Hong Kong Occupy
Protest- putting it mildly
A week in Hong Kong and what one
carried away were pitiful memories of those pro-democracy activist having a
last fling at their heavy handed counterparts from the mainland who are trying
to ensure that the region merges in to the mainland as is envisaged in the
transfer doctrine drafted during the handover of these territories by the
British to the Chinese. One feels a little sad for these unfettered fun loving
guys being reined in by the heavy duty machinery of the Chinese.
To the many visitors, Hong Kong
may be an island that is free from the strappings of political overdrive, a
place to be enjoyably ravaged till you drop dead with exhaustion, even
expecting a decent and maybe an overdrive of hospitality in its people and its
officials. It was therefore expected by me that the people would be courteous
to visitors especially of my kind who would be contributing to the national economy,
during a few days stay in the island. On the contrary what I experienced was a
place which smelled of selfish dignity, a kind of inhospitable attitude that
sent a stern message to the visitor reminding him he had made a wrong choice.
The taxi drivers are a mean lot who in their eagerness or seemingly eagerness
to be in a hurry, do not permit the basic decency of letting the fare get down
lock stock and barrel even while collecting the meter fare. He is so damned
preoccupied with driving away as quickly as possible that any delay beyond the
realms of his pre-planned itinerary is taken to be a waste of his productivity
and thereby the Gross Domestic Product of his country. His attitude of speeding
away or being in a terrible hurry seemed to me as if he was forced to ferry me
even while his kids were shouting their lungs out in the crèche. The attitude
seemed like a rebuke, a kind of penance for having let me and my kind in at the
first place. One would expect courtesy from a taxi driver as he is the first local
contact in any city and offers a first-hand glimpse of the city and its people.
The officials at the immigration
counters also lack the basic welcoming, what with a dead pan face you almost
wished you weren’t there or you are forced to dislike the city even before you
set foot on it. I can understand the immigration officials being tough guys
since they have to weed out the unscrupulous elements and thereby pre-empt
guises of unwanted guests who are not too bound by rules and have a tendency to
jump the law, but it is different to be tough from the inside but sweet and
welcoming from outside. You can be very pleasant not allowing to be exacted,
without it being shown in your mannerisms. After all their people too travel abroad,
I am sure and they wouldn’t want their own to suffer the contempt experienced
by visitors to their own country.
The young and middle aged
citizens are all focussed on their own business without seeming to be aware of
your existence. In any country, a tourist needs to be appreciated by the locals
with a nod of the head, or even a distant smile that can radiant a welcome sign,
at least a glance of recognition to a fellow human being. The people of Hong
Kong did not seem bothered and seemed not wanting to be disturbed out of their
sweet slumber of self-consciousness. They were all so engrossed in their own little
self-drawn circle of contentment that one could see in their faces a dislike to
peep outside their self-drawn boundaries and experience the warmth of human
interaction, a feeling of oneness with the human race, a reminder that we were
of the same species.
The counter guy sitting in a lone
currency exchange cubicle seemed to be keener on protecting himself from the
virus in the air than entertaining visitors at his counter. He almost seemed
apologetic of the fact that he was made to sit there amidst species that would
hurt his self-esteem and health. He wore a half face mask a reminder that he
was eager to keep away virus brought in by travellers from different countries
along with customers. He seemed to be living under the false notion that it was
the customer who needed his services while he and the organisation he
represents would survive even if no one called. I wondered aloud whether the
guys in half masks should not stay at home or places of no public interaction
rather than work in places teeming with public and having to interact within
the scope of public service.
Against this background wanting
to protect their own bastions even after 17 years of merging into the mainland,
not wanting to let go of their self-professed qualities of living, radiating a
different hue from the rest of mankind and even of their own brethren from the
mainland, reeked of pure arrogance born out of qualities than stem from the
proverbial frog living in the well. The Occupy protest exemplified the
character of the local Hong Kong resident who is not willing to let go of the
present even after the boundaries were redrawn almost two decades ago under the
watch of the international community. Refusing to believe that something good
can happen with change, letting in a newer viewpoint through the keyhole,
jumping out of the well to discover a whole new world can be adventurous too. I
did see a contrary viewpoint echoing in some people through their mannerism and
action, though it constitutes only a minority as is the case with all
arguments, and may be seen only as exception to the rules.
25th June 2014
