Riding with Hong Kong Street Racers
People ask me how I know them. How I started the film. How a chick who could barely speak Canto be allowed into these badass men’s lives. I tell them I walked up to a garage where there were about seven modified cars out on the streets with a video camera in hand and announced I wanted to make a documentary about them. They said, how will I know you’re not a cop or not a journalist from Apple magazine? I said, “Because I am not.” And they ignored me and I sat down on a blue chair by the garage, and they ignored me more.
The next day, I went there and sat down again. And did the same the next and the next. On the third day of vigil, Fai bought me a coke and said, “You must be thirsty sitting there all that time.”
I asked them if they fly cars and if they knew anyone who did, and candy said, “We figured, that’s what you wanted, nobody comes here otherwise.” I asked them if they would take me, and they all ignored that question. I asked when do they go? They said, “We don’t know.” So I came back and sat on the blue chair. And every night I would ask, “Will you guys go tonight? Will you take me?” And they would ignore me. They always ignored me.
On the sixth day, one of Fai’s customers, 9 older brother, who was in his 40s finally took pity on me. He said, “Do you want to see it?” I said “Yes.” He said, “Then come along.” and I got up but they continued to talk. So I sat down again. Then they suddenly all walked to their cars, and I didn’t know what to do.
9 Brother was getting into his car, and I stood there with my camera not knowing what was going to happen next.
Fai said, “Are you going with them?”
“I want to.”
Fai called to 9 brother, “She wants to come with you.”
9 brother looked at me, “Well get in the car then.”
I looked at Fai,
“Do you want to go?” he asked,
I nod,
“Then why are you standing there? Hurry up!”
I walked up holding onto the door, “Is it going to be okay? They aren’t going to take me away and sell me somewhere right?”
“No! Get in the car. They are going to fly cars, not doing anything.”
I walked to the passenger side and began to climb in, “If you never see my again, you know who took me.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, Go!”
I found myself in the car, with the door closed.
The engine roared.
I was off.
I turned to 9 brother, “You are going to take me home tonight right?”
He said, “Don’t be crazy.”
He always told me not to be crazy.
I said, the first of many, “If I wasn’t crazy I would not be sitting in your car.”
He laughed, “This is only for homework right?”
“Yeah, it’s for film school.”
“Why would a girl be interested in street racing?”
“I was walking towards the grassy park by the water. I couldn’t find the walk way. I walked out onto the road -you know near the entrance of the freeway. A whole bunch of you came around the corner. I had to jump out of the way, I watched him drive off. Wondered who was in the car. I got up off the floor and said to my boyfriend then, “Lets go find out where those guys are going. I always wanted to know where they go and who they are.”
“And how did you find us? The garage? How did you know it was there?”
“No.. I heard there was a street racing movie, so I went down to Mongkok, asked the guys if he could get me some racing movies and he said, he didn’t have any. I walked into another shop and asked again, and I kept going until this one guy said, “You mean those VCDs?” and I said, “What VCDs?” and he went to a shelf and took out these disks, and they were all about cars, and I said, “I want the illegal ones.” And he said, “Oh, these.” Gave me a few, and I went home to watch it. That’s how I learnt what modified cars looked like. I would just wander around town, looking for the cars. Stand in corners ask people if they knew. And then I was walking home one night, and saw all your cars, I couldn’t believe it was right on my street. I had never seen them before.”
“That’s because it just opened.”
“When?”
“Two weeks ago.”
“Wow. That’s when I started looking.”
“I have never been there before. Not until the day you came by.”
“No way.”
“Yeah, I came by to see the new place, because Lai’s father and I are in business together.”
“Fate.”
“You believe in that?”
“Yeah. I do.”
“You’re crazy.”
“I know.”
Who would have thought then, and people still have a hard time accepting it as fact but within a month, whenever people ask, “Who is that girl?”
Fai and Candy would forever reply, “She’s the only person 9 brother ever let drive his car.”
Yan Sham-Shackleton Online 