Recreational trespass, “rooftopping” or urban exploring is the exploration of any open or abandoned space.
Hong Kong has the most skyscrapers in the world.
Hence, it attracts a lot of explorers from all over the world to reach the climax in Hong Kong.
For rooftoppers worldwide, conquering buildings and breaking the rules are the main spirit of this activity, but for rooftoppers in Hong Kong, it’s much more than just a death defying stunt.
Here’s some reasons why they do it:
- To redefine their limit
For many rooftoppers, it’s the feeling of empowerment and being on top of the world that the adventure brings. By conquering their own fear, capture stunning images of uninterrupted views and turning these rooftops as their own personal playgrounds, they push themselves beyond own limit.
- To recharge from hectic city life
To rooftoppers, everyday is ordinary life — everything is so structured and you have to follow orders. Hence, they want to get away from that.
“Rooftopping is like a getaway from city life to me — Hong Kong is such a fast-paced city with so much pressure and noise,” well known Hong Kong rooftopper Daniel Lau said. “When I’m on a rooftop, everything slows down, you don’t hear anything but wind, all the rush from the ground became like slow-motion.”
- To explore the city’s landscape
Symmetry Heaven – Hong Kong China Ferry Terminal.
The world famous breathtaking skyline of the concrete jungle is a must-see for tourists.
But if you’ve lived here your whole life, you’d probably be bored of visting the same places at the exact same spots.
Rooftopping allows rooftoppers to appreciate Hong Kong from a whole new perspective and reconnect with the vibrant city which they consider as a home.
- To reclaim the urban space from big business
Photo Credit: Exthetics/ Screengrab (Youtube)
The cost of living and flat price in this dense vertical city of over seven million is among the highest in the world.
As a result, the majority of Hong Kong’s youth still live with their parents in their adulthood without adequate personal space.
Spaces hidden in the famous skyline thus becomes the only ones left to explore for free and sneaking onto rooftops has become a statement of reclaiming the city from big business.
“[The] Roof is for everyone. Pick a book, read on a crane, get some inspirations,” rooftopper William Cheng said.
5. Rooftopping for freedom and disobedience
The city’s young people are part of a generation who have grown up with the umbrella revolution, worsening economic prospects and increasing worries of eroding individual freedom.
Rooftoppers – like other youngsters- showcase their frustrations by celebrating disobedience.
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in the world. You can write for us.
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Can This Video Game Change Your Ideology?
I’m a firm believer that interactive media can elicit stronger emotional effects than just reading a book or watching a movie.
But can playing video games change someone’s perspective on war and the refugee crisis?
Many video games feature war or armed conflict as a central inclusion to their story arc. War facilitates a reason to shoot people, defend a base, or just kick some ass.
And you’ll almost always be completing your objectives as part of the in-game military or government.
This War of Mine: The Little Ones uniquely puts you in control of those most vulnerable during war, the civilians.
Without much instruction, the game thrusts you into an abandoned house, one where you and your randomly selected group of survivors must hunker down until a ceasefire.
The problem is, you don’t know when that day will come.
Through my three playthroughs thus far, none of the groups I was given made it to the end.
The difficulty spikes in the game come from the unexpected nature of every encounter.
One night may be completely calm and routine, but following the next day, half of your group could be lethally wounded by raiders that also stole most of your supplies.
The setting of This War of Mine is all too real.
Gameplay from This War Of Mine: The Little Ones.
It’s inspiration comes from the Siege of Sarajevo, a battle for the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina that represented the longest siege of a capital in modern history.
Lasting for 1,425 days between 1992 and 1995, the siege claimed the lives of more than 10,000 people.
This War of Mine recreates the danger the Bosnian war presented by blocking off previously loot filled areas with fights and sniper fire.
The Little Ones add-on even subjects children to these perils.
The horrifically recognizable sniper alley of the Siege of Sarajevo manifests itself in “sniper junction” an in-game scavenger location, and tragic odes to the real-world travesty are seen everywhere in the game.
While slightly underutilized, the inclusion of children into the game hammers home one of the game’s central selling points; “In war kids are still kids”.
I often used their inclusion in the game to warrant the atrocities I committed. I didn’t want to add to the bodies littering the city, but I soon realized I had to kill in order to live.
I found no joy in robbing an elderly couple in order to feed my group of survivors. I tried to morally justify it by saying that they had lived a long life and that my group was still young.
I often risked too much for a simple set of bandages or basic crafting supplies, and got my best scavenger killed in the process.
I gathered toys for the children instead of feeding my group for the day, causing one of the adults to become immobile from starvation for several days.
I chose not to intervene when a soldier was attempting to rape a woman.
I decided the supplies were more important and the risk of being shot was too great.
And those were the choices I had the most control over.
I didn’t get to choose who would attack me on sight.
I made no decision as to whether I would be raided multiple nights in a row.
I especially had no choice when my first playthrough ended because my final survivor killed himself.
Gameplay from This War of Mine: The Little Ones
This War of Mine: The Little Ones is not a fun, light-hearted romp.
It is a grossly realistic look into the human element of war, including the often forgotten or downplayed numbers of civilians trapped by shelling and snipers.
While the Siege of Sarajevo took place more than 20 years ago, present day wars still ravage humanity in places like Aleppo, Syria.
Video games existed two decades ago, but their arguably mainstream appeal today would allow games like This War of Mine: The Little Ones to have a widespread impact on our collective thinking.
Will one game alter the perspectives of everyone who plays it?
I doubt it.
But games like This War of Mine have created a new entry point to dialogues on touchy subjects such as the refugee crisis.
