Luckily Facebook isn’t censoring all the fun stuff (yet). After a bit of digging and countless suggestions by our loyal and likely to be disturbed readers, we bring you a small selection of the more unusual Facebook groups related to Hong Kong:

1) Sex, Lies and Expats in Hong Kong
We are obviously grossly offended by these stereotypes. This group’s wall also serves as a place for singles to meet up.

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Hilarious piece in today’s SCMP about karaoke in the Philippines. The nation’s reputation for violence and guns appears to also affect the seemingly harmless pass-time involving the singing of cheesy 80’s tunes.

Numerous fights have erupted in the Philippines because of this Asian hobby, as especially in the rural areas strangers are forced to rub shoulders while vying for female attention through their serenades. But here’s the kicker: Frank Sinatra’s classic “My Way” has a very special reputation, as the song has apparently resulted in at LEAST half a dozen victims over the past few years and has as such created a whole new subcategory of murders: “My Way killings.”

Why this song you ask? There’s two theories. One, because of the song’s popularity, it is sung more often and hence statistically it simply causes more trouble in this violent society. A second explanation centers around the song’s lyrics: as they are a tad arrogant in nature, they result in feelings of pride and machismo behavior. Apparently to such an extent that many karaoke bars have simply erased the song of its machines because it resulted in too many fights.

If that wasn’t entertaining enough, SCMP tells us that may of these bars employ gay men because of these quarrels. These fellas are not seen as rivals for female attention and can use their queer humor to soothe tensions between the macho Sinatras. A fantastic remedy wethinks: all we need is gay diplomats on both ends and the Sino-US issues are history.

The Dark Side is becoming annoyingly popular to some, which means we are now looking for one or more freelance writers to complement the team. We offer competitive rates, guaranteed laughs throughout the week, a chance to witness Harbour Hussy’s cleavage in real life and eternal damnation by HK’s social media douchebags, hipsters and Fung Shui masters. What we are looking for are cheeky assholes/bitches with a proven trackrecord in writing (whether off- or online), a few years of living experience in HK, a healthy love/loathe relationship with this town and decent knowledge of the internets. Intrigued? Email info@thedarkside.hk with some of your work and you may be invited for a drink or two at our regular Soho hangout. Later.

Despite our Basic Law that protects freedom of expression, Facebook appears to practice self-censorship over political content in our city. Over the past few days groups that oppose the pro-establishment party (DAB) as well as the League of Social Democrats (LSD) have been closed, some of them with + 100.000 members. So it’s not just the anti-establishment parties that have been targeted. Already blocked in China, Zuckerberg & Co. might have figured it’s best to shy away from any political issues in Hong Kong as well, since it’s pretty obvious Beijing dictates affairs here too. Shame on you.

Chinese New Year is approaching, which means many Hong Kongers will make their yearly trip to the Wong Tai Sin or other temples to pray for good luck, money and more money. In addition, our ancestors are about to receive their economic stimulus package through paper stuff that is burned for them, an ancient ritual that also occurs with Qingming Festival in April and Chung Yeung Festival in October.

The practice of burning paper offerings reportedly first appeared around 386 AD at the start of the Wei Dynasty when Chinese people started burning paper money at funerals. It’s also a Buddhist thing, not so much because ancestors would have access to it in the afterlife (because materialistic possessions are totally non-Buddhist of course), but more to alleviate bad karma for those still alive. That this practice isn’t without dangers is illustrated by the fact that for example 60 percent of fires in the woodlands of Lanzhou, capital city of Gansu Province, were caused by burning offerings.

Anyway, as most of you probably know, the pimping industry for dead granny/grandpa has evolved tremendously throughout the ages. Not too long ago, things were fairly simple.. a car, a nice house. But no longer! Oh, and did we mention it’s crazily expensive? Although there are good deals to be found of course, a whole paper gym for a mere NT$ 25k (HK$ 6k) ain’t that bad. You still wanna look good when dead. But there’s plenty of practical stuff too. Hell can be pretty hot, so one of these would come in handy for example. And surely grandpa would appreciate this. Here’s our top ten goods for heaven/hell this season: (more…)

Well.. what to say about this? This Hongkie girl supposedly came to South Korea by herself, seduced a poor chap on the first evening only to demand the keys to his apartment and a trip to Japan shortly after.  During her stay, she was quickly banned from several bars around the district of Itaewon due to abusive behavior towards staff while asking for free drinks. Here’s a video featuring the little princess in all her glory: