But the BU's antics exploded as an Internet meme: "a unit of cultural information...transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another." In this case, transmission via the Net has reached the front pages of financial newspapers read by the pinstripe-suits in Exchange Square. And among IT workers, his signature phrase "You have pressure! I have pressure!" resonates-recent polls have flagged IT as one of the modern world's more stressful occupations.
And it was a camera-phone (an IT device unknown a decade ago) that made the meme possible. In the 1960s, artist Andy Warhol postulated a future where "everyone would be famous for 15 minutes." Thanks to camera-phones and homegrown-content aggregator sites like youtube.com, Warhol's prediction is now as certain as No-Plastic-Bag days at Hong Kong's supermarket chains.
There are significant privacy concerns here. Neither BU (whose bus outburst brought notoriety and fame) nor the target of his verbiage (who wishes the whole thing would go away) knew they were being recorded.
Fortunately, here in Hong Kong, we have the Privacy Ordinance: an overriding law that protects HKSAR citizens' privacy in matters ranging from government surveillance to Bus Uncle-type incidents. When it comes to enforcement in Hong Kong (where law and order are realities rather than polemics), there's a steel fist inside the velvet glove. Private details are kept private, and HK citizens are continually reminded of the Privacy Ordinance by government adverts as well as private-sector initiatives.
So what happens when technology allows an essentially private encounter to hit the Net, spawning karaoke remixes, parody-videos and who knows what? In this case, the mother of the young man targeted by Bus Uncle is said to be planning legal action against the camera-phone-wielder, who sold some of the footage to a local magazine. As for Uncle, some local toughs were irked and gave him a black eye. Literally, during a promotional appearance (they wore surgical masks, although perhaps not for health reasons).
Camera-phones are already technologia non grata in several Hong Kong locations. The Jockey Club bars all mobile phones, and has miniscule lockers for members to stash their trilling mouthpieces-and many movie fans suggest that Hong Kong cinema box-office receipts would rise if cinemas would install equipment that blocks mobile signals.
Some manufacturers continue to release handsets unencumbered by photographic-capture devices, which makes them lighter/cheaper while preventing photo and/or video recording.
This move toward simplicity flies in the face of mobile telephony's Brave New World. Advertising for 3G services would have us believe that magical new handsets will deliver multimedia messages, most egregiously evoked by dripping wet Cantopop-singer Leon Lai proposing to his pouty supermodel girlfriend outside Hong Kong's International Airport. But when we fired up 3G on a test unit, all we got was shouting feng shui experts, and postage-stamp-sized football highlights...then our battery ran out.
While 3G continues to underwhelm, memes continue to proliferate. Pre-Internet, the popular term was "urban legend": lore rooted in city culture, to distinguish it from more traditionally rural older folklore. Urban legends have their own watchdog website--www.snopes.com--where you can research fantastic fables and questionable quotes. Yes, DEC founder Ken Olsen really did say in 1977 (at a convention of the World Future Society): "There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home."
Bus Uncle might agree, as he was unaware of his meme-borne fame until a Hong Kong reporter tracked him down and told him that his video was all over the Net. Ironically, the Uncle himself was blissfully unaware.