Hong Kong has no future unless it can figure out a way to coexist with the mainland. That is why the radical rejectionism of so-called localists is a dead end.
It's especially tragic that many localists are young people, whose future might be considerably brightened if they were willing to explore new opportunities created by the economic rise of China, and learn mainland culture and language. Alas, disappointed by their poor local prospects, yet unable or unwilling to look for opportunities elsewhere, they are stuck in Hong Kong.
And raised by a strong sense of entitlement and a false feeling of superiority over mainlanders while being basically ignorant of the outside world, they idealise our city that in reality has no real moral, intellectual or spiritual substance.
In virtually all endeavours of human value, in the arts and sciences, in cultural tradition and history, in business daring and artistic creativity, it's to mainland China you need to turn, not tiny Hong Kong.
We do have our advantages: our freedoms are real, despite our lack of democracy; and our level of public corruption is considerably lower than that on the mainland.
These are worth preserving and fighting for. But both freedom and corruptibility are relative. And our fight to preserve our uniqueness and advantages does not, and should not, equate to anti-mainland sentiments and actions.