editorial
Written by: Hong Kong 01
2021-07-11 21:00
Last update date: 2021-07-11 21:00
In the scorching summer, in front of a popular idol’s birthday advertising board in Tsim Sha Tsui, people are waiting to take pictures.
Those in school uniforms, youth, and those with children.
They made heart-shaped gestures and smiled.
In the deep night, the departure hall of the airport was full of parting feelings, and people were waiting to board the plane to bid farewell to Hong Kong.
Single, couple, family.
They hugged and cried.
This situation in Hong Kong in July looks like parallel time and space at first glance.
But the two waiting of two people and dragons can be said to be the same pursuit-the pursuit of a happy life, the pursuit of happiness in life.
Immigration is to break free from all kinds of pressure and shackles, and live a more comfortable life in an environment that they think is comfortable.
Those who check in are either non-immigrants or non-immigrants. In short, in this city, they need to smile for a while.
What do Hong Kong people pursue in life when they go or stay
Hong Kong people are no strangers to immigration.
From the 1980s during the Sino-British negotiations to the early 1990s after the June 4th Incident, there were waves of immigration after another.
For Hong Kong, immigration is like the so-called motif in creation. It is a recurring imagery. It is not just the going or staying of Hong Kong people, but also what kind of life Hong Kong people are basically pursuing.
It is difficult to leave, nor is it easy to stay.
What you want to do in this city, what you can do, and even what you want to change, are unavoidable questions.
The advertising boards of popular idols are very lively.
(Photo by Ye Zhiming)
One of the reasons why the popular boy group Mirror has become so popular is that when young people are regarded as a waste of youth and few people listen to Cantonese songs, they still work hard and promise to "welcome another new century with great strength." ".
In fact, in every difficult time, someone always chooses to accept the challenge and rise to the challenge.
In the early 1990s, while the Kai Tak Airport sent away batch after batch of Hong Kong people, there were also four young people in their 20s and 30s who sang vigorously in the music scene and were dubbed the "Four Heavenly Kings."
The process of the twelve young people chasing their dreams makes people feel excited, because life should have dreams, whether they want to be a singer, an actor, an athlete, or an artist.
But everyone understands that talking about these things in Hong Kong is extravagant, and it makes chasing dreams extraordinarily rare.
Even starting a family, having children, and watching children grow up, these basic life plans are extremely difficult for many Hong Kong people, and they are the source of life pressure.
Therefore, as early as last year, before the "Hong Kong National Security Law" and the anti-amendment turmoil the year before, immigration had always been an option for some Hong Kong people, especially middle-class parents.
Worry about worrying about food, clothing, housing and transportation
The problem is that our government has never realized or faced up to the actual life of Hong Kong people.
The results of another promotion to secondary school were announced last week. There are grassroots students living in sub-districts who were assigned their first choice to England and China. The reason for media reports is that they do not rely on tutoring. This in itself reflects the fact that many students in Hong Kong are in There is already a cram school in elementary school, which is not only a pressure for students, but also a financial burden for parents.
With regard to education, officials now emphasize the need for national security awareness and national education. These are all right. But why is the education environment in Hong Kong always a driving force for citizens to want to emigrate?
Why do many dignitaries choose international schools for their children or send them overseas for further studies?
Whether our education can help the next generation equip themselves, give full play to their strengths, and provide an opportunity for upward mobility is a question that the government should answer long ago.
The existence of the government is meant to improve the lives of the people.
To do this, officials must first understand what people's lives are like.
Also in this July, the registration and use of electronic consumer vouchers sparked a round of heated discussions. Which payment tool should be used for registration?
What kind of discounts are more?
How to spend five thousand yuan better?
The amount of 5,000 yuan is said to be a lot less, but it is not too much. The enthusiastic response reflects that for many citizens, consumer vouchers can help make up for the family and reduce the burden on their lives.
After all, under the influence of multiple factors such as the shrinking MTR concessions, the increase in bus fares, the rise in the consumer price index, and the imminent collapse of property prices, the people's expenditure on food, clothing, housing and transportation has only become more and more expensive, and income cannot keep up with the increase in expenditure.
Ideally, it is to enjoy life, but in reality, it can only be "surrounded by the world."
The heaviest burden of Hong Kong people is housing.
(Photo by Luo Junhao)
What Hong Kong people need most is to live.
