YOU are all cheapskates.
That's what a Hong Kong tour guide called a group of China tourists for not spending enough on a shopping trip.
A video clip of the tourist guide's rant is now widely viewed after it was uploaded onto the Internet.
More than a dozen TV stations in China had also played the clip over the last few days, reported Hong Kong's The Standard.
Hong Kong's Travel Industry Council chairman Michael Wu Siu Ieng told The Standard on Thursday that investigators know who the guide is and will meet to look further into the incident.
The female guide, called Ah Zhen, told the group, which apparently enjoyed subsidised air ticket prices, that there's no free lunch in the world.
While she ranted in fluent Mandarin on the bus, a tourist took the video surreptitiously.
She compared this group of 24 tourists with another group which spent 10 times more.
She said: "There was another group of tourists who didn't even come out after two hours, and they spent HK$137,000 (S$24,000).
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WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED?
Read a transcript of the video.
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"For a group of 24, you spent only HK$13,000. How could you just walk out of the shop when the time wasn't even up?"
She also claimed that she had not seen something as "shameful" in her eight years as a guide.
She added: "How can there be free lunches in this world? Think about it, your tour costs only 1,000 yuan (S$200), which isn't even enough for your air ticket from Guangzhou."
She went on:"We don't do this for charity. Let me be responsible for charity. I donated 10,500 yuan for Sichuan earthquake victims."
She added: "It's okay for you to stay poor at home, but when you travel outside, don't be like this.
"Why did you bother to come to Hong Kong? If you don't pay for it now, you will have to pay for it in your next lives."
The person who took the video said on a China online forum that he joined the Hong Kong tour on March 25 and the incident left him feeling bad.
>> NEXT: "I will lock up the hotel rooms tonight"
Threats
He added that after the tirade, the guide cancelled a trip to popular temple Wong Tai Sin and took the group to a watch shop.
"Don't tell me you don't need (to shop). Later, are you going to say you don't need to eat, and don't need to stay at a hotel?
"I will lock up the hotel rooms tonight.
"You didn't spend enough."
After the video was uploaded onto YouTube and other video-sharing websites in China, some netizens responded by saying they will not dare to visit Hong Kong.
This is not the first case of tourist harrassment.
Last month, Apple Daily reported a case where an elderly man from China died after a quarrel with a bogus tour guide during a shopping stop.
Earlier this month, four people from Henan complained they were abandoned in Guangzhou after refusing to pay an extra HK$2,000 for not shopping in HongKong during a tour.
Tourism sector legislator Paul Tse Wai Chun urged the authorities to think about tough penalties.
He said: "It's not enough if only the travel agent is penalised. Sometimes they just give guidelines to tour guides and leave it to the guides whether to follow them or not."
This article was first published in The New Paper.
>> Read on for a full transcript of what transpired
Transcript of what Ah Zhen told her tour group:
Ah Zhen: At the very least you shouldn’t be taking advantage of people. You can’t act this way. No matter what, you have to spend.
Think about it - are you taking things too far by spending just HK$13,000?
The jewelry shop ‘stipulates’ that each of you spends HK$3,000. For a group of 24, you spent only HK$13,000. How could you just walk out of the shop?
Heaven is fair. If you treat people well, they will do the same to you.
Now you owe me something. I don’t owe you anything. I provided the food and accommodation but you don’t give of yourselves.
If you don’t pay in this lifetime, you’ll have to do it in the next.
There’s nothing wrong with spending some money and feeling happy about it.
You went a bit too far yesterday by telling me that I brought you to buy fake cosmetic products. You can be sued for saying things like that. Hong Kong is a world-wide importer of commercial goods.
If you are doubtful, you can ask. But don’t say that I took you to buy fake goods.
I’m going to give you a choice now. If you don’t want to buy anything, it’s fine. Just sign on a dotted line in front of me. If you don’t want to help me, its fine, but don’t get me in trouble.
I was extremely embarrassed to walk out of the jeweler’s. Between two tour groups – how can the difference in spending be so wide? One group spent HK$137,000, but we only did HK$13,000.
You don’t have to follow the tour if you don’t want to buy anything. Just refund the HK$3,000 and you can have things your own way, free-and-easy.
I told you yesterday; don’t just agree to what I say. See what happens today? When I take you out shopping today, you don’t want to buy.
You can say that the tour guide is forcing you to spend but that’s not the way. I never forced you to eat or stay at the hotel?
Since you chose to come on this tour, you have to play ball.
We are going to a watch shop now. Is there any issue with that? We are not going there to just window-shop. You have to buy something.
>> Transcript continues
Ah Zhen: Don’t you come out when the time is not up yet. I gave you two hours just now (at the jeweler’s). There was another group of tourists who didn't even come out after two hours, and they spent HK$137,000 (S$24,000).
For a group of 24, you spent only HK$13,000. How could you just walk out of the shop when the time wasn't even up?
Just spend a bit. Everyone’s happy. I’m happy.
I’ve been providing you with a service over the past two days. You should spend a bit more
One of you said that he didn’t know this was a shopping tour. But I asked everyone else and they are all aware.
Didn’t you all come together? Didn’t you all come on the same flight?
I have in my hand here seven receipts from our tour group. One receipt shows over HK$1,000, another two receipts, over HK$2,000. But the rest of you only spent over HK$1,000. I’ll say it out now. There’s not a single receipt over HK$4,000.
Yes, we need to eat and we need a roof over our heads. But please look into your own consciences and search your hearts.
How can there be free lunches in this world? Think about it, your tour costs only 1,000 yuan (S$200), which isn't even enough for your air ticket from Guangzhou.
We don't do this for charity. Let me be responsible for charity. I donated 10,500 yuan for Sichuan earthquake victims.
But this is not a charity, and there’s no need to be ‘charitable’. You are on a holiday, you should spend.
It's okay for you to stay poor at home, but when you travel outside, don't be like this.
We are going to be at the watch shop for an hour and a half. I don’t care about your reasons – don’t tell me you have no need (to buy anything).
Don't tell me you don't need (to shop). Later, are you going to say you don't need to eat, and don't need to stay at a hotel?
I will lock up the hotel rooms tonight. You didn't spend enough.
You chose to come on this tour. I’ve never led such an embarrassing tour. I’ve been a guide for eight years, and this is the first time I’ve witnessed such a difference in spending - HK$137,000 versus HK$13,000.
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