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We shall drown, and nobody will save us
Asian Cognitive Elite
Posted by on January 13, 2013
If Singapore is the darling of us Law and Order types, Hong Kong is the darling of libertarians. A hot and smelly piece of rock in the fringe of China, a poor fishing village whose wretched people weren’t allowed to step on the ground, thanks to the power of laissez-faire and low taxes become a cultural and economic powerhouse.
As different as Singapore and Hong Kong are, they both are an excellent example of the power of low taxes. They basically live off the money that people deposit there to avoid taxes elsewhere. So they need banks. Lots of banks. Not surprisingly banks in Hong Kong are pretty efficient. They also give you credit without asking many questions. Of course it helps that they have a healthy Triad ecosystem to collect outstanding debts when necessary.
Anyway, I sent an email to my bank in Hong Kong, for some minor matter. They replied very promptly, and solved the problem. Very nice. Then I saw the signature of the clerk who processed my question.
Best regards,
Chanel Lau.
Yes, that’s right. Her name was ‘Chanel’. Chinese people often take English names, which in many cases they choose themselves. This chick (I hope she is female) chose for her the name ‘Chanel’. Soon enough we’ll see little Pradas and Guccis. I predict in 2 years I’ll stumble upon Lacoste Fong. Or Dior Chen. Zara will be a prole name.
8 Responses to Asian Cognitive Elite
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We see this in the United States as well, abeit in a form that is less jarring. Jackson, which is commonly somebody’s last name, is often used as a first names by Asians. Or they pick names that no one has used for the last century or two, like Anson or Coco
Yeah I want to punch Anson Chan too.
I wonder if we’ll see that in Chinese eventually. How long until there’s a wave of 李香奈 and 张古驰? It’s the logical conclusion after all those 国华s and 建军s of the 60s.
I think there is a regional variation to all this. Chanel is probably a Hong Kong thing. In Main land China, I have seen a lady named her self Dollar, more direct and to the point don’t you think?
Lol. That’s sick.
If people could change their surnames they’d all change it to Qian I guess.
> That’s sick.
really… at least make it gold, silver, swiss franc….
plenty of X鑫 here
Yeah I used to bang one. Long story.
The scene in TED where Mark Wahlberg starts naming off white trash names is hilarious.