The world is divided. It seems that after 70 years of relative peace the world has forgotten what it meant to live in a world ravaged by global wars. The rise of the right and right-terrorism, religious predomination of social discourse and ideological war fares seemed to be the token of our everyday lives.
I have been resisting to comment on a lot of social and political issues since witnessing a lot of unjust within our so-called democracy. I do not like the results but then at the same time democracy means that you don’t always get what you want and that is something I am willing to accept. To further participate in those discourse or not, that’s up to me. After all it’s my life I don’t need to justify it.
However, recent events in Hong Kong had really struck a chord inside my heart. I have left my birthplace for many years now, looking for a different life and different opportunities. So naturally I do not think it is my place to comment on recent events, no matter what emotional attachment I have with this place.
Hong Kong has been through a lot. Its role as the historical and political prize in a larger scale international balance of power had rendered this place a lack of identity politically and ideologically. That’s one of the reasons I left – I want to have an identity and I believed that neither the Brits nor the Chinese will give that to me – nor do I want to rely on them to give it to me because that would feel more like a charitable gesture, which I certainly did not think I needed it.
Back to the recent events – the cause of it seems to be about the Extradition Bill that the Carrie Lam Government tried to rush through. It triggered 2 million people marching in the streets – quite a spectacle for a territory of around 7 million people. The Bill was eventually retracted but not repealed. Things should have ended there but the unrest continues for weeks on and got to a point that violence was resulted on both sides. Last night’s airport shut down because of flash mob protests will permanently stain the city with this political brush, and whatever this colour ended up to be, it will not be a pretty one.
However, when you look deeper into this, is it just about the Extradition Bill or is it an extension of the Yellow Umbrella Movement or even something that dated further back?
I am not interested in fractional politics and have always been an advocate of practical and correct solutions. Hence my attempt to stay away from the foray of discussions and outcries that a lot of my friends are conducting on social media. However, if we look into the current situation is there a way out? Or we are just waiting for another Tianman Square to happen within Hong Kong and destroy this once priced jewel of China and Britain once and for all? What good is going to come out of the current tides of clashes between the authority and the protesting citizens?
If we look at the history of Hong Kong, it is never a territory of democracy. It was given to the Brits after the Opium War by the Qing Government. Nobody in the territory had a say about it. Since then it was ruled by a Governor appointed by the Brits and had been performing the role of the goose that laid golden eggs ever since. Freedom is what Hong Kong benefited from the British rule. It was relatively untouched by the Cultural Revolution and other political turmoils in their mainland counterpart. Since then China has an official language different from Hong Kong and the two seemed to be unrelated apart from sharing a border. However things changed when the rising Chinese Government showed its determination to take Hong Kong back in 1997 when part of the lease of Hong Kong was up. The Brits tried to negotiate a solution but the now more powerful Chinese Government wouldn’t have anything for it as it considered the annexing of Hong Kong a humiliating part of the Chinese history. So Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997 – another situation none of the Hongkongese had a say on. To avoid Hong Kong British citizens flooding to UK because of this, Hong Kong citizens lost their full British citizen status and became Overseas Nationals who have no right to work in UK, practically cut them off from access to UK. The consolation prize was a programme awarding limited number of people to move there so Hong Kong citizens can fight among themselves through a stringent screening process like hungry kids in an orphanage.
The world’s One Country Two System was conjured and put in place to resolve the social and cultural difference between the mainland and Hong Kong. 50 years of unchanged rule was also granted and to be reviewed after that.
Since then Hong Kong had gone through a lot. Without a doubt the Chinese Government would want to assimilate Hong Kong as it sees Hong Kong as its legitimate territory, thus seen a lot of unpopular bills and actions in the last 20 odd years – the education bill, the general election issue that triggered the Yellow Umbrella Movement and the recent Extradition Bill. It is no question that a lot of Hong Kong people, especially the younger generation have no trust, or according to the Chinese Government, loyalty to the Chinese Community Party (CCP). However, to the Chinese Government’s credit they have been extremely restrained. The fact that they poured enormous amount of money during the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) to keep Hong Kong afloat was a sign showing that they were determined to do anything to show the western world that they can govern Hong Kong as good as, if not better than, the Brits. It is essentially a costly face saving exercise.
