KOYUKI

I first visited Hong Kong in 1970s with my parents and sister. I was 8 years old then and have been here another half-dozen times since then; my partner-in-life has been here only once, in 1996. It's one of those places we've described to our colleagues endlessly, to the point where many of the stories have become apocryphal -- lurid tales of the sampans and junks in the harbor; the streets crowded with teeming hordes of people who are all shorter than myself; the markets filled with strange herbs and spices and hundred-year old eggs; the scenic tram ride up to the top of Victoria Peak, where a picturesque restaurant serves Chinese dim-sum, complete with chicken's feet that are actually edible.

Well, nothing seems to last long in this city. The Star Ferry hasn't changed, but just about everything else on Hong Kong Island has. For my partner-in-life and I, though we have been relocated from country to country for the past able years of our professional life; we, actually I, didn't feel a sense of loyalty towards the country. I can't speak for my partner-in-life, but there's this lack of human-spiritedness in the city. It's a wonderful city of conveniences where friends and colleagues gather for a stirred-and-not-shaken Martini at the end of a working day, enjoying the city skyline by the bay or sampling a new signature dish by world renown chef at The Four Seasons Hotel or The Landmark Oriental Hotel. However, where life goes, quality to most would mean upper-class luxurious apartment, fast cars, high-paying jobs and nanny for the kids, maids to walk the doggies. It's a city of symbol status where any kind of services can be rendered.

Long have people recall how does it feel like to really own a dog where you literally housetrain, walk, groom and care for them. Whilst the rest of the population is getting wildly in touch with their inner souls by signing up for yoga classes that sprung up in the city like wild daisies in the African plane after a spring shower, I decided to get a puppy instead to find out the truth for myself. My partner and I are crazy about dogs. We had wanted one for ourselves so badly from year to year. Only now did we decide it's the right time with me semi-retiring.

Caring for a puppy is certainly not an easy task with limited house space, where there are limited good services and products available for the litter. I would still rank these services and products as luxury in simple terms, compared to having appropriate gardens or parks that dogs are able to play. There are actually no parks in the city area of Hong Kong that dogs are allowed to enter. That leaves me to one conclusion: dogs are lifestyle for the rich and famous where there are cars to chauffeur them to those nature reserved parks outside of the densely populated city central.

If only I have known the limitation that this territory island has for our four-legged friends, I would have killed the idea of bringing one home. Its terribly disheartening to realize that lots of the natural functions and ability that our four-legged animal loves cannot be enjoyed.

If only I have known that having dogs will be scorned upon by those who dislike dogs and those who take drastic steps to poison the dogs like the bizzare cases in Bowen Road. If only I have known ...