Vocabulary: Jargons With A Hong Kong Flavour

Building Inspector Jim lies on an oversized bay in an apartment of
Crown by the Sea (海譽), developed by Cheung Kong
Image from iCable

Typhoon 8 is the best time to stay at home and learn something.

Several words came to my attention these days and they are all crucially important to our lives. The first one came from a news that Jim, a famous building Inspector, was shown on one of my friend's Facebook lying on an oversized bay in an apartment by Crown by the Sea developed by Cheung Kong.

Now rich people get tricked, what about poor people? Poor people get Froebel Gifts?

"Froebel Gifts of the Poor" in Tsuen Wan
Image from Discuss.com.hk

"Property tyranny" is this new term reflecting this huge monopoly in the real estate market in Hong Kong, situation has gone so bad that many people cannot afford to buy an apartment even if they relive their life 20 times, and the fact that the real estate developers are also the creators of "Chinese panel buildings", air-tight buildings after buildings which resemble the Chinese panels.

Chinese Screen Building
Image from Locky's English Playground

Chinese panel
Image from poandpo

Froebel Gifts was not even supposed to be used in this situation, but as a metaphor, there is no restriction of course.

I love metaphors myself because they can be so much fun and highly creative, TIME magazine too played creative this time. Putting an animated GIF on the website for the Asia cover, so that it will flash from the "Revolution that wasn't" cover to the "Can Hong Kong Trust This Man?" cover. If you don't pay attention to it, you will miss it.

"Wolfman"
Image from TIME Magazine

In Hong Kong, the current Chief Executive is given the name "Wolfman" as The Standard cleverly translated it. Why? Because of his illegal structures / constructions at his home.

Due to the seriousness of the social polarization, any mistakes committed by any government officials will be reprimanded by the society.

Many think that pushing civil and moral education classes in primary school is a mistake, and many parents have lost faith in the local education system. Those parents who can afford the money will send their children overseas, those who cannot afford will send their children to tutorial centres, a form of education which shadows the official one, hence the term "shadow education".

Image from The Standard

Hong Kong is just behind South Korea (or maybe Japan) in terms of cash devoted in shadow education, meaning that Hong Kong parents are very much willing to spend money on private tuition. This willingness is exactly the key to making the "Tutor Kings" and "Tutor Queens" millionaires in Hong Kong.

If I was not so into real teaching, I should have gone to make millions of dollars a year.

Vocabulary:
Bay (window) -- (n)[C] a window space projecting outward from the main walls of a building and forming a bay in a room, either square or polygonal in plan.
Froebel Gifts  -- (n)[C] are a range of educational materials designed by Friedrich Fröbel. They were first used in the original Kindergarten at Bad Blankenburg.
Property Tyranny -- (n)[C] the monopoly in the real estate market in Hong Kong
Chinese screen -- (n)[C] a type of free-standing furniture. It consists of several frames or panels, which are often connected by hinges or by other means. It can be made in a variety of designs and with different kinds of materials. Folding screens have many practical and decorative uses. It originated from ancient China, eventually spreading to East Asia, Europe, and other regions of the world.
illegal structure / construction -- (n)[C] 
social polarization -- (n)[C] is associated with the segregation within a society that may emerge from income inequality, real-estate fluctuations, economic displacements etc. and result in such differentiation that would consist of various social groups, from high-income to low-income.
reprimand -- (vb) [T] formal to express to someone your strong official disapproval of them
civil and moral education -- (n)[U]
shadow education -- (n)[C] private tutoring, in other words





Resources:
Bay Window @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay_window

Froebel Gifts @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Froebel_Gifts

TIME Magazine
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/asia/0,9263,501120709,00.html

Home Truth @ The Standard
http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?we_cat=12&art_id=124081&sid=36946095&con_type=3&d_str=20120706&fc=7

Chinese screen @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_screen

Tutors: a question of value @ The Standard
http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?we_cat=11&art_id=124071&sid=36937643&con_type=1&d_str=20120705&fc=4

Kim, M. (2007). School choice and private supplementary educationin South Korea. Paper presented at the IIEP policy forum onconfronting the shadow education system: What governmentpolicies for what private tutoring? Paris: IIEP-UNESCO


Bray, TM (2010). Researching Shadow Education: Methodological Challenges and Direction


http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/reprimand?q=reprimand