The Trilogy of Hong Kong<\/p>\n
June 18, 15<\/p>\n
I was raised in the inner city of South L.A. (formally South Central Los Angeles) and at a high school that did not really get into world events. I graduated in 1981 and I can\u2019t believe that Hong Kong was under British sovereignty until 1997. It is so sad to know that because you grow up in a certain place that you may not even be privy to world events or how countries and cities exist. Not to go into that but it was really an eye opener to understand the real dilemma that Hong Kong was in after 1997. It reminded me of our trip to South Africa. They were liberated from Apartied but they had to define their identity by themselves and with no money to do it. I am not saying that the people in Hong Kong did not have any money but they did have an infrastructure and the displaced people in South Africa don\u2019t. And it seems to me that they loved the British rule over them because they at least let them have freedom. They were able to express themselves in art and music. That\u2019s why I named this blog the Trilogy of Hong Kong. It seems to me that their culture and their identity is not really clear. They seem to not really relate to China and their way of thinking and they have been liberated from British rule but what is their identity? It seems that their identity lies within China, the Brits and the new Hong Kong.<\/p>\n
Hong Kong\u2019s new freedom was really their entrance to prison. They had restrictions on expression and ideas that did not match the ideology of China and what China defined as their true roots. It baffled me that this was possible. I never looked at China or Hong Kong in that vein. The year 2003 witnessed widespread concern over a proposed anit-subversion law associated with Article 23 of the basic law that would erode freedom of speech and in creased government.[1]<\/a> They were facing a measure that could have wiped them out in the early ages of their newfound freedom. But what intrigues me the most is that rule and opposition they stood up against actually was a defining moment in their newfound freedom. Coming from South Central L. A. and learning about Hong Kong is really a great thing for me. I have not even thought about it. I loved learning about a culture and a people I only saw and never really known about. Going there is going to be great because I get an opportunity to meet people and mingle with a culture that I really don\u2019t even know about! But their struggles and protests resonate with me from being in Los Angeles. The Rodney King beating was something that let the world know what L.A. PD was doing. I can relate to their protest of coming out of British rule into Chinas way of rule. The reading was so profound. I never would have thought the people in Hong Kong was that diverse and so different than China. Can\u2019t wait to go there and see it and to eat their food! Lol.<\/p>\n