nan | 楠木

A few observations I made during my trip to HK.

HK has a democratic system installed, so you can feel the presence of day-to-day politics. On the road I often saw posters of local politicians advocating very down-to-earth policies, such as policies that address a very specific and simple issue.

Another implication of this democracy is that people are free to express their opinions. Two cases jump to mind: one, in the campus of CUHK, there was a “statue” for the students to let out their dissent, and they would put the picture of whomever they had complaints about on the “statue”, and afterwards they would probably hit or swear or do whatever they liked. On the day I was at the campus, the face on the statue happened to be the current governor of HK.

The 2nd case is probably more controversial. On the streets of Mong Kok, I happened to come across a demonstration by the infamous Epoch Times. Anybody familiar with anti-mainland movements should know them. They are basically a group of people against the communist government. The fact that this demonstration was allowed is proof that in HK the political environment is indeed very free and open. Now some people will probably argue that this has its faults, since in the case of Epoch Times, you could argue that they are just stirring up unrest. But I’ve always believed that blocking or restricting freedom of speech does not achieve anything, even if freedom of speech means tolerating some strongly conflicting opinions and claims.

HK people are more civilized, in that drivers drive fast but always shows courtesy to pedestrians. Speaking of which, the public transportation is friendly and easy to use.

Night-life is not as vibrant as I had thought, but maybe that’s because I’m not going to the right places. Anyway I’m not a bar or club type of person.

HK may be more traditional than the mainland in some respects. The Chong Yang Festival (9.9 of the lunar calendar) is celebrated as a public holiday.

A lot of expensive cars on the roads, probably because it’s so expensive to own a private car in HK. Therefore only the well-off end up buying, and they buy good cars. I saw lots and lots of BMW/Benz/Audi convertibles, and even a Lamborghini.