The Mickey Hatuhs
15 September 2005

You'd think most everybody loves ole Mickey Mouse -- but it ain't true.

Mickey gotz PLENTY of hatuhs -- and a LOT of them are in Hong Kong. 

Now, I love Hong Kong -- you guys get tired of me saying that, I know. My friends in HK probably don't believe it. My friends in Japan probably take it the wrong way.

But dude, one thing is for sure -- theyz some Mickey hatuhs up in there... 

Any news you read about HK recently will mostly be about only a few themes: 
   1) the impossibility of a democratic, self-determined future (per China),
   2) new animal-borne diseases (coming from south China), 
   3) pollution (from China) which is beyond their worst nightmares, or 
   4) how HK Disneyland is, well, EVIL. 

?!?!?... 

I'm not joking. 

The South China Morning Post has been filled to the brim with articles about Disneyland (which opened officially on Monday). For instance, Monday's SCMP had two articles about the visit of China's Vice President -- but those two articles were followed by SEVEN consecutive articles about Disneyland. Tuesday's Post also had SEVEN lead articles about the "horrors" of the park. And even today, FOUR DAYS after the park opened, the main article in the "local" section carried the headline, in extra-bold print, "Mind the Fleas and Queues" (a warning to guests that "you may come, but you're not gonna like it!"). 

Dude, poor Mickey must feel like he's got a TARGET on his back. 

Here's a tiny sampling of other headlines: 

"Has The Spell Been Broken At Mickey's Magic Kingdom?"
"Uniformed 'Security Inspection' Raises Questions" 
"More Figure Than Fact In Projections of Financial Gain" -- (an article which
     cites figures that clearly are BETTER than predicted, but nevertheless
     suggests, ominously, "no one really KNOWS yet!")... 

And then there's my favorite headline: 
"Concern Groups Cage Mickey Mouse In Three Hour Protest" ... 

Apparently many very, very vocal people in HK have decided that Disneyland is the reason HK is going down the toilet. 

---Never mind that HK seems to have more Disney freaks per capita than any other place in the world. I'm talking people who have almost no empty space in their apartments, but who have nevertheless set aside space for a Disney SHRINE... I'm talking people whose cars are rolling repositories of Disney gear -- Disney seat covers, Disney "baby in car" signs, Disney stickers on the windows and bumpers, Disney air fresheners, Disney tissue dispensers, Disney figurines stuck on the dash with Blue Tac -- and that's just ONE PERSON's car, dude.... I mean, I knew one girl -- she was really cute, by the way -- but I admit I was slightly freaked when she created a small museum of Disney figures and images on her desk that rivaled displays at the actual Disney Store. 

---Never mind that when HK Disney was announced in 1999, everyone hailed it as "wonderful" and a sign that HK was "not dead yet" -- it was among the best news HK had had that year, a "bright spot" in a year full of gloom, the Post recalls. 

---Never mind that the government's investment is supposedly UNDER the $23 billion HK (about $2.9 billion U.S.) originally agreed to six years ago (how often does THAT happen?).  

---Never mind that the park is creating 36,000 new jobs in a city where new university graduates average something like $1000 (U.S.) monthly salary. 

Well, and never mind that HK was going down the toilet just fine by ITSELF... 

. . .

For a while now I've been trying to sort this out. ANY project of this size will have problems, and thank heavens the press in HK is still free enough to report on them. 

But for the last two years in particular, a LOT of people have put a LOT of energy into finding negative views that they can publicize about Disneyland. I mean, as you'll see below, there are plenty of things to be concerned about (depending on your perspective, I guess) -- but I'm just saying, this smells like a WITCH HUNT...  

For instance, I can't figure why university students all across HK are organizing and joining hard-core protest groups like Disney Hunter (that's really the name of their organization!)... These guys don't show up with some posters and chat quietly while the tourists walk past. They actually perform skits, sing songs, do mime -- they put on a whole dang SHOW to express how much they hate Mickey. 

Think about it. There are LOTS of problems in the world, and in HK -- so why have these guys committed significant portions of their lives in recent months to "getting the word out": 

- that Disney is cruel and inhumane in their labor practices (employees can't talk on their cell phones in front of guests) - that Disney is taking money out of every single HK person's wallet ("we give them land for free and STILL the price of a ticket is almost $40 U.S.!") - that Disney is killing animals and destroying rare artifacts by developing their Penny Bay site ("millions of fish killed in dredging of bay") - that Disney is culturally insensitive because they were going to serve shark fin soup in a restaurant (a dish that practically DEFINES "high class" for a certain element of HK culture, and which I'd bet every single hotel and high-class restaurant in HK serves -- whether it's openly on the menu or not) - that the nightly fireworks displays are a nuisance and add to the pollution: Utterly disturbing photo of an early fireworks test at HK Disneyland

I mean, it seems clear there have been LOTS of rough spots along the way, but the list of complaints is never ending, seriously. 

