Pong

"earth"

- Shh, listen, you can't mention the War here, and whatever you do, stay away from the Dai Li.

Pong was a minor government official who had recently moved into the affluent Upper Ring of Ba Sing Se after Team Avatar arrived at the capital and occupied the house across from Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Toph's rented house.

History
After Joo Dee had left Team Avatar at their new home, Sokka noticed Pong spying on them from his home across the street. When Sokka questioned him regarding the War, Pong hesitated at answering. When he was asked to explain his awkward, dismissive behavior, he stated he didn't want to get into any trouble, furthering that he had waited three years to acquire his house. Pong warned Aang and his friends to not mention the War within the walls, to look out for the Dai Li, and to stay away from them. This shown that Pong was well aware of the Dai Li's control over the populace of Ba Sing Se.

His ultimate fate after Ba Sing Se's liberation and the War is unknown.

Trivia

 * The writers were originally going to have another neighbor living with Pong named "Ping" (obviously for comical reasons), but they decided not to put it in the episode, because it was "Not funny enough to put in the episode."
 * In the DVD commentary for "City of Walls and Secrets", the creators said that they had initially intended for Pong to have a much larger role (supposedly comical) that would stretch to the end of the season, but that he got edited out in early subsequent revisions.