Visiting the dead and being stopped by the police
This week's tip:
If you can't understand Chinese, don't speak Chinese. Especially when talking to the cops.
Bonus! Extra tip:
If a cop in Hong Kong asks you for your ID and to check your bag, let him.
Dead-people's offerings
It was a special holiday on Friday and Tuesday. On these days, you honor dead relatives with a visit to their grave and dedicating special offerings. These dead-person's "care packages" are sent to the dead by the means of using the Dead Person's Post Office using Dead Person's Post Office-approved goods. These goods must be made of paper or cardboard, and have the address of the recipient clearly identified, or sent using the Dead Person's Post Office Box.
I kid you not.
Examples of dead-person's care package items include: Dead Person's money, Dead Person's money rolls and Dead Person's clothing items and toys. These items have little value in our Living Person's world, but they increase in wealth from the consideration and invested effort to send it to the Dead People. Take a shopping trip to your local China Town and you can procure (get) these said (mentioned) items.
I kid you not.
So on Tuesday we went to see the gravesite of my great grandparents. We used the post-office box furnace and sent up money and clothing offerings. You put them in and light them on fire. The delivery is confirmed when you see nothing but ash remaining. The gravesite was HUGE - on a hillset here in Diamond Hill. The streets too were packed - all day. At the grave we prepared the offerings and later ate with thoughts of reflection on the dead and living. The weather was very appropriate for a gravesite visit, serene, calm, not too hot and not too cold.
More photos from this group
The same last Friday, when I went to see the grave plot, a square plot in the wall of a temple of a great-uncle of mine, and then after to see another of a great-aunt of mine. The time spent is a great opportunity to learn more about my culture in a very real way, with time to work out my family tree and to match and find my relations to relatives I see here. We packaged up our dead-person's offerings into a dead-person's-post-office approved package - complete with the address on the front (I'm not joking) filled with dead-person's money, rolled money, more money and New York Rapper 50cent's album "The Massacre". Doze tunes are massive yo, and my relatives in the schizzunderworld will be doling out doze tunes massive, y'know?
Stopped by the Police - but not just any Police. Hong Kong Police.
I was a bit tired, it was an early morning, or particularly early than what I'm used to. In a particular local town, I was surprised to see a police officer looking at me, so as I looked around he stopped me. I asked why - and he told me it was because I looked suspicious, trying to avoid his glare when he looked over. Buddy, I was wondering who you were looking at. So he stopped me and very routinely asked for my ID card and to check my bag.
Me: (Chinese) Why? What did I do? What's the problem
Him: (Chinese) --------------- (I didn't understand)
Me: (Chinese) Do you speak English? I can't understand.
Him: (Chinese) What? You can speak. You can understand. ------- (don't understand)
Me: (Chinese) Can you speak Enlgish? I can't understand.
After this exchange, he was even more confused by family he had not expected to circle him. My great-aunt, my great-cousin and her boyfriend, my other great-aunt and a great-cousin surrounded throwing questions. After a few exchanges between them, I am understandably wondering what was going on, but no one was telling me. I was getting pissed.
Him: (English) They speak Chinese, but you don't?
Ikes. Sore spot there, buddy. I'm not going to go into how I wish things were perfect and I could easily communicate with them, but we'll let that one go.
Him: (Chinese) ----------------
Me: (English) Can someone tell me what is going on?
Family: (ChinEnglese-ish) It doesn't matter
Apparently this doesn't involve me anymore. I give my ID card and open my bag. He takes out my Business card holder and opens it up looking for drugs (I learned that day that yeah, this would be a great thing to store rolled-up weed. Maybe next time I'm stopped by police I can find out how to best store Opium and needles. Fingers crossed.)
The cop throws some other comments to me and I ask him to stop making fun of me.
It was not a fun experience.
He wrote my ID number on an "Investigation" sheet.
It was a time to really appreciate the civil liberties we have in Canada. You are not required to give your ID to a Cop in Canada unless you are being arrested. And unless there is sufficient cause, you cannot be arrested. Suspicion is not a sufficient cause.
So I was worried. Is he now going to do an investigation on me? What is going to happen to my file? Will I have a file now? I'm getting paranoid. I'm a nobody. But that cop was visibly unnerved. Who knows what he can do? I'm a nobody, I'm not a permanent resident. Who knows what can happen.
So I went to the Police Headquarters to inquire, and perhaps file a complaint. I was, well, sort of reassured by the on-duty police clerk that yes, cops can stop anyone, and check their IDs, and search their bag, and search them, and give them a Wet Willy (in Hong Kong it's referred to as a Poke Chang) if they wanted to. If they look suspicious. He assured me he probably wrote on the Investigation paper the information to transfer to his notebook, but he cannot add information to the database or my file. He needs to keep a record of who he stops, in case his superior asks him what he did, or who he stopped.
Supervisor: Hey Chang, stop anyone suspicious today?
Chang: Someone very suspicious. Westerner. He can speak some Chinese, but he cannot understand. And he has Chinese family who don't speak English.
Supervisor: Wah, that is very suspicious. Good job Chang - you are the winner this week for most suspicious stop. All right office! Let's cheer Chang! Anyone want the suspicious man's ID card number? Let's see if we can stop him again! Maybe he has a blog on the Internet...
