Lung Yingtai: "Hong Kong, Where Are You Heading?"
Found this latest essay penned by Professor LUNG Ying-tai via Hong Kong In Media, a newly founded independent media by a small group of concerned citizens in Hong Kong.
It is an excellent essay. (A real pitty that it is only in Chinese and I can't translate the entire piece into English.) LUNG pinpoints the problem of Hong Kong society: the single minded pursuit of profit-making and wealth creation in Hong Kong; the lack of a comphrehensive culture policy framework, its root cause (stemmed from colonial period), implications and her policy recommendations.
The piece makes me angry, for once again, it shows that policymakers and business elites have no clue (and probably no intent) in creating an environment that are conducive to the long-term growth of the society. (Ordinary Joe can play a very limited role in influencing policy outcomes, as it is often the case that there is no stakeholder consultations in the policy process or urban planning process.)
On the other hand, I am also delighted to see her sharp critiques. Hopefully, her international fame would garner some attention of people in power who can make an impact.
This is the problem as LUNG sees.
Central (the financial district) values dominate Hong Kong values.
"That Central represents Hong Kong. Under the operation logic of captialsim, the pursuit of personal wealth, the important of business competition, "economics", "becoming rich", "efficiency", "development", "globalization" are indicators of social progress." (I'm not anti-business or anti-market. Only thinks business should have a more "human face".)
But there is another side of Hong Kong that many haven't seen:
Out of the 7 million population, 1.45 million are living below poverty line.
In terms of income disparity, Hong Kong ranks #5 in the world.
(Note: note word by word translation here.) Development means getting rid of crowded, dirty, old and chaotic places like Kowloon City Wall and Tiu King Ling, along with collective memory and historical emotions as they are shamefully "backward" by Central standards.
There are so many more opoints that I like. I have highlighted them in here (it's in Chinese).
It is an excellent essay. (A real pitty that it is only in Chinese and I can't translate the entire piece into English.) LUNG pinpoints the problem of Hong Kong society: the single minded pursuit of profit-making and wealth creation in Hong Kong; the lack of a comphrehensive culture policy framework, its root cause (stemmed from colonial period), implications and her policy recommendations.
The piece makes me angry, for once again, it shows that policymakers and business elites have no clue (and probably no intent) in creating an environment that are conducive to the long-term growth of the society. (Ordinary Joe can play a very limited role in influencing policy outcomes, as it is often the case that there is no stakeholder consultations in the policy process or urban planning process.)
On the other hand, I am also delighted to see her sharp critiques. Hopefully, her international fame would garner some attention of people in power who can make an impact.
This is the problem as LUNG sees.
Central (the financial district) values dominate Hong Kong values.
"中環代表了香港，「 中環價值 」壟斷了、代表了香港價值 ﹕ 在資本主義的運作邏輯裏追求個人財 富、 講究商業競爭， 以「 經濟」 、「 致富 」、「 效率 」 、「 發展 」 、「全球化」 作為社會進步的指 標。"
"That Central represents Hong Kong. Under the operation logic of captialsim, the pursuit of personal wealth, the important of business competition, "economics", "becoming rich", "efficiency", "development", "globalization" are indicators of social progress." (I'm not anti-business or anti-market. Only thinks business should have a more "human face".)
But there is another side of Hong Kong that many haven't seen:
Out of the 7 million population, 1.45 million are living below poverty line.
In terms of income disparity, Hong Kong ranks #5 in the world.
九龍城寨 ，調景嶺 ， 早就拆了 。 因為九龍城寨和調景嶺骯髒、 混亂、 擁擠 ， 用 「中環價值」 來衡量 ， 代表了令人羞恥的 「落後」。 九龍城寨和調景嶺所凝聚的集體記憶與歷史情感， 是掃進 「落後」 的垃圾堆裏一併清除的。
(Note: note word by word translation here.) Development means getting rid of crowded, dirty, old and chaotic places like Kowloon City Wall and Tiu King Ling, along with collective memory and historical emotions as they are shamefully "backward" by Central standards.
There are so many more opoints that I like. I have highlighted them in here (it's in Chinese).
