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Yupina Ng

When barrister Ronny Tong Ka-wah received a scholarship from the Rotary Club to study law at Oxford University, he was required to talk to as many locals as he could to promote the non-profit organisation’s mission.
To his surprise, as a young man from what was then a British colony, some people wondered where exactly he came from and why he was studying British law instead of Chinese.
“I was in this small village where people were asking me if Hong Kong was in Japan,” the 66-year-old recalled.
Is the rise of localism a threat to Hong Kong’s cosmopolitan values?
Tong, a former Civic Party lawmaker and founder of the Path to Democracy think tank, said his experience made him realise that the identity of people and the culture of a certain place might not necessarily be related to politics.
Localism has become a growing political force in Hong Kong in recent years, typified by demands by young radicals for self-determination in the city, which intensified in the wake of the Occupy pro-democracy protests in 2014.
Tong felt that although Hongkongers may be facing an identity crisis, they should be proud of the city’s diversity – which made him feel like a localist.
“We are now part of China, but we have our own characteristics that we should be proud of. We shouldn’t be ashamed of being a colony once, or think we are second-class Chinese, or have a distance from China,” Tong said.
He is one of the 18 authors of We Are The Real Hongkongers, published by Chinese-language media group Ming Pao. The authors explain what localism means to them through their personal experiences in Hong Kong.
The organiser, Yazhou Zhoukan, a Chinese-language international affairs magazine, insisted in its press release that the book was not a commentary on the city’s politics, although some large-scale protests, such as the Mong Kok riot, were cited in the book.
The street violence, in which protesters threw bricks at police, broke out in 2016 after a crackdown on illegal street food sellers ahead of the Lunar New Year.
It’s a place where you can dream at night and make it come true the next morning
Allan Zeman, entrepreneur
Another author Allan Zeman, known as “the father of Lan Kwai Fong”, said he was “a 200 per cent native Hongkonger”, although he was not fluent in Cantonese. The 67-year-old had given up his Canadian passport for a Hong Kong one.
“I think localism is really a love for the place that you are living in and can really feel the energy,” Zeman said.
When he first came to Hong Kong at 19 he was working his own fashion business and made his first US$1 million. “I came to Hong Kong because it’s a place where you can dream at night and make it come true the next morning,” he said.
Zeman, who was born to a Jewish family in Germany and raised in Montreal, Canada, said he grew up with separatism.
“The English were the minority, while the French were the majority. But the English were the ones who had more money than the French. They wanted independence. But after all that, Canada still stayed together. And Hong Kong is no different. Independence is a very small faction.”
A 2016 survey showed one in three Form Five secondary school pupils felt a “national identity crisis” as they did not consider themselves Chinese citizens.
Beyond the by-election: Hong Kong young people fuel rise of localism at city’s universities
But the poll of 2,000 students by think tank Hong Kong Policy Research Institute also found that students who identified themselves as Hongkongers did not deny their identities as Chinese citizens – a trend researchers called a “national identity crisis”.
Author Ho Hon-kuen said localism did not necessarily mean the independence of Hong Kong from China.
Ho, chairman of Education Convergence, moved to Hong Kong from Macau with his family when he was young. His father ran a dai pai dong, or street food stall, in Yuen Long to make a living and pay his son’s school fees.
Ho later graduated in history from National Taiwan University, where he said his concept of localism changed.
“Everywhere in Taiwan was related to Chinese at that time. My concept of localism, which I had developed in a colonial environment, has since extended to the Chinese community,” said Ho, who is now the principal of Elegantia College in Sheung Shui.
“I always tell my students: you need to have a Hong Kong heart, a Chinese mind and a global view.”


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‘We’re proud to be Hong Kong localists – just don’t call us independents’

Ronny Tong (left), Allan Zeman and Qiu Liben, chief editor of Yazhou Zhoukan, at the book launch. Photo: Felix Wong

(left to right): Member of Path of Democracy, Allan Zeman and Ronny Tong Ka-wah attends the launching and discussion forum of the book "We are True Localist" at HKCEC in Wan Chai. 04MAY17 SCMP / Felix Wong

Is the rise of localism a threat to Hong Kong's cosmopolitan values?

A protest against the decision to give temporary residence in Hong Kong to mainland boy Siu Yau-wai. Photo: EPA

News

Hong Kong

Education

Prominent Hongkongers such as Ronny Tong and Allan Zeman say people can embrace their local identity without resorting to politics


Prominent Hongkongers such as Ronny Tong and Allan Zeman say people can embrace their local identity without resorting to politics.


Hong Kong localism and independence

‘We’re proud to be Hong Kong localists – just don’t call us independents’

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Prominent Hongkongers such as Ronny Tong and Allan Zeman say people can embrace their local identity without resorting to politics

Prominent Hongkongers such as Ronny Tong and Allan Zeman say people can embrace their local identity without resorting to politics