Adam Shepherd imagines how brash American businessman and tourist Carl Pennington decided to help destitute locals.
Mr and Mrs Pennington were on holiday in Hong Kong. He's taking photos of some villagers, throwing money at some kids begging for handouts.
His guide just regards them as insensitive tourists. Only when a young girl collapses, the guide tells him that it is not medical treatment she needs but food.
The villagers are starving. They have flour but need to exchange that for noodles. Only local gangsters like Quan (James Hong) control the supply and price of noodles. In essence the villagers are being extorted.
Pennington decides to do something about it. He brings the villagers a noodle machine and takes on Quan.
In essence a variation of the Seven Samurai tale. I could not cynically help thinking this was a good news story when the US were being pulled deeper into the Vietnam war. Another white saviour coming to the rescue in the far east.
Mr and Mrs Pennington were on holiday in Hong Kong. He's taking photos of some villagers, throwing money at some kids begging for handouts.
His guide just regards them as insensitive tourists. Only when a young girl collapses, the guide tells him that it is not medical treatment she needs but food.
The villagers are starving. They have flour but need to exchange that for noodles. Only local gangsters like Quan (James Hong) control the supply and price of noodles. In essence the villagers are being extorted.
Pennington decides to do something about it. He brings the villagers a noodle machine and takes on Quan.
In essence a variation of the Seven Samurai tale. I could not cynically help thinking this was a good news story when the US were being pulled deeper into the Vietnam war. Another white saviour coming to the rescue in the far east.