old, the sight of sole proprietors carrying on a keysmith business is few and far between in Hong Kong. As if old things had no practical value, the government is rather keen on bulldozing away them in the name of urban renewal. The project to replace which is known as "sports shoes street” to locals with dull sports-themed shopping malls is a case in point. Used to be filling the street in Mongkok were a variety of sports gear shops. The shops' individualities, characteristics, offer of cheap grey-market items, together with the chance to bargain, were what made the street popular among shoppers. The preservation of these elements for the success of the sports shoes street can never be achieved by yet another silly mall.
(Grip On Reality: This photo was taken on my way to work. I was walking past trucks parking on a cul-de-sac when the ropes caught my attention. The light was right, the colour was right and the criss-crossing pattern was perfect and I held up my GX200. People passing by checked me out and wondered what could be made out of such a boring scene. To me, the fun in photography is that the photographer makes something interesting out of what is not obvious to most at the scene. The ropes tied in knots somehow reminded people I know who are in the grip of the recession) You must have also known a friend or two, or even yourself, being baffled by the spiral downturn of the economy. Bank went bankrupt and the rich was faced with a shrinking wealth. A friend of mine has just had his salary cut by over 10% and some of his colleagues started to be shed. But, wait. Was this done really for the sake of continuing the business? Or is there a factor or greed in it? I wonder whether the
Comments