20110301

What Birmingham City's victory has to do with Hong Kong

There are two ways in which Birmingham City FC's historic Carling Cup triumph against Arsenal a couple of days ago are related to Hong Kong.

The first is how Hong Kong businessman Carson Yeung brought to the club the first major trophy since 1963 after becoming a co-owner less than two years ago.

The second is much more tragic. A Hong Kong policeman shot himself after plunging into heavy debt. He was rumoured to have suffered a big loss gambling loss in this fateful match.

What is even more stunning than Birmingham City's victory is the fact that the policeman's debt amounted to over a million dollars, even though he once had a windfall of a few million dollars after winning the first prize in a Mark Six lottery.

It is almost chilling how fate has this twisted liking of playing such cruel tricks on people. While it is any Hongkongers' dream of a lifetime to win the first prize of Mark Six, the privilege went to a man who eventually threw away the fortune, together with his life, through pathological gambling.

Like the match itself, it almost defied belief.

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