Journey to Hong Kong

I joined the anti CY (Hong Kong’s chief executive CY Leung) march on 1 January. It took me close to 3.5 hours just to walk from Causeway to the Government Headquarters in Admiralty. It was at a snail’s pace. I guess many people joined the march midway, making the pace of the whole procession really slow.

It was a formidable show up. When I ended the march at Admiralty, it was over 7pm. I knew there are many of us.

When the media compared the number of people joining the different marches in support of and against CY on the same day, it looked so meaningless to me.

For those marching against CY, we are united in one belief: if you have no integrity and lie your way to be chief executive, you have to go. And for me and many others, it is clear that it is all Beijing forces that manipulated and faked behind the scene the pro CY march  so that there would be a check to the ever strong anti CY forces. Polls have shown again and again that the popularity of CY Leung stands very low. And reports show that people were bribed to attend the pro CY march.

the banner headlined: lying chief 689′s most memorable saying

What has CY done for HK so far since his being sworn in on 1 July 2012? The unbelievably high property prices keep going up. A HR professional, not an education expert, or at least someone with deep background in education, was named secretary for education; A university president named for the portfolio of housing and transportation, instead of education; An accounting professional named for the portfolio of development; A supporter of CY named to vex all the senior government appointments, in breach of the normal civil service procedure, and a pro-Beijing District Councilor who was just defeated in the Legislative Council election, named vice secretary of constitutional and mainland affairs with a salary that is ten times higher than his previous one. What would you think of the governance of Hong Kong given these awful appointments?

Being exposed that there is illegal structure in his mansion, CY Leung said that, since I have blocked it, it no longer exists. (so a person can kill one and bury him/her, and claim that he or she has not killed).

For all the unpopularity and lies told by CY, the new chief of China’s liaison office in Hong Kong said yesterday that the Central Government supports CY Leung and affirms his work.

This is the sad reality of Hong Kong.

No matter how many people turn out against CY, he will still be the chief of Hong Kong, because Beijing has picked him and for saving its face, it will continue to support him. In the march, people called CY by the number “689”, as he was elected by a mere 689 people, out of the whole 7 million population, on the back of string pulling of China’s liaison office in Hong Kong.

Despite all this, thousands of Hong Kongers still marched on 1 Jan, demanding the downfall of CY. No matter what, they wanted to deliver a clear message: Head of HK should not, and cannot be a liar. They knew they could not bring CY down. Yet,  they, with me, still marched on. From light to dark. Hopefully one day, from dark to light.

These young people say aloud with their music: who say we want Chief Executive?

The Kowloon Walled City Park is probably the most historic park in Hong Kong. The park was built on a site which was first a military fort in Qing Dynasty and later became a walled city and an ungoverned enclave before its demolition in 1987.

You can read the rich history of the Walled City here.I don’t find the park particularly scenic, which is built in the southern China garden style of Qing Dynasty. Nor does it evoke memory of the past. It all looks too good and too neat to be history. Yet, the exhibition in the building “Yamen” (which has been declared a monument itself) featuring the history of the Walled City prior to its demolition is very interesting. It contains fascinating interviews of the former residents as well as photos.

Here are some of the photos:

Because of its unique history, the Walled City was effectively lawless. Taxation, as a result, was not required in the enclave. This had led to hundreds of factories established, especially the food processing factories. It was estimated that 80% of the fishballs in Hong Kong were manufactured in the Walled City.

Unlicensed dentists and doctors were many. Many of them were skilled dentists and doctors who came from mainland China and whose qualifications were not recognzed by the Hong Kong government.  They therefore turned to the Walled City. The photo below captured the dentist street full of signs advertising dental services. There was no freshwater supply. To supply water, people dug wells. But the water was hardly clean – it could only be used for washing clothes and showers. For cooking and drinking, the residents had to use the freshwater supplied by the Hong Kong government next to their enclave. Carrying freshwater to the households had thus become a business.

The houses were so packed that former residents in the interviews recalled that they just jumped from their houses’ windows to the roof of the next building. That was how they went out to the street.

Because of high density of the population and shoddiness of the buildings (no piles used for the foundation), the one thing that worried them most was fire hazards. Fortunately no big fires had ever been broken out. Nor had serious crimes been committed, although the Walled City, a maze of dirty alleys, was described as a hotbed of crimes. Former residents recalled how collegial their neigbourhood was.

“Oh, I could find where I lived,” a woman standing next to me told her friend excitedly, pointing to a map. “It was there. There, ” she said, trying to take a photo of the map, zooming in her former residence.

How to get there: take mini bus No. 39 from Lok Fu MTR station. Get off in front of the Park.