Trevor's Random Thoughts...

The Pearl of the Orient, the East Asian Tiger and the Fragrant Harbour. These are all names that we call this prosperous city Hong Kong. Hong Kong has had it’s fair share of world events including war and occupation. But what makes Hong Kong so special is how it runs, the people and culture. In this article I want to talk about how 100 years of British influence has affected Hong Kong and I'll give you in depth information about this city that may as well be a country.  (source: SCMP) The beginning:  Before the British arrived, Hong Kong was just a small fishing village and was a pirate haven. There were also an abundance of thieves and smugglers as Hong Kong was a strategic port in the outer coast of the Guangdong strait port.The Portogese who visited  the island called it, ‘Ladrones’ The island of thieves. British traders visited the port often and made a deal with the imperial government in exchange for driving out the pirates. This helped establish a good link with the Chinese

  Australia in WW2:  Since Australia aided the Allies in so many invasions, we will focus on one key invasion that shifted the tides in the south-east campaign: The Papuan campaign. During the Second World War, Japan quickly swept through most of South-East Asia and by 1941 was only 150 km from the border of Australia after annexing Papua New Guinea. Now Japanese bombers were carrying out air raids on the northernmost territories of Australia. One of the most brutal attacks was on the 19th of February 1942 in the city of Darwin. A force of 242 aircraft attacked and killed at least 235 people.  (source: ww2db.com) The Japanese Invaded the island of Papua New Guinea and invaded Lae and Salamaua to secure a position to protect their developing base in Rabaul. Unknowned to the Japanese, some Australian guerrillas and the New Guinea volunteer rifles had created observation posts around the base and successfully raided Salamaua on 29 of February. The defeat of the Japanese in the battle of

(photo credit: wikipedia) Most people when they hear the words: “World War II”, they'll think about Hitler, Mussolini (The leader of Italy, not the pasta), D-day and all that stuff in Europe, Africa and in the Middle East. But what if I tell you, that somewhere in Asia, there was a bloody conflict that lasted for about more than 4 years?  The battle for Hong Kong:  The Japanese invasion of Hong Kong happened on December 18, 1941. The Japanese attacked the British crown colony with approximately:  Japanese forces:  And…  The forces defending Hong Kong:  29,700 troops 47 planes 1 cruiser 3 destroyers 4 torpedo boats 3 gunboats MTBs (“Motor Torpedo Boats.)  14,564 troops 1 destroyer 4 gunboats 1 minelayer 8 MTBs Now, to explain how the invasion played out…  The Japanese invasion of Hong Kong happened on 8 December 1941 (Hong Kong Time), four hours after the attack happened at Pearl Harbor. Commanded by General Christopher Maltby, British, Canadian, Indian, as well as the Hong Kong Vol

Shop and Restaurant Pledge to Reduce Waste in Hong Kong Hong Kong is a densely populated city of 7.4 million people. With a population this big, plastic waste is an increasing burden on the environment! Fortunately, there is a movement towards reducing plastic waste in Hong Kong in grocery stores and restaurants.  The first ever zero waste store for food and household products opened in 2018.  At the age of 25, Tamsin Thornburrow opened Live Zero. She currently has three Live Zero shops in Hong Kong - two in Sai Ying Pun and one in Sai Kung.  I was lucky enough to interview her at her second shop in a small alleyway in Sai Kung. The purpose of a shop like this is to reduce waste and trash that food and products produce, e.g plastic wrapping around vegetables.  The shop sells most products by weight. You can bring in your own container or use one that has been donated to the shop. Ms. Thornborrow showed me how this works: weigh the container, mark down the weight, fill in the