How to "reform" society after the "era revolution" fire

weekly

Written by: Huang Yilin

2019-12-01 20:36

If counting from the march on June 9, the storm of amendments to the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance has been burning in Hong Kong for six months. From the initial peaceful demonstrations to the subsequent violent destruction and the district council elections ended, Hong Kong citizens who are extremely dissatisfied with the SAR government have tried to "recover Hong Kong" in their way and create a "epochal revolution" belonging to them. It can be said that Hong Kong has not been peaceful in this half year, especially the younger generation. It is even more restless to hope that Hong Kong will be reborn in the collision. Among them, a group of young people think that what Hong Kong needs is not a radical street revolution but a rational social reform. For the past six months, they have been quietly exploring an unusual reform path.

"Hong Kong does not need a revolution, but it also does not need a feudal or closed system. We need to reform under the existing system. The radical reform is based on the principle of" one country, two systems "or one country.

In a politically turbulent society, it is nothing new for young people to care about politics. B, who is pursuing a master's degree in politics in the UK, obviously has a different view on the current situation than his peers. He believes that what Hong Kong needs is not the slogan of "era revolution", but a major change from politics to economy. He and dozens of young students who are studying in Hong Kong or overseas, in the uncertain future of Hong Kong, in order to practice the relevant concepts, they initiated a joint sign-off and wrote to 43 Legislative Council constitutional members. They were also received by Chief Executive Lin Zheng Yue'e. Advice on solving the current plight of Hong Kong. K and C, who are in their early 20s like B, are members of this group of young people.

K, who has just graduated from university, majored in politics and philosophy in the UK. The reporter thought that he chose to study politics abroad in order to return to Hong Kong to go into politics. He quickly denied the idea and drew a smirk from B and C. "I like philosophy very much, and I want to be a scholar to study some bizarre logic issues, but I have never thought about working in politics." K originally wanted to go to the United States to continue studying for a master's degree in philosophy, but as the anti-revision storm intensified, he consciously Now is not the time to focus on the academic path, so I decided to temporarily change the track, intend to return to Hong Kong to engage in political and policy related research, and find opportunities to continue further studies in the future.

The reform youth hope that the establishment will help solve social problems. (Profile picture / Photo by Lu Yiming)

Why are Hong Kong youths looking for institutionalism when they are worried overseas?

Upon returning to Hong Kong, K was immediately shaken by the chaotic situation in Hong Kong, but he was unwilling to draw conclusions. Instead, he observed the trend until August and began to write letters to the constitutional parliamentarians to put forward suggestions to resolve the dilemma. "The main thing is to convince them. At that time, they didn't feel that there was much difference between" withdrawal "and" suspend ". I want to tell them that it is very different for many people."

K clarified that the only reason to contact the constituents of the establishment is not solely based on political positions, but that the government only listens to the voice of the establishment. Therefore, the most effective way is to convey the opinion to the government through the establishment. Many young people think that the institutionalists are "unsaved and hopeless," but he is still willing to "bo-bo."

In the end, fewer than four of the 43 members responded to him, and only two of them carefully read the proposal and interviewed them in depth.

Although I think that the political spectrum belongs to "light blue", the social effects detonated by the anti-revision legislation did not have a small impact on K. I also realized that Hong Kong society is facing great problems. It is no longer simply a "blue and yellow" distinction, so He worked hard to reach out to friends who might have "wanted to contact" before, just to understand their voices, and to turn these ideas into sounds that the institutionalists could hear.

(Photo / Photo by Liang Pengwei)

Is it blue or yellow, does it matter?

"Although each other knows that their political opinions are different, they (friends) know that I am sincere and therefore they are willing to communicate with me." K laughed and said that when he was studying in Hong Kong, he was regarded as a prestigious school. It is very "frontline" and mostly supports local politicians. It is indeed a "different number" among its peers.

Compared with K, who is considered to be light blue, B, who is also 22 years old, has just graduated from a famous British university. He describes himself as "light yellow", but why a young person who is pale yellow is seeking the help of constitutional MPs, B gives Extremely realistic but rational answer.

"In order to engage in any political reform or reorganization in Hong Kong, we must get two promises, one is Beijing, the other is the Hong Kong government or the establishment, and it is not impossible to oppose or even subvert things outside this system. , But the (success) probability is zero. To be honest, it is zero. "

B, playing with the coffee bar, said lightly, as if he had already recognized the difficulties of reality. He believes that despite the lofty and idealistic nature of what the people do now, the ability and political resources in the current political system cannot change this system. Since the system cannot be overthrown, we can only lobby and communicate with the enlightened in the system.

