News March 14th- Hong Kongers vote to return to British Rule

According to a poll by the SCMP, 97% of Hong Kong citizens would vote for the city to return back to British territorial rule.

Hang on a minute - are we saying that we'd rather return back to the "good old" colonial days of our parents' parents', where exploitation was prevalent, common and often extremely violent ? Could it be that people have forgotten that colonialism instills legacies, both physical and ideological, amongst the people involved?

Just a few related incidents off the top of my head:

1. National education policy - C.Y. Leung's quashed policy of compulsory national Chinese education in all Hong Kong schools perhaps first started the spark of anti-Chinese feelings. Paraphrasing the arguments of many against the policy: who wants their children to be brainwashed into believing Chinese nationalistic jargon? 
2. Housing crisis- after C.Y. Leung's policy address of 2013, the public has paid much attention to the new houses being built around our little city. Especially the ones near the border of Hong Kong and China - the ones in New Territories and the upper areas of countryside - the new towns and new private houses for sale. Apparently, the houses are being built to cater for high-spending Mainland Chinese tourists who want to climb the property ladder and are rich enough to buy houses from Hong Kong. Concern: where are the houses made in Hong Kong for Hong Kong people? 
3. Mainland girl eats on the MTR - a young girl ate cup noodles aboard the MTR. A local HK man told her off, and sparked off a heated argument about "irresponsible Mainlanders" and "decent Hong Kong heroes" in online forums. Translation: We don't want you here, you dirty mainlanders who pollute our public transport systems. 
4. Milk Powder crisis- There has been a baby formula shortage in the city due to an influx of Mainland tourists buying up all the powder from local shops. Hong Kong people felt that they were being robbed of their goods, and that the tourists are taking advantage of the city's good reputation and quality products guarantee. 

And my opinions?

1. National education is good to a certain degree - it fosters a pride in the motherland and Hong Kong is an inseparable part of China. HK and China have had a complicated and deep relationship, and even if Hong Kong is now independent, the historical ties should be taught to our future generation. Otherwise, children would grow up not knowing anything about China at all. Furthermore, America has been doing it for many years. Who's opposing? They love it. Healthy patriotism can bind societies together. 
2. Hong Kong houses for Hong Kong people is a ridiculous concept anyways. How about all the "Made in China" labels of products all across the world? Does it mean that everything made in China belongs in China? Property should be made available for all, even Mainlanders who spend money to help fuel the thriving HK economy. 
3. Eating on the MTR? I've done it. No one seemed to care - go figure. I think this episode highlights deeper emotional issues that HK people have with Mainland visitors. Disrespect, mostly. Looking down on them. I guess Hong Kong has much pride over it's colonial past because Britain brought the city upwards, and raised it much above other Chinese cities like Shanghai or Beijing. It's the initial advantage. 
4. Milk powder is a complex issue - I read yesterday that the HK government has fined several Mainlanders for violating the rule of not more than 2 cans per person. I also read that China is unhappy about the policy, and there are talks as to whether the policy should continue on indefinitely.  

Continuing on the milk powder issue, I want to ask - why don't we tackle the fundamental issue instead of all the causes/ effective problems relating to one single cause: the lack of confidence in Mainland milk powder (and other goods, eg housing) ? Mainlanders buy from Hong Kong because they can afford higher quality formula to care for hungry children. They believe the milk powder inside China is tainted with dangerous chemicals like Melamine, or isn't as high quality as the ones from Hong Kong. Hong Kong has quality guarantee - should officials actually tackle the root of the problem, pack up their bags, head to China and implement higher health / safety checks for milk powder?

Tackle the root of the problem, government! (though it's hard, the HK and China gov probably wants to maintain distant ties... too close would again cause conflict and disapproval).

China and Hong Kong are inseparable. The latter depend on the former for water, tourists, workforce, labour, goods and services; the former depends on the latter because Hong Kong serves as a shining example of thriving capitalism, good British systems, transport links, tourists, strong legal and judicial system, and a better administration that runs smoothly. Come to think of it, I'm only in China serving for 6 months because of the HK/ China relationship.

I'm here to live for 6 months, and China isn't really as exotic, negative, troublesome and rural as one would think. China is plentiful in resources, labour and brains; a nation with huge potential, and huge desires for improvements. Everyone wants to climb up the social ladder and everyone works hard to raise their quality of life. The ones who can come to HK and shop are the few who have made it. Why should we deem them as intruders? What's the big deal? Our city and China cannot live without the other. Twinned compasses joined at the top.

The sinophobia, resentment towards Mainlanders and general anti-Chinese sentiment of the recent Hong Kong populous has got to stop.