'Localists' bring shame to the SAR
Updated: 2016-05-11 08:37
By Jon Lowe(HK Edition)
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Jon Lowe writes that after a series of setbacks, Hong Kong must realize its well-being lies in unity and a shared desire to prosper and everyone of us has to work together
In a recently leaked conversation with a travel industry leader, the Chief Executive purportedly agreed to ask the central government to reinstate the multiple-entry permit scheme for visitors from Shenzhen and to open up new mainland cities to the Individual Visit Scheme - but only if Hong Kong people could refrain from insulting mainland visitors as happened before the above schemes were put on ice. The CE later clarified that he has no plan to reinstate multiple-entry permits.
This raises an interesting question: Can Hong Kong people work together to right recent wrongs?
Pride goes before a fall, as the saying goes. Hong Kong, especially the tourism and retail sectors, now understands that unfriendliness toward mainland visitors - not only by "localists" but, for example, by anyone who smugly played that awful song about "locusts" - has cost the SAR big and requires urgent redress. People are having a change of heart - even if it is a bit like the improved attitude observed in estate agents when a property slump beckons!
Some people will take issue with the idea that Hong Kong screwed up recently. They will claim it was only a few people who abused mainland tourists, while the majority welcomed them. But unless you want to simply accept that Hong Kong is a divided society where collective responsibility is dead, then the damaging actions of "localists" are everyone's liability - for together we stand, divided we fall.
I hated the anti-mainland protests from the moment I saw a vile news photo some years ago of a protester squatting and pretending to relieve himself in a presumed mockery of the behavior of mainland tourists (though it seemed to me more like a case of gratuitous muckraking). These people were clearly mental. I felt mostly embarrassment, thinking about the shame to Hong Kong of mainland people having to witness such shocking displays of hostility. I also fleetingly wondered how such protesters would view a foreign resident like me. Bizarrely, it transpires that as a Briton I'd probably be spared such vitriol (well, until now) because these same "localists" have come to revere British rule and spare no opportunity to brandish the old colonial flag. How this equates to "localism" I have no idea. As I said, mental!
I hope the message that we promise to be a friendlier Hong Kong gets out to potential visitors from the mainland. I also hope that mainland people take a bit of pleasure - I won't say schadenfreude - in such contrition. No country in the world - not Britain, France, the US, India, Thailand or any other tourist mecca - would dream of turning their noses up at a steady stream of visitors from the world's most populous economy, with the largest demographic of new middle class and nouveau riche hungry for fresh experiences. Only Hong Kong thought this would be a good idea - briefly. But we must learn from our mistakes and move on.
Whether the central government will be willing to manipulate tourist arrivals in Hong Kong's favor has yet to be seen. But despite the competing strains of currency movements making other places in the region more attractive, it'd be pretty pessimistic to believe that mainland visitors could not be persuaded to come back to Hong Kong in greater numbers - especially with an undertaking by a chastened population to greet them with the civility for which the SAR is usually known.
And while it is true that some of the protests in the past have been ugly and even violent, one must keep things in perspective. A friend who recently visited a city in South America, came back with horror stories of being hotel-bound for fear of robbery and violence - not least from the armed patrol units camped on every corner known to target large tour groups for extortion, while anyone who complains is likely to find themselves being fed to the sharks! Clearly, it is a place where the system is broken and no one knows what to do.
In contrast, Hong Kong is a real paradise. I've been impressed with the way it has sought to deal quickly with its own problems affecting tourism such as errant tour companies and retail scams. And there are encouraging signs the damage done to Hong Kong's image is not irreparable. After months of declining tourism there was a 10-percent increase in mainland visitors during the May Day "Golden Week" compared with the same period last year. Of course the "localism" problem, which is really just city tribalism reminiscent of the football hooligans of Europe, still exists - but it may be imploding. The planned anti-parallel trader protest on May Day had to be canceled when only 30 protesters turned up and were given a hostile reception by residents - while the whole pointless exercise was plagued by infighting (no surprises there).
It is to be hoped that in collectively proclaiming a renewed determination to show courtesy to mainland visitors, we also seek to foster greater understanding and true kinship. Instead of castigating people for cultural trespasses, why not advise them? Instead of projecting an air of superiority, why not show humility? Most importantly, it is the duty of everyone to stop behavior that shames our city. That is true localism.
The author is a seasoned journalist who has worked in many places in the world.
(HK Edition 05/11/2016 page10)