Interesting read

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/11/0 ... ndex.html?hpt=hp_c1

Well I am either blind or naïve as I have spent a lot of time in these bars and I have never seen any drug use or ever been offered drugs. I guess I just don't know what to look for in a drug user.

Is this guy exaggerating things or is it actually like this for a large number of the expats hanging around Wan chai?

All I can assume is he is white and the drug dealers sought him out because he is white. It is like only white people get accosted by the Indians fake watch peddlers/shirt makers in TST.

But then again like you I must be blind though I am Asian and didn't see too much of the drug dealing in Wanchai. I did hear stories of ppl buying Ectasy or MJ from someone but generally my crowd avoid all illegal vices except the legal ones, ie drinking, smoking, and hooking.

Anyway this banker sounds like the many people I met over the years in HK, the ones who get 'overwhelmed' by HK and cannot admit they themselves lack the self-discipline to avoid the bad stuff / influences...and in the end blame HK.

I agree with Bro Cruman and Doghead and suggest this guy needed more self-discipline and he is looking to blame others / Wan Chai scene.
I doubt anyone forced him to take drugs and go on three day benders. He could have stayed in his apartment every night watching TV.

The only time I have seen drugs in PRC was in a KTV in Dongguan back in 2008.
Perhaps drug dealers and users can "sniff" one another out in a crowd? I don't know.

Being an expat in Asia does require self-discipline. I could easily afford to go out drinking and punting every night of the year.
But could you imagine what that would do to my career / work ethic and health? It is simply not worth it.

Yes, I love a beer or three and some pussy (plan to get some in WC this Thursday night) but there are more important things in life.

Obe

Sorry to say but yes, he is right. I have been going to Wan Chai for a long long time and you see can who and where drug users go... Bar 109 on a Sunday morning is full of them. You can hear them doing "their business" in the toilets...

As long as they are not causing trouble, security just let them get on with it.

Bankers In HK are on a lot of money, some of my old friends use to take drugs, for me, thankfully it has never interested me. I have seen an old friend send an SMS and get drugs delivered to the bar!

As obe said, when you are earning the money... And everyone around your work place is doing it, it takes a lot of self discipline to not do it, or to not go crazy doing it and risk your job or family. This guy obviously just has no will power and is pointing the finger and blaming HK.

[ Last edited by  Petay_1283 at 5-11-2014 09:26 ]

What? There is a bar in WC you have not drank in?

Just spoke to an acquaintance about the murders in WC and how they allegedly found coke at his apartment.
He said every time he visits WC he always "scores" as it helps him find that high while punting.

I guess it is available if you are looking for it. I am to busy looking for cold beer and  pussy....

Obe

I always remember that Jamaican looking dude who dealt at 109 and Makati. He used to sit on a stool and just watch.  Never interested though. I mainly lacked self-discipline with women, and usually attracted the most screwed up ones, which Petay and others can testify.

Haha! We did the same on the maid parade!
Drink up! It's cheap!

Obe

$4 7-11 Carlsberg is much cheaper than $60+ for a tall one at Players.  

I recall petay scaring the living daylights out of me when I was pouring a beer in the cubicle and he banged on the door.  

A lot of the expats come to Hong Kong on a temporary assignment. I think that changes their mindset. They do things here they would never do back home because to them, this is no different than university or some extended vacation. I think it's this mindset more than any innate lack of self control that contributes to the total self destruction we have all seen expatriates engage in. When people start viewing HK as a more permanent place for them, they usually chill out and reign it in.

I am aware of the easy access to drugs in Wanchai but I haven't witnessed it myself. I've been in Hong Kong more than 10 years. Of course, the drug dealing has lead to the closure of famous Wanchai stalwarts (Fenwicks).

Bankers are notorious for openly buying cocaine on the streets of Wanchai. They think they are bullet proof.

I remember a few years ago, some of my neighbors were western girls, all teachers, mostly English. I used to go clubbing with them sometimes and every weekend they would take all kinds of drugs, so it's not just bankers that do it.

I remember one time we were drinking in the old china hand and they got talking to some bankers and agreed to buy some drugs off them, they bought around 2/3K worth of drugs, the bankers suggested they go to the toilet and take some now. I was in another bar, when they came out of the toilet the bankers had left with the rest of the drugs and their money... And also left the girls their bill lol they called me to borrow them some money

Yeah it was pretty sad, knowing these guys were bankers (going on what they told my friends) and my friends were not exactly rich. These guys knew what they were doing, it's not like they needed the money the ass holes!

I gave these girls a "wide berth" as we say after this for two reasons. I had told them in the past I had a couple of 'connected' friends in Wan Chai area, I'm sure many Wan Chai regulars do. I used to have family many years ago who lived close to Wan Chai so this is how I met them. These girls expected me to contact these friends to help them, I obviously refused and they weren't happy...

The other reason was they went from friends I hung out with to people I avoided, drugs got the better of them. We all know how it starts, from a little on a night out to more then to not drinking when you go out, just drugs, then taking it at home "to take the edge off!" It's a sad state to watch when it's friends.

Sorry, but I fail to see how this has anything to do with Hong Kong. I reckon this could have been any major city in the world. Leaving Hong Kong probably did save his life, but it's not a problem specific to Hong Kong.

You don't think there's a cocaine scene in new York? Toronto? London? Shanghai? Paris? Come on. This is only newsworthy because of the recent homicide in Hong Kong.

~UD

Drug use in HK is a joke compared to London, NYC, Berlin. It's not even close.

Yeah, the drug use in hk is lower than most other major cities.  This guy is referring to the circle he fell into (or dove into) and falsely extrapolating it to the whole city.

But that said... being a white western successful (wealthy) expat in hk (or other Asian cities) can fuck people up.  The attention you get from women is astonishing.  Within my first week of landing I had a permanent smile on my face.  I felt a bit like a rock star... loads of admiring attention.  Girls flirting constantly.  My wife saw it quickly, "women here look at you like a piece of sweet candy.., I don't like it!"

That rock star feeling is pretty damn hard not to like.  Addictive.  Go to wanchai and it is amplified 1000 percent.  I was hooked and damn near burned myself out more than once.  Just partying and living the high life too much.  The fact that it is a temporary assignment is indeed part of the reason some go to far.  The thought that "soon I'll be back home in the land of sports bars and over-demanding spoilt fat women" gives false justification for over indulging. At least to some.

I was weak.

Great times.  Hehe.