Reflections

As my graduation date looms closer, people increasingly feel the need ask questions regarding
my future plans. What are you doing afterwards?, what plans do you have?, do you think you
can earn enough money to support yourself with a lieral arts degree?, is a political science
degree really worth it? why didn!t you go to law?, are you scared of the future? are some of the
choice e"amples amongst the myriad of nettlesome inquiries. #hese questions, however, can easily
e answered with a succinct $ don!t know, a moderately long answer involving %.& e"ams and
desire for a successful career in poverty development and conflict management, or a deep sigh
heaved under the gripping e"istential crisis of an early twenty'something. (et when asked the
question of why are you not going ack to )ong *ong?, $ cannot offer an adequate answer that
could satisfy either party. #his prolem is not unique for students who have een studying aroad,
and in the Reframing )ong *ong conference $ realised the numer of us who face the conflict of
returning or staying aroad. #here are of course a good numer of students who have decided to go
ack for family, for +o prospects, and,or for the fact that they couldn!t imagine themselves eing
anywhere else ' ut for those who face the conflict of staying versus returning, it is not easy ground
to navigate.
#he easy way to answer the question of why are you not going ack home? is to mention the
availaility of +os that a political science student who is not too interested in consulting, anking in
any form, law, medicine, or usiness -hint. there is not a lot/. A known +oke among )ong *ong
students is that if one enters a university in )ong *ong, one studies in the following five fields. law,
medicine, usiness, engineering, or accounting. While this +oke is grossly generalising and
overlooks the many other field of studies that could ensure a satisfying career, its facetiousness is
not unfound. there seems to e a feeling among the general pulic that if one fails to e enrolled in
something pragmatic and practical, one!s following +o prospects remain to e limited and one!s
economic staility will e uilt on shaky grounds. )owever, this answer could also e countered
with the claim that in order to change the status quo in thinking aout +o prospects, the )ong *ong
laour force needs to e in+ected with the thinking of creative, right young students who hold out'
of'the'o" mindsets. #he )onorary 0harles 1ok, in his keynote address during the conference,
made a call for people to e more involved in technological startups in )ong *ong to revitalise the
attraction of )ong *ong as a innovative workplace for aspiring entrepreneurs from )ong *ong.
#here are also an inherent worry if fresh graduates find )ong *ong to e a difficult place to find
work ' if )ong *ong suffers through a localised rain drain due to the monotonicity of +o offers,
the monotonicity will continue on its cyclical tra+ectory.
$ can also tell my persistent questioners that the housing market also discourages overseas
graduates to return, with )ong *ong ranking first as the place with most unaffordale housing in
the world for four years in a row. A personal anecdote. my cousin got married in 1arch 2345, ut
was unale to find an affordale place to rent along with his wife until eight months later. #heir
comined household income is a little under the median annual income of 6273,333, ut they had to
stay in their separate family homes eight months after their marriage. 8ut as the personal anecdote
suggests, the housing prolem for fresh graduates could e easily mediated y living with parents as
we have done efore leaving for university, even if it means giving up a certain level of
independency and freedom that we have y having lived aroad.
4

$n order to give this question its proper due answer, then, it is necessary to point to the growing
an"iety and fear towards the political future that lurks in the current )ong *ong'mainland 0hina
dialectic. $t is fair to say that when referring to the 9:ne 0ountry, #wo ;ystems! concept that is so
firmly held y oth parties, the mainlanders emphasise 9one country!, while the )ong *ong people
1 #his is not to say, however, that $ am going to give up the chance of paying 6<53%;=,month for a >33 sq ft. flat in
)yde ?ark, 0hicago, with water, heat, gas and internet included. #he soundproofing may e prolematic at times ut $
have my own room, athroom with a shower and tu, a living room, a fairly spacious kitchen with a connecting pantry,
and a ack porch. $ must admit $ am unsure what 6<53%;=,month in )ong *ong can give me in terms of living
conditions, ut definitely not a place where $ could put all my ooks along with my flatmate!s @@ #A and gaming
consoles. And a mini'ar.
stress 9two systems!. #he different point of focus reflects a contradiction of viewpoints when it
comes to )ong *ong!s identification with the mainland. 8ei+ing seeks to maintain a unification
where its governance over )ong *ong is seen as paramountB there nationalistic desire of the 00? to
estalish a we'ness seen in the political pro+ect of )ong *ong, 1acau, #iet, and to an e"tent,
#aiwan, and in constructing a sense of unified identity there must e political control. $t must e
rememered that the 00? seeks to maintain )ong *ong!s economic freedom due to its desire to
keep )ong *ong as the economically competitive city as it was under colonial rule. $n such a case
the 9:ne 0ountry, #wo ;ystems! policy has een successful. )ong *ong remains to e one of the
freest economies of the world, and is governed with little interventionist policies -from either the
)*;AR government or the 00?/. $t has also een discussed in the forum that )ong *ong remains
to e one of 0hina!s largest providers of foreign direct investment, providing <4C of 0hina!s D=$
from 4>>2 ' 233E.

#his is argualy the main reason that 8ei+ing has largely left )ong *ong!s
economic policies alone as the policies significantly enefit the ?R0!s economy.
#he )ong *ong people, however, seeks to maintain a stance in which semi'autonomous
governance remains true and that her core values remain intact. $t is worthy to note that one of the
values displayed as )ong *ong randing y the )ong *ong government is free. #here is a
diverging system and understanding of values of the ?R0 and the )ong *ong people, leading to a
trade'off etween loyalty to the ?R0 -encapsulated in the one country idea/ and freedom for the
)ong *ong people -encapsulated in the two systems idea/. ;uch a trade'off has resulted in a
confusing definition of freedom etween the mainland and )ong *ong, as e"emplified y the )ong
*ong people!s demand for democratic voting and the mainland!s reluctance to allow a form of
political scene that could foster a democratic environment. As discussed in the forum, Article FE of
the 8asic Gaw mandates that #he Gegislative 0ouncil of the )*;AR shall e constituted y
election...the ultimate aim is the election of all the memers of the Gegislative 0ouncil y universal
suffrage. Dor )ong *ong, democracy signifies a potential for an actual era of self'governance
under the policy of :ne 0ountry, #wo ;ystems.
$ sumit this diverging set of values and this difference in interpretations in 9:ne 0ountry, #wo
;ystems! have manifested itself in the current )ong *ong political scene, leading to the flourish of
protest culture and the insidious attitude towards the mainlanders. #he conflict of such values is one
that delineates the struggle for a )ong *ong $dentity, a theme that ran undercurrent in the entire
conference, and indeed in the discussion of how and why there seems to e a need to reframe
)ong *ong. And it is this conflict that makes it difficult for one to answer the question why are
you not going ack home? ' it is admittedly a fear of the future for )ong *ong, as the future
-under the current political tra+ectory/ is one that is as neulous as that of a graduating lieral'arts
ma+or who has no interest in committing to careers that would ring in a steady income. 8eyond
that fear, however, is that the different set of values etween the mainland and )ong *ong gives
way to the constant fluctuations in understanding where )ong *ong stands as an agent independent
of the ?R0. $n e"tension, where we, as her citiHens, stand in relationship with the mainland and the
world is also in constant question ' if pinning down an identity for citiHens in )ong *ong is
difficult, then pinning an identity for ourselves in reflection of our own city, our country, and our
relationship with the world is even more so. $n the city!s growing political awareness, however,
perhaps there is a reason eyond the neulousness of the future, of our identity'in'flu", and of our
relationships with the world ' to continue fighting for the pride of )ong *ong, and estalishing our
voices as ones that matter.