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Britain's Hong Kong Consul General house in £35 million flat

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  1. #21

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    I don't see the problem here, the consul-general lives in a flat!? How lowly.

    On a more serious note I assume somebody must have approved the expenses, so it's not her fault; if my employer rented such an apartment for me I would certainly not say no to it either.


  2. #22

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    Quote Originally Posted by Raccon:
    I don't see the problem here, the consul-general lives in a flat!? How lowly.

    On a more serious note I assume somebody must have approved the expenses, so it's not her fault; if my employer rented such an apartment for me I would certainly not say no to it either.
    She should say no. As a civil servant she should make the effort to use public money wisely! I am a civil servant myself (sort of) and always make sure I use the cheapest alternative, when the government pays!

  3. #23

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    Quote Originally Posted by cheepo:
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...onth-rent.html

    What I find very amusing (since I am not British) is how Britain keeps wanting to show the world it is a prosperous world power, for example by paying for such an incredibly expensive flat to its ambassador.

    Look at the flat of the German, French, Canadian, Australian ambassadors. Their countries is much more prosperous than Britain, and yet, I am sure they live in smaller, cheaper flats.

    If I was British of course I wouldn't find this amusing. I would find this scandalous: why not spend the money somewhere else?
    Apart from Germany, UK GDP is higher than all the others listed by you.

  4. #24

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    Quote Originally Posted by walkup:
    Apart from Germany, UK GDP is higher than all the others listed by you.
    I wrote

    Their countries is much more prosperous than Britain
    Prosperity is not measured by a country's GDP, or China would be the second most prosperous country in the world. If you do want to look at GDP, then look at GDP per capita.

    But I can see your point.

  5. #25

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    I'm a little disappointed our consulate general lady isn't living in the most exclusive property in Hong Kong... What an embarrassing climb down. How things have slipped!

    bibbju, elle and mid_gen like this.

  6. #26

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    Perhaps the flat is funded by Prism?


  7. #27

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    what i don't understand is why it only has four bedrooms. its a bit small really.


  8. #28

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    Quote Originally Posted by cheepo:
    I wrote



    Prosperity is not measured by a country's GDP, or China would be the second most prosperous country in the world. If you do want to look at GDP, then look at GDP per capita.

    But I can see your point.
    on GDP per capita Australia and Canada are ahead of the UK (France still fails ho ho), but then Hong Kong tops the lot. Prosperity is a difficult indicator to nail down...
    Back to the apartment, given the prior relationship between UK and HK maybe not so terrible a choice. Must keep up appearances for a while yet.

  9. #29

    I cannot see the British Foreign office paying that much in rent.

    Previous Con-gen residence was a duplex at the top of Albany (another Swire property), so it must be Swire group giving it to them for free or a massive discount.


  10. #30

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    Of course reading the actual article helps (which I just did, having now arrived at a hotel with a half-decent internet connection). It says it houses officials as well when they come to visit, takes up an entire floor of the building and also hosts events. Hardly a private residence.