A____ is from Pakistan. Islamabad. He has lived the last eight years in Hong Kong, four of them married to a Chinese woman. He has two children, aged three years and 15 months. He does not say if they are boys or girls.
We meet in a park just west of the Kowloon Temporary Food Market. Despite its name the market is built of concrete and steel and looks set to remain. There are stalls selling meats, fresh, frozen, halal, and otherwise, and a small section where hawker stands noisily announce their meals.
The park itself is a triangle wedged between two buildings and the off-ramp of a flyover. Across the street are the luxury stores. Gucci, Prada, Hermes, Dior. Watches are further along, in a mall renovated out of an 1881 police station.
A____ is not from Islamabad but a village nearby. It is in the hills so cooler than the capital in summer. In any case Islamabad is milder than Rawalpindi or Lahore, and much greener than either year round.
A____ is not doing so well. He smokes the stubs of cigarettes. His wife moved back in with her mother three months ago. He has lost his job. His mother-in-law has money so the children now have two nannies. Hong Kong is an expensive city to raise children in, he says. He does not say what work he used to do, or what he hopes to find. Anything will do.
It has been cold this last week in Hong Kong. Fog lies across the harbour, isolating the island from the New Territories. The sky above is grey. It has not rained yet, but yesterday the pavements were covered in shallow pools.
A____ says warm weather is coming. I pull my beanie down, wedge my hands into my pockets and tell him I hope so. Soon.
We meet in a park just west of the Kowloon Temporary Food Market. Despite its name the market is built of concrete and steel and looks set to remain. There are stalls selling meats, fresh, frozen, halal, and otherwise, and a small section where hawker stands noisily announce their meals.
The park itself is a triangle wedged between two buildings and the off-ramp of a flyover. Across the street are the luxury stores. Gucci, Prada, Hermes, Dior. Watches are further along, in a mall renovated out of an 1881 police station.
A____ is not from Islamabad but a village nearby. It is in the hills so cooler than the capital in summer. In any case Islamabad is milder than Rawalpindi or Lahore, and much greener than either year round.
A____ is not doing so well. He smokes the stubs of cigarettes. His wife moved back in with her mother three months ago. He has lost his job. His mother-in-law has money so the children now have two nannies. Hong Kong is an expensive city to raise children in, he says. He does not say what work he used to do, or what he hopes to find. Anything will do.
It has been cold this last week in Hong Kong. Fog lies across the harbour, isolating the island from the New Territories. The sky above is grey. It has not rained yet, but yesterday the pavements were covered in shallow pools.
A____ says warm weather is coming. I pull my beanie down, wedge my hands into my pockets and tell him I hope so. Soon.
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