July 4th

On July 4th, I think that my laptop was stolen (although I can't prove it).  I know that the only time that my eyes were off of my bag for more than a few seconds was when it was on my back.  So, my best guess is that while I was walking through a crowd (either in the AsiaWorld-Expo Center, or in the adjacent Hong Kong International Airport), someone quickly and discretely unzipped my backpack and took my laptop.

Regardless of how it happened, there was no material possession more valuable to me (especially my journal).  Although I had backed up a few things, I lost most of my personal files.

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While I was at the airport, there were two women who were also dealing with a great loss.  But, I really can't compare mine to theirs, at all.

"Two Thai sex slaves in Hong Kong rescued by consulate".
http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1282083/two-thai-sex-slaves-hong-kong-rescued-consulate

Here is an extract from the article:

Their ordeal started earlier this month after they met another Thai woman, believed to be 38, in Thailand. She offered them an all-expenses paid trip to Hong Kong to work as masseuses for HK$22,500 a month - a big sum by Thai standards.

Isra and Ratana (not their real names) accepted the offer and landed at Chek Lap Kok [Hong Kong] airport on July 4.

They were taken to an address identified as a "massage parlour" in Yau Ma Tei, where their modest dream became a nightmare. Shocked by the dirty, cramped conditions in the brothel, they tried to leave but staff threatened to beat them and to report them to police for working illegally on visitors' visas.

Isra and Ratana were told they could not leave until they either repaid the cost of their air fares or had sex with scores of men. Fearing for their lives and with no money, they worked from 7am to 2am, having sex with men paying HK$160 per session.

Other Thai women worked in the brothel, alongside mainlanders and women from Vietnam and Russia.

Two days later, the pair managed to escape, but with no money or identification. They hid at the airport for three days with little hope of returning home until...a series of calls to Thai foreign affairs officials and to the Thai consulate in Hong Kong.

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Hong Kong definitely has one of the best airports in the world.  In 2012, Hong Kong International Airport was rated #3 by World Airport Awards (as well as by the very useful Guide to Sleeping In Airports). Honestly, I like spending time there. And, it feels safer (and cleaner) than any major U.S. airport I've been in.

Of course, I've never hidden at HKIA for three days, in fear of violent pimps.

So, again, there's really no comparison between my ordeal and theirs. But, since I was attending the Homecoming Conference (and the conference center is connected to the airport) I was there both when these women arrived in Hong Kong, and when they returned to the airport to hide for three days.  I had my laptop stolen the same day that they had their freedom stolen.

Again, my laptop was extremely valuable to me.  But, I didn't become a slave, or get beaten and raped.  This is the situation of too many women who come to Hong Kong for work.

All this to say...I want to see freedom for captives, and restoration of all that's been lost.

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To be fair, Hong Kong is one of the least corrupt cities in East Asia.  And, most of the prostitutes who come from other places (thousands every month) prefer Hong Kong to their home cities. And, they usually know more or less what they're getting into before they come.*

Regardless, they are being exploited.  And the exploitation of the vulnerable in this city has got to stop.

Near Shanghai Street in Mong Kok.  This is several blocks away from the massage parlor that the two Thai women escaped from.

*Note: I'm not okay with prostitution "if she consents" (or "if he consents").  Please see this, this or this on how "consent" is typically experienced in the process of entering a career in the sex trade.