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Even Lion Rock became politicised after the Occupy protests. Photo: Nero Chan
Opinion
Public Eye
by Michael Chugani
Public Eye
by Michael Chugani

Hong Kong’s Lion Rock spirit dies for good in a society at war with itself

Hong Kong once had what was called the Lion Rock spirit. Many now lament its loss. Some believe that with effort it can be resurrected. What fools. You cannot resurrect what is forever dead. We as a society killed it when we found no more use for it. We depended on it and reaped from it in our hour of need, giving it life. When our dependence waned and values changed, we left it to die.

The Lion Rock spirit sprang from the soul of a community struggling to survive. Families lived in squatter huts and squalid public housing. Many couldn’t afford daily necessities. Their shared hardships knitted them into one large family. The theme song from the 1970s TV series that epitomised the Lion Rock spirit had these lyrics:

“Of one mind in pursuit of our dream. All discord set aside, with one heart on the same bright quest. Hand in hand to the ends of the earth. Side by side we overcome ills.”

Say that now to your neighbour or family member. Most will either laugh or mock you. The Lion Rock spirit embodied family members young and old fighting together through life.

Today, we have animosity between generations and within families. Fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, and husbands and wives hit the Facebook unfriend button if they politically disagree with each other.

The lyrics celebrated unity among Hongkongers rich or poor and regardless of ethnic origin. Today, politicians play the race card ahead of the Legislative Council elections in September. Ordinary Hongkongers loathe the tycoon class for hoarding instead of sharing society’s wealth.

We have a leader who talks of unity but is despised by many as divisive. Politicians and the media make a mission of fanning hostility within the community. Half of the community won’t face the reality of our new sovereign, labelling it a repressive regime intent on eroding our freedoms. The new sovereign has shown little enthusiasm in proving otherwise, pandering instead to the other half of the community.

This societal struggle between good and evil, depending on which side you are on, has spawned so-called localism with an outer coating of protecting Hong Kong values but an inner yearning for independence.

Localism’s force is such that a film lacking in artistic merit is named best picture solely for portraying a future Hong Kong under the thumb of a repressive sovereign.

Lion Rock still stands but the spirit is gone for good. How can there be community spirit when a community is at war with itself?

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