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The Bus Uncle

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File:Unclebusscreenshot.jpg
The Bus Uncle

The Bus Uncle (Chinese: 巴士阿叔) is a Cantonese video clip capturing a verbal altercation aboard a bus in Hong Kong on April 27, 2006. The clip was taken by a passenger, uploaded to HK Golden Forum, and then quickly mirrored on YouTube and Google Video. Soon after its debut on YouTube, the six-minute video became a cultural sensation in Hong Kong and inspired vigorous debate and discussion on life and etiquette in the city. Attracting over five million hits [citation needed], the clip became one of YouTube's most viewed items in May 2006. Its copious use of profanity and its rhetorical outbursts attracted the attention of local and international media, and some of its utterances became catchphrases in Hong Kong and Chinese communities around the world.

The phrase "The Bus Uncle" was coined by members of an Internet forum in reference to the belligerent character in the video. Contrary to reports in Western media, the word "uncle" was never spoken in the video.

The incident

Poster of an event by Capcom, capitalizing on the tagline "I face pressure. You face pressure." (我有壓力,你有壓力) adopted from the clip.

The incident took place on a Kowloon Motor Bus (route 68X) heading towards Yuen Long at approximately 11:00pm on the evening of 27 April, 2006. The video clip begins with a middle-aged "uncle" reacting furiously after the young man seated behind him had tapped his shoulder and asked him to lower his voice while speaking on the phone. The younger passenger, who seldom talked back during the quarrel, expressed reluctance to carry on the discussion. During the exchange, the middle-aged man exclaimed, "Not yet resolved! Not yet resolved! Not yet resolved!" and "I have pressure. You have pressure. Why did you provoke me?" Both lines have become popular catchphrases in Hong Kong. Through the second half of the recording, "Bus Uncle" uses many profanities to insult the young man (including, for example, "Fuck your mom!") and seems unapologetic when warned not to involve the mother.

Despite the strong language and "Bus Uncle's" asking the young man whether he considered himself a "good fighter", a physical altercation never seemed imminent.

The characters

  • The young man scolded on the video has been identified as 23-year-old Elvis Ho Yui Hei (Chinese: 何銳熙), a property agent for his family's property management company in Mong Kok. On May 23, 2006, Ho (previously misidentified as "Alvin" or "Elvin") called a talk show on Commercial Radio claiming to be the young man involved in the argument. [1]. In a later interview with the South China Morning Post, Ho said he often takes long bus rides home and would frequently ask passengers to lower their voices so he could nap. Despite being threatened and berated, Ho said he forgave "Bus Uncle" and sympathized with whatever stress the older man was suffering.
  • The man who recorded the video clip has been identified as 21-year-old Jon Fong Wing Hang (Chinese: 方穎恆), an accountant and part-time student, after he called a radio station on May 25, 2006. Fong, who recorded the clip with a Sony Ericsson cellphone, claimed there was a second video yet to be posted online in which Ho fought back by making fun of "Bus Uncle" with a friend on the phone. Fong also stated that the reason he recorded the clip was to provide evidence to police in case "Bus Uncle" became physically violent. Fong has since sold the rights to the second video to Easy Finder magazine for HK$3,000 (US$375).
  • The "Bus Uncle" has been identified as 51 year old Roger Chan Yuet Tung (Chinese: 陳乙東), a Yuen Long resident living with five cats and receiving welfare payments from the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance scheme of the government. He has also made three attempts for the office of Hong Kong Chief Executive--in 1997, 2002 and 2005. After Chan's identity was revealed, many journalists tried to interview him, but he demanded remuneration for press interviews. Chan further claimed to have served an eight-year prison sentence in Belgium for drug smuggling and to have once won $2.5 million in a lottery, only to gamble it all away.

Chan stated that when Ho tapped him on the shoulder, he was under duress from an argument with his girlfriend and was calling the Samaritans suicide-prevention hotline for support. However, Ho claimed that Chan was just chatting with friends.

Singtao Daily reported that Chan visited Ho's office on 31 May in Mong Kok to apologize for the dispute and to initiate a business proposal for the duo to hold a "Bus Uncle Rave Party". But allegedly, Chan was quickly waved off and expelled by Ho, who expressed outrage towards the journalists who arranged the meeting and threatened legal action against the press.

On June 7, 2006, Ming Pao Daily reported that Chan, who had been hired by a local steak restaurant chain as a Public Relations Officer, was physically assaulted on the job, in front of horrified diners and journalists, by three unidentified masked men who then fled the scene [citation needed]. "Bus Uncle" sustained severe injuries to his eyes and face and was admitted to the Emergency Department for overnight treatment.

The restaurant owner Mr. Lee was then under pressure from his wife and daughter to fire Chan due to magazine coverage of Chan's exploits in a Shenzhen karaoke hostess-bar. Lee's initial refusal led his wife to attempt suicide by overdosing sleeping pills on June 11 in order to force the issue [citation needed]. Upon learning of Mrs. Lee's suicide attempt, Chan handed in his resignation, claiming he did not want Lee's family to be unhappy.

