Hong Kong’s vibrancy and resilience was put to the test when the city entered a tumultuous period of political unrest in 2019. The protests, sparked by a now-withdrawn extradition law bill initiated by city leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor soon morphed into a wider anti-government movement. That summer of discontent seized global headlines for half a year, as radical protesters turned increasingly violent, storming the legislature, as well as paralysing airport operations and train stations, prompting a firm response from the disciplined forces. As the scourge of Covid-19 hit the city, social-distancing rules put a halt to demonstrations but by June 30, 2020, there was a powerful law in place. Beijing imposed a wide-ranging national security law that reordered the political landscape, with notable opposition figures either fleeing the city or soon arrested for violating the new rules. The law was followed by an overhaul of the electoral system to choose the city’s leader and legislators, ensuring only “patriots” could rule Hong Kong. In 2022, the city, which had coped with four waves of the coronavirus pandemic, was hit hard by the Omicron-fuelled outbreak that killed more than 9,000 residents and infected over 1.2 million others. The high death toll and congested hospitals on the brink of collapse made Hong Kong a worldwide point of attention. In May, Beijing-backed John Lee Ka-chiu was elected unopposed as the next leader of Hong Kong, poised to take the city past the halfway mark of China’s promise that residents’ basic way of life will remain unchanged for 50 years after the handover. Lee and his supporters said with order restored from the chaos of 2019, the city was ready for a reset, or as he put it, to start “a new chapter”.