No Hongkongers in Their 20s Nowadays Would Call a Trash Bin in the Streets a “Trash Bin”

Summary

In Hong Kong, trash bins have been humorously personified and nicknamed after a politician, Lau Kong Wah, and his subsequent government positions due to an incident where a trash bin was placed in front of his face on an election banner.

Abstract

The article discusses a cultural phenomenon in Hong Kong where trash bins in the streets have taken on human characteristics and nicknames based on a political event involving a local politician named Lau Kong Wah. Around 2012, a photo of a trash bin positioned in front of Lau's face on an election banner went viral, leading to the bin being affectionately referred to as "Lau Kong Wah." This nickname stuck, especially after Lau's electoral defeat and subsequent appointment as Under Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, with the term "Under Secretary" also becoming synonymous with trash bins. When Lau was promoted to Secretary for Home Affairs, the nickname evolved accordingly. The article also mentions a humorous incident during Severe Typhoon Mangkhut, where a trash bin was seen "walking" in the street, further solidifying the anthropomorphic connection between Lau and the trash bins.

Opinions

The author suggests that the nicknaming of trash bins in Hong Kong is a form of political satire and humor, reflecting the public's sentiment towards certain politicians and their actions.
The article implies a sense of collective amusement and shared cultural references among Hongkongers, particularly those who are not supportive of pro-Peking politicians.
There is an underlying tone of political commentary, as the author notes the public's reaction to Lau Kong Wah's political journey, from his election loss to his government appointments.
The personification of trash bins as Lau Kong Wah or by his government titles is seen as a creative and subtle act of resistance or criticism towards the political figure and the system that allows for such appointments despite electoral outcomes.
The mention of the typhoon incident and the subsequent social media response indicates the author's view on the pervasiveness of this cultural meme, as well as the role of social media in propagating such humorous takes on political events.

Trash bins became a person

In case you forgot what I wrote about bad guesses, you can find it here.

This time, let me talk about an object, instead of a person: the trash bin.

We call a trash bin 垃圾桶 (Jyutping: laap6 saap3 tung2) normally. In Hong Kong streets, you can often find the orange litter bins within walking distances. Maybe that's why we don't have much litter on the roads.

However, since 2012, we can't resist giving nicknames to this cute little thing. Thanks to this image:

Lau Kong Wah in a banner asking voters to vote for him and a trash bin put right in front of his face at the time around 2012 Legislative Council election. Photo downloaded from Next Magazine.

I now have no idea who took this picture and where it was, but as this pro-Peking (ex-)councillor asked for vote using a banner (a common ritual in Hong Kong) and this little thing was put in front of his face. We couldn't help mocking it.

As more than half of the voters who voted are not pro-Peking, people laughed at it so hard that they started to call the trash bins “Lau Kong Wah” (劉江華, Jyutping: lau4 gong1 waa4).

After Lau’s defeat in that election, quite some local people celebrated. Yet their joy didn’t last long because he was appointed as Under Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs months later. Some people got mad, but here came a new term for the trash bin: Under Secretary (副局長, Jyutping: fu3 guk6 zoeng2).

In three year’s time, he got promoted to become the Secretary for Home Affairs. Since he no longer is an under secretary, nobody throw their trash into Under Secretary since then. However, calling the bin Secretary (局長, Jyutping: guk6 zoeng2) has become more common.

Now, we can call a trash bin Lau Kong Wah or Secretary, and of course the most obvious way: a trash bin.

As Severe Typhoon Mangkhut, the "Queen of Fruits", came to Hong Kong for a "visit" today (16/9/2018). The Hong Kong Observatory hoisted the highest signal as a big "welcome" for this "royal visit". Some people got to see Lau Kong Wah walking in the street and then posted a video footage on Facebook.

It was such a brave act for Secretary to walk down the street as the gusts could have blown him away.

Hong Kong English/Cantonese (II)

No Hongkongers in Their 20s Nowadays Would Call a Trash Bin in the Streets a “Trash Bin”

Trash bins became a person

Hong Kong English/Cantonese: Genie and something related

Me trying to translate some funny words/phrases of HK Cantonese into English

Hong Kong English/Cantonese: Collection

This is a contents page for all my articles regarding Cantonese slangs, which were written in English.