Last Week in Viral News
We take a look back at the local news that spread like wildfire.
Nov 7, Sat: At 3am, two Brazilian footballers who play in the Hong Kong Premier League get into a fight with a 28-year-old Dominican chef in a Lan Kwai Fong pub, after making fun of his large hat. The chef becomes enraged and chases after the football players with three friends, beating the players with glass wine bottles. Police arrive and arrest the chef, sending the two injured football players to the hospital. The other three men are still at large.
Nov 8, Sun: Three photos of atypical job resignations go viral online. In one, an employee notifies his boss that he is resigning via Facebook on the same day that he quits and refuses to provide a resignation letter, saying that the HR department can do it for him. In another, an employee simply changes his working status on Facebook, only confirming that he has quit when the company leaves a comment on the post. In the final example, an employee quits by posting a series of emoji icons and a Japanese phrase meaning “goodbye” to the company’s Whatsapp group chat. The company later discovers that the employee has bought himself a cheap plane ticket to Japan.
Nov 9, Mon: At around 3pm, two middle aged women sell bags of fresh vegetables at a park in Tuen Mun. They claim that the vegetables, which are very low in price, are all organic and grown without the use of pesticides. Reporters later discover that these vegetables come from a nearby supermarket waste handling station, and that they were thrown out because they were of poor quality.
Nov 10, Tue: A picture of a man kneeling next to a bus sparks buzz on the internet. Netizens explain that the man had run to catch bus 48X, but was too late as the bus was pulling away from the stop. The man kneels down in front of the bus door and begs the driver to let him on. It is unknown whether the driver agrees to the plea.
Nov 11, Wed: The divorced mother of a 13-year-old girl pleads guilty to a charge of attempting to procure unlawful sex involving a girl under the age of 21. The prosecution alleges that she encouraged her 13-year-old girl to engage in a sexual relationship with her boyfriend’s rich tutorial student, saying that she would be able to use his spare credit card. The mother then advised her daughter to “practise” having sex with the mother’s boyfriend, since his genitals were “small and clean.” The girl told her school’s social worker about the incident, who reported the case to the police. The mother claims that the idea came from her boyfriend, who denies two charges of criminal intimidation and indecent assault. The trial continues.
Nov 12, Thu: A driver posts a video online of a half-naked man riding a pallet jack like a scooter along a Mong Kok road. The video shows the man propelling himself forward on the pallet jack, making turns by twisting his buttocks from side to side. A netizen remarks on his skill at handling the vehicle, saying “I think he looks quite cute doing that.”
Nov 13, Fri: At around 9pm, a taxi driver is waiting outside The Peak tram station with his “for hire” sign down. He offers to take passengers up to the Peak for $150, instead of the usual $55. A male and a female police officer, disguised as passengers, board the taxi to find that it lacks a drivers’ identity plate, and when the taxi starts the driver does not turn his meter on. When the taxi arrives at The Peak Galleria, the driver demands his fare. The police officers identify themselves and arrest him. The driver claims to be a first-time violator.
This article appeared in the November 20, 2015 issue of HK Magazine as Last Week in Reality.
