One mans opinion As promised, I am writing a lengthy explanation as to my views on this Occupy Central event, and the bigger picture behind it. Bear with me, this is a long post, as this event is of great importance to me. And as a word of caution, what I will say will probably rub many of you the wrong way, but remember, we are given this gift of free speech so that we can express our opinions. Please do leave comments as you see fit. Please leave out swearing if you feel the urge to do so, I would really appreciate it. Please do stay and read before you wave this off and label me as a communist follower, or 五毛，as many Hong Kongers’ love to label those who support Hong Kong or China. I love this city and country, but it doesn’t mean I love the party. Not at all. 愛國不等於愛黨。 Let me first make myself clear on this point: I absolutely support the implementation of a full fledged democracy. Who does not want the freedom to elect those who lead our societies? At least up to this point in history, democracy is the most complete and fair political system that can be found. However, democracy is not perfect. Examples such as America, France and Italy (and I mean no offense to those from there) come to mind, with fair and functional democracies but nonetheless plagued with problems of indecisiveness, wastefulness, and the constant struggle to garner benefits to a specific group. The point is, a democracy isn’t the solution to everything. It is not the miracle drug to cure all the problems our current “pitiful” government can’t solve. Nor is the idea of full fledged democracy practical. Not even America is a full fledged democracy. The electoral college remains a big part of the American political system and is not democratic. Occupy Central. A noble idea. Many seem to forget the history of Hong Kong when engaging in this pursuit of democracy. For almost 150 years, Hong Kong was a colony under the rule of the British Empire, as China experienced all kinds of turmoil and uprisings through this period of time. Do keep in mind, Hong Kong never belonged to the United Kingdom. The Chinese simply were forced (out of its own weakness and Britain’s Imperialistic spirit) to rent out Hong Kong to the British. It doesn’t take long for one to realize that Hong Kong was never separated from China, it simply was under the management of another country (UK). While the British were in power, there was never any noise suggesting for democracy. Considering the fact that many people reminisce about the “good old days” of British rule, it seems reasonable that no one wanted democracy. But think again. The British never purposefully civilize us, or build a stable society, or create rule of law. They were here as colonizers, reaping the profits and resources of its colony. The only way they could get the most out of this colony was through implementing their version of society. Out of necessity, not because of some noble conviction. Only by digging back into the history of Hong Kong do you realize the great inequality that was afforded the majority of population, and how the colonizers abused their position to get away with crime. To the British, Hong Kong was really never more than a valuable piece of property that generated great income for the Empire. And certainly, democracy was never even a thought during the rule of Britain by its governors. But somehow, now that China is back with Hong Kong, democracy is a must have. We need democracy now that we are back in the hands of our original country. How does that work? There is always news reporting on how China is making life worse off than under British rule. You hear all this reporting of how Hong Kongers’ are losing their rights as China expands it’s influence on us. But have you lost your right to express your opinion? Have you lost your right to browse information on the Internet freely? Contrary to what media sources are saying, have you noticed that their information is becoming increasingly one-sided and sensationalist? All we hear is negativity, complaints and anger. What has China done to you lately to infringe your rights? Right now on Occupy Central, all we see reported is the brutality of the police, the ridiculous use of violence. but have you seen the subtle kicks and jabs the “peaceful protestors” have enacted on the police? You should utilize your right of freedom of information to look these things up. Don’t just look at the information presented to you and accept that as the definite conclusion. There is always more than one side to an event. The proposal that China has handed us in regard to 2017 elections is far from perfect. It isn’t even close to what a democracy should resemble. The fact is, we have to be realistic. China is no longer what it was 10, 20, 30 years ago. From a economic standpoint, Hong Kong was more than 18% of the Chinese GDP during 1997. This year, the Hong Kong GDP is around 3% of the Chinese GDP. A lot has happened in 17 years. Solely from a economic standpoint, China no longer has to rely on Hong Kong for anything. In fact, we rely on China for quite a number of things. China is Hong Kong’s biggest trade partner. The amount of mainland tourists who flood to Hong Kong greatly benefit the service and retail industry of Hong Kong. We get most of our food from China. Even the water you use daily is mostly supplied by China. What I’m trying to illustrate is the fact that as a country, China has put in effort to make us better. Can anyone remember 2003 SARS? The Hong Kong economy was crushed following the epidemic; only through the introduction of the free traveling of Chinese citizens to Hong Kong did our economy see fast and furious recovery. Obviously, many problems have arisen due to the great number of mainlanders who flood to Hong Kong. There is no perfection in this world, and we have to sacrifice some things to make room for others. However, I do believe that more good than harm has been done. Without the Chinese tourists Hong Kong may have not recovered at all. If the Chinese tourists were to stop coming, mark my words the Hong Kong economy will encounter a big stumble. At this point, if you consider me an agent of China or something worse, you can skip to the last 3 paragraphs (Although you’ll miss a lot of my explanation then). Disregarding