Some local newspapers pointed out that the behaviour of the "Bus Uncle" contravened the general code of conduct of bus passengers, which constitutes a criminal offence, according to Section 46(1)(a), (n)(ii)[2] and 57(1)[3] of Cap 374D of the Road Traffic (Public Service Vehicles) Regulations[4], with a maximum penalty of HKD$3000 and a 6-month imprisonment.

His behaviour also constituted an offence under Section 17B(2) of the Public Order Ordinance (the section titled "Disorder in public places"), with a maximum penalty of HKD$5000 and 12-months imprisonment.[5]. It is possible that his behaviour also constitutes Criminal Intimidation, which is an offence under Section 24 of the Crimes Ordinance, with a maximum penalty of HKD$2000 and 5 years imprisonment.[6]

The latter two offences would be the more likely charges he would face (compared to the breach of the Regulation) if he were actually arrested by the police.

File:Triad3uc.jpg
The infamous quote, "It's not resolved!", said by the middle-aged grumpy man appears as a tagline in this fake movie poster, imitating Johnnie To's Election series.

The famous quotes of Bus Uncle are now frequently used, mimicked, and parodied in Hong Kong, particularly by teenagers. The catchphrases also appear on Internet forums, posters, and radio programmes. Various "remixes" and parodies have been created, including versions tuned to Canto pop songs, "reenactments" of the incident with video game characters, composite pictures, and movie posters. On television, a TVB sports reporter was heard using the phrases, while an ATV sitcom episode also imitated the video in an argument scene. On 28 May, 2006, this incident was mentioned in the 6:30 News on TVB, highlighting the success of YouTube. It was also mentioned on Cable TV news [1].

The video clip, having been subtitled in English (in parts erroneously, though never straying too far from general tenor of the Cantonese), has penetrated Western media and been reported in numerous prominent international journals, such as the Associated Press, New York Times, The Guardian, The Globe and Mail and the Wall Street Journal [2], in late May.

Although many have found the video humorous and entertaining, others have warned that it hints at a more alarming and sinister prognosis of life in stress-filled Hong Kong.

To Kit, a well-known columnist, made a commentary about the incident on Commercial Radio. He described the behavior of Bus Uncle as "a noise raping" and said that the incident was the manifestation of underlying social tension as well as the mindset of a common Chinese person. He criticised Elvis' speechlessness as being too weak, likewise a stereotype of present-day Hong Kong youths. In addition, he noted that the incident implied that harmony in the neighborhood was somehow hindered.

Dr. Lee Sing, director of the Hong Kong Mood Centre at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, warned that Hong Kong's high-stress working environments are spawning a city-full of "Bus Uncles". Dr. Lee estimated that one out of every 50 grumpy Hong Kongers is a "ticking time bomb" of rage and violence.

Nonetheless, others denied any social insights could be gleamed from the video clip and argued that the frenzy was artificially created by newspapers in order to boost circulation and profits. Media ethicists charged the media with making and not reporting news. Clement So York-kee, Director of the School of Journalism at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, warned that methods to uncover Bus Uncle news "did not seem to...[involve the] traditional practice of news reporting". For example, several media outlets had offered rewards on unmasking Uncle Bus' identity. And in late May, a group of journalists and photographers initiated and followed Chan's second meeting with Ho. After Ho's rebuff, they brought Bus Uncle to a dinner and karaoke session. Although the session was widely reported, many believed it was artificially created news and unworthy of front-page attention.

Others argued the frenzy was not the product of a media conspiracy but rather a reflection of the public's curiosity and of Hong Kong's consumer-driven media market.

In June 2006, TVB television made a parody of the Bus Uncle video in its television promotion for its coverage of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The advertisement featured TVB sports commentator Lam Sheung-Yee (林尚義), whose voice resembles Chan's, on a bus playing the role of the Bus Uncle. In the promotion, a passenger sitting behind Lam Sheung-Yee (played by Lam Man Chung) questions whether Lam Sheung-Yee feels pressured for his responsibilities in the upcoming World Cup, which would be his last TV appearance before retirement. Turning around, Lam replies that there is no pressure and emphasizes that the issue (i.e. the viewers' demand for World Cup coverage) has been resolved. The passenger then offers to shake hands with Lam Sheung-Yee and calls for a truce. [3]

A re-enactment of the Bus Uncle scene is now an advertisement for a type of bottled water sold at supermarket chain PARKnSHOP.

Notes

  1. ^ (Cantonese)
  2. ^ Section 46
  3. ^ Section 57
  4. ^ Road Traffic (Public Service Vehicles) Regulations
  5. ^ Section 17B of the Public Order Ordinance
  6. ^ See Section 24 for the definition of the offence and Section 27 for the penalties.

References

Wikiquote has quotations related to The Bus Uncle.
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