Photos

This photo was taken in the North Point district of Hong Kong Island and is the first in a series of photos that blend together to show 'daily life' in Hong Kong.

Update:

My photo the wall effect and air-ventilation shows the view from inside a showflat in this building.

My photo a Hong Kong showflat with TV in bed shows the inside of one of the showflats.

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From Travelotica:

"The territory's per capita GNP, for example, has doubled in a decade, overtaking that of the former imperial power. Yet the inequality of incomes is staggering: the conspicuous consumption of the few hundred super-rich (all Cantonese) for which Hong Kong is famous tends to mask the fact that most people work long hours and live in crowded tiny apartments."

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From Wikipedia:

Conspicuous consumption is a term used to describe the lavish spending on goods and services that are acquired mainly for the purpose of displaying income or wealth. In the mind of a conspicuous consumer, such display serves as a means of attaining or maintaining social status.

Invidious consumption, a necessary corollary, is the term applied to consumption of goods and services for the deliberate purpose of inspiring envy in others.

The term conspicuous consumption was introduced by Norwegian-American economist and sociologist Thorstein Veblen in his 1899 book The Theory of the Leisure Class.

Veblen used the term to depict the behavioral characteristic of the nouveau riche, a new class that emerged in the 19th century capitalistic society as a result of the accumulation of wealth during the Second Industrial Revolution. In this context, the application of the term should be narrowed only to the elements of the upper class who use their enormous wealth to manifest their social power, whether real or perceived.

In its meaning, the term can be easily applied to the nouveau riche that rise due to rapid development of the emerging economies such as Brazil, China, India and Russia. The term can also be applied to ancient times, such as the creation of the Egyptian Pyramids. It can be used to describe the spending patterns of some corporate executives.