I said, there will be no more whining; And, there will be no more whining. (no pathos, just facts)

We got the tickets, we are out of here.

 But, I do want to come back to Hong Kong in the future and do business here.  No matter how much everyone thinks I failed this nest big time, there will be times in the future when my expertise will be sought after. Mark my words.

Still, there is a little problem. A problem of tax.  With my tickets from Gammon today arrived a ‘gentle reminder’. One I can’t copy in here because due to my unpleasant’ activities since getting terminated they introduced a massive disclaimer at the bottom of their emails.

This for a company that did not have a uniform ‘email signature’ before me landing in. I should be proud. I hope they nicknamed it the ‘Zolna disclaimer’. That would be nice.

Anyway, the kindly HR woman that is responsible for ‘rewards’ within the company has reminded me that I have to clear my taxes before I leave for good; (not a quote, paraphrasing it);

I responded (grumpily, but no whinging – note the difference in the tone)

Thank you for the tickets.

I wish to make the following ‘gentle reminder’ to you and your bosses too:

Apart from the consequential damages that your scam has caused to me and my family, Gammon has dishonestly and directly made us pay out 300,000 HK dollars (see table below) mostly for services they knew would be forfeited

shipping	21000
upfront school fees and equipment	87435
temporary accommodation	90000
upfront rent and fees	102372
	300807

Your department also kindly organised a seminar for me regarding the tax laws of the country and prepared a sample return, giving me a clear indication by when and how much I should save up, just before I was terminated;

Following termination the only ‘real offer of help’ you made was assistance with covering for a recruitment agent’s fees. I declined this offer as I do not trust any agents working with you any more, having been scammed by the last one.

Such fee would definitely cover the tax I owe this country;

I ask you for the last time, sort out the tax and the apartment’s issue and we will be out of here.

Otherwise, I will sit in front of the SCMP’s office with a sign ‘Gammon stole 300K from me and I cannot pay my tax to the country’.

Regards,

Zolna Murray

Now, let me add two more notes to this:

 1/ the HR agent involved up front believes he DID nothing wrong, and I retract any ‘unfair and unfounded’ accusations I’ve levelled at him. 

2/ the money involved is a lot and not that much depending on what type of expat-globetrotter you are. We are the type with no house, no bach, no boat, no nothing. What we do have is a couple of kids still needing to get somewhere and a big dream of creating a 21^st century construction co (and the skills to match the dream);

So, since I have a couple of days up my sleeve and am not that great at hunger-striking, here is my plan for the next couple of days:

I will put in a bit more effort into opening the eyes of the good people of Hong Kong to the type of company they have in their lovely city.

Look out for me around town, I do intend to spend quite a bit of time around the offices of the South China Morning Post.

As for the tax department: I will pay my dues. I have to go away to earn it but will be back.

Trust me;