Mutant in Tuen Mun

I'd heard of Sleepless in Seattle and Bored Watching Shutter Island, but never until yesterday of Mutant in Tuen Mun – although now I come to think about it, I can see that Mutant is pretty damn close to being an anagram of Tuen Mun, and probably is in one of those gloriously eccentric transliteration systems like Wade-Giles ... or pinyin.

I owe the revelation to a set of good burghers who style themselves the Friends of KMB, which I must say is terrifically public spirited, given how many Friends the bus company must need. For some reason that will perhaps remain as much a mystery to me as why Martin Scorsese continues to direct films, I received a press release from said Friends on the topic of an Occupational Safety and Health Carnival at which they are manning the games stands.

As is common practice in Hong Kong, the press release feeds words into the mouth of one of the participants to give it a little more pizzazz. The effect on this reader was anything but common, however, as a scenario unfolded that could been taken straight out of a 50s B horror movie – or Shutter Island:

"One of the Friends who participated in the event said, 'Today we transformed into occupational safety ambassadors to remind the public of the importance of ...

At this point the press release broke off as a strident Mainland tour-guide arrived from Tin Shui Wai with a megaphone to usher the Friends onto a pre-Euro coach for a Seafood Lunch in Lau Fau Shan Cum Visit to The Preaching Benevolence Pavilion Soon to Be Transformed into The Hall for Worshipping the Daoist Guardians.

Just another day in the New Territories, really.