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Shatin, Tai po, Mah on shan, or others?

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  1. #41

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    Quote Originally Posted by carang:
    6) highrise living in the boonies: personally, i do NOT understand why people move out of the "city" only to live in another cramped highrise development... wouldn't even consider it, myself.
    During my previous visits to HK I swore to myself I would never live in one of those but here I am. The reason being that it is a) convenient & safe, b) cheaper than e.g. HK island and c) has cleaner air & is more quiet. Since I am by myself living in and maintaining a village house would be too troublesome. I am sure it can be done but it's just not for me.

  2. #42

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    Quote Originally Posted by kryzlowski:
    If you really want to know, I cannot stand the idea of having a driver. I would actually feel embarrassed to employ someone to drive me around. Clean my apartment, or babysit my kids is one thing, but paying someone to drive me when I am perfectly capable myself I would honestly feel ashamed. Embarrassment aside, it's my life and as long as I am physically able to drive myself, I would not pay someone else to. So what if I might have to walk a little further to where I am going from the nearest parking space.

    In the West only a select few very rich ppl will have drivers, so why is it as soon people from those same countries arrive in HK they NEED a driver? I know your point is that if you can afford then why not, but you were talking before like it is in some way necessary. I'm sure many people on here will not like this, but I feel the same way about DHs... ppl come here and suddenly seem to believe it's impossible to raise a child without one... well how do all your friends back home cope? No, I do not have kids yet, but I can say with absolute 110% certainty I will not be hiring a driver, or a DH. It may be crazy stressful hard work, but I won't have someone else drive me around and someone else raise my children!

    IFC, obviously this is mostly not aimed at you.
    I think it's hypocritical to say that you're okay with someone hiring a helper to clean their apartment and babysit their kids, but it's somehow wrong to hire someone as a driver. I don't really see a difference. If you're somehow against any type of domestic help, then that's one thing, but it doesn't make sense to be okay with one type of domestic help and not with another.

    I think it's also unfair and being judgemental to those people that do hire drivers for their own personal reasons. I've stated the reasons for mine, and on top of that, my wife does not drive or even have a driving license, and yes, she needs to go to work every day.

    I certainly don't feel bad giving another person a job, one that they applied for and are happy to get, and if you want to look at the overall scheme of things, my driver gets paid probably ten times more than what he could earn back in his home country.

    I'll end with that for not wanting to derail the thread, and it's fine if someone is against the idea of domestic helpers for whatever reason; however, I think it's unfair to judge or stereotype those who do employ helpers or drivers in particular.

  3. #43

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    Quote Originally Posted by MovingIn07:
    I really struggle to see why anyone living in ANY of the main developments, which ALL have buses running by the gate of some form or another, needs a car.
    Please, that's just a ridiculous assumption. Because someone happens to live near a bus route, that means they don't "need" a car? What if that person likes driving? Or doesn't like to ride on the bus? Or wants to be able to go from point A to point B without having to take a bunch of detours or have to go from a bus to another bus to a train? Or perhaps that person cares about their time and wants to get to places as quick as possible? How do YOU define what anyone else "needs"?

    Quote Originally Posted by MovingIn07:
    (Carang - living in the middle of knowwhere is an exception). But Shatin, Tai Po and areas like that are well served by buses, including the outer lying developments. I believe the statement above that "everyone" in them will have a car is likely to be far from the truth.
    I was referring particularly to The Beverly Hills and I have friends who live there and yes, I would venture 95% if not 100% of the people who live there have cars, even the renters. If you drive through the underground parking structure, in which every unit will have their own garage, you can plainly see that this is true. Even the units which just have a one car garage might have two cars, with one car parked in the garage and one car just outside it in the lane. Unless you've actually been there or any similar developments and seen something different, I'm not sure where you are getting your information from.

    Quote Originally Posted by MovingIn07:
    We live in the Gold Coast - I know people here with cars; many without. I can see advantages in a car (getting into central faster), but I can also see huge disadvantages (hassles parking, having to drive myself rather than relax or study on the bus, cost) so on balance we have not bothered. It's a personal decision. Personally, I really enjoy not having to concentrate on a nasty drive home in the pouring rain after a long day at work (I HATED this aspect of living in Wellington, where I was a 15 minute very steep uphill walk from the nearest form of public transport!) but if you have small children to cope with I can see a car might be much more practical. I don't think any of us can say what other people need; although would have to say I think needing a driver is pathetic, frankly. Who in their right mind would think it essential in their home country????? The royal family or a few movie stars, perhaps - not real people! So why is it essential here? Just get organised for christ sake. Or learn where the nearest bus stop is.
    Like you said yourself, who are YOU to say what anyone else needs? No one is forcing you to employ a driver or even buy a car, but for you to judge other people that do have cars and employ drivers as not "in their right mind" is pretty ridiculous and self-serving, not to mention silly.

  4. #44

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    IFC you stated in a previous post that if you have kids and two working parents than a driver is 'COMPLETELY' necessary. HK has possibly the best public transport in the world, and you already have a DH at hand to take the kids to school, so I have to disagree, the driver is not necessary. In my eyes having a private driver can only ever be a luxury. One that if I had the money to afford, I would spend elsewhere. I have no problem that you have a driver, but I don't agree it is necessary.

    I also disagree that I am hypocritical. My problem with having a DH, aside from not wanting to share my home with an employee, is that I want my kids raised by myself, or their mother. Having a babysitter now and again is not the same thing as having a DH parent them.


