Larry Feign, perhaps the most talented cartoonist ever to push a pencil in Hong Kong, relies mainly on words in his latest book, Hongkongitis (2007, Chameleon Press, 150 pages, HK$119). Not words floating in speech bubbles above characters’ heads, but strung together in typical prose.

Yet Larry remains unique, humorous and insightful. The new book, with its “true, but ridiculous, facts, observations and stupid scientific theories about the most hyperventilating, oddly lovable city on earth”, reprints commentaries first published in Culture Hong Kong and Fragrant Harbour magazines.

"Hongkongitis affects people when they live in Hong Kong for more than five minutes,” said Larry when signing copies at a Bookazine store in the Central District. It’s “an incurable affliction that causes one to secretly love Hong Kong while complaining loudly about it”.

The more peculiar and rude Hong Kong becomes, “the more you love it”, the author said. “I’ve moved beyond the usual love-hate relationship. Now Hong Kong’s my home, and I’m not leaving.”

Larry writes that “Hong Kong people live by numbers from birth to death. Every stage of life, every milestone, every single person’s identify, has a numerical value attached." If a child fails to enjoy a birthday party, what’s wrong? “She lives in a 758 ½ square foot flat! Her latest IQ test rates her at 178, a full three points higher than the previous IQ test! She’s near the top of the class in the second-best kindergarten in West Kowloon! All those Baby Einstein DVDs, all those Baby Mozart tapes, all those countless hours of tutoring… Doesn’t she realize that she’s happy? Stupid girl!”

So Larry invents and explains a math formula to predict human success. For many readers, that alone justifies buying the book.

Initially, the Hongkongitis symptoms baffle. For example, shopping in Hong Kong is “an involuntary physical reaction, which actually bypasses the brain, like blinking and goose bumps. We aren’t even aware of it happening until we get home and lay out all our day’s booty on the living room sofa.”

Larry itemizes and assesses Hong Kong’s idiosyncrasies: the quirky boasting, queue-jumping, restaurant etiquette, garbage-disposal habits, even the sound-track of daily life.

“Walk down the corridors of any housing estate and you’ll quickly realise that at every moment of every day, every television set in Hong Kong is tuned in to TVB Jade, all at the same volume (maximum plus)…. Other environmental noises – mahjong tiles, housewives shrieking in each other’s faces, buses, trucks, gwailos complaining, sidewalk vegetable chopper and cleaning fluid salesmen, idling tour bus engines – are pretty evenly spread throughout the entire urban areas, adding to the uniformity of noise. In other words, the entire Hong Kong resonates with the same audio frequencies at the same amplitude at the same time. All of our brains are entirely in synch!”

Larry, an American, first came to Hong Kong in 1985. His cartoons about the city (“crowded, noisy and polluted 24 hours a day”) have appeared in dozens of international publications. For years, he drew the popular daily cartoon strip The World of Lily Wong, which filled most of his 15 books, including Attack of the Diced Chicken, Cartoons from 21st Century Hong Kong (published in 2003). Now he directs Stvdio Media, an animation company.

Naturally, Larry illustrates Hongkongitis with a sprinkling of cartoons. Their flavor remains distinct and instantly recognizable, although his hardcore fans crave many more.

In a noble gesture, Larry donates royalties from Hongkongitis to the Animals Asia Foundation, best known for its efforts to rescue bears from cruel bile-farms in China. He also provided a drawing of Lily Wong cuddling a bear to appear on greeting cards.

The observations and humor that lifted Larry’s cartoons also elevate his prose. By elaborating and elucidating, the new book ranks among his best.

Approval rating: 82 per cent.

For more information: www.chameleonpress.com;
www.humorist.net/books

(May 25, 2007).

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