Being back in Hong Kong reminds me of the Steve Winwood song “Back In The High-Life Again”. This place just oozes action. Waiting for PP Joseph I strolled into a Louis Vuitton shop. The stuff is beautiful there’s no denying. There are no price tags, on the basis clearly that if you have to ask the price you shouldn’t be buying it. So I didn’t. Sorry girls.
We had a lunch meeting with the RC of Mid-Levels.
It is a Cantonese club but they very graciously spoke English today for our benefit, handling only the Sergeant’s Duty in Cantonese.
We did a 15-minute presentation which went down very well. We must be getting better at it because we had a lot of questions today, during and after lunch. Questions are good because they help us focus on what people really want to know. Wild animals roaming the streets? Not. Can we drink the water? Yes. Do you know my friend in Kenya? No. Will it be safe to come for the FIFA World Cup next year. Yes, we would love to see you if you decide to come. We’ll even try to organise some Friendship Tour home hosting. 
There was also a very interesting talk by the speaker on Fraud Investigation. He was really good. A Chinese Hong Konger who did his university training in Australia – he is a Chartered Public Accountant who has specialised in uncovering scams, especially insurance ones most recently. He has worked for many different organisations in Hong Kong and is taking up a position with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.
The Fraud Investigator talks
The story he shared today was about a really elaborate case where the fraudsters approach really poor people in China, offer them $300,000 and get them into Hong Kong on stolen Hong Kong ID cards. They then “employ” them and insure them elaborately against personal accident. Then they take them on a “business trip” to China, get a very dodgy surgeon to remove one of their eyes. When they get back to Hong Kong minus the eye, the “employer” puts in a $2 million dollar claim for the “injury” they suffered while on the business trip. When they get paid, one-eyed Jack gets his $300,000 and the “employer” keeps the change. They tumbled to the scam when this particular “employer” had so many of his “employees” having eye-removing injuries whilst on business in China. Skelms everwhere it seems. Not confined to any continent.
It was fascinating stuff and some of the lady Rotarians shivered with delight when he mentioned that he often had to carry a gun on his assignments.
After lunch the team got together for a chat with PP Joseph. He is the legend – we are well-looked after by PP Joseph – he had a bit peace last week while we were in Macau.
Team Banner Exchange with President Shirley Kong and PP Joseph Chan (right)
Nivashni and Jonathan left the others at Booth Lodge and went to see “Slumdog Millionaire” which has just opened in HK. It won so many Oscars, it was a must-see and with a great, modern movie house just around the corner, it was easy.
For those of you who are interested in movies, don’t miss it. It is a brilliant movie. Very ……… no, I’m not going to spoil it. Go see it. Incidentally the movie houses here are huge and spotless. Only the best in Hong Kong.
Tomorrow we have both a lunch and a dinner reservation. Santosh is going to a local Radio Station on Wednesday, and of course we are looking forward to seeing the SA Ambassador, Mrs. Nomathemba Tambo, on Friday morning.
That’s it for today.
No comments:
Post a Comment