Psalm 121 Going Once, Going Twice…

July 4, 2008 | Category: China, 荒诞

On forced hiatus in Hong Kong this week while I wait for approval of my Beijing Olympics journalist visa. This morning, on my way to the visa office, I ran across an announcement for an upcoming vehicle registration mark (license plate) auction in the South China Morning Post. The announcement reminded me of the time I spent here in 1998 as a foreign student and the story (apparently apocrphyal) of the “8″ license plate being auctioned off the previous year for several tens of millions of dollars.

I’m not sure exactly how the Hong Kong transport authority determines which license plates will be auctioned at any given time, but the list for this next auction has some interesting entries. There’s plenty of local-sounding names (MRS CHUM) and animals (SHEEP, BUNNY) but then there’s a whole range of other options ranging from the ironic (EM1SS1ON) to the utterly baffling (TOMCRUZ).

The general portrait this particular list seems to paint is of a religious and, yes, materialistic city, but one with decent taste in secondary Hollywood action movie characters.

First round:

1) ALPHA
2) 1CEMAN
6) HUNG 678 (A reference to the 678 International Club massage parlor in Shenzhen? Or maybe it’s the Best Casinos Online Directory?)
30) 20061122 (The Playstation 3 launched in Japan on November 11, 2006, but that can’t be it. Please help.)
35) 1LUV2EAT, available in 2 rows: 1LUV 2EAT
43) BOBAFETT, available in 2 rows BOBA FETT
49) CASHMERE
62) ANALYST
68) PUKKA
83) CNOOC

Second round:

1) HO ONE
31) P1NG AN
32) FAM1LY
37) BMW M3
49) HEADFAME (For the ultimate administrative assistant)
53) TOMCRUZ
67) VU1TTON
74) DOGAROO (??????)
80) EM1SS1ON
92) W W J D
93) PSALM121
94) HA HA 88

For those who want to get their hands on one of these treasures, the auction takes place July 19th at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wanchai, with the first round starting at 9:25am.

According to the all-time top ten list, the top getter is “18″ (not “8″) auctioned off to some lucky bugger last year for HK$16.5 million. Anyone who knows why someone might pay two million bucks for that number, please explain.

[Image: A genuine Hong Kong license plate, courtesy of Mark Oh!]

Tags: cars, Hong Kong

One Comments

H. Smith on November 10th, 2008
1
I would easily pay a few million for “Ha Ha 88.” If I had a few million.

And if I had a car.

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About the Author

Josh Chin is a freelance journalist based in Beijing. He also once worked as a sous chef in a French restaurant in San Francisco. Neither job has been good for his health.