Modifications: Riding With Hong Kong Street Racers.
It’s 4:31am Tuesday morning Hong Kong time. I just got some footage of the racers but not as much as I would like. Again. I had a fight with Ah Lai. I don’t even know if it’s a fight, whether he is really angry at me AGAIN or it’s going to pass. I know that I need total agreement of my subjects, but he is the best and legendary and I know that the footage I have of him is the most “sharp” or in Chinese “lei.” Not that if I film half assed racers anyone would really know. Coz, no one has ever been able to really infritrate the Hong Kong racing scene. This is no MTV “My Life” documentary.
Throw in two weeks work of film together for an hour “documentary” I have been filming on and off for nine months. It’s so difficult because these guys really are rough. They are men who life has thrown some serious sucker punches at. Espeically Ah, Lai. And nothing I have learnt in “polite” society works here. I don’t know the rules, and charm gets you no where because these people aren’t used to charm. I mean, this is serious working class Hong Kong, and I have no experience with it nor do any of my friends. Even if my friend is from a working class background, they have made it “out” of it. They went to college and have office jobs, so even as they were young thier parents tried to shelter them out of the nitty gritty of life in the hopes they can get out of it.
But here is the breakdown of this evening.
3am I go out for cigarettes. I had serious cabin fever as I was finishing up my community site. Which I will talk about later, as I walked down the streets I see the garage Tune Works is open. So I walk over. They say something about a crash and that they will be bringing No. 9’s car in. I tell them I am going to bring my camera down and film. They tell me not to, but I somehow convince them it’s going to be okay because Ah Lai said on Sunday that I can start filming again. I go up, come back down…
The link of the car is broken and that’s all I know. No one explains anything even to each other. We wait for an hour and it’s pretty mellow. I get a few nice shots, and the tow car comes, there is a mad rush of activity. It was like a dance of men and cars. The boys jump into their cars, start moving them around the street, the tow truck comes in, Ah, Lai’s black 3III comes zooming in, stops, back ups, people start running around openning garages and pulling cars in and out. I don’t know how they know where to go. And it seemed there were four cars moving at the same time, on a little side street, and the noise of modified engines is intense.
Ah Lai tells me to stop filming. he’s actually in an okay mood about it. He is speaking to me in a quiet tone that he never uses, but I keep filming anyway. I think I am getting away with it and about three minutes into it, he starts yelling at me. “Fucking BITCH, I SAID FUCKING PUT THE DICK OF THE CAMERA DOWN. YOU UNDERSTAND!” I look at him and he stands on the other side of the street waving his arm. “YOU. I SAID NO FUCKING FILMING. Get it. GO HOME. NOW.”
Ah fai, says, “Don’t be so loud man.” and Lai just looks at me and points, and said, “Are you going to leave or not!!” That moment I am thinking, “do I film him getting angry at me? Do I let his tirades be filmed? Then I put the camera down, because I think it’s better not to butt heads with him again since Sunday we came to some sort of agreement or so I thought. I just said, “Okay, I just want to know why.” He says, “I said put the camera down.” and I go “I am not saying I want to film. I just want to know why I can’t.” He stops for a moment and goes, “It’s no. 9’s car and he’s crashed.” and I say, “but 9 lets me film.” and he says, “Call him.” so I agreed. I ran to my bag and realised I don’t have my phone. I watch the men when they are using bricks and wood and metal to lower the car out off the tow truck and I run to Ah fai and says, “Can I have your phone. I don’t have my phone I need to call 9” but he really has his hands full. I run up the Ah, Lai’s girlfriend and go “Do you have ah 9’s number I don’t have my phone with me.” and she looks at me like i am completely mad. I forget the women do not talk to the men, and Ah 9 for some reason likes me, and he lets me take his car for a spin and speaks to me, and that’s not the experience of the other women. (I will talk about the relationship about the women one day.”
I realise there was no way to do anything so I start writing notes. The girlfriend comes and tries to see what I am writing. Luckily it’s in English, which trips her out. And she stands there hating me.
But more importantly is I do not have shots of the damaged car. I only have shots from the other side. I can see the left front and back wheel is flat and dented. I am thinking maybe I can film it tomorrow if I can get in the garage with my camera. I know the boys want to be filmed but they don’t. It’s that dance of what I can get and what they actually want me to get of course.
Then of course I suddenly realise 9 is not here and I know he takes his sons out. One is five and the other is 15. I start to worry about bebe (the little one) and I ask the girl if bebe was there. Is he okay. She completely blanks me. Ah lai comes rushing in and I go, “Is bebe okay?” and the girlfriend screams “Will you not talk to him.” and her voice actually shoots through me, I felt a chill, it was so vicious. I don’t think I have heard a voice like that before. It creeped me out. I didn’t want to do anything afterwards.
I sit in the Tuneworks and as they park the car into the garage down the street I realise I could do some zoom shots of the damaged side. I don’t know if they knew I was filming but I got about 1 minute of the damaged wheel. And I put everything down, I don’t look at anyone coz I am so freaked out by the woman (Ah Fai actually said to me before I brought my camera down that “Ah Lai’s girlfriend is here tonight.” and I say, “So? What’s the problem?” and he goes, “Oh, I don’t know..” sigh.
Anyway it’s all over suddenly, the car is hidden and parked. And they start talking about how with the Aristo, there are computers that run everything so the cost of fixing it is insane, and there is no way they can give a quote today, and the tow truck guy is talking about how it was really annoying having the owner of the car there so he couldn’t just crank the car up. And I go up to Ah Lai and say, “Look, was bebe there? Can I ask you that question?” and he blanks me. Turns his face. He starts to complain that he’s not even doing this for money… and I do wonder what they are doing it for. Sometimes it’s business and sometimes its friendship and it gets all mixed up and they fight about it… As for being blanked. I am used to it now. They all do it. When they don’t want to answer your question or don’t like what you are saying they just ignore you like you are not there. It frustrated the fuck out of me because I don’t like to be treated that way. They are all talking about luck. How lucky Ah fai was only on third street (the street below) at a friend’s house, how the tow truck driver happenned to be around because he was on his way home and it was his day off. These guys are always talking about fate and luck.
And I look at the clock. 4:10am. I cannot believe all that drama unfolded in approximately 10 minutes. It’s just such an intense time frame seems like at least half hour. I don’t talk to anyone or look at anyone and they all leave in their cars, but I just keep taking notes as I walk away. I am used to that too now. There is never any goodbyes. You just walk away.
Anyway here are the questions I have in my mind.
1) Where is BeBe?
2) What Happenned
3) Where were they when they crashed. Who was there?
4) Are they hiding thier car because they don’t want to the police to find out. Two police trucks drove past. The top of the street has a police station, but somehow no matter where we are, I seem to see a lot of cops around whenever I am with them. I don’t know if it’s a heightenned awareness of the fact they are the “enermy” that I notice, and other times as a normal citizen I don’t notice them driving past. All the footage everynight there is some sorta of police car passing us.
I have never been in a crash with these guys. I don’t know what it’s like afterwards but I hear there are rituals of some sort. Like everyone hangs around until they hear the cops, or they all dissappear.. I hear different stories.
I wish I can get an interview with them. I have had some but not enough. They don’t want to talk to me. I can’t work out the relationship and the dance of this. Where I should be, where I should be.
And I wonder what the hell am I doing this for? Why do I want to do this. Night like this makes me wonder if I have gone way over my head.
The sun is coming up. But as I said I was going to start my blog this week. Seems like a good day to do so. I just hope I can edit this tomorrow when I have some time.
Yan Sham-Shackleton Online 