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OpinionLetters

LettersThe Hong Kong identity was forged with care, it cannot be destroyed so easily

  • In its time, the colonial government of Hong Kong undertook public-interest projects to win over local people. That is what the current government must do to regain legitimacy

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Protesters in Hong Kong shine their mobile phone torches as they form a human chain at the top of Lion Rock Hill, during a rally on August 23. Photo: Winson Wong
Letters
Many of us in Hong Kong fondly remember the massive reforms of the ’70s and ’80s – from the Ten Year Housing Programme to the landmark establishment of the Independent Commission Against Corruption. These projects changed the face of the city and also shored up legitimacy for the colonial government.

For the first 120 years of its rule, the colonial administration did little in terms of social intervention. Why, then, did it suddenly feel the need to build legitimacy in the last three decades of its rule? The answer to this question, I believe, holds important lessons for Carrie Lam’s embattled administration.

After World War II, the British Empire no longer ruled the roost, and Hong Kong became a lone British outpost opposite a very demeaning communist China. To ensure its continued survival, the Hong Kong government realised that it had to rely on the support of the local population.

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However, Hong Kong had always been a city of sojourners: people came and went with the tide. The solution: to cultivate a sense of belonging and identity.

After the 1967 riots, the colonial administration began to foster a local identity in earnest. Throughout the ’70s and ’80s, a Hong Kong identity developed as the city gained economic and cultural clout. People started speaking of “Hong Kong values” and “Hong Kong culture”.
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Soon, the government faced, for the first time, crises of legitimacy involving broad cross-sections of society; the best example was the anti-corruption campaign which culminated in the sentencing of police chief superintendent Peter Godber. The colonial government responded to these crises with immediate action – it bent over backwards to extradite Godber back to Hong Kong, for example, and swiftly established the ICAC.
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