Hong Kong English/Cantonese (XXXVI)

Lobster: A Total Confusing Moment When a Person Cosplayed as Food in an Official Event

Or did food became a person?

As you can see in the picture on the top and the title, you know I’m going to introduce you lobster (龍蝦, Jyutping: lung4 haa1, literally: dragon shrimp) and what it means to Hong Kong people.

The crustacean was a kind of luxury food in Hong Kong some decades in the past. It was seldom on the tables of the local people until more recent era.

Of course, lobsters from certain areas in the world is still regarded as luxury in Hong Kong and their price is sky-high.

Therefore, many people now know what a cooked lobster looks like and how it normally tastes.

And to our horror, Hongkongers saw a person cosplaying a cooked lobster.

It was 2014.

During an event, Hongkongers witnessed that the wife of then Chief Executive, Regina Leung, showed up in a long bright-red dress with cheongsam collar, a long bright-red coat with some Chinese-style pattern, and a pair of silvery shoes, with a bright-red handbag and her heavy make-up.

What an utter fashion disaster.

Who in the world would dress themselves in bright red like this? And a female ghost in red is the most horrid kind across Chinese culture. Was she going to haunt people and cause harm to the mankind?

To my aesthetics, there had better be some big portion of darker contrasting colour to make some contrasts to the bright red she was wearing. There was just too much bright red to handle.

But it did stand out (because nobody would do it, EVER).

With her posture, her way of standing in the photo, people around Hong Kong linked her outfit and ultimately her, to the crustacean.

As a result, Chai Yan’s mum (齊昕嘅母親, Chai Yan is the second child of the Leungs. Hongkongers call Regina Leung like this after a parody video of the mother addressing the mental health of the daughter.) gained a new nickname of “Lobster” because of this outfit.

You know this mum is not actually my biological mum. - Chai Yan Leung, 2015

But was she possessed by the ghost of a lobster or was she just so inspired by it that she dressed like this or was she actually a lobster? Nobody really knows.

Okay, I’m not as funny as this writer. So see more from here: