Follow that CAB
WHERE can I buy Vegemite in Hong Kong? Can my landlord refuse to refund my deposit? How do I donate my old furniture to charity? Where do I apply for a driving licence? In the Community Advice Bureau (CAB), a tiny office in Wellington Street, Central, a group of women answer questions like these every day. The phones don't stop ringing from 9.30am to 4.30pm, Monday to Friday, with all manner of weird and wonderful queries from English speakers trying to navigate Hong Kong.
The CAB is staffed entirely by volunteers, who, like the cab drivers of London, must have 'The Knowledge'. The free, confidential information hotline was established in October 1974 - a year after the Dean of St John's Anglican Cathedral and the Minister of the Union Church discussed the need for an information service and referral agency.
'Many expatriates were coming to Hong Kong to work for organisations that were not able to help them and their families to settle in and find their way around,' says CAB director Kathy Tilby.
The organisation is modelled on its British namesake and, according to Tilby, the aims of the group are to: 'provide information and advice; help expatriates feel at home; assist in personal problems and provide referrals, and help expatriates use their talents and interests.' For 21 years the CAB was based in the grounds of the cathedral. The office in Wellington Street is paid for by corporate sponsors and public donations. Covering the A to Z of living and working in Hong Kong - education, legal matters, shopping, transport, medical problems, accommodation, home maintenance, hobbies, entertainment, child care, removals and much more - the CAB is a useful service.
'We've been asked how to send air freight to India, how to get a visa for Taiwan, the telephone number for the Hong Kong Amateur Swimming Association, where to buy ceramic lamp paint, and where to find fancy dress costumes for children.
'If we can't answer the question on the phone, we'll take the person's name and number, research it and call them back. We're like a dog with a bone really; we worry at it, we don't like to give up on a question,' says Tilby.