For instance, one group sued because somebody illegally took rocks for lining the park's big artificial lake from a local river bed without permission, "ruining" the eco-system. They had to put the rocks back and used "artificial" rocks instead. 

Another group is upset because the 50+ dogs someone used for on-site "security" during construction were being treated inhumanely now that the park was opening. Apparently, no one would adopt them and no shelter would take them (Disney tried both options first), so the dogs were being "quietly" euthanized. You can imagine the stink THAT raised -- "What would PLUTO say?!?" -- ha ha. (Please note that according to the reports I read, it's supposedly "standard practice" in HK construction to use dogs that way and then "get rid of them" when the job is done... Who knew?)

Then there was the popular HK star who loudly refused to ever return to Disneyland because members of his entourage were "treated badly" by some of the park's Western staff. He posted some scathing remarks on his website but never seems to have actually explained what went wrong during his filming of a promo/charity spot -- but I guess they felt someone at the park (i.e., someone very WHITE) acted rudely (i.e., somehow very patronizing) towards his "crue"...  

SO whatever. I guess there's plenty of people who feel they have legitimate concerns that things aren't going quite right over at Mickey's house. 

Oh, well, and then there's THIS guy:

From the article in the SCMP: Hung Wah-fung, 45 (above), sued the park for breaching service commitment...   [Mr. Hung has also launched legal claims against China Resources Enterprise, Sun Hung Kai Properties and Cheung Kong (Holdings) over alleged substandard maintenance at Villa Esplanada in Tsing Yi, where he now lives. He sued Hutchison Whampoa over its third-generation (3G) mobile-service networks last year, settling the case out of court. ] Mr. Hung took his wife and two sons, aged 11 and 14, to Disneyland on September 4 when more than 29,000 visitors packed the park for a charity day. "I was shocked by the poor crowd management of the park," said Mr. Hung, who has visited Disneylands in Tokyo and Paris. "Visitors had to spend hours in the rain queuing for rides and food. It seems that the park only wants to squeeze as many people in ... as possible in order to make money. "I feel angry that Disneyland has not offered any apology on the matter so far - but what prompted me to file the case was [HK Financial Secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen's] remarks." Commenting on the long queues, Mr. Tang said the charity day was a "stress test for the theme park to see how staff and facilities would fare under its full capacity of 30,000 people". Mr. Hung said: "The government has invested $20 billion (HK) on the park, and every cent of it is earned by taxpayers through hard work. However, instead of hospitality, they were treated like guinea pigs. This is intolerable." "The amusement machines are fabulous, and it has got the world's finest artists and stage production team to produce impressive shows, such as the Golden Mickeys and the Festival of the Lion King," he said. "But I believe I won't visit Hong Kong Disneyland again..."

(Dude, somehow I don't think they WANT you coming back... geez)... 

. . .

. . .

Recent editorial cartoon in the South China Morning Post (notice Mickey's hat)

. . .

So what's up? Why are so many people gunning for Mickey? What did Mickey ever do to THEM?!?

I wish I knew -- because it's really interesting to watch.

One might guess it's got something to do with a growing unease in the city, a restless sense that things are not going very well, and "we need to DO something"... I mean, maybe anything that imparts (through global media coverage) a feeling of empowerment (however feeble) is a good way to spend your energy these days.

And/or, one might guess it's got something to do with the growing imbalance in the "love-hate" relationship HK has with America -- meaning the overwhelming increase in the HATE side of the equation. There's clearly a recurring theme of "do we really want our city to be associated on the world stage with the blatantly American image of Mickey Mouse?" -- they ecstatically jumped in with Disney with both feet back in '99, but now it's HERE, the political climate is decidedly different, and suddenly "it's those dang Americans ruining our city!"...  Surely someone who is more eloquent than I should write about the larger issues of "Mickey Mouse burning as effigy of corporate America" in a HK that is increasingly anxious to show the Good Uncles up north that they are team players in Greater China's games...

But what do I know? Geez. 

All I know is, for whatever reasons, theyz a LOT of Mickey hatuhs in HK these days...