Hong Kong's property prices are among the best in the world, and the sub-divided housing environment is notorious.
The grassroots have been living in subdivided housing for so many years. The government finally submitted the draft on subdivided housing rental control to the Legislative Council for the first reading this Wednesday (July 14).
However, during the period of empty windows, the grassroots worry that the landlord cannot wait to increase the rent, and the draft legislation will still maintain the 15% renewal ceiling. For tenants with financial constraints, such rent control can only be said to be better than nothing.
In terms of "surrounding the world", although the motion to increase statutory holidays was passed in the third reading of the Legislative Council last Wednesday (July 7), it will only add one day of labor holidays every two years starting from 2022, completing the standardization of labor leave and banking leave. The vacation will not be completed until nine years later, that is, in 2030.
Ironically, afterwards, Chief Executive Carrie Lam also thanked congressmen for "seeking common ground while reserving differences" on social media, and praised the labor sector and the business community for "mutual understanding and mutual accommodation."
It is important to know that the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Law Chi-kwong, has stated clearly that once Members pass amendments to speed up the pace, the government will postpone processing the entire bill, which means that society can only "hard-feed" the plan.
Such a tilted government does not understand the actual life of the citizens. How can we expect the Chief Executive to complete the cancellation of the MPF hedging bill as soon as possible and fulfill his campaign promises?
Let politics return to the standard and work hard for a better life
Unfortunately, this is our Hong Kong.
Most Hong Kong people have no way to live a happy life, no comfortable space to live in, and no one can talk about their dreams in life. At the same time, no politician is facing these real problems.
In the past many years, the democrats have spent a lot of energy talking about democracy and freedom, participating in the occupation movement, street protests, and parliamentary rabbi. The establishment is also trapped in the whirlpool of ideological disputes, only trying to fight for the name in the parliament. Get a part-time job in the government accountability team.
The SAR government itself is even more mediocre. In the past, it was bureaucratic and easy to pass. In the past year, under the strict supervision of the central government, although it has become active on the political level, its policies to truly develop the economy and improve people's livelihood are still lacklustre.
To put it bluntly, because in the eyes of the chief executive and senior officials, politics is still political, not life.
The essence of the problem is the same, but it is presented in different forms among democrats, establishments, and government officials.
Politics is Carrie Lam's re-election and Liang Zhenying's comeback?
(Photo by Huang Yongjun)
What exactly is politics?
Is it just a power competition among politicians?
How did Johnson rise to power, how Trump was pulled down, the re-election of Carrie Lam, the comeback of Liang Zhenying, the monopoly of the 35+ democrats and the establishment of the establishment?
Or is politics just an ideal and institutional pursuit?
How many candidates are there in the Chief Executive election? Is the number of sectors and numbers of the nomination committee large or small? Is the separation of powers or the Westminster system better?
When it comes to Hong Kong’s chief executive, many people say that democratic elections are required, but if they are asked who should be the chief executive, they will be speechless for a while. It seems that not many people have seriously thought about what kind of chief executive Hong Kong needs, or more fundamentally. , What kind of Hong Kong is Hong Kong to become, and what kind of political platform and policies are needed to achieve it.
Under such circumstances, politics has become purely procedural.
But in Aristotle's words, politics is to seek the common good of society, and it must be related to a common good life.
Some people say that in the post-national security law era, Hong Kong wants to return to the depoliticization of the colonial era, and we can no longer talk about politics.
But if depoliticization refers to a sense of indifference to politics, alienation from society, and the mentality of "How can Dili be to me", this is impossible-Hong Kong is by no means a minority of people who care about politics, it is also Not appropriate.
Hong Kong does not need to be depoliticized, but it does need to be repoliticized.
This re-politicization is to allow politics to return to its standard. Politics does not exist independently for the sake of politics itself, but serves the society, that is, to create a better life for the people.
Whether Hong Kong people can buy homes is politics, whether young people can pursue their dreams is politics, and whether students can study happily is also politics.
In addition to a little bit of happiness in life, the star chasers who are queuing up to check in can live a happy life, feel at ease and proud to be a home without having to hesitate whether to emigrate or not. This is the biggest politics in Hong Kong now.
MIRROR01 Weekly Report 01 Weekly Report Editorial 01 Viewpoint Lu Hanting Anson Lo One Country, Two Systems Hong Kong Version National Security Law