By John Cairns
YUNG SHUE WAN, Lamma Island, Hong Kong – Organizers behind the Lamma Island Pinoy Basketball League (LIPBL), often featured here, appear to have made a huge planning mistake. The negative consequences may be enormous, even deadly.
As summer-heat intensifies, the LIPBL games on Yung Shue Wan’s outdoor basketball court become more lethargic and vastly less fun for the participants. Playing such a vigorous sport outdoors at the hottest times of day as tropical-summer weather intensifies, looks unwise. Alas, Lamma Island has no indoor hoops court.
With the games always at mid-day, as the sun glares and temperatures soar into the 30s Celsius, the action degenerates into a really bizarre game of Russian roulette to see which player on which of the six teams will become the first to collapse (and perhaps die) from heat stroke. Even the youngest, fittest team members, who run the hardest and play the longest, may fall prey. Or will a referee topple first?
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Do not miss our book-signing event with Hong Kong resident, Anita Moorjani, the bestselling author of Dying To Be Me, at the Bookazine Landmark Prince’s store on May 22 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Moorjani has become something of an international sensation since her book hit the New York Times bestseller list just two weeks after its release! She looks primed to become a leading figure in the motivation / inspiration genre. Her book is an amazing, compelling story of healing from cancer that has rocked the spirituality/healing community and hit media circles globally.
Bookazine stores, Hong Kong
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ESCAPE FROM ASIA IN CRISIS (Part 5)
By Lily Bond
Editor’s Note: Born in New Zealand, the author lives and teaches in Thailand. Although fictionalized, this story closely follows the real-life stories of two Asian immigrants.
Linh’s Story
Linh’s 12th birthday came 18 months after the family had left Phnom Penh. Life as they had known it no longer existed.
The family observed her new birthday by eating extra rice and some fried chicken in their one room at the guest house. There were no gifts. Linh felt like her life had been placed on hold. Although still young, she had no intention to stay always in Ho Chi Minh City. The place represented limbo.
Family life fell into a monotonous rhythm. Very early each day, Linh and Tran Anh went to a local fresh-market to buy vegetables, rice, eggs and chicken. Then they joined the men in line for daily hire.
Linh’s father and brothers worked in labor gangs that the Communist government used to redevelop the city. On some days, Linh and Tran Anh also went to the worksites. Using bamboo poles, they carried equipment and food to cook for the workers. This proved to be a fine arrangement, allowing the family to eat a healthy main meal each day while earning them a few more dong.
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 Once past the front-cover of Wonder, Lust and Itchy Feet, it’s instantly obvious that poet Sally Dellow (2011, Proverse Hong Kong, 153 pages, HK$138) holds nothing back. For readers, that’s something to respect, admire and enjoy.
Each of Dellow’s poems echoes with honesty and intimacy, often even sensuality:
“I wake to your kisses
Measuring the breadth of my back.”
From the poem “Beautiful Day”
The poems ring with authenticity and truth:
“Poetry. For me its principal function is honesty.
Hard thoughts softened by beautiful constructs;
Sweet sounds wrapped around pain.”
From the poem “Mottled”
With more than 130 poems in this collection, there’s diversity too. Surprisingly, one poem addresses rap-music star Eminem:
“I get the rap,
But where’s the rapture?”
From the poem “Eight Mile”
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