How a Chinese toddler urinating on Hong Kong street sparked a social media war

[webfact]

How a Chinese toddler urinating on Hong Kong street sparked a social media war
Chinese mother lets two-year-old urinate on busy Hong Kong Street
Heated row erupts as onlookers film the toddler relieving herself
Footage causes heated debate between social media users
By EMILY CRANE

HONG KONG: -- A couple who let their toddler urinate in the middle of a busy Hong Kong street have sparked a huge debate about acceptable standards of behaviour in Chinese society.

The woman was filmed holding a nappy under her two-year-old daughter as she relieved herself in the middle of Mong Kok, one of the world’s busiest shopping districts, last Tuesday.

A row quickly erupted after the toddler’s parents tried to make off with the memory card from the camera of a young man who filmed the incident.

Another passser-by recorded the altercation that ensued and the footage has gone viral with more than a million people viewing the video on social media site Weibo.

Much of the furore centres around the perceived gap between standards of social behaviour in mainland China and on the former British colony of Hong Kong.

It is illegal to let a child relieve themselves in the street in Hong Kong and doing so can result in a HK$2000 fine. However, the practice is relatively common in mainland China.

The incident in Mong Kok last week occurred because there was a long line for a public toilet and the child could not wait, according to the Want China Times.

Onlookers surrounded the family to take pictures and then blocked their path as they tried to flee with the child and the pram.

Full story: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2614635/Chinese-toddler-urinates-Hong-Kong-street-causes-internet-firestorm-tension-citizens-heats-up.html

[dmail]2014-04-29[/dmail]

[Costas2008]

What a stupid, world we live in.

Ignorant and arrogant people that have nothing else to do than be offended by a toddler peeing.

Edited April 29, 2014 by Costas2008

[borisloosebrain]

When you gotta go you gotta go...

[neverdie]

Well whilst I realise we don't want children peeing everywhere in the street, the guy that took hold of the pram and was pulling it from the mother DEFINATELY went too far. It's one thing to object to these dirty individuals it's another to take hold of a child's pram and attempt to pull it away.

Had I been the father, I would of been handing the child to its mother and taking this scrawny little flea down.

If the child was wearing a nappy, why didn't they just let it go in it's pants.

Such a non event, meanwhile there's thousands of people dying at the hands of monster rulers and mentally ill presidents and dictators etc and thousands of people are in a blogging frenzie over a child taking a leak.

what's this world coming to?

[draftvader]

The problem with children of this age is that you are stuck between a rock and a hard place. They may well want to pee without their nappy as they have been encouraged to do so. Because they are proud it can cause a lot of upset for the child (at 2 they will lack efficient coping strategies) if they are not allowed to. People should be more understanding of the needs of small children as we were all one once!

It is ridiculous to think that the poor child was made to suffer like this because of some people's inability to see sense.

[Payboy]

I can't remember the number of times I've pissed on the street in Wanchai.

[TVGerry]

I'd be offended too.

Every parent brings their toddler out, whether here, in Singapore, in the US, wherever. You don't seeing their little kids taking a piss in public, do you? It always has to be someone from China. And watching the video, instead of being apologetic, these China people started a fight with the locals even grabbing the fella's memory card. Always the China people...

[Kerryd]

Sheesh - in France they just pee against the wall of a building (children, adults, whoever).

In Thailand, they stop their car/moto on the side of the road and go right there (if it's a busy highway, they may take a few steps away from the edge of the road so that the rushing wind from passing vehicles doesn't result in......embarrassing....spray).

In India I've seen women in market areas hold their infants up facing a wall and let them do their thing. Then again, it's hard to tell the difference between toddlers/adults whizzing against a wall and all the nearly starved to death cows that litter the streets with their "offerings". Parts of Delhi I wandered through were almost like walking through an open sewage pit (and the nice, hot, humid weather really livens up the aroma).

In downtown Vancouver, people go behind dumpsters in dark alleyways. In Afghanistan - nevermind - they go pretty much any and everywhere the mood strikes them it seems. That's the advantage of the "man-jammies".

Then again, I've taken a whiz out the back hatch of an armoured vehicle while travelling down an interstate highway in Washington. I've also stood in the door of armoured transport and watered the prairie weeds while driving through parts of Saskatchewan (Canada). (Can't stop in the middle of convoys and back in the days before bottled water was common there weren't a lot of options !)

[Andrew65]

What a stupid, world we live in.

Ignorant and arrogant people that have nothing else to do than be offended by a toddler peeing.

I know what you mean.

Except this happens after there has been a big issue in HK about the behaviour of mainland Chinese in general, in recent years.

Things like: Pushing in line; Noisy & boorish behaviour etc...

Edited April 29, 2014 by Andrew65

[lee b]

Really, some people just moan about every little thing !! I just don't understand why a nappie was held under her. Why did she not have it on, would have saved alot of trouble !!

[chuang]

Nothing new...have you heard of the PRC woman who let her child pissed into a bottle in a Hongkong restaurant....digusting..

