2023/06/27

June. Summer is finally here. It's getting humid. How about a scary story to cool you down at a time like this? A ghost story, you ask? No, I'm not talking about something whose existence cannot be proven, but something that actually exists and makes me scream. It's a story about insects.

 

I hate insects. So much so that even seeing the Chinese character for "insect" makes me shiver. Then one day, I discovered this in a museum in Hong Kong.

"Mushimushi Special Forces"

Although it would be enough to write just one "insect", for some reason the Hong Kong traditional characters are written with three "insects"! And as the saying goes, "three heads are better than one," the six of them gather together to form a special operations unit, "Insect Special Operations Team." If you wonder what it is, it's the Hong Kong version title of Pixar's "A Bug's Life."

 

This creepy kanji character is "mushi" (insect). But what happens when you add the prefix "kill" (kill)?...

Am I the only one who feels a kind of insecticide-like spirit, saying, "We won't let them get away! We'll kill every single one of them!?"

 

Well, among all the insects, cockroaches are the ones that make us feel the most hair-raising fear and disgust. Even if you're someone who says something like "Come on, even a tiny insect has a soul," if a cockroach appeared in front of you, you'd grab your slippers and crush it with a demonic look on your face.

Cockroaches are an unavoidable presence for those of us living in Hong Kong. Every morning, I walk through the shopping streets where the shutters are still open to go shopping, and not a day goes by without seeing one of them dead.

Cockroaches are a very hated creature. But in Hong Kong, they are affectionately called "Xiao Qiang" (small cockroach) as if they were human (it is very common for Hong Kong men's names to contain the character "Qiang"). Why? It comes from a scene in the 1993 Hong Kong film "The Poet's Adventure" (original title: "The Poet's Adventure"), in which the protagonist played by Stephen Chow picks up a cockroach he found on the street, pretends it's his pet, and exclaims, "Ah, Xiao Qiang!"

 

Let's digress a little, but Chow Singh Chai is such a big star that it's impossible to talk about Hong Kong film history without him. Many people in Japan are familiar with him, as Shaolin Soccer was a big hit in 2001. Currently, there are more than 20 films in which he has appeared that are available to watch on Hong Kong Netflix. Many of his works are from the 90s, but his unique humor, with his unexpected movements and conversations, and the kind that makes you burst out laughing in surprise, "That's impossible!", continues to attract Hong Kong people even today.

 

Let's get back to the topic of insects. "Xiaoqiang" is a half-joking way of calling cockroaches, but generally speaking, "曱甴" is the correct term. These disgusting kanji characters make it look like two cockroaches are going back and forth! If you don't like the primitive and eco-friendly method of extermination that is the slipper attack, please buy a product with the character "曱甴" in the store. By the way, cockroach traps are sold under the name "曱甴屋".

 

Now that the story of Xiaoqiang is giving you chills, let's change to a more heartwarming topic. My third son got a "siberian cricket" from kindergarten. What do you think "siberian cricket" is? It's "silkworm larvae"! Just like the appearance of this idiom, the "siberian crickets" came to our house in a small box. My third son's eyes sparkled and he said "I want to keep one!", so I reluctantly agreed, but as expected, the fun feeding was done by my child, and the cleaning up of the feces was done by my mother.

But even though I hated bugs, I eventually began to feel affection for the worms as they grew day by day, and when they started to spin their cocoons, I stayed by their side all night like a midwife, asking them questions like, "Isn't it hot?", "I'll lay some new tissue down for you," and "Don't give up! Keep spinning!" And when they finally departed, tears welled up in my eyes...

 

Finally, there is the mosquito, a typical feature of summer that doesn't send chills or warm the heart. Mosquitoes make us extremely angry when they buzz around our pillows, but in Hong Kong they are sometimes used like this:

"If you use one mosquito, you lose a minute"?

This is a famous advertisement for the YUU shopping point card, where "mosquito" means "dollar" and says, "Spend one dollar and get one point." The unit of Hong Kong dollar is usually written as "yuan" (yun), but in conversation it is always called "mosquito" (man). It's confusing! Cantonese is a dialect, so the spoken sound (mosquito: man) does not always match the written sound (yuan: yun).

Well, summer vacation is almost here. I'm sure that this year too I will accompany my children to collect the ghostly, lifeless shells of cicadas.

 

Well, everyone, have a fun summer vacation!

 


Anne Kobayashi


Born in Tokyo, graduated from Aoyama Gakuin University with a degree in French Literature. Worked in New Zealand, Japan, France and the UK. After giving birth and raising her child in London, she came to Hong Kong in 2020. Just like the places she has lived in until now, Hong Kong is becoming a place she loves. Her hobbies are reading, watching performing arts and kung fu movies.


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Hong Kong LEI is a lifestyle magazine for women and families that brings more joy to life in Hong Kong.

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