In the mid-1990s I was an expat with an international business based in the Netherlands. My family and I were sent to Hong Kong, where we lived for 2 years. It was utter bliss; a wonderful job, beautiful house on the island, private schools for the kids, a maid, Jaguar to drive, tennis club and tons of expat friends.
In preparing for the assignment, I met my expat manager in the Netherlands for a briefing. He told me a horrific story; the humidity was so bad in Hong Kong that over time my clothes would rot, and it was very common for holes to suddenly appear, particularly in any woollen jackets and trousers. That’s why they provided an annual allowance to buy new clothes. It was a substantial amount of money. Each time the manager visited Hong Kong he was amazed at the number of holey clothes he saw amongst the expat community.
I got to Hong Kong and met my fellow expat cohort. They told me that when the manager visited us, as he did once a year, we must be sure to wear a piece of clothing with holes in it. This was necessary to continue with the illusion, so when he returned home the rotting clothes allowance was extended.
There was no holey problem, as millions of others living in Hong Kong could attest to. But as a dutiful colleague, once a year I would arrive in the office with a threadbare jacket and a hole in my trousers and take benefit of this ‘holey’ unnecessary opportunity.
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