A large number of citizens participated in the "Don't Forget Your Beginning" parade. (Photo by Lu Yiming)

He emphasized that it is important for Hong Kong to clearly distinguish between social and economic issues. The distinction between blue and yellow is not only useless, it is irrelevant. What Hong Kong actually needs is a new voice that can obtain both Beijing and the Hong Kong government. We have made drastic reforms in response to major issues such as social and economic inequality, gay marriage, ethnic minorities, education, and unfair distribution of resources.

B sighed that indeed, many members of the pan-democratic group are working on these issues. He respects and agrees with the methods and policies of these members. Unfortunately, Hong Kong's current political situation is dualistic and the enemy and me are too serious. To pin these issues on the general public and expect them to effectively negotiate or communicate with the government on social and livelihood issues, it seems difficult to happen.

"Actually, I don't like to distinguish between blue and yellow." After K and B expounded their political tendencies separately, C was cold and gave a different opinion, so that K and B on the side quickly added the sentence "We I don't like to divide. "

(Profile picture / Photo by Ou Jiale)

C said that he is an "English speaker" who speaks English better than Chinese. His patrilineal family worked in the Singapore government and was born in Singapore. However, most of his growing up was in Hong Kong. He attended secondary schools in prestigious local schools. He did not study law in the UK until university. However, there is no sense of belonging to Singapore. C described his parents as feeling cold about politics, but he still felt the love of the country and people from his parents. He explained that his views on the current situation in Hong Kong were not affected by "patriotic feelings", but according to the development of the situation and how the government should Individual judgments made in response, etc.

"If you have to ask me yellow or blue, I believe that for my classmates, I must be blue, I can't say otherwise, but I am very skeptical of this distinction." In the end, although C himself was unwilling to define However, he also understands that there must be a "stain" label in the eyes of the outside world, and even B, who claims to be pale yellow, knows that he will certainly not be regarded as a similar person among his peers.

"Are we different in the same age group? I would say no before June. After June, people like us are less likely to buy." B believes that at least 30% to 40% of the people will be before the outbreak of the anti-revision storm. I believe there is no need to engage in revolution and overthrow the government on the streets. Until now, 30% to 40% have no idea whether there is 5% left.

(Profile picture / Photo by Ou Jiale)

Political tide sweeps over drowned centrists

From the opinion poll released by the Centre for Communication and Opinion of the Chinese University of Hong Kong in October, Hong Kong citizens between the ages of 15 and 29 who believe they are centrist or non-oriented have fallen from 41.9% in May to 41.9%. In October, 17%, as Shen Xuhui, an international relations scholar, said, "After this battle, there is no centrist in Hong Kong." But B hopes that Beijing and the Hong Kong government can recognize that many people in Hong Kong are as gentle and pragmatic as they are. These people do not believe in Hong Kong independence, let alone engage in Hong Kong independence, and do not support immediate self-determination. Many injustices, especially the current police use "excessive force" to get angry and "turn back."

He believes that there is a lot of evidence that Hong Kong has always had a group of centrists, but it has only become a "yellow silk" in the past six months. Therefore, what Hong Kong needs to reflect on is not to fix the problem on the tear between "Hong Kong independence" and "patriotism and love Hong Kong." How to enable non-Hong Kong independence and non-self-determination moderates to support both the central government and the government. "This is very important. The issue of true return of popular support."

B emphasized that he did not want to use the "third way" as a saying that "it is worse than being beaten by someone", but prefers to define himself as a "reformist". The last reformist as simple as that.

(Profile picture / Photo by Yu Junliang)

"Why is there no reformer in Hong Kong now? Hong Kong does not need a third way, no revolution, and no closed system. We need to reform under the existing system. The principle is broad and one country does not know how many systems are good. The reform is not just about politics, not just restarting political reforms, but about turning the phrase "Hong Kong is an international city" from a simple, superficial slogan description into a reality on socioeconomic issues. "

K also agreed with B's view, but he also noticed from the "relatives of Blue Silk" to the demonstrators that the difference between blue and yellow's perception of each other is still the key to the society's fierce conflict. one.

"Some uneducated uncles in my family think that the people on the street are all for the independence of Hong Kong. I first contacted them (demonstrators) to see if they were doing these things, and I believe they are not. Is anyone advocating Hong Kong independence? Yes, but only very few. ”As far as K ’s observation is concerned, not so much for Hong Kong independence, more young people are born of deep dissatisfaction and entanglement, and fear of society. Now fierce back bite and shock.

For example, during this period, he contacted nearly 80 classmates around him. Only one person optimistically viewed the incident of violence and thought that violence would eventually win the "co-governance" of the United States, bring a new political system in Hong Kong, and election models. People are negative and pessimistic that Hong Kong independence is not possible. "But because they know it's impossible, they're still doing it, so they're in a state of mind separation."

The above excerpt is from the 191th issue of "Hong Kong 01" Weekly (November 26, 2019) "How to" reform "society after the" era revolution "fire is lit".

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