RAMBLINGS - The Hong Kong Brother

Everything's Fake In China!!

If you know much about HK and southern China in general, then you know that it is possibly the world's greatest source of pirated goods. From watches, to software, to movies and music, to handbags, to paintings -- you can basically find a fake copy of anything you can think of here.

So it's no surprise that even the CROOKS are being faked now... This article comes from the South China Morning Post, which is THE English-language newspaper in HK.

Fake thieves to ward off criminals
Monday, August 30, 2004
By JANE CAI

A Guangzhou company is touting a criminal scarecrow service, offering to rent "thieves" to stores and supermarkets to ward off pickpockets.

The Guangzhou Daily said a representative visited a supermarket and offered to lease one or two employees to the retailer for public humiliation.

"Your security guards can catch them, hang a board around their necks with the word `thief' on it and ask them to walk down the centre of your store," the saleswoman said. "This will frighten off real thieves."

The thief-for-hire company said it charged 300 yuan a day for each of its impostors.

The company is also offering to help stores cut down on theft by stealing goods from their premises and exposing gaps in their security measures.

However, the proposals have not received a warm welcome from retailers. One supermarket manager said parading fake thieves amounted to fooling consumers.

"Our reputation would be seriously damaged if the truth came out," he said.

A department store manager said it was against the law to publicly expose a thief.

The Guangzhou Daily said it interviewed many retailers in the city and all thought the move would bring more trouble than benefits.

However, the concept is not entirely new, as a company in Qingdao started renting out thieves in April.

The Beijing Youth Daily reported that the company provided actors to help businesses stage impressive anti-theft performances to scare off the real thing.

The SCMP is THE English language newspaper in HK. I do not buy the SCMP, but I do subscribe to their online edition and refer to it often. I am copying the article here from the SCMP with no permission whatsoever, but I'm telling you where it came from out of some weird (and baseless) sense that "it's cool to copy if I tell you where it came from"...

This article was first posted: 30 August 2004

Here are some of the things I think about:

*Yo-Yo, Ma?*	*The Human Touch*
*If Me Is A Dog*	*I Walked A Mile With Pleasure*
*What's The Rush? (Part 1)*	*What Are Missionaries Like?*
*What's The Rush? (Part 2)--Rated "PG"*	*Is That Your Final Answer?*
*The NEW Yo-Yo's*	*A Rose By Any Other Name*
*Hair Like Osama*	*True Patriots of the P.R.O.C.?*
*Buying The Onion*	*Lip Van Winker*
*Eat Like You're Hungry*	*Celebrity Heads*
*Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow*	*Things I'm Thankful For*
*The Water Bicycles of Tin Shui Wai*	*My Biggest Fan*
*CD Firecrackers*	*Shaolin Kung Fu*
*Hot Pants*	*Junk E-mail*
*China's Next Great Leap*	*Internet Time*
*Don't Drink The Water*	*May I Touch Your Guts, Please?*
*A Death In Hong Kong*	*Love Kites*
*Introverts: UNITE!*	*Overdos (of cool)*
*The Wonders of English*	*Solo And The City*
*Writing 2004 -- #1: "The Third Eye"*	*The Politics Of Masking*
*Writing 2004 -- #2: "The Time Machine"*	*Tiananmen Mothers*
*Everything's Fake In China!!*	*What's Up, Doc?*
*BEN's TEAM -- 2004*

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