Before you jump on the bandwagon and praise the protesters in Hong Kong for fighting for democracy and freedom, please read this article and find out about the facts to why there is growing discontent in Hong Kong. To summarize, in its 155 years of being a British colony, Hong Kong did not enjoy a semblance of democracy, the 28 subsequent governors were appointed by the British, it was China that introduced any type of democracy to Hong Kong in the first place. The real reason behind the umbrella revolution is not democracy, its the fact that Hong Kong has been replaced by Shanghai and Shenzhen and other major mainland cities as the gateway to China and the countrys biggest port which stimulated the citys golden era in the 80s and 90s. Hong Kong is so used to having a higher standard of living than the mainland they looked down upon mainlanders as being uneducated and poor, the rapid economic growth in China changed things and now the foreign investors and businessmen dont have to go through Hong Kong to get to China, the wealthy mainlanders are coming to Hong Kong to take their jobs and buy up all the real estate which drove the prices higher than any working class local could afford, this created growing resentment in Hong Kong towards mainlanders and it was really just a matter of time before it all blows up. This my friends, is the reason behind why Hong Kong has been so unhappy with its mainland counterpart over the past decade or so, not democracy. Hong Kong is no longer the financial center of China let alone Asia, and it is still coming to terms with it. Having said that, I do believe the students who hit the streets over the past few days genuinely believe they are fighting for freedom and democracy which are both great things to fight for but how many know the true story and whats at stake? Its easy to be caught up in all the emotion and the hype and to do everything in our ability to fight for something we believe is right. But dont be taken advantage of please, take a step back and look at the bigger picture. The rebellion would only create a bigger rift between the mainland and Hong Kong which would do neither party any good because whether you believe it or not, you need each other, both economically and sociologically. As a person of Chinese heritage, I dont want to see my own people torn apart by something as trivial as a change in an election policy that was already set in place 17 years ago (it was in the original 1997 contract that in 2017 China will start approving governor candidates for Hong Kong, it is not something that was introduced recently). So I plead, take a step back, dont hit the streets today, go back to your classes, and let God do his work.
Posted on: Wed, 01 Oct 2014 20:15:07 +0000