Another July 1, another challenge

In most parts of the world, the establishment of a new nation or territory normally calls for celebration of the achievement of self-determination by a distinct community. National days are typically marked by joyous commemoration, with fireworks, fairs, carnivals and parades across a nation, big or small.

The celebration of Hong Kong's establishment as a special administrative region of China, however, is more challenging. Historically a part of China, self-determination has never been constitutionally or practically viable. Despite being snatched from China more than 150 years ago, this predominantly Chinese city has somehow got used to Western ways.

The change of allegiance and identity in 1997 was met with considerable jitters. While the enactment of the Basic Law, setting out detailed constitutional guarantees of "one country, two systems", went a long way towards calming fears, it has never been as effortless to celebrate the SAR's establishment on July 1 as though the city lifted itself up after a heroic struggle.

After reunification, the people of Hong Kong generally breathed a deep sigh of relief as the Chinese government was seen to have adhered scrupulously to "one country, two systems". The outbreak of avian flu and the Asian financial crisis in 1997-98 dealt heavy blows to Hong Kong's economic well-being and confidence, from which the city took a while to recover.

Then came the fateful year of 2003, when the combination of the government's unsuccessful campaign to enact a controversial national security bill, coupled with the unprecedented outbreak of the severe acute respiratory syndrome and the concomitant sharp fall of home values and economic devastation, gave rise to a historic mass protest on July 1.

Rightly or wrongly, since that mass protest of an estimated half a million citizens 10 years ago, Hong Kong has become, as political scientists put it, a "post-mobilisation" society.