You can’t solve a problem without first addressing its existence and I see video games as a way to shine light on the iniquitous pieces of humanity, whether they dwell in the past, present or future.
This story was originally published on ThePolyglot.net.
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in the world. You can write for us.
Photo Credits: 11 bit studios
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So When When Will The Warriors Finally Lose A Game?
The Golden State Warriors have started the season 19-0. They own the record for the best start to an NBA season. They are the defending champions and they have the reigning league MVP.
But every team has to lose some time, right?
Right?
Well, in a bit of news that won’t shock many and will rouse the haters, if Golden State doesn’t lose soon, they are going to go to celebrate New Year’s still perfect.
How soon are we talking? The next six games.
The Warriors just started a 7-game road trip with a gutsy 106-103 win over the Utah Jazz. They were trailing in that game as late as a minute left in the 4th quarter before Steph Curry started doing Steph Curry things, nailing a three over Rodney Hood in a play that you have probably already seen at least four times.
But it’s not just Curry.
Draymond Green, owner of two triple-doubles already this season, laid out a 20/9/7 line.
Not to mention that the Warriors did this without Harrison Barnes, a key component in the small-ball offense that no team has been able to stop so far this season.
However, all that being said, Golden State is not going 82-0. That is crazy talk. But if the Warriors are going to end 2015 at anything other than 32-0, which team is going to hand them a loss?
Well, as previously mentioned, Golden State is currently on a road trip. And they are playing a few teams that gave them problems earlier in the season. They defeated Toronto 115-110, and they needed overtime to put away the Nets. However, you have to look a little further down to find the team with the best odds.
And that team is the Indiana Pacers. Granted, they are on their own West Coast trip this week, but they have two full days off before they play the Warriors on Dec. 8.
The Pacers also have the comeback player of the year so far in Paul George. George is playing the best basketball of his career, and he certainly has the ability to out-score Curry. The Pacers would have to play defense like the 2013-2014 version of the team, but it’s not impossible.
If Golden State gets by Indiana, the next game to look at for their first loss would be when they face LeBron and the Cavaliers on Christmas Day. You can never count out King James against any opponent, after all.
Get past the Cavs on Christmas? Then the discussion has to turn to 72-10.
Cover Photo Credit: Keith Allison/ Flickr (CC by-SA 2.0)
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#ImNotWithHer: Why Hillary Clinton Doesn’t Speak For All Women
Much ado has been given to Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee for President after her giant June 7 primary win in California.
Much of the surrounding publicity is due to her gender and the historic nature of her victory.
But for some women, Clinton’s victory is more a nightmare than a victory.
While Clinton considers herself a candidate for women, by putting out items such as “Women Cards” designed to attract female voters and contribute to the supposed historical aspects of the presidential race, and while the media and the outside world make it seem like Clinton is ranking high amongst women and other voters, actual polls show us that the silent majority of females on both sides of political ideologies are not in favor of her possible presidency.
The disdain is of course heavy across swaths of conservative women, who view Hillary Clinton as an unqualified presidential candidate based on personal views on topics ranging from abortion to the tragedy in Benghazi.
Her numbers among conservative women are dramatically low for a candidate that prides herself for being a candidate for the women, with 90 percent of Republican women having an unfavorable view of her, compared to only 9 percent that view her in a favorable light, according to a recent poll.
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While the disdain among females who are Republicans and conservatives is to be expected, the flaky favorability also finds itself on the liberal and independent side, with 68 percent of liberal women supporting her, compared to 30 percent who are not.
Among Independent voting women, only 24 percent find her favorable; while 65 percent view her as unfavorable.
Even after her big win in California, the support among females in the United States was not at a high level, with the #GirlIGuessImWithHer hashtag beginning to trend among disheartened female voters including but not limited to Bernie Sanders fans, which adds even more female disdain towards Clinton and her nomination.
What could be the problem behind Clinton and her campaign that is making women seemingly run away in droves?
Could it be the Benghazi attacks, in which she seemingly gave no care to the way in which those four men died under her vigilance with her famous quote “What difference does it make?”
Could it have to do with the FBI e-mail scandal that just never seems to end? Could it have to do with her callous attitude during her time as a lawyer where she allegedly defended a child rapist that was convicted of raping a 12-year-old girl, even though Clinton knew he was guilty of the crime?
For many women who do not support Clinton, it seems to be a combination of different sets of ideals and different ideas as to why they do not support her.
For me, the biggest things would bleed into her different opinions and ideas on important topics to me, such as the subject of abortion and her seemingly far-left political views.
But more than that is although she was the secretary of state for some time, and although she is the wife of the infamous former president Bill Clinton, she has not made enough of a positive impact and shown that she would be capable of running an entire country.
It is an inspirational goal to look up to, and a female presidency is something that is and should be welcomed in the 21st century.
However, we should not make the mistake of voting for somebody just because of a certain feature; i.e. race, gender, or even religion.
Just because a woman is a woman does not make her certified to run an entire country, especially with the giant mistrust that many American women and men have with Hillary Clinton.
If Americans cannot trust Clinton to tell the truth about her e-mail scandal, nor tell the truth about what happened in Benghazi, how can we have faith that just because she is the first woman president, she will guide America down the right path?
How can we be sure that Americans will be kept as safe as humanly possible, if Clinton is known for such evasive secrecy?
As a young woman voting in the 2016 election, I had hoped that we would see a woman that among other things showed prowess and ability to run this country smoothly.
Unfortunately I, and millions of other American women and men, do not see that ability in Hillary Clinton, and are looking for more than just a symbolic victory.
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in public affairs. You can write for us.
Cover Photo Credit: Quinn Dombrowski/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
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