Then & NowMisguided national anthem law in Hong Kong will only inflame anti-China sentiment
China thinks it can browbeat Hong Kong’s rebellious youth into embracing their sovereignty, but the more it punishes them the more they will flip the finger straight back. What is completely missing is some sensible discussion
From Hong Kong’s first day as a colonial possession in January 1841, the British national anthem was played at public events. It was the last thing performed by bands at dances, marked the end of an evening radio broadcast and heralded a stampede for the exits in Hong Kong’s cinemas.
Few, if any, would stand respectfully until the music had finished, and such “disrespect” occasionally prompted angry letters-page outbursts from “Fed Up of Kowloon Tong”, “Disgusted of Stanley” and the likes. No one paid them any attention.
When the term “colony” became unfashionable, in the early 1970s, obvious reminders of Hong Kong’s status were downplayed: Hong Kong was redesignated a “territory” in official documents, the colonial secretary became the chief secretary, Happy Valley’s Colonial Cemetery was renamed Hong Kong Cemetery, and the national anthem was quietly discontinued in cinemas.