WHY am I dressed like this? Of course, you don't know how I'm dressed. For all you know, I might even be sitting naked at my word processor. It wouldn't be the first time.
One of the compensations for being a writer, in addition to the vast amounts of money, the admiration from every part of society, the non-stop mind-blowing sex and the general ease of the work, is that one can dress the way one wants to. That is undoubtedly the job's major perk, and it has always been thus. Ignore the pictures that show Shakespeare festooned with lace like the heroine of a Barbara Cartland novel; Will probably went to work at Stratford in the 16th century equivalent of a Chicago Bulls T-shirt, cut-off shorts, and loafers with no socks.
In Hong Kong, dress matters. It wouldn't make much difference if US President Bill Clinton appeared on TV in a jogging suit: the networks jog along with him practically every day. Aides carefully adjust his casualness to the audience of the moment as he samples barbecue in Louisiana and kisses babies in Seattle. But to see Hong Kong's Chief Secretary or an executive director of Swire Pacific wearing an outfit in public costing less than $5,000 is to witness a singular event, like the mating ritual of a rare species of duck that takes place once a year at dawn on a sequestered lake in northern Ontario.
That is why the Community Chest can make a big thing of Dress Casual Day. This important event is coming up on September 20. Please do your part, and dress like a writer for charity.
Permit one digression: why isn't it Dress Casually Day? Apparently the Community Chest thought it up on Speak Casual Day, the day given over to thinking up many venerable TV ad slogans. The more you use less plastic bags, the more chance of being infected, so don't rubbish Hong Kong.
As far as dressing goes, this is a formal city. Few places spend as much time, attention and money on clothing as Hong Kong. People who don't wear the uniform are made to feel left out. That's why Dress Casual Day should be more than a holiday: it should be a festival.