[circusman]

Well whilst I realise we don't want children peeing everywhere in the street, the guy that took hold of the pram and was pulling it from the mother DEFINATELY went too far. It's one thing to object to these dirty individuals it's another to take hold of a child's pram and attempt to pull it away.

Had I been the father, I would of been handing the child to its mother and taking this scrawny little flea down.

If the child was wearing a nappy, why didn't they just let it go in it's pants.

Such a non event, meanwhile there's thousands of people dying at the hands of monster rulers and mentally ill presidents and dictators etc and thousands of people are in a blogging frenzie over a child taking a leak.

what's this world coming to?

Poster If it was a non event why did you feel compelled to reply ?

[frimu]

In Beijing I saw that all the time. Completely normal in mainland China.

Could be, that they just didn't know it's not allowed in HK.

[Rockhopper]

We saw a middle aged Chinese woman peeing in the moat in Chiang Mai on a weekday afternoon. And how many Thai men have we seen peeing in public?

Soooo many!

[Payboy]

Nothing new...have you heard of the PRC woman who let her child pissed into a bottle in a Hongkong restaurant....digusting..

I was there, I remember I nearly puked in my bowl of bear bile and tiger penis soup !

[HeavyDrinker]

Ludicrous over reaction. Them Islanders don't like them Mainlanders...

[JO1973]

"It is illegal to let a child relieve themselves in the street in Hong Kong and doing so can result in a HK$2000 fine. However, the practice is relatively common in mainland China."

I've seen grown women do this. The standards of behavior between Hong Kong and mainland China are light years apart.

[mikemac]

I would gladly pee on any street in Hong Kong, and I am 57.

[KonKorat]

Big deal,i see worse nearly everyday by adults,Also what about owners of dogs who take them for a walk and they crap on the footpaths and the owner leaves it there,most owners do the right thing,but some don't.you don't see that making the news.

[somchaismith]

Freaking hell!

[farangbanok]

What a hypocritical load of racist (anti-Mainland) toads!

When I lived in Hong Kong the "non-mainland ethnics" spat everywhere - a good way to spread diseases like SARS!

I have even sat in a high class restaurant eating a UKP 35 steak (1999 price) and had to listen to "ethnics" clearing their throats - "hawking" I think is the term.

One day I saw one guy out jogging in Tsuen Wan - another busy area - drop his jogging pants and crap in a wicker waste basket on the pavement. His standards of personal hygiene were so low he didn't even bother to use tissue afterwards!

Never seen anything like that on the mainland.

Grow up Hongkys - don't destroy your city's reputation worldwide - it's a good place.

[Lupatria]

Ask for asylum in Belgium:

[tingtongteesood]

In Thailand I see 40 year old taxi drivers peeing in public almost every damn day ! There are so many free toilets in every mall, drives me nuts ! If I see them about to do so, I tell them I will pee on their taxi if they pee in my street, and I am not afraid to follow through, they don't like that at all....

[Guitar God]

You don't see that on countries that have enough public toilets. It's commonplace in the Netherlands where public toilets are few and far between. I've seen mothers there teaching their kids to piss on trees next to canals. I've only seen drunks and hunters out in the woods do in the U.S.

[Guitar God]

You don't see that on countries that have enough public toilets. It's commonplace in the Netherlands where public toilets are few and far between. I've seen mothers there teaching their kids to piss on trees next to canals. I've only seen drunks and hunters out in the woods do in the U.S.

[daveAustin]

What a stupid, world we live in.

Ignorant and arrogant people that have nothing else to do than be offended by a toddler peeing.

Indeed, but the 'Ignorant and arrogant people' are the ones letting their kids piss in the street. It's 2014 not 1014! Zero manners and decorum and nothing to do with toilet being full.

I've seen Chinese parents motion their daughter to piss in the pool drain at a decent hotel here... the toilets were right nearby and the Thai pool staff were as disgusted as the tourists. Sorry, but some of these guys are just pigs and the onlookers behaved accordingly. I hope the parents get fined and sent back to the mainland and the tot gets a proper upbringing.

[Som wat]

Today's slanderbash: The Chinese.

Tomorrow, back to the Russians.

With moments of 'The Thais' repeating themselves throughout both days.

[A1Str8]

Mommy is apparently a urinal herself.

Sent from my GT-I9500 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[squarethecircle]

There are deeper political issues as well. At the time of HK's transfer to the mainland, Beijing promised it would allow HK to elect its own leadership and continue as a proper representative government (which IMO is more important than having "democracy"). It has turned back on this promise and the people running HK are seen as kowtowing to the Party line. The last thing HKers want is to become another city in glorious China. There is also anti-mainland sentiment due to skyrocketing housing prices as the mainland's rich head out and invest/live elsewhere. SO all these factors combined, result in a tension that burst out.

[tubby johnson]

I've seen people defecating in public in China, picking their noses, spitting, talking loudly in restaurants, littering carelessly, leaving the bathroom without washing their hands, ......

Never am I returning to that barbaric country. And now they're sending their tourists to Thailand!