I studied econ for a year at HKU a decade ago; my experience with classmates was the most democracy-affirming experience of my life. My classmates had a perspective on the fragililty of liberalism and its humanistic importance drastically changed my relationship with our increasingly-fragile American democracy, taken for granted even then, but especially now. To see my friends fight in vain for self-actualization on the streets of HK in a manner which Leonidas himself would have been proud has been profoundly heartbreaking and I envy your brief experience joining in that fight. Thank you for your post.
Really appreciate this article. I was born and raised in HK. I decided to leave HK in 1983 because I did not trust the communist system. I went to the university office to withdraw and was told no one dropped out of school like me because of fear about 1997. I figured if I need to build a new life in another country, I should do it when I was young. After the Margaret Thatcher visit to Beijing, Hong Kong experience the first wave of exodus.
I am sorry to be proven right in my bleak assessment of the future of Hong Kong because I always thought Hong Kong may continue a modified version of pre97 lifestyle.
One thing I want to correct in your article is I can quite confidently say that most people who were born in Hong Kong never ever identified themselves as Chinese. We are Hong Kongers and we are independent thinkers and see thru the Chinese patriotic slogan as total BS
I studied in HK last year as an exchange student from Europe, and I'd like to thank you for putting under words what I can't. As a photojournalism and politics student, I recognize a lot of what you experienced. Really well put, and I hope that our sad outlook gets proven wrong.
Hi I am a HongKonger here. Thank you for sharing your experience in Hong Kong during the social movement in 2019. There is an award-winning documentary about the 2019 movement made by a Hong Kong Director, which is called "Revolution of Our Times", to be screened in San Francisco during December 2021. I hope it will be of interest to you. https://twitter.com/HKSFBayArea/status/1466137283929673731
Are there any generalized lessons you take from your experience in HK? If so, have you applied them here in America? Territorial sovereignty and universal suffrage seem like some common themes...
hey, you got picked up by memeorandum, nice. I follow you on twitter. Didn't realize you felt that America was declining, that's interesting. You ought to write about that some time methinks.
I am sorry but those people who protest does not represent me or more the 50% of the Hong Kong People. I complete disagree what they stand for and what they are asking for. So this is not what the majority of what Hong Kong People wanted.
Hong Kong protestors are a bunch of morons. They are one of world's freest "Province" I have ever seen. The Chinese government allowed them to have their own immigration system, their own legal system, even their own currency. Hell, China even ignored till the stupid protest, non-patriotic legislators sitting in their "congress". Does Puerto Rico, Guam or Hawaii have this kind of freedom?? Will US ever dare to allow California to have its own immigration system? a bunch of dumbasses. Try having an unpatriotic Senator who wants to split their state/territory off constantly get into US congress. They'd be tried for High Treason. and back in the old days Shot right on the Spot.
Great story and I simply love Faye Wong in that movie. Of course, her music is great, too. Don't just listen to Eyes on Me, but check out her Cantonese and Mandarin stuff, too. Sing and Play is a great album. 🎧
I think you are a bit hard on the British and I wonder how much you are assuming and how much you really know. Would be interested to hear local opinion on this.
Most Chinese people don't sympathize with the protesters, probably because they don't want HK to break away. BUT, HK's culture of personal freedom seems like it might appeal to mainlanders. And China, unlike Singapore, is a very large country, with a lot of diverging regional interests. It also has a lot of inequality, dissatisfied ethnic minorities, and so on. That might make democracy more attractive than in a very small country like Singapore.
It has nothing to do with so-called "freedom". It is about status threat (relative to Mainlanders in term of wealth,living condition etc),much like what brought about the election of Donald Trump(https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/115/19/e4330.full.pdf). You should have crossed the border to Shenzhen next door.
I'm afraid I just don't share the same hope. I do think that the protests and instability removed any bargaining chip Hong Kong had (if it ever did have one), and now China has nothing to lose in clamping down ever more tightly. And I think that the Han Chinese are the only demographic of any political consequence in China (not an endorsement, just my assessment).
