I already penned my undying love to Cathay. This week I’m going to be more grounded.
But I’ll come out and say it – I love Hong Kong cops. Sure they got a bad rap during the Occupy protests, and sure at any other protests there are 3 x the number of police as actual protestors, but, yo, they’re pretty sweet. They’re cute and cuddly and I just want to take one home with me and get a matching pair of black plastic glasses.
I kid, of course. First, I have great vision so I’d never get matching glasses. Second, I have style. Third, Hong Kong police officers aren’t actually cute and cuddly – that’s just how they exist in my mind. But I think that’s a good thing.
I have no idea what it’s like if you’re from the mainland or Indian or anyone else I see being stopped for an ID check, but for an expat things are pretty sweet.
Police officers always travel in packs when they respond to a series of #HongKongProblems – like a shopkeeper who somebody threw a water bottle at or a wild boar chilling in a Hong Kong shopping mall.
Even for one little boar there were like eight cops there. That’s awesome. I want a gun, to fold my arms, and kick it with six of my friends as we travel around the island and solve incredibly silly mysteries. Why is this not a show? Can somebody do an Asian remake of Reno 911 called HK 119?
In the States when you see a police officer you automatically get tense. It’s worse if you’re a minority, I’ve heard, but even as a half-Asian (everyone thinks I’m “some kind of Eastern European”) I always stop and think, uh oh a cop. Have I done something wrong? Could anybody have planted drugs on my body? Should I run? Would he catch me? Does he know that when I was 12 I went into a Costco and stole a giant box of Snickers bars?
You can’t help but get nervous. And of course the stories/FB shares/protests and militarisation of the police just make things worse and worse.
Not so in HK. When I see a cop I sometimes wave. I’ll gladly wander up to a bunch of police dudes and ask them directions or what’s going on.
Some people are not so loving, however. I once saw an old British lady screaming at a cop for telling her not to jaywalk on Connaught Road. That’s outrageous. If you did that in the States you’d be immediately sent to jail, do not pass Go, do not collect two hundred dollars.
But that’s what I want in my civil servants. Friendly, approachable type of guys. So when you see the police you can say “oh yeah!” instead of “oh no,” a cop. I know a number of police officers, both in my home country and here. They’re all good guys and girls and actually like helping other people. They also don’t get too much of our appreciation.
So I just wanted to say it today:
HK cops, keep doing what you’re doing. You’ve done well to let insane parties like the Rugby 7s, LKF on a Friday night, and, uh, Wan Chai, survive – thrive, even. And you don’t take things too seriously because there aren’t too many things to take seriously here.
So my point is, if even the police are having fun, so should you.
Yalun Tu is a writer based in Hong Kong. He wrote The Straight Man column for HK Magazine, and TV scripts for HBO Asia, Channel V, and Fox Movies Premium. You can contact him at yalun.tu@gmail.com or @yaluntu on Twitter.
