ALMOST A SONG BY MUI YIM FONG

Recently a reader in Hong Kong asked me whether San Franciscans support the HK soccer team, or have gone over to the dark side. This pursuant the slightly less-than-friendly rivalry between mainlanders and human beings. Oops. Shouldn't put it quite that way, as I don't want to lose what few mainlanders I can count among my readers.
They are all precious!
Sorry!

Mainlanders, I love you! 強表姐，我愛你！

In any case, Hong Kongers and their mainland cousins regard each other with estimable warmth, and the recent qualifying match between their teams at Mongkok Stadium roused supporters to a fever pitch.

Especially as the local team pretty much nixed China's chances of being in the word cup. As a Dutch American, the only soccer squad I give a hoot about is Team Orange, who always perform well and then lose at a crucial juncture. But as long as some Latin pustules are clobbered (like, for instance, the Spanish and the Mexicans), it's all good.


蝗蟲 WONG CHUNG!

All of this serves to illuminate Jacky's comment underneath a particular post ('Eight Legs Cafe'), which I paste in its entirety:

乜嘢素食，真廣東人天地海陸都食，連蜘蛛都食，嗰餐館嘅蜘蛛老細好唔好食呀？當然唔及得鴨仔蛋好食喇。

嗰日我喺球場內睇比賽，好咁勁呀！
雖然我哋冇入一goal，但係因我哋嘅力量，死屌柒蝗蟲冇勝，唔會入WC㗎！好嘢！嗰日嘅英雄係葉鴻輝＆保連奴呀，佢哋show中國，唔論乜皮膚色，我哋呢支球隊有咁多來自四海嘅體育人才，唔好比人睇死㗎喇！

Hong Kong is Hong Kong! 叮噹，巫婆死咗！

除非有奇蹟俾我哋過關，而家要撐我哋嘅第二球隊，英格蘭！
而家我想知道三藩市點慶祝呢個挑戰呀，過去大家一定撐香港，但係自從內地人入侵，我都唔知道你個城市仲係撐香港or switch to紅衛兵，拜託話我一個post呀！

Translation:

What vegetarian food!?! True Cantonese people eat everything under the sun, even spiders. That restaurant's boss spider, eh, is he good to eat? Probably not as good as duck eggs!

The other day I was at the football stadium watching the game, it was great!

Though we didn't score even one goal, due to our strength the dead-effing locusts did not win, didn't go to toilet. Good! That day's heroes were Yip Hong-fai (葉鴻輝，goal keeper) and Paulinho (Paulo Robspierry Carreiro, HK midfielder and forward); they really showed the Mainlanders that no matter the skin hue, this football team has so many talented people from all over the world, we are not boring to watch.

Hong Kong blijft Hong Kong, verdomme, ze kunnen de pot op!
[Imagine this as an equivalent to a Bronx, cheer, all snarky snook-cocking.]

Barring the unforeseen, we will cross the border, because we now wish to cheer-on our number two squad, England.
So, I want to know if San Francisco city celebrates this challenge; does everybody all together support Hong Kong, or are they all behind the mainland invaders? I have no clue whether your city still backs HK or has switched to the Red Guards, and I respectfully entreat that you post for me.

[End trans.]


You can tell the maturity of a country by how it accepts that not everyone always loves the state.

The "friendly" rivalry between Hong Kong and its backward neighbor is very much like the "fondness" San Franciscans feel for the sucky rest of the United States.

That said, the Chinese Americans in SF have a problem, in that Hong Kong more truly represents their culture and anschauungswelt, but they will not and can not forget that their roots go back to the mainland. Naturally, they feel great pride at China's progress.

As well as over Hong Kong achievements.

Many of them are, in fact, Toishanese (臺山人). Underneath a veneer of Urban Cantonese language lies a deep stratum of country dialect that goes down to bedrock. And, having relatives in the old sod, they are careful not to be too outspoken about matters.

三藩市嘅唐人有三旗； 大陸，民國，同美。

Toishanese are mainlanders, but they are Cantonese just as much as the Hong Kong people in San Francisco, very much more so when some arrogant Mandarin-speaking dickwad tries to act all superior, and all of them including the northerner wholeheartedly support the 49ers, the Giants, and the Golden State Warriors.

Which I cannot understand, because sports bores me to tears.

Other than Johan Cruyff, of course; a veritable god.

Along with Seedorf and Van Basten.

All solid Ajax men.


都有理。



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