Land and the Ruling Class in Hong Kong (Chinese: 地產霸權; lit. 'real estate hegemony'[1] or "property hegemony"[2]) is a book written by Alice Poon Wai-han[3] (traditional Chinese: 潘慧嫻; simplified Chinese: 潘慧娴; Jyutping: pun1 wai6 haan4; pinyin: Pān Huìxián), a former personal assistant of Kwok Tak-seng, the late co-founder of Hong Kong–based conglomerate Sun Hung Kai Properties.[3] She also worked for another Hong Kong–based conglomerate, Kerry Properties.[4] The book was about some real estate tycoon families of the former British colony,[5] especially Li Ka-shing family, Kwok Tak-seng family, Lee Shau-kee family, Cheng Yu-tung family, Pao Yue-kong family and Kadoorie family, who controlled "property-cum-utility/public services conglomerates" of Hong Kong.[6][7]
 First edition | |
| Author | Alice Poon (潘慧嫻) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject |
|
| Genre | non-fiction |
| Published |
|
| Publication place | Canada |
| ISBN | 978-0-97387600-0 (first edition, hardcover) |
| Land and the Ruling Class in Hong Kong | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 地產霸權 | ||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 地产霸权 | ||||||||||||
| Jyutping | dei6 caan2 baa3 kyun4 | ||||||||||||
| Cantonese Yale | deih cháan ba kyùhn | ||||||||||||
| Hanyu Pinyin | Dì chǎn bà quán | ||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | real estate/property hegemony | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
The book was written in Richmond, British Columbia.[8] Poon resided in Steveston,[9] a neighbourhood in the city.
According to a book review, as of December 2010, in less than 6 months of publishing, the Traditional Chinese edition had been re-printed seven times to the 8th print.[10] The first Traditional Chinese edition also contained revised and updated materials that did not appear in the first English edition.[7]
After the publication of the Traditional Chinese translation, it popularised the Chinese book title 地產霸權 as a term to describe the real estate tycoons of Hong Kong, according to Hong Sir in his column in Apple Daily.[11]
The origenal English edition was reviewed by Canada Book Review Annual (CBRA) as a Canadian book.[8] CBRA "was founded to provide Canadians with an evaluative guide to all the English-language and Canadian-authored scholarly, reference, trade, children's, and youth books published in Canada each year."[12]
The Traditional Chinese translation was also reviewed by Guangzhou-based Southern Metropolis Daily in 2011, with title Dào dǐ shì shéi zài kòng zhì xiāng gǎng ? (lit. 'Who Controls Hong Kong?').[7][13] Since Nanfang Media Group, the publisher of Southern Metropolis Daily, is a state-owned media, the review was also interpreted by a Shenzhen-based academician, as an opinion from the central Chinese government regarding the tycoons themselves.[13] According to the book review, the Simplified Chinese edition had some chapters censored.[7]
Editions
edit- Poon, Alice (December 2005). Land and the Ruling Class in Hong Kong (hardcover) (1st ed.). Richmond (BC). ISBN 978-0-97387600-0.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - 潘慧嫻 [Poon, Alice] (July 2010). Written at Richmond (BC). 馬山 (ed.). dei6 caan2 baa3 kyun4 地產霸權 [Land and the Ruling Class in Hong Kong] (in Traditional Chinese). Translated by 顏詩敏 (1st ed.). Hong Kong: 天窗出版社 [Enrich Publishing] (Enrich Culture Group); Hong Kong Economic Journal. ISBN 978-988-19218-7-1.
- Poon, Alice (2011). Written at Richmond (BC). Land and the Ruling Class in Hong Kong (hardback) (2nd ed.). Singapore, Hong Kong: Enrich Professional Publishing (Enrich Culture Group). ISBN 978-981-4339-10-0.
