It’s been a restless, jittery year for Hong Kong’s ‘special’ relationship with Beijing. Shirley Zhao meets five people with diverse opinions on the future...

It was no surprise that last week’s ‘Golden Week’ holidays saw yet another avalanche of mainland tourists flocking into Hong Kong for shopping, sightseeing and more shopping. In the 14 years since the handover, China’s connection with Hong Kong has reached every facet of society, often with mixed results. Maternity issues. Immigration issues. Problems defining the Basic Law. Problems defining freedom of expression. Hong Kong has seen it all in the past 12 months, and with a new Chief Executive and a new Chinese President expected in 2012, the immediate future looks ever more tumultuous. Time Out met with six people from both Hong Kong and the Mainland to discuss the (very) difficult road ahead...

The post-80s Hongkonger

On October 4, three students applied for legal aid in order to file a civil case against Andy Tsang Wai-hung, Hong Kong’s commissioner of police, relating to the infamous ‘altercations’ with the police force during Li Keqiang’s visit to the University of Hong Kong.

Samuel Li Shing-hong, one of the students, is a shy, softly-spoken democracy advocate. A third-year undergraduate studying politics, Li, 21, came under the spotlight after a viral clip showed him crying over the university incident.

“I’m very disappointed that a university had to be deprived of its freedom because a leader from the central government visited,” says Li. “It may be a sign that Hong Kong is not as free as it was 10 years ago.”

The first generation immigrant

Jin Zhong, a hydraulic engineer-turned-journalist, emigrated from mainland China to Hong Kong in 1980 and co-founded Open Magazine in 1987. The pro-democracy, politically sensitive magazine is banned on the Mainland, and its website can only be accessed by people outside of China. Zhong, like many pro-democrats, is on Beijing’s blacklist and is now unable to return to his homeland.

“There was no press freedom, or freedom of speech, in the post-Mao era,” says Zhong. “I knew there was freedom in Hong Kong, so I wanted to give journalism a try here.” Having settled for more than 30 years, Zhong feels the ties between the SAR and the Mainland have grown tighter. “Hong Kong people’s attitude toward the Mainland was different back then. They despised us. Indeed, Mainlanders [were seen as] less cultivated, rude and outdated. Now, Hongkongers are getting to know Mainlanders better, and Mainlanders themselves are changing, influenced by Western culture. Locals and Mainlanders are integrating. But in terms of political systems, Hong Kong and the Mainland are still two different worlds.”

The new generation immigrant

Chen Fengmei’s husband, a Hong Kong local, died two years after they were married, leaving her with an infant child (born as a permanent resident) and a 90-year-old mother-in-law. While waiting for approval of her application for a one-way permit allowing her to live in Hong Kong, she has been travelling back and forth between HK and the Mainland every three months since 2005. When her husband died in 2007, she was abruptly removed from the waiting list. Without any income, Chen, 44, lived in various support centres for several months and then, although she does not yet qualify for a seven-year residence permit, was suddenly treated as ‘an exception’ by the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance Scheme. Now, she and her son live on a monthly allowance of $6,000 subsidised by the CSSA, barely enough for her to rent a sub-divided unit of less than 100sq ft at $2,700 per month, in Ngau Tau Kok. Chen still takes care of her mother-in-law every weekend. “I want to have a job,” says Chen, “but I have to care for my child. When he grows up, I’ll be too old. Nobody will hire me at that time. Life here is too difficult.”

Chen is angered by the SAR government, saying it discriminates against mainland immigrants. “We have families here. Our husbands are permanent residents. Our children are permanent residents. It’s unfair that we have to live here for seven years to enjoy social welfare. Many people think we came to Hong Kong just for social welfare, but it’s not that easy to get it. Even if we were permanent residents, we would still need to meet many requirements and pass many tests.” As for Hongkongers, Chen feels demonised. “Many people don’t like us being here. It’s hard for us to communicate with them if they are always judging you with prejudice.”

The post-80s Mainlander

Mark Xing Tao studied international politics in Beijing. Last year, he came to Hong Kong for his postgraduate study in journalism. “I have special feelings about Hong Kong,” says Xing, “My parents work here. I have been to Hong Kong many times. I like the freedom, the culture and the air of democracy.”

“The first thing mainland students find here are that flats are too small!” laughs Xing. “When I first came here, I also experienced culture-shock and felt stressed. But after a while, I started to find this city very attractive. I also like the hundreds of thousands of different foreigners here, and the integration of different religions and different cultures.”

Xing says he is ‘quite worried’ about Hong Kong. “Hong Kong’s politics are getting closer to Taiwan’s ‘hooligan politics’,” he says. “You can see legislative councillors throw bananas in public occasions and protesters become more confrontational. Both politicians and common people should be rational and do things in a less extreme way, so that radical actions could not be used to gain political benefits, and political power would not be abused.”

Regarding the relationship between Hong Kong and the Mainland over the next four years under new leaderships, Xing believes Hong Kong should make better use of mainland resources: “Hong Kong should not be afraid of the Mainland. The two places need to compensate with each other to make the best out of it.”

The legislative councillors

The Hong Kong government is under greater control than ever from Beijing, says legislative councillor Audrey Eu Yuet-mee from the Civic Party. “You can see the SAR government is really not listening to the people, but to those who have direct contact with Beijing’s leaders and those who have power in the Mainland.” She cites, as an example, the appointment of former Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Stephen Lam Sui-lung, as the new Chief Secretary. “The fact that he got promoted, in many ways, is a slap in the face for Hong Kong people, telling them it doesn’t really matter however much you dislike a person – as long as Beijing likes him, and then he
got promoted.”

Eu tells Time Out the incidents surrounding Li Keqiang’s visit were ‘a restriction on the freedom of expression’. To better protect democracy, Eu says people need to stand up for their rights and speak out more, admitting that Hongkongers are doing less of both, and citing the Zhuhai-Macau bridge case and the domestic helpers’ permanent residency case as two examples of public apathy.

“If you protect the principle, you have to protect people who are saying things that you don’t like, and who take the government to court for things you don’t like as well.”

Eu seriously doubts that ‘genuine universal suffrage’ can be achieved in Hong Kong for the foreseeable future. “Those with vested interests with Beijing, the pro-establishment forces, always say universal suffrage means the existence of functional constituencies. But to a democrat, functional constituency is actually the very opposite of equal and universal suffrage.”

Legislative Councillor Tam Yiu-chung, chairman of the pro-establishment Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, on the other hand, thinks Hong Kong’s democracy is advancing. He is also positive about the ‘realisation’ of universal suffrage: “We have enough time to make preparations. Although now the Chief Executive is still elected by the Election Committee, it has gained more and more public attention, and the candidates are actively making preparations and listening to people’s opinions. This is very similar to what will happen in universal suffrage.”

Tam doesn’t view the incidents during Li’s visit as directly relative to Hong Kong’s democracy. “Li Keqiang, as an important political figure, came to Hong Kong. Of course Hong Kong’s security arrangement should be especially careful. Nobody wants to see accidents happen. I understand why the government was nervous and heavy-handed, but nobody got hurt, so I don’t think it was a big problem.”
Tam says the Mainland’s political system has been stable for a long time and it’s unlikely that a new leadership will change its policy towards Hong Kong. Says Tam: “Recently, more and more Hong Kong people have realised that increasing communication and co-operation with the Mainland is beneficial to both places.”