  5. #45

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    Have you had a look at "Hong Kong Gardens"? - It's a well established residential community near my neck of the woods!
    - 30 mins (max) drive to Sha Tin via Shing Mun Tunnels
    - Houses available in the complex, good community security
    - ParknShop superstore just inside the entrace of the main residential exit.
    - Seaviews available

    >2. any recommendation on estate agents?
    I personally had better luck with Midland (Very slightly) over all other estate agents, but had enough bad agent experiences to put me off all of them!

    > Hong Lok Yuen
    I found this place overrated when I was last there...

    Ken


  6. #46

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    Quote Originally Posted by kryzlowski:
    IFC you stated in a previous post that if you have kids and two working parents than a driver is 'COMPLETELY' necessary. HK has possibly the best public transport in the world, and you already have a DH at hand to take the kids to school, so I have to disagree, the driver is not necessary. In my eyes having a private driver can only ever be a luxury. One that if I had the money to afford, I would spend elsewhere. I have no problem that you have a driver, but I don't agree it is necessary.
    No, I never said that. I was referring to my own situation of having kids and both my wife and I working AND not having convenient public transportation relative to my kids' school, and yes for US, it IS necessary. Since we both work AND my wife does not drive, neither of us can drive them to school. Yes, there are other possible options. Perhaps my kids can walk to school, but it would take them a couple of days to get there. Yes, they can take public transportation, starting from the mini-bus, but it would take about an hour from where we live each way. Yes, they can take cabs, but it would cost around $400 each day. For some people, any of the above options might be fine for THEM, but for US, they are unacceptable and thus we employ a driver, amongst other reasons.

    So whether or not YOU think it's necessary for us to have a driver is completely inconsequential. YOU are not raising our kids, YOU are not working to pay for our kids' welfare, and YOU are not paying for any of our expenses including our driver's salary. So I wonder why YOU think YOU have a say in what WE do, or why you think you even have the right to consider what any of OUR choices are "necessary" or not?

    Quote Originally Posted by kryzlowski:
    I also disagree that I am hypocritical. My problem with having a DH, aside from not wanting to share my home with an employee, is that I want my kids raised by myself, or their mother. Having a babysitter now and again is not the same thing as having a DH parent them.
    I think it's pretty far-fetched to say anyone with children hiring a domestic helper is hiring them to raise their kids. That's complete non-sense. They are taking care of the kids while the parents are at work. They are not "parenting" them. That's the job of the parent. Perhaps you have a problem with daycare as well, but I don't. To somehow paint any parents who work their butts off to provide for their children as somehow passing off their parental duties is not only misguided, but insulting to all working parents.

    But you didn't just mention looking after children, you said you were also okay with helpers clean someone's apartment. Again, it's hypocritical to think it's okay for a helper do one job and not another.

    And I'm not sure what you have against drivers as a profession. Does the bus you take not have a driver? The mini-bus? Do the cabs you ride drive themselves? I'm not sure how you're able to get away from employing drivers in one way or another if you take motorized public transportation. But to me, it's hypocritical to say it's okay to hire a driver to drive cab, or a bus, or a mini-bus, but not a private car.

  7. #47

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    Wow, looks like I'm going to be hypocritical whatever I say then if we are getting that abstract. How can you compare a cleaner a few hours per week to a DH working (more than) full time hours? I never said I have a moral objection to domestic help full stop did I?

    Look to be honest I really don't care. I could go through what you've said and say point by point why I disagree but why bother anymore anymore. The quick and simplified version is, I think paying 14k for a driver is a luxury, and you say it is completely necessary when living in a complex such as Beverly Hills... so I don't agree. Case closed. You get on with your life (driver included), I'll get on with mine. and Good Night


  8. #48

    Check out:

    Hong Kong Property Real Estate, Property for Sale, Lease and Rent - GoHome.com.hk

    for leads on homes to rent with the specs. you want.

    DV


  9. #49

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    Quote Originally Posted by IFC:
    Yes, they can take public transportation, starting from the mini-bus, but it would take about an hour from where we live each way.
    Where I was brought up in rural Devon (UK), I took two buses to get to school, took me at least an hour, sometimes longer and all of my friends were the same. We never thought twice about it - that's just "the way it was". How do you want your children to be brought up? Thinking they somehow have a "right" to be driven around everywhere, to get everything they want without effort?

    Sounds like you are pretty rich and don't think twice about these things so I guess I am wasting my time, but there is pleasure in doing things for yourself (like, raising your own children as noted by kryzlowski) or even doing your own washing, ironing and cleaning. I wonder about how folks cope when they get back to their home countries after an upbringing like this in HK - maids and drivers - how do they ever learn to do their own chores or organise their own lives!

    And this does come from a little experience of a family friend whose 4 children were brought up in Africa with the same "expat luxuries" but who now lead very normal lives in the UK, they have all had problems adjusting (including one mental breakdown) so do think a little about these issues.

    Sure, I don't lead your life, but I'm not exactly poor but still choose to do my own chores and take the bus. Keeping in contact with the real world has its benefits.

  10. #50

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    Quote Originally Posted by carang:
    hmmm... my posts seem to have p*ssed someone off! that's 2 semi-negative ratings.

    ps. i NEVER flame or troll, for those of you who claim that's what i'm doing.
    You are not alone. I got two greys with nasty comments overnight too - I guess there are some newbie twits sitting in the background having fun, not realising their negativity has pretty much no impact

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