A man walks down the street staring at his phone, ignoring the world-famous Eiffel Tower rising behind him. What do we ignore in our own lives that other people would travel the world to see?
Author: Joel M. Hoffman
Malaysia: Facades and Whispers
Kuala Lumpur showcases Malaysia’s harmony and parity among different racial, ethnic, and linguistic groups. At least officially. Off the record and quietly, though,…
The Sri Lankan Gem Expert
“Are you an expert?” I asked. The answer was a lesson for anyone who ever tries to learn anything.
Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia’s Urban Heart with a Village Soul
As I toured Kuala Lumpur, I saw various houses of worship, a mosaic of ethnicities, a plethora of restaurants, a cross-section of Asia, an endless supply of shops, and a doozie of a traffic jam. But this photo of Kampung Baru…
The Taxi Driver and the Policeman (and the Difference Between Responsibility and Involvement)
I was so proud of my New-York taxi-hailing skills, artfully applied in Kowloon, Hong Kong, of all places. But then when the police got involved…
Hong Kong’s Magical Luminous Ovoids
A magical collection of “luminous ovoids” transforms Hong Kong’s urban landscape at dusk, carving a peaceful, happy, otherworldly retreat into the space between the busy harbor and the even busier skyscrapers that define Hong Kong Island. Here time slows. Adults frolic. Smiles abound. And reality and make-believe mingle. The exhibition is courtesy of teamLab, the…
The Indian Shepherd
Perhaps the most striking feature of the shepherd is this: He is happy. “I have no stress,” he says, not boastfully, but rather as though he can’t imagine where stress could possibly come from.
Hong Kong’s Enchanted Port(al)
The pier is the nexus between land and water, an invitation to trust your life to a vessel mere “inches from death,” as the Roman poet Juvenal wrote. But it’s worth it. It always has been. Islands are different kinds of places with a different kind of daily life. Hong Kong’s pier is…
Planet of the Monkeys (in Hong Kong)
I felt like a visitor, even an intruder. And the eeriness of the scene underscored the vastness of our planet and the variety of life on it, and silently asked the question: To whom does our planet belong?
A Man and a Tree and the Nature of the World
Only after I saw this weary man under a tree in Hong Kong did it occur to me to ask the fundamental and important question: Why is it that in some places, as here, people can rest peacefully in public and not fear for their safety, while in other places the public space is a dangerous one?
