Fallout from umbrella movement's democracy protests shows Hong Kong needs a new heart

Whether one likes it or not, the umbrella movement has given Hong Kong a new spirit. Unlike the old spirit, whose raison d'être is economic development founded on political and social stability, this new spirit is based on non-financial values.

Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying is correct in describing Occupy as a social movement on an unprecedented scale. No one in Hong Kong has been untouched by it, be they taxi or bus drivers, shopkeepers, students, politicians, or my vegetable vendor. Each espouses a personal theory on the whys and wherefores of the movement, whichever colour they side with.

In short, the umbrella movement has awakened in the city an interest for something deeper than merely eking out a living, and using the financial rewards to engage in shopping, entertainment and social gossip - that is, if one still has energy left after coping with the education concerns of one's children.

This new spirit is daring, iconoclastic and out of the box. Possibilities abound. Who, before the movement, would have dreamt of sleeping under the stars in the middle of Harcourt Road? Or sung to the strains of Beyond in unison with tens of thousands in a sea of waving iPhone torch lights? Or imagined they would be living in a village-like community in a spirit of brotherly fellowship? Or, see students sit across the table in a televised debate with government officials?

From a positive viewpoint, this new spirit is filled with ideals and new ambition. It is free from the shackles of orthodox norms, innovative and bursting with energy. This spirit sparks a yearning in the souls of men for something deeper, and bigger than themselves. It moves people from beyond the humdrum of their daily existence and offers imagination and adventure.

Yet from a negative viewpoint, this new spirit, if unbridled, will break through all legitimate boundaries and become an undisciplined destructive force.