We just returned from a visit to Hong Kong. A popular tourist destination, it is also a center of high finance and business. Our hotel was fancy by our standards, offering extravagant lunch and dinner buffets that always seemed crowded. As we toured the island, our guide pointed out the nicer neighborhoods where apartments can only be afforded by the very wealthy. The few houses go for staggering amounts. Expensive cars are common, and super-yachts line up in the harbor. High-end stores are everywhere, and the only relief is found in side streets and open-air markets. We had heard this was an expensive place, but the wealth we found there was surprising.
Some of the wealth is shared with Hong Kong residents through profits from legal gambling. Because gambling is so popular with wealthy residents and visitors, medical care is almost free, education is provided, and they have many beautiful parks. Subsidized housing units enable some workers to live closer to their work. The local government seemed well-funded, and everything is well maintained for such a large and crowded city.
If you look past the obvious wealth and residual benefits to the people, you see that some people have been left out. From what we could see there appeared to be a lack of generosity. Good service was accepted with little to no appreciation. Tipping isn’t commonly accepted in China, but Hong Kong had a long-term British influence. Every time we offered, the people who took care of us gratefully accepted our appreciation.
Besides a small number of beggars, one disturbing sight was an attractive lady in her 20’s leaving the hotel with a much older man. She didn’t appear to be a local and from their conversation, they weren’t friends or married. She struggled to find something to say to him and he seemed embarrassed to talk to her. We don’t know her situation, but it wasn’t good.
We saw many Filipinas, who are employed as housemaids. They work for low pay and get less than one day a week off. Much of their salary is sent back home to care for families they rarely see. Most can only stop working when they become too old or sick to meet their employer’s demands. Susan’s niece is one of these workers and we were delighted to spoil her a little. A beautiful young lady with a degree in Nursing, in Hong Kong she is seen as “cheap help” and treated badly by some. We pray that someone will recognize her true value.
I am a firm believer in people enjoying the fruits of their labor, but after getting what you want, then what? More than that, what about the people you meet along the way? JESUS says, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (Mat 25:40 KJV). We can even find “the least of these” in the nice places. Do these people need religion? No, that isn’t enough. They need you to “love thy neighbor as thyself” (Mat 22:39 KJV) to help them find their own relationship with JESUS.
Wayne Lance (2015) – That’s Good News to Share!