Jeremy | Hongkonger who studied and is working in the UK - "If you are forced into a corner and no one listens to you...what else can you do, except protest?"
Hongkonger who left to study in the UK and now lives and works in London, discusses their relationships with family and grapples with identity and deciding whether or not to go back.
“The crux of the problem is that Hongkongers see no future. They are terrified of what will happen in 2047. We have been protesting since the handover in 1997. We have given the government many chances to implement changes. Yet, time and again, they have failed us. What more can we do? What more should we do?”
“I usually return to Hong Kong for Chinese New Year, and I was meant to go to a friend’s wedding in November. But as of now, I haven’t decided if I will go back.”
My entire family, including my dad and my uncle, is very supportive of the Chinese government. I am the only one who supports the movement in Hong Kong. I have had arguments with my mom, who is also very pro-China. She likes to check up on me now that I live abroad. But last time we discussed politics, it became a huge fight. She seems to think that the police should kill all the demonstrators to ensure stability. Stability takes priority above all else. So now, we don’t bring up the topic.
I have a very traditional Chinese relationship with my family. As Iong as I send my parents money, they don’t ask about my personal life. My mom still calls my boyfriend my ‘friend’ even though we live together.
It’s also not easy here in the UK. I have a lot of Chinese colleagues and they have very different views about the current situation, but we manage to stay diplomatic about the issues.
Most of my British and European colleagues are very supportive of the movement. They understand freedom. They understand the Rule of Law. In contrast, my Chinese colleagues are very insistent on people knowing the history of China, and how it makes them different from the rest of the world - I understand that way of thinking as well.
My mom went to a pro-communist school in Hong Kong, and my grandfather is a member of the Communist Party and owns a property in mainland China. Their entire mindset is about China overcoming difficulties to reach its current socio-economic status. The country has been in poverty until around 2005. They believe that human rights is worth sacrificing in exchange of the country’s growth and success.
But I think to myself, “What is more important? A country being economically prosperous, or, ensuring that their people are truly happy?” For me, the answer is always the latter.
Money is one way to make you happy. However, as a government, you should make sure your people are happy, not just with material goods but through their goals and aspirations. Most of all, I don’t think people in China are genuinely happy. This is even more of an issue for the young people in Hong Kong. They are under a lot of pressure to earn money and conform to expectations, which further complicates their lives. That is why I stand for freedom.
In other countries, people can vote their leader out via elections if the leader no longer gains majority support. Even in situations where the candidates are equally bad, the people are still given a choice. In Hong Kong, you don’t have that choice - that is where the problem lies.
I consider myself lucky. I was able to get a scholarship and study in the UK. Without the scholarship, I would have still been living with my parents in my old bunk bed - I didn't even have my own room in Hong Kong.
I would have felt hopeless. And as a gay man, I would have had to remain in the closet.
The Hong Kong society has deep-rooted problems. The young people (who make up half of the protestors), are trying to ‘liberate Hong Kong (光復香港). They are under a lot of pressure to succeed in their education and career, but their options in life are bounded by the expectations of society, and their families.
I grew up in a poor household, and the social expectations on kids like me is much greater than that in a western family. When you struggle with these expectations, any personal issues, coupled with a confined living space, can worsen the whole situation.
I felt that the young people in Hong Kong are not being heard, despite the fact that they are under a lot of pressure from all aspects of life - they are fed up.
The encroachment of Mainland China is just one of the catalysts that has pushed Hongkongers to where we are today. Even if Mainland China were to stay away from Hong Kong’s politics, the issues in society would have remained unresolved, waiting to be exposed sooner or later. The Chinese government taking away Hongkonger’s political freedom is the last straw of the societal discontent lingering in Hong Kong.
If I was in Hong Kong physically, I would be out protesting peacefully. I would not destroy things - but I understand those who do. If you are pushed into a corner, and no one, including the government, listens to you, wouldn’t you do anything you can to make your voice heard? What else could you have done, except protest?
The crux of the problem is that Hongkongers see no future. They are terrified of what will happen in 2047*. We have been protesting since the handover in 1997**. We have given the government many chances to implement changes. Yet, time and again, they have failed us. What more can we do? What more should we do?
While I don’t support people vandalising shops and infrastructures, I cannot, and should not stand on the moral high ground and criticise them, since I am not physically there. Everyone can have their own way of supporting the movement, but we should all stand together in unity.
If we don’t do that, and if no changes are made, I find it very difficult to live the life I want for myself in Hong Kong.
- February 2022
- December 2021
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- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
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- August 2020
- July 2020
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- March 2020
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- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
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- July 2019
- June 2019
*The year 2047 is when the ‘one country, two systems’ arrangement between Hong Kong will end
**In 1997, Hong Kong’s sovereignty was transferred from the United Kingdom to China