Only on Lamma (?)

Running on Lamma - can be hazardous

Finally the weather (if it’s not torrential rain, it’s scorching hot) combined with the lack of anywhere flat to fun has persuaded me to join a gym again. I used to work in the same building as Pure SoHo which was fantastic. I kept my shoes in the office and could pop down practically every lunchtime (they provide towels, gym kit, toiletries – everything you could possibly need). Even if I didn’t feel like exercising, I could always chill out (not literally) in the sauna and steam room. The convenience factor was instrumental in getting me exercising after a bit of a break since struggling through the Luton marathon.

Since leaving that job – and therefore the convenience of working right above Pure – I have been trying to get some runs in here on Lamma. This was just about bearable in the winter but recently the narrow crowded paths, killer hills and sapping humidity has been completely putting me off. So I’ve bitten the proverbial bullet and joined ‘Train & Tone’ – the Lamma gym.

And what a great experience. The ground-floor gym used to be run in a traditional manner, with a beauty parlour on the first floor (second if you’re American). But it wasn’t profitable and shut down just over a year ago (I think). The current owners run their own e-business on Lamma and went down to see if they could but some of the old equipment. One thing led to another and they ended up taking over the running of the gym.

With an average membership of just 35, a conventional business model was never going to work here. The time and/or wages to have someone on-site during opening hours simply cannot be covered by membership fees. So the gym (uniquely in my experience) is run not just as a private members’ club – but completely unsupervised.

Such is the trust shown in their members that before I’d even arranged my first payment, I was handed my key. Members are encouraged to limit their use of the gym to the hours between 5 am and 11 pm (in deference to the local residents) but otherwise it’s ‘open house’. Users are responsible for the lights, air-con, dehumidifier and windows (apparently it’s a favourite hangout for the local cats if their left open). A water cooler is kept topped-up and glasses provided (to be rinsed after use), and there is a none-too-shabby stereo for playing CDs or hooking up iPods. There are even spare towels in case you forget your own.

I’ve talked about the common view of Lamma as being a place that washed-up hippies gravitate towards, but I honestly can’t think of (m)any other communities where an initiative like this could be so successful. The owners (Rick and Soli) say they run the gym purely as a non-profit service for neighbourhood and it’s true that I’ve never used such a friendly gym. Sure, some of the equipment is a bit suspect – or missing entirely – but I think it’s great. Colour me very impressed. And boy has it made running a more pleasant experience!

Back, with an advert

Wow! It's been over two months since I last posted anything here. Shocking.

I also notice that, despite the blog title, I have hardly yet talked about Lamma on these pages. Let’s try to rectify that with some thoughts about life here.

First, to get some stereotypes out of the way. Yes, there are some washed up old hippies here; and yes, there are an abundance of freelance journalists and full-time environmentalists here too. But the common perception of Lamma does a great disservice to the fascinating diversity of people here.

My favourite thing to do here is to take a quiet wander down the lesser-travelled paths, negotiating the stray dogs and their ever-present booby-traps, but negating the need to jump out of the way of the village vehicles. No cars on the island, you see, just what look like ‘estate’ quad bikes and, of course, the Bedford Rascal van that is our ambulance. God forbid a typical Westerner requires it; we’re too tall to lie down!

Leave Yung Shue Wan and its plethora of mouth-wateringly good Western and Chinese restaurants behind. Let the crowds of tourists head over the family trail past pristine semi-deserted beaches and on towards the famous fish restaurants of Sok Kwu Wan. And pass the returning commuters (lawyers; company directors; salesmen; and, yes, the odd kung-fu or yoga instructor, or part-time teacher) as they hit the bars of Main Street and pick up their vegetables from the grocery stores or market stalls. Before too long, you’ll see another side to Lamma. Subsistence fishing or farming villages abound, each one a fascinating slice of ‘the old Hong Kong.’ Here, mah-jong is played daily and long into the night, and life – to those of us accustomed to city dwelling – appears (forgive the cliché) hard but honest.

But, like much of rural Hong Kong, all is not well. The number of abandoned village houses and empty schools speaks volumes about a people that wish to move onwards and upwards. And good luck to them. As an expat, this exodus to urban areas seems a dreadful shame, but who am I to hope villagers remain forever so simply for their aesthetic appeal. I do hope, though, that Lamma will never lose sight of its inherent appeal as a place to get away from the vertiginous towers and relentless pace of life of Hong Kong or Kowloon.

So come visit Lamma, and see for yourself what draws such an assorted crowd here. Bring some food and use the bbq pits on the beach, or eat some of the freshest fish around – from the floating fish farms in Sok Kwu Wan directly to your table. Just don’t come on a sunny holiday weekend, when the roads are so full of pedestrians that gridlock ensues. If, that is, you haven’t been put off by the two-hour plus queue for a ferry.

Powering Up

Lamma's Power Station - Three Chimneys

When I started this blog I didn't envisage that so many of the posts would be environmentally focussed, but that's the sector I'm currently working in, so I suppose it's inevitable that my mind should be pointing in that direction.

Anyway, had a very interesting chat with the environmental officer of China Light and Power at a networking function last night. The conversation (as so many seem to) had already swung round to pollution before we found out what she did and she was then very nervous when I asked; she usually gets abuse from people who blame CLP and HK Electric for the terrible pollution here. Unfortunately, as this lady pointed out, it's not as clear-cut as that. The trouble is that a simplistic view of the situation shows that, now industry has almost entirely fled across the border into the Mainland, the power companies are the only major emitters left. So the choking smog must be their fault, right?

Wrong. That ignores the fact that while industry has indeed relocated into China proper, it didn't go far. So now factories that were previously regulated by Hong Kong emission standards are just across the border in Shenzhen and the Pearl River Delta. And of course the wind blowing into Hong Kong from the PRD doesn't respect (semi-)international borders, so along come all the nasties too.

One question I had to ask, even though the power station on Lamma is run by HK Electric rather than CLP, concerns one of the first stories I heard on arrival in Hong Kong. Just after choosing an easy to remember phone number consisting almost entirely of fours I found out about the superstition that (because it sounds like death) the number four is considered very unlucky here. An example related to me involved the Lamma power station, which supposedly started life with five chimneys. Soon it was decided that this was well over capacity, so one of the smokestacks was demolished. However, so unlucky were the remaining four chimneys considered that another was knocked down to leave the three standing today. CLP didn't know anything about this, so I have done some digging today.

It turns out, much as I would have loved to believe the story, that there is no evidence to back it up. Long-time residents can probably help me out here, but I think the Lamma power station was built with, and has only ever had, three chimneys.

Funnily enough, though, I did find a similar story that is true. HK Electric, who run the Lamma power station and supply energy to Lamma, Hong Kong Island, and Ap Lei Chau, used to run a power station on Ap Lei Chau. When it was brought online in 1968, this power station also had three smokestacks. The local community, however, were up in arms because of the similarities between the chimneys and the incense sticks used in ancestor worship and at funerals. In response, HK Electric did indeed build an additional, unused, chimney!

Some Videos

Some not very good video of a Lion Dance just outside our flat.

And, from Christmas Eve, the hilarious Big Band (Hong Kong Youth Marines Band, I seem to remember) at HKIA. A brilliant way to start the holiday.




(Yes, that is the fabulous Barbie Girl by Danish pop legends Aqua)