Like Tree25Likes

Public housing gone wild

Closed Thread
Page 2 of 5 FirstFirst 1 2 3 4 5 LastLast
  1. #11

    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Posts
    5,110
    Quote Originally Posted by mid_gen:
    That one drives me mad. I always say Hong Hum these days but it's quite often met with blank stares from westerners. Why would they do it like that???
    Better to pronounce "Hung", as that is closer to how it is pronounced in Cantonese which means "red".
    emmie likes this.

  2. #12

    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Hong Kong
    Posts
    6,076
    Quote Originally Posted by HowardCoombs:
    Granted and I have come across some of those variations - but you'd think that a journalist writing a piece would do a bit of homework (takes a few secs on Google) to pick the transliteration that is most commonly used
    Wah Fu Estate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    Now, shall we go to Mongkok or was it Wonggok
    No, actually it's Mong Kok, two words.

    The only placename in HK in which the Chinese characters are run into one English word, according to government usage, is Fanling.
    TheBrit and emmie like this.

  3. #13

    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Posts
    5,110
    Quote Originally Posted by bookblogger:
    No, actually it's Mong Kok, two words.

    The only placename in HK in which the Chinese characters are run into one English word, according to government usage, is Fanling.
    Yeah, what's the deal with Fanling? You got: Tai(space)Po, Sha(space)Tin or Tin(space)Shui(space)Wai. What makes Fanling so special that is has no space in-between ?

  4. #14

    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Hong Kong
    Posts
    6,076

    Nobody knows!


  5. #15

    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Posts
    4,821
    Quote Originally Posted by bookblogger:
    The only placename in HK in which the Chinese characters are run into one English word, according to government usage, is Fanling.
    Er, Lantau, Kowloon? Taikoo is also far more common on site:.gov.hk than Tai Koo.

  6. #16

    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    Hong Kong
    Posts
    6,317

    I dont know how to pronounce it either. lol

    Sent from my GT-I9100 using GeoClicks Mobile


  7. #17

    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Tai Hang
    Posts
    744
    Quote Originally Posted by Watercooler:
    Better to pronounce "Hung", as that is closer to how it is pronounced in Cantonese which means "red".
    Doesn't work on any locals I know...Hung meets with same blank stares as Hong does with westerners!

  8. #18

    Join Date
    Feb 2012
    Posts
    238

    After this great essay, can anyone tell me the key points in 1-2 lines.


  9. #19

    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Hong Kong
    Posts
    6,076
    Quote Originally Posted by Gruntfuttock:
    Er, Lantau, Kowloon? Taikoo is also far more common on site:.gov.hk than Tai Koo.
    The first one is an "English" name (Lantau is Tai Yue Shan in Cantonese) and the second is an archaic transliteration which doesn't faithfully follow the pronunciation of Chinese characters as per Sai Kung, Wan Chai, Sheung Wan etc. If it did, it would be Kau Lung.

    In the case of Taikoo, I guess the government webmasters aren't following their own rules.

  10. #20

    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    1,369

    There are a lot of affluent public housing residents and while prying them out of their inexpensive public housing flats would make room for needier people, I think that having well-off tenants in public housing blocks is a great thing. Having a mix of income levels living together in the same development is good for social cohesion and, crucially, prevents the p.h. estates from becoming nests of crime, substance abuse, neglect, etc.

    We do need way, way more public housing, though.

    That was part of Count von Leung's campaign platform, IIRC.

    Last edited by dear giant; 27-06-2012 at 06:54 PM.
    Skyhook and emmie like this.