how legitimate(or illegitimate) you consider the rule of communist party to be. How do you make sense of a scenario where Hong Kong is given the right to stage a full fledged democratic election? While a city of 7 million is afforded the right to elect its own leading officials, a big nation of 1.3 billion is confined to the autonomous one party rule of China. If China allowed this full fledged election to occur, they might as well wave a white flag and give up rule of China. There is no way getting around the fact that so long as China does not have democracy, Hong Kong will not have it as well. You cannot explain democracy for a city of 7 million when 1.3 billion people do not have it. Despite how grim this sounds, Hong Kong should have taken what it could have while it could. It is better to have something than nothing at all. At least you have somewhere to begin. Progression isn’t made overnight; it takes time for a democracy to be nurtured and developed into shape. Even in the birthplace of democracy, France, had to see the French revolution happen, followed by the reign of terror, leading finally to democracy only through extreme bloodshed. China is not a democracy today. It may not be a democracy in the next 10 years, or 20 years. But change is inevitable. The current generation of Chinese leadership was educated under and after the Cultural revolution; the next generation was educated in foreign education titans such as Harvard, Columbia, Yale, to name a few. Educated by foreign institutions, these people are instilled with different ideas and ideals. And even if they didn’t want change, they would have to change for the survival of the party. As the Chinese have gotten richer, their concerns have gone from basic survival to more than that. The Chinese now yearn for more freedom and equality within society. Why else do you see increases in protesting and dissent in China every year? Chinese people are not stupid and are trying to fight for what they see as right. Is it instigating much change? Some but not a lot. Is there hope that people will continue to try and influence the system for better? Absolutely. Occupy Central is in itself an illegal protest on a massive scale. Do not put your blame on the police. They are fulfilling their orders to disband the crowds, just like with any other protest that is illegal or gone out of hand. Not only is it creating chaos within key areas of our city, the obstruction it does to our economic operations is severe. Is tear gas the best solution? Of course not. Ideally crowds disperse after being warned. But again and again, the polices’ request for citizens to leave was ignored. Obviously, civil disobedience should and will be quelled. The police are simply doing their job. Don’t blame them for using force either. The protest escalated at several different points in time, causing injury to the police as well as protestors. Violence doesn’t solve anything. It only creates confusion, anger and injury to both sides. Should the protestors stay peacefully? Yes. But in a way that does not disrupt the economy. Don’t use the economy as weapon with which you threaten the livelihood of others whilst you fight for your cause. Whether we support your fight or not, you should not affect others, and should have the right to continue with their lives. At this conjunction in time I want to share a little something that may give you something to think about. We can look to history for examples. In the Renaissance period, Venice, much like Hong Kong, was a extremely prosperous and vibrant economy. Its merchants gained great wealth because of the nature of the city. It was accepting, innovative, and striving to continue improving. But eventually, the city became more and more enclosed; it started to resort to protectionism as new places rose in economical prowess. Fearful of change it began to reject new developments in the world and fought to close itself from the influence of others. The place had become too fixated in one way of life and could not break the mold. Much like Hong Kong is doing. And today Venice has become a sad shell of its old self. Long gone is the vibrant city, replaced by a place where only tourism thrives. Please take some time and think about it. Think about the city we love so much and hold so dearly. Perhaps you may see similar things happening in Hong Kong. If this has affected your view and opinion of me, I am truly sorry that has happened. I intend no more than to simply express my opinion and my view of the situation that is unraveling in front of us. I am exercising my right to free speech, just like you are entitled to. And if you feel that I am completely wrong in each and every way and I have no right whatsoever to post something such as my opinion on any platform, then you should really look yourself in the mirror and ponder your views. If you think I am not even entitled to something such as the right to speak my mind freely, what difference is there between you and the authoritarian China that you despise so much? What makes you right and makes me wrong? Is it wrong that my views are different than yours? Isn’t accepting and respecting others opinion’s the basis of a vibrant and accepting society? Those rights that we hold so dearly is exactly what gives us the luxury to express ourselves and our views, and if you are intent on suppressing me, then perhaps you don’t value this freedom. If you cannot accept that others have different views, and that we all must believe one set view, that any other view is wrong, then really, what difference is there between you and the communist party. In these times of great turmoil and uncertainty, I pray that everyone stays safe. Please do ponder your values and what we truly treasure. Is the fight for democracy everything? In the pursuit of democracy, does everything else not matter? Will democracy solve all our problems and bring us to a ideal society? This problem is very complicated and I think there is no definitive answer. If there is one thing you take away, just please, go out there and look for information for yourself. Don’t just believe everything you are told. And don’t think that because others are saying something, you have to agree and adhere to that view.
Posted on: Mon, 29 Sep 2014 14:13:11 +0000