[p.s., sorry, I wanted to delete and quickly make some edits but ended up just deleting the post you replied to]
I studied econ for a year at HKU a decade ago; my experience with classmates was the most democracy-affirming experience of my life. My classmates had a perspective on the fragililty of liberalism and its humanistic importance drastically changed my relationship with our increasingly-fragile American democracy, taken for granted even then, but especially now. To see my friends fight in vain for self-actualization on the streets of HK in a manner which Leonidas himself would have been proud has been profoundly heartbreaking and I envy your brief experience joining in that fight. Thank you for your post.
Really appreciate this article. I was born and raised in HK. I decided to leave HK in 1983 because I did not trust the communist system. I went to the university office to withdraw and was told no one dropped out of school like me because of fear about 1997. I figured if I need to build a new life in another country, I should do it when I was young. After the Margaret Thatcher visit to Beijing, Hong Kong experience the first wave of exodus.
I am sorry to be proven right in my bleak assessment of the future of Hong Kong because I always thought Hong Kong may continue a modified version of pre97 lifestyle.
One thing I want to correct in your article is I can quite confidently say that most people who were born in Hong Kong never ever identified themselves as Chinese. We are Hong Kongers and we are independent thinkers and see thru the Chinese patriotic slogan as total BS
I studied in HK last year as an exchange student from Europe, and I'd like to thank you for putting under words what I can't. As a photojournalism and politics student, I recognize a lot of what you experienced. Really well put, and I hope that our sad outlook gets proven wrong.
I think you wrote the whole article to justify that last line--worth the effort.
hahaha
Gosh, this is beautiful (and the glory to HK video absolutely worth a watch. Thank you for taking the time to write and share.
Thanks for reading!
Hi I am a HongKonger here. Thank you for sharing your experience in Hong Kong during the social movement in 2019. There is an award-winning documentary about the 2019 movement made by a Hong Kong Director, which is called "Revolution of Our Times", to be screened in San Francisco during December 2021. I hope it will be of interest to you. https://twitter.com/HKSFBayArea/status/1466137283929673731
Are there any generalized lessons you take from your experience in HK? If so, have you applied them here in America? Territorial sovereignty and universal suffrage seem like some common themes...
hey, you got picked up by memeorandum, nice. I follow you on twitter. Didn't realize you felt that America was declining, that's interesting. You ought to write about that some time methinks.
I will.
V nice NS!!
Thanks!
I am sorry but those people who protest does not represent me or more the 50% of the Hong Kong People. I complete disagree what they stand for and what they are asking for. So this is not what the majority of what Hong Kong People wanted.
Hong Kong protestors are a bunch of morons. They are one of world's freest "Province" I have ever seen. The Chinese government allowed them to have their own immigration system, their own legal system, even their own currency. Hell, China even ignored till the stupid protest, non-patriotic legislators sitting in their "congress". Does Puerto Rico, Guam or Hawaii have this kind of freedom?? Will US ever dare to allow California to have its own immigration system? a bunch of dumbasses. Try having an unpatriotic Senator who wants to split their state/territory off constantly get into US congress. They'd be tried for High Treason. and back in the old days Shot right on the Spot.
Great story and I simply love Faye Wong in that movie. Of course, her music is great, too. Don't just listen to Eyes on Me, but check out her Cantonese and Mandarin stuff, too. Sing and Play is a great album. 🎧
I think you are a bit hard on the British and I wonder how much you are assuming and how much you really know. Would be interested to hear local opinion on this.
Most Chinese people don't sympathize with the protesters, probably because they don't want HK to break away. BUT, HK's culture of personal freedom seems like it might appeal to mainlanders. And China, unlike Singapore, is a very large country, with a lot of diverging regional interests. It also has a lot of inequality, dissatisfied ethnic minorities, and so on. That might make democracy more attractive than in a very small country like Singapore.
It has nothing to do with so-called "freedom". It is about status threat (relative to Mainlanders in term of wealth,living condition etc),much like what brought about the election of Donald Trump(https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/115/19/e4330.full.pdf). You should have crossed the border to Shenzhen next door.
I'm afraid I just don't share the same hope. I do think that the protests and instability removed any bargaining chip Hong Kong had (if it ever did have one), and now China has nothing to lose in clamping down ever more tightly. And I think that the Han Chinese are the only demographic of any political consequence in China (not an endorsement, just my assessment).
[p.s., sorry, I wanted to delete and quickly make some edits but ended up just deleting the post you replied to]
Oh no! haha