As I have found can happen here in particular, the reasoning behind things is not always obvious, you think you understand and then you discover another layer underneath which offers an alternative reason for why things happen in the way they do. With that caveat in mind I think I see why as a foreigner I feel rather safe here. I have heard and read that the police take crimes against foreigners particularly seriously, both investigating them more thoroughly and sentencing them more severely than if they were committed against Chinese people. I have to ask myself if this information is up to date for hard facts are in short supply. All I have to work with is stories. That is in fact a quite general condition I feel here, that it is difficult to know where to turn to for reliable information. I’m not sure if that is more due to my lack of ability in finding it or its lack of availability but one way or another it comes to the same thing for me. I have many stories and from these I should reach my own conclusions.
A story I heard yesterday was about a Westerner’s apartment being broken into and things stolen. The natural response to this is to go to the police but it was learnt that the thief, if caught, could face a death penalty. Not wanting to risk having someone executed they declined to report the theft.
Is that still the case? Was that just a story that they were told? I don’t know for sure. Still, I have to form judgements and make decisions and try to remain open to new and conflicting information as situations change. An example of this is getting my visa extended. I cannot for life of me find any official information and instead I read of lots of agencies offering services and promising results based on contacts and experience. Is this merely publicity or are they accurately reflecting the situation? I don’t know but I will inevitably use one of them and hope that they can deliver. One consequence of this is that it is difficult to plan things too precisely, I have to allow a somewhat open window of time to complete the visa arrangements in Hong Kong. I have the suspicion that this is a not uncommon situation.
Last night I tried to withdraw money from a cashpoint. It was from a bank that accepted foreign cards and I have had no problems in the past withdrawing money in China. This machine however informed me that the PIN number inputted was incorrect, I tried again and it kept with that line despite my best efforts. At a second bank’s cashpoint I tried again and here I was served with the following choice line: YOUR REQUEST HAS BEEN DECLINED FOR AMBIGUOUS REASONS
Sometimes I love Chinglish, particularly the more subtle examples of it like this one. It is a language that just gives and gives. I only wish the same could be said for the cashpoints’ ability to dispense money, or unambiguous answers.
