Wildly Popular Disturbing Art

A man taking a selfie with a gun. Did he get the shot?

This afternoon I went to a preview of an edgy show by Spanish comic strip artist Joan Cornella.

The paintings and prints are so absurd you can't help but laugh or be disturbed by the images, showing people with generic happy faces being destructive, or having violent acts being done to them.

Four years ago Cornella decided to change his style of art by doing these comic strips and posting them on Facebook to see what the reaction would be.

A Hong Kong family with a selfie stick...

The verdict was unanimous within a short period of time -- keep doing it!

Interestingly his biggest fan base is in Hong Kong, followed by Brazil.

When I asked him why Hong Kong people love his work so much, Cornella didn't have an explanation.

Perhaps Hong Kong people feel like society or the world they live in is two-faced -- that they have to give the impression that everything is fine or perfect, but in reality it's the complete opposite. Or maybe these are "happy" people fantasizing about what they could do to their boss, or people they hate!

The show, which is on at Space 27 in Quarry Bay from May 6-21, features 38 works, and some of them were inspired by Hong Kong. One of them shows a guy in a cage home, sticking out a selfie stick so he can take a picture of himself.

Maybe because of this work Hong Kong will get more attention on the world stage for its ever increasing widening gap between the rich and poor, and how young people can only afford shoebox-sized flats.

Another painting shows a father, mother and daughter, the latter two wearing face masks, and the father holds up a selfie stick, but there's a gun pointing at them. Wonder who gets that shot?

A man in a caged home looking happy...

The best of the lot is called Two Girls, featuring the poster of the Kwong Sang Hong Two Girls, and painted over their faces are Cornella's signature generic smiley faces, one wearing a face mask and holding up a selfie stick with a gun at the end, and a modern landscape of skyscraper behind them.

 A woman with the gallery told us a family from Taiwan recently gave Cornella their family photo for him to paint over. We can only say this family is really unconventional and brave because we don't know what the artist will do to their faces and bodies!

Joan Cornella: A Hong Kong Themed Solo Exhibition

May 6-21

11am-9pm

Space 27

10/F, Block AB, Tung Chong Factory Building

653-659 King's Road

Quarry Bayd

Carrie Lam's Tough Sell

Today Eric Chan was confirmed as Carrie Lam's office director

Chief executive-elect Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor is still trying to find people for her cabinet, as she starts her job very soon.

The latest hire is Eric Chan Kwok-ki, former immigration chief who will head the next chief executive's office.

She explained he was the best person for the job, which is a crucial one, and that he accepted without hesitation.

"He has to assist me in preparing the next term of government, ensuring a smooth transition between the current and the next term of government in liaising with a large number of stakeholders, including Legislative Council members and of course local and overseas media to ensure effective governance of the Hong Kong SAR," Lam said.

Will Lam invite Regina Ip (left) to join her cabinet?

When Chan was asked why he would join a "hot kitchen", he replied, "Every job has its difficulties and I believe good policies and directions could cool the so-called 'hot kitchen' down."

Chan joined the Immigration Department in 1982 as an assistant immigration officer, and worked his way up to become deputy director in 2010 before he was appointed director in 2011. He retired last April.

However, the Democratic Party's James To Kun-shun flagged concerns that Chan's disciplinary background could hinder him from fully understanding government policies, but Lam insisted Chan was qualified for the job.

While Lam has said she's making "good progress" in putting her team together, she has admitted having a tough time filling her cabinet, as many good people were driven away from joining the government.

She may have won 777 votes, 88 more votes than her former boss five years earlier, but then why is she having so much trouble getting people to work with her? How did she win the popular vote (among 1,200 people), and yet not be able to find enough people to join her cabinet?

Maybe Beijing needs to make a few phone calls or meetings with people to suggest they help her out?

Oh wait, Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee is keen... if Lam wants her...

Who's more desperate?

Mickey Mouse Gets the Last Laugh

Disneyland has the upper hand in negotiations with Hong Kong

Hong Kong taxpayers are left holding the bag yet again thanks to Disneyland managing to bully us into shelling out HK$5.45 billion for an extension to the amusement park.

That's because the Hong Kong government is the biggest shareholder and was somehow unable to negotiate a fairer deal when Disneyland had a "take-it-or-leave-it" ultimatum.

Even lawmakers of all stripes felt the government should have gotten a better deal. They must be terrible negotiators.

The lawmakers said if the government was going to finance half of Disneyland's six-year renovation, it should be subject to better shareholding, financing and management arrangements with the entertainment corporation. But on Tuesday the Legislative Council's finance committee approved the funding by 30 to 24 votes.