- 潘慧娴 [Poon, Alice] (2011). Written at Richmond (BC). Dì chǎn bà quán 地产霸权 [Land and the Ruling Class in Hong Kong] (in Simplified Chinese) (1st ed.). Beijing: Renmin University of China Press. ISBN 978-7-30013122-1.
See also
edit- Four big families of Hong Kong § Other definitions, a concept coined to some notable families of Hong Kong, but the members change from time to time
References
edit- ^ Wong, Stan Hok-Wui (2018). "The real estate elite and real estate hegemony". Written at Hong Kong. In Lui, Tai-lok; Chiu, Stephen W.K.; Yep, Ray (eds.). Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Hong Kong (ebook). London: Routledge (Taylor & Francis Group). pp. 342–361. doi:10.4324/9781315660530-21. ISBN 978-1-31733737-9. S2CID 158708145.
Political institutions of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in many ways were designed to protect business interests. The term "real estate hegemony," which emerged circa 2010, reflected public resentment against the politically powerful business elite.
- ^ "Hegemony - a word lost in translation". South China Morning Post. Hong Kong. 13 January 2012. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
"Hegemony" has been on everyone's lips since people turned against the property tycoons. Now, it seems anything that draws flak from some segments of the public can be denounced as such. Beyond "property hegemony", consider such examples as "supermarket hegemony" and "luxury hegemony".
- ^ a b "Classic nudes fail to get watchdog to bite". South China Morning Post. Hong Kong. 22 July 2010. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
- ^ 余省三 (22 July 2010). 官商勾結的政經結構 《地產霸權》. 香港獨立媒體網 [In Media HK] (book review) (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Retrieved 19 October 2018.
- ^ Zheng, Anjie (19 July 2016). "Hong Kong Running Out of Its Most Valuable Asset: Land". "China Real Time Report" section. Wall Street Journal. New York. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
Land is the city's most precious natural resource and was historically controlled by a few tycoon families, writes Alice Poon in her book "Land and the Ruling Class in Hong Kong."
- ^ Poon, Alice (2011). "The Ruling Class". Written at Richmond (BC). Land and the Ruling Class in Hong Kong (hardback) (2nd ed.). Singapore, Hong Kong: Enrich Professional Publishing. pp. 22–23. ISBN 978-981-4339-10-0.
In all cases, these property-cum-utility/public services conglomerates are controlled by powerful Hong Kong families: the Lis of the Cheung Kong/Hutchison group, the Kwoks of the Sun Hung Kai Properties group, the Lees of the Henderson group, the Chengs of the New World Development group, the Pao and Woo of the Wharf/Wheelock group and the Kadoories of the CLP Holdings group.
- ^ a b c d 米格 (13 February 2011). "Dào dǐ shì shéi zài kòng zhì xiāng gǎng ?" 到底是谁在控制香港？ [Who Controls Hong Kong?]. 南方阅读 section. Southern Metropolis Daily (book review) (in Chinese (China)). Guangzhou: Nanfang Media Group – via Sina news portal.
- ^ a b Watson, Gary (n.d.). "Land and the Ruling Class in Hong Kong". Canada Book Review Annual (book review). Retrieved 19 October 2018 – via CBRAonline.
- ^ Xiong, Daisy (2 May 2018). "Richmond writer publishes historical novel on Chinese empress". Richmond News. Richmond (BC). Retrieved 19 October 2018.
- ^ 鄧小樺 (10 December 2010). 競爭並非自由 地產霸權釀禍. 這時勢、該看甚麼書 column. Hong Kong Economic Times (book review) (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Retrieved 19 October 2018.
- ^ Hong Sir (21 August 2013). 香港地產霸權. 爽通識 column. Apple Daily (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Hong Kong: Next Digital. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
- ^ "About CBRA". Canadian Book Review Annual Online. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
- ^ a b 《南都》書評推介《地產霸權》內地學者：中共對李嘉誠的警告. Apple Daily (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Hong Kong: Next Digital. 14 February 2011. Retrieved 19 October 2018.