If you can't understand Chinese, don't speak Chinese. Especially when talking to the cops.
Bonus! Extra tip:
If a cop in Hong Kong asks you for your ID and to check your bag, let him.
Dead-people's offerings
It was a special holiday on Friday and Tuesday. On these days, you honor dead relatives with a visit to their grave and dedicating special offerings. These dead-person's "care packages" are sent to the dead by the means of using the Dead Person's Post Office using Dead Person's Post Office-approved goods. These goods must be made of paper or cardboard, and have the address of the recipient clearly identified, or sent using the Dead Person's Post Office Box.
I kid you not.
Examples of dead-person's care package items include: Dead Person's money, Dead Person's money rolls and Dead Person's clothing items and toys. These items have little value in our Living Person's world, but they increase in wealth from the consideration and invested effort to send it to the Dead People. Take a shopping trip to your local China Town and you can procure (get) these said (mentioned) items.
I kid you not.
So on Tuesday we went to see the gravesite of my great grandparents. We used the post-office box furnace and sent up money and clothing offerings. You put them in and light them on fire. The delivery is confirmed when you see nothing but ash remaining. The gravesite was HUGE - on a hillset here in Diamond Hill. The streets too were packed - all day. At the grave we prepared the offerings and later ate with thoughts of reflection on the dead and living. The weather was very appropriate for a gravesite visit, serene, calm, not too hot and not too cold.
More photos from this group
The same last Friday, when I went to see the grave plot, a square plot in the wall of a temple of a great-uncle of mine, and then after to see another of a great-aunt of mine. The time spent is a great opportunity to learn more about my culture in a very real way, with time to work out my family tree and to match and find my relations to relatives I see here. We packaged up our dead-person's offerings into a dead-person's-post-office approved package - complete with the address on the front (I'm not joking) filled with dead-person's money, rolled money, more money and New York Rapper 50cent's album "The Massacre". Doze tunes are massive yo, and my relatives in the schizzunderworld will be doling out doze tunes massive, y'know?
Stopped by the Police - but not just any Police. Hong Kong Police.
I was a bit tired, it was an early morning, or particularly early than what I'm used to. In a particular local town, I was surprised to see a police officer looking at me, so as I looked around he stopped me. I asked why - and he told me it was because I looked suspicious, trying to avoid his glare when he looked over. Buddy, I was wondering who you were looking at. So he stopped me and very routinely asked for my ID card and to check my bag.
Me: (Chinese) Why? What did I do? What's the problem
Him: (Chinese) --------------- (I didn't understand)
Me: (Chinese) Do you speak English? I can't understand.
Him: (Chinese) What? You can speak. You can understand. ------- (don't understand)
Me: (Chinese) Can you speak Enlgish? I can't understand.
After this exchange, he was even more confused by family he had not expected to circle him. My great-aunt, my great-cousin and her boyfriend, my other great-aunt and a great-cousin surrounded throwing questions. After a few exchanges between them, I am understandably wondering what was going on, but no one was telling me. I was getting pissed.
Him: (English) They speak Chinese, but you don't?
Ikes. Sore spot there, buddy. I'm not going to go into how I wish things were perfect and I could easily communicate with them, but we'll let that one go.
Him: (Chinese) ----------------
Me: (English) Can someone tell me what is going on?
Family: (ChinEnglese-ish) It doesn't matter
Apparently this doesn't involve me anymore. I give my ID card and open my bag. He takes out my Business card holder and opens it up looking for drugs (I learned that day that yeah, this would be a great thing to store rolled-up weed. Maybe next time I'm stopped by police I can find out how to best store Opium and needles. Fingers crossed.)
The cop throws some other comments to me and I ask him to stop making fun of me.
It was not a fun experience.
He wrote my ID number on an "Investigation" sheet.
It was a time to really appreciate the civil liberties we have in Canada. You are not required to give your ID to a Cop in Canada unless you are being arrested. And unless there is sufficient cause, you cannot be arrested. Suspicion is not a sufficient cause.
So I was worried. Is he now going to do an investigation on me? What is going to happen to my file? Will I have a file now? I'm getting paranoid. I'm a nobody. But that cop was visibly unnerved. Who knows what he can do? I'm a nobody, I'm not a permanent resident. Who knows what can happen.
So I went to the Police Headquarters to inquire, and perhaps file a complaint. I was, well, sort of reassured by the on-duty police clerk that yes, cops can stop anyone, and check their IDs, and search their bag, and search them, and give them a Wet Willy (in Hong Kong it's referred to as a Poke Chang) if they wanted to. If they look suspicious. He assured me he probably wrote on the Investigation paper the information to transfer to his notebook, but he cannot add information to the database or my file. He needs to keep a record of who he stops, in case his superior asks him what he did, or who he stopped.
Supervisor: Hey Chang, stop anyone suspicious today?
Chang: Someone very suspicious. Westerner. He can speak some Chinese, but he cannot understand. And he has Chinese family who don't speak English.
Supervisor: Wah, that is very suspicious. Good job Chang - you are the winner this week for most suspicious stop. All right office! Let's cheer Chang! Anyone want the suspicious man's ID card number? Let's see if we can stop him again! Maybe he has a blog on the Internet...
posted by Canadian "Civil" Servant at 00:42
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