Commerce minister Greg So says we did the best we could...

Pan-democrats had tried to filibuster, but after five months of bickering and lobbying, the government's funding application was passed.

"I am delighted that the finance committee approved the expansion plan," said Commerce Secretary Greg So Kam-leung. "We have gone through a lot of analysis. We have also pushed very hard in the negotiation. We believe that this package is really the best package that we can achieve."

Does anyone believe him?

Meanwhile Disneyland released a statement saying it was "grateful" to secure Legco support.

The HK$10.9 billion expansion project, with the other half financially covered by Disneyland, will start next year, and will have themed zones based on the animation hit Frozen, and Marvel superhero films, as well as a revamp of the Sleeping Beauty Castle.

Many believe the partnership between the Hong Kong government and Disneyland is unequal, because the latter receives millions of dollars in royalties and management fees even though the park continues to lose money.

How about spending $5.45 billion on social housing instead?

Before the final vote, pro-establishment lawmakers rejected more than 40 motions by the pan-democrats, including requests to disclose more of the theme park's financial figures, give more discounts to Hong Kong people, as well as review further economic benefits to Hong Kong.

"We are very disappointed. I am sure it won't be the last time that Disneyland asks for money from Legco," says Democratic Party chairman Wu Chi-wai, accusing those who approved the funding of ignoring public concerns.

Why is the government spending so much money on a money-losing proposition? One financial columnist even boldly suggested the Disneyland site should be bulldozed and made way for social housing. The infrastructure is already there!

The HK$5.45 billion could be better used in so many other ways, like revamping the education system and helping underprivileged children get the extra resources they need to have a decent education so that they can have a leg up in life.

That money could also be used for social housing, to build or convert brown sites into affordable housing for people so they don't have to live in subdivided flats.

But this isn't the foresight of the government, whose priority seems to be solely focused on tourists and not on the livelihoods of its own people.

Disneyland may like to describe itself to be the happiest place on earth, but not for Hong Kong taxpayers.

A Migrant Worker's Story

Migrant worker Fan Yusu chronicled her life in a 7,000 character essay

Fan Yusu has had a hard life as a migrant worker and single mother in Beijing.

She left her village in Hubei province and did odd jobs in the Chinese capital as a domestic helper, and went home in a rented 80 square foot flat without running water and raising two daughters.

The 44-year-old penned her experiences in an autobiographical essay entitled, I am Fan Yusu and posted it on a social media literary site on Monday last week.

Within 24 hours, the essay was shared more than 100,000 times and had more than 20,000 comments.

The 7,000 character essay chronicles her experiences over the last 30 years, detailing how a rural woman's life was shaped by massive social and economic change. Her story also raises the issues of the widening gap between the rich and the poor, the urban-rural divide, and the violent seizure of farmland to make way for development.

Fan is originally from Xiangyang, a village in Hubei, and began working as a teacher in the village school when she was 12.

When she grew older, she tired of village life and decided to move to Beijing. There she married and had two daughters, but her husband was often drunk and beat her. She couldn't take it anymore and went back to her village, but her brothers would not accept her, because "a married daughter is no longer a member of her parents' family".

So she returned to Beijing, and leaving her daughters in the care of a nursery, she worked as a nanny in a wealthy home.

The tycoon owner had bought the property for his mistress and had borne him two illegitimate children, and Fan looked after a three-month-old girl.

"The mistress lived like a concubine in an imperial court," Fan wrote. "She must please her master without dignity; and lower herself to beg for food."

Fan also wrote about her pain of leaving her own children: "I often had to wake up at midnight to look after the baby girl... and at those moments I couldn't help but miss my own daughters. I often cried. Luckily it was usually midnight and nobody noticed."

She also wrote of her 81-year-old mother, who went to the local government to protest against the seizure of land without sufficient compensation. Her arm was dislocated in the scuffle with officials, but she felt fortunate because younger protesters suffered worse injuries.

In an interview with Beijing Youth Daily, Fan said she was not a writer, and made a living by "working as a coolie". But she said she had a story to tell.

"If by living one means eating, simple people like me can survive by eating sweet potatoes," she wrote. "But what is the meaning of living without thinking of one's soul? You've got to have a dream. Like the traveller who sees light far ahead, you feel happy."

Fan was brave to even upload her story online and now everyone has a good idea of what she has gone through in her first-person account. We need to hear about more of these stories to have a better understanding of not only what migrant workers are going through, but every other person in China -- to have a more comprehensive picture of the people who live in the country, and learn about their struggles and dreams.