Amid the present chaos in governance and election, people who feel about Hong Kong are easily perplexed by the questions: “What has become of us?” and “What next?"
No one knows the answer, any answer. One thing is sure though, the Legislative Council has become a circus once the British are gone, deplete of the dignity and prudence that once defined its existence. Those who jeer and rampage should perhaps reflect that their behaviors depict their own character to fellow citizens who watch them on TV, including school children. Such behaviors speak not of free men and women, but of bondage to foolishness and self-serving causes. There must not be fun in destroying the Hong Kong that we are proud of, that so many people in history had joined hands and hearts to build, be it a colony or SAR.
By chance I received two video clips in two consecutive days on Hong Kong and human conditions of today. The first, Paradox of Our Time, came from a Korean friend from Washington DC, a notable international negotiator. The second, Hong Kong – the City where dreams come true, came from an email. It shows people are interested in Hong Kong. I would like to share these clips with you, together with my own response.
You will agree with me that the instant you see Hong Kong from the air, your heartbeats jump faster, and memories abound. My immediate feelings, as I follow the video are unique beauty, unparallel dynamism, order, and creativity. These are not just words. They represent the confidence, labour, diligence, courage, determination, intelligence and vision of generations of Hongkongers. Flashing through my mind, I see so many people I know. I have written about them in many places.
Here are a few dots in a spectrum: a firewood cutter whose bare back is still vivid who toiled nonstop in a shed where a 428 meter skyscraper now stands, a woman who makes preserved tofu, a stamp seller in the post office, a clerk at China Lights, a figure cut down by a Jap when he crossed a street under surveillance, a hawker selling homemade peanut candy, a teacher who joined the communists in 1950 and no news came ever, a Director of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce who was important in the Korean War, a Health Inspector whose coat pocket was stuffed with money when he hung it in a restaurant while doing a weekly visit, O’Neal Shaw who played the piano accompanying the Pirate of Penzans in which my classmate showcased, C. M. Li the founding Vice-Chancellor of CUHK, Sir David MacLehose who told me his greatest pride in serving Hong Kong was the building of the Chinese University and the Cultural Centre.
I was born here. I saw the killing of citizens by the Japes, preceded by days of rooting and shouting of Singli, when I was a small boy. My family left the colony under siege by foot, destination Guanlan, north of Shenzhen. We returned four years later, after Japan surrendered following the atom bombs. I left the colony to study in Ottawa in 1958, after teaching primary school. I stayed abroad for 42 years before returning in 1990, to help witness the return to Chinese sovereignty. In between those years I visited home in Hong Kong and China to contribute making turns in what was at times a wayward history. My heart has always been with Hong Kong, even when I was far away. Perhaps my experience and sentiments are also shared by friends who are now world citizens.
What is Hong Kong? The British officer who encountered it long ago said it was a rock. The literati crown it as Pearl of the Orient. All other answers using words are only academic. For those who have been a part of it, I suggest that you find yourself an hour of leisure, click open the video file, and immerse yourself in walking through the territory, with your memory guiding you.
Are you able to find your playground, your schools, the streets that you lingered, the movie houses, your favorite eating places, your home and, where the waters and clouds meet, the private beaches and rocks that you and your lover had found moments of privacy? I had a hard time finding Wah Yan on Waterloo Road, and only guess where McPherson playground lies. Not even the Chinese University where I helped establish the Graduate School of Education was easily identified. But there is pleasure trying to trace your footsteps. It triggers memories happy and sad, life strives successful and not so. Each time you do so you feel that Hong Kong belongs to you, an icon of collective achievement. There is no place like it anywhere on earth.
And so you laugh at those who claim that they represent you, the citizen. Also those who parade on the streets shouting slogans that Hong Kong is backward, needing change and salvage through democracy. They claim they love Hong Kong, a big joke.
What you see in the video was not built in a democracy. The basic foundations of law and order which underlie the making of the earth-shaking achievement were laid by the colonial government, which had allowed partial liberty but did not encourage freedom. The diversity of schooling, of which Wah Yan was one, had nurtured the development of personal freedom, self-determination, responsible and orderly behavior, as well as a bi-lingual understanding of the world. The dynamic and efficient forces which have, and still are building Hong Kongin all the constellation of successes, are from people of diverse ethnic origins and cultural heritages. These are potent forces for an international city.
From the video I estimate intuitively that 90% of the skyscrapers (50 storeys up) have been built since 1980. Of these, 80% of the super skyscrapers (80-storey plus) rose up after 1997. Would you be surprised to see the HSBC building now a midget at Central? And what has become of the Peninsula viewing from the air? The Governor’s House is still formidable. But its host will not be a foreigner again.
As we pause now and then to catch our breath looking at the super forest of steel and cement competing in their artistic looks and dominate presence, we must be mindful of the many social problems confronting the SAR. They are core issues which will widen and deepen, awaiting solution. There are many dimensions and levels. One of this is about citizen duty and due processes in a mature democracy, which Don Chen elucidates so humorously and effectively in his article, 誠實陪審員. Many others, like education and the caring of an increasing aging population, demand urgent attention. They affect everyone directly in a one-world reality, as each of us goes forward in life, intensely interrelated.
I now invite you to look at the other video, Paradox of Our Time. It has Hong Kong as the background. But it is about the human condition today, wherever you live. It offers much food for thought, and identifies aspects of life requiring self-awareness, self-determinations, choice of life style, and the affirmation of the purpose of life.
If you are doing well, happy and peaceful in mind, this video will offer you an inventory to help you reinforce your achievements. If you feel otherwise, you could seriously reflect on your circumstances and make important changes to enhance your well being. In either case, much was said should help us perceive the life in proper perspective, and accept the world with insight and realism.
I choose Hong Kong Our Home as title for this little article because home is where your heart is, not where you are geographically. It is what you are proud of, not an object of rejection and scorn. Home is a community of more than one person, in it you have your family and friends, including people you work with and meet, and your memories while growing up. It needs devotion and love, not criticism and dismissal. I hope you will enjoy seeing Hong Kong as it is, as it has become, however the future.