What colonial symbols might they target after Hong Kong’s royal postboxes?
From statues to school and street names, a private club, courtroom attire and the change we carry in our pocket, there are myriad physical reminders of Hong Kong's colonial history. Are they also 'inappropriate', as royal crests on postboxes have been deemed?
The city’s decolonisation process has not been completed, former Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office deputy director Chen Zuoer lamented last month, in remarks believed to have been prompted by the appearance of colonial-era flags at demonstrations.
In an announcement soon afterwards whose timing may or may not have been a coincidence, Hongkong Post announced it would mask the British royal insignia on its remaining 59 colonial-era post boxes, because they were “inappropriate” and could “confuse the public”.
Relics and symbols from pre-handover Hong Kong are everywhere in the city, which begs the questions: what might be the next targets of colonial cleansing? And what should those who care about preserving such things be keeping an eye on?
Still standing
Obvious candidates for purging are the statue of Queen Victoria, in her own park in Causeway Bay and that of Sir Thomas Jackson in Central’s Statue Square. These figures as just as inappropriate and confusing as post box insignia, after all – especially given most Hongkongers have probably never heard of Jackson. The statue of the former chief manager of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation was erected in 1906 to honour him for making the bank Asia’s leading financial institution.