The irrepressible spirit that makes Hong Kong a great city

Change and adaptation are historically a way of life in Hong Kong. This newspaper has just entered its 111th year chronicling the city's evolution into a financial centre with cherished personal freedoms intact, through war, occupation and liberation, industrialisation, financial crises, social unrest, epidemics and the uncertainty surrounding reunification with China. The prevailing community sentiment has been optimism, and its ethic hard work, which have ensured that most change has been for the better.

Over the past few years, however, our separate way of life under the "one country, two systems" concept has become increasingly fraught with divisive factors such as political infighting, a growing wealth gap, unaffordable housing and resentment of growing numbers of visitors from the mainland, to mention a few. Every day, it sometimes seems, we report strife, tension and negativity. That may be legitimate news, but it is far from a complete picture of Hong Kong.

It is human nature that we take positive things - the good news - for granted. But anyone who goes abroad for a while tends to miss things - taken for granted - that impress visitors to this crowded little place of seven million people who seem to co-exist seamlessly - such as the harbour that defines the city, the country parks that breathe for it, the transport system, safe streets and the warmth of the people.

It is the people who have made Hong Kong great by making these things possible. They include ordinary people who do extraordinary things every day without seeking recognition. And it is these people we acknowledge today by publishing, on page C2, pictures of award winners and leading lights of the city who attended a presentation dinner earlier this week.

To mark our 110th birthday this month, we launched the Spirit of Hong Kong Awards as part of the paper's Celebrating Hong Kong initiative featuring a series of debates redefining the city's role and challenges. Readers participated in the awards by contributing stories that touched them deeply. It was not hard to find 30 people doing extraordinary things, often in the face of uncommon adversity, that have made the city a better place. We were humbled. Sadly there could only be 10 winners, selected by a nine-member judging panel chaired by former chief secretary Sir David Akers-Jones, plus a People's Choice Award. But they all embody the positive, irrepressible community spirit of Hong Kong people.