Hong Kong legislator James Kun-sun To remembers a phrase he heard his father saying when he was a little boy. When there is no water, then there is no water. Decades ago, no firemen in Hong Kong would put out any fire unless their palms were greased a bit first. They would keep saying, "No water? No water!" In Cantonese, water is a common euphemism for money.

The Hong Kong of 25 years ago was still in its "dark ages"