Hymn to Hong Kong

The last six months have been quite demanding, mainly due to a variety of voluntary jobs that seemed to expand to fill all my spare time until something had to give – and that was this blog.

However, two days ago, around 6.00 am and almost 12 hours out from London, my Cathay Pacific flight began to descend towards Hong Kong. Ahead, the darkness was being beaten back by the pale gold and red of the sun as it began to rise over the South China Sea. The engines throttled back and at 10,000 feet we could make out the shape of islands far below us and the vastness of the water ahead.

There’s always something almost magical about approaching Hong Kong. It’s a mixture of eager anticipation and happy memories, as well as the knowledge that only rest and pleasure stretch ahead. There will be new and exotic experiences, the warmth of the welcoming family and lots to explore in this place of incredible materialism and competition, where constant growth and novelty generate winners and losers in the competition to succeed and live well.   

   

Driving into the city from the airport in our Alphard MPV (a Toyota marque built for use in Japan but exported to a handful of countries including Hong Kong) was a slightly surreal experience. We swept smoothly along the highway in a cocoon of grey as the heavy mist hid much of the surrounding hills; it was only as we approached Kowloon on the elevated road that the sun began to burn away the greyness and to our right we saw glimpses of the blue sea with a sprinkling of small islands and ships far below. Then we swept into the concrete canyons of the outskirts, with offices, apartments blocks and shops all around us, past the barriers and dipped down into the Western Cross-harbour Tunnel to pop up shortly after in our Hong Kong Island destination.

Later that day, I made the usual pilgrimage to Victoria Harbour, just to get a feel for life in the city. As usual, the Harbour was busy, the green and white Star Ferries criss-crossing the water, an occasional ferry brightly decorated, the Aqua Luna sailing junk pottering about and a large cruise ship moored to Harbour City Ocean Terminal.  Across the water, the buildings of Hong Kong Island reared up from the water, strangely insubstantial, grey-blue and indistinct in the haze.

Today, I thought I’d take the pulse of the city, see what’s on its mind. After all, there is much to be concerned about globally; for example, America’s scary President-Elect; post-Brexit worries about the effect of elections in Austria and Italy; a pending impeachment in South Korea, and the imminent rise in US interest rates…

In Hong King, it is the gay lions.

In front of the HSBC Bank headquarters in Central are sculptures of two bronze lions, Stephen and Stitt. They were placed there in 1935 when the building opened and are a local landmark, representative of the excellent feng shui enjoyed by the building. They proudly bear the scars of shrapnel holes dating from the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong in 1941.

Recently, Stephen and Stitt have been joined by another pair of lions, also called Stephen and Stitt – but multi-coloured and ‘gay’ – that were placed at the opposite side of the bank as part of HSBC’s ‘Celebrate Pride, Celebrate Unity’ campaign. As the plaque puts it, ‘the design uses thick rainbow-coloured bars, creating a bold statement of LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex) pride.

The city is divided as a result. On one side there are many young people who support moves for anti-discrimination laws for LGBT people, 91% of a recent sample poll who were aged 18-24 spoke in favour, and a recent Pride support march attracted 7,000 people.

On the other side, several campaign groups have organised a petition against the gay lions with 4,500 people signed up so far. They argue that the iconic lions have been improperly hijacked to ‘trample family values’ in Hong Kong and project meanings that a lot of people disagree with.

While Hong Kong has laws prohibiting discrimination on the grounds of gender, disability, race and family values, there are none preventing discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation. That may be about to change, but, while the numbers of people in favour of changing the law are increasing, they still face considerable opposition, including the older, more traditional Hong Kongers, reminiscent of the same divisions in society that were exposed by the youth-led Umbrella Movement demonstrations of 2014.

As with the waters in the Victoria Harbour, there may be choppy times ahead.