Hong Kong: Changes in Civic Participation
The weekend edition of Financial Times published a letter by Ms. Marian Leung in Britain, where she sums up how civic participation in politics had changed in Hong Kong over the last several decades.
"Many people in Hong Kong were apolitical because of historical reasons. Generations of people grew up without knowing, or being encouraged to know, how the government worked during the British colonial rule. Public affairs was a negligible part of the national curriculum until recent years.
As an example, 20 years ago there were only 10 people, including myself, out of 3,000 in my year who studied political science at the university I went to in Hong Kong.
For a very long time in Hong Kong's history, people were actively encouraged, if not subconsciously shaped, to pursue material instead of socio-political goals. Without the knowledge, information and experience, Hong Kong people were apathetic about the political process.
However, the political landscape in Hong Kong has changed dramatically in the past 10 years due to a combination of external and internal factors. As a result, political pluralism began to emerge; more people began to participate in public policy debates; the rest of society began to witness the impact of political participation on public administration and, in turn, voiced an even stronger demand for building an open and democratic government. This process is no different from what other "successful" democracies have gone through.
The record turnout for the recent elections is the best proof of a growing, politically conscious electorate. Critical to establishing a successful democracy in Hong Kong is, therefore, to continue to allow this political process to grow and mature based on a road map that lays out the timetable for a fully directly elected legislature.
That perhaps is the best guarantee for a smooth and stable transition to achieving full democracy in Hong Kong."