Fast forward to today, the question we should ask is what do we want Hong Kong to become and what can it become? Let me put it right out there – I do not believe anyone can purely rely on ideology and emotional drives to put food on one’s table. We all live in a real world, so we need to always stay realistic and practical so we will be doing the right thing without wrecking what we are trying to protect. So let us look at this pragmatically.
First of all, there will never be independence for Hong Kong. Any people who think that this can be accomplished are burying their heads in the sand. The ship for independence had sailed since the Brits agreed to hand Hong Kong over back to China in their Joint Declaraion back in the 1980s. Hong Kong is and will always be the prize to be won in political tussles. Any other expectations are only wishful thinking. Further, Hong Kong has no resources to stay independent as they do not have a strong leader like Singapore did, and truth to be told Singapore did not start out as a democratic country in any sense. So are Hong Kong people willing to trade an absolute sovereignty in the form of CCP for a new dictator to gain independence? Also even if Hong Kong gained independence, what kind of government can be in place to keep the place afloat when there are no real directions or blue prints from any of the political parties available? How is Hong Kong going to resolve natural resources issues when it relies so much on China to provide those? Certainly they can’t expect China to be as supportive and available when you stuck your middle finger in their face right?
Secondly why is One Country Two System not working as it was constructed? Looking back into the last 20 years, both sides played a part in undermining this establishment. However, every time again it is about ideology and nationalist sentiments. When someone is willing to sacrifice the whole of the territory for personal ideological and nationalistic gains, are they still for Hong Kong or against Hong Kong? The focus should be what is to be gained when you wrecked the place you want to gain from. Looking at the current situation in Hong Kong, I personally believe that there are third, fourth or fifth parties trying to exploit the situation for personal, political, social and financial gains. The distrust that was stirred up and the eventual violence that spilled all over the territory are more than emotional uprising and spontaneous actions. In the midst of outrage and anger did anyone looked into the whole situation objectively? Or objectivity no longer applies when you just want to get your message across?
Thirdly, what do we want Hong Kong to be at the end of the day? Would you still be able to raise you head high and stay proud once Hong Kong’s name as the Pearl of the Orient is destroyed by the recent or even future events? Do we eventually want Hong Kong to become the next Tianman Square? How much of your current freedom do you cherish and do you want to win a battle and lose the war? Instant gratification is not something that could always pay dividends in the long run. If all parties, as they said are for the better future of Hong Kong, wrecking it to rebuild is not the most sensible approach unless you are sure that Hong Kong is a geographical phoenix that could guarantee a rebirth after death.
I understand where the younger generation came from as it is their home and they don’t necessarily feel they are Chinese citizens. But like it or not, unlike my generation, they are, as long as they were born after 1 July 1997. However, if they keep Hong Kong vibrant, they can still have choices – that includes to stay or to leave. But if they wrecked the system I can assure that this basic freedom could be gone for good. I am not saying this because I left and can now make easy statements, for I went through the period of identity searching, and being a blue collar family kid living in public housing growing up among the wealthy and the privileged at school is not the easiest thing to deal with, especially when you witnessed how your peers were provided with opportunities while you need to fight and create your own. But with a free and stable society that will still be possible. If you tore the very fabric that provides that possibility you are just binding yourselves with your own undoing.
I don’t want to take sides and I know not taking sides will be the most unpopular stance for most, but while I believe in what we may become depending what we are doing now, a sensible, practical, and correct approach will always have higher chances yielding the fruit you want to pick. Ideologies and political aspirations are always good on paper, and emotions are always good for instant gratifications but where do they lead in the long run? When emotions are running so high that we got ourselves tunnel visioned, are we losing the bigger picture that could benefit all and granting the opportunistic parties a way to reap the profits at the engaging parties’ expense? I personally think these are questions to be answered.
I wish the current situation could be resolved soon in a peaceful and happy manner. When you poke the dragon you should know the dragon will always breathe fire at you. This is not about how to tame a dragon but how to gain yourself proper upper hands in this David and Goliath relationship, if we can’t even consider this as a fight.
