Before Christmas, I went to Park N Shop, HK’s major supermarket chain, and saw this: an advertisement on personal health products in simplified Chinese.
This is the first time that I have seen advertisement/poster in simplified Chinese in a Hong Kong chain supermarket. Not a character in traditional Chinese, the written form long used in the city. The supermarket obviously was eyeing the mainlanders who flocked to Hong Kong for shopping during the festive season. In other words, a supermarket that is supposed to serve Hong Kongers, has turned a blind eye to those it should serve and beckons instead to the cash-strapped mainland tourists.
Along the same line, the Mongkok area is beaming with jewelers and luxury watch shops which are mainly frequented by mainlanders. The area no longer feels to me part of Hong Kong that I am familiar with.
And this cannot be more symbolic. The first baby born in Hong Kong in 2012 is to mainland parents. For giving their children permanent right of abode in Hong Kong, mainland mums have been very aggressive, trying all sorts of ways, legal and illegal, to come to HK to give birth, including forcing their way to the emergency ward in the public hospital at the last minute, without prior bookings of deliveries, not only risking the lives of their to be born babies, but also putting extra stress on Hong Kong’s already stretched public health services. The local mums complain that they find it very hard to book delivery because of mainland mums.
Politically, mainland’s presence and influence is even more worrying. A scholar’s recent survey showing a record high proportion of locals identifying themselves as Hong Kongers and a record low proportion of locals identifying themselves as Chinese, has drawn criticism from a Hong Kong based Beijing government official. He told the media right after the survey result was out that, the survey is “unscientific” and “illogical” by citing Hong Kongers and Chinese in parallel. The same scholar was later met with a barrage of criticism and personal attack from mainland-backed newspapers, because he proposed the launch of an online poll of Hong Kongers regarding the “small circle” election of the Chief Executive of HK SAR Government later this year – the top man will be chosen by a 1000-strong election committee only. The blatant interference in academic freedom and the political propaganda orchestrated towards “dissident voices” are simply frightening, evocative of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty Four.
No wonder a saying in a local drama has caught on, i.e. this city is dying.
8 replies on “Is this city dying?”
I know what you mean, because of all this me and the wife are moving back to the states because strait out all the rudeness from the mainlanders and its just a pain in the ass place to live now compared to 98-99 when i was here earlier.
Me and my son learned Cantonese perfectly reading and writing planning on staying in hk and teaching English to help out the kids but it seems China wants to push there way in and the HK government seems to bend over and take it up the you know what and are happy to do so.
I’ve seen the scuffles over formula and seriously that’s not right. Hk needs to strait out say no residency or citizenship or work permit get the hell out so that HK stays for Hong Kongers not for what China sais it should be.
i cannot help but write this follow up piece on hong kong – mourning for hong kong
i hope it is a revolution to break out, not a riot.
Hong Kong, as we knew it before 1997, is indeed dying. In less than 10 years I think i won’t be able to recognise this city anymore – Hong Kongers will be a minority and treated as second class citizen.
It was naive of our predecessors not to have the foresight to see this happening in the 1980s and didn’t fight for our future. Now the younger generation has to pay the price.While the world is making progress in general, we’re going backwards on many issues – our liberties and justice system are seriously at stake.
It gives me the worst uneasy feeling to see this once-proud city has degenerated into this sorry state of affairs. A revolution is certain to break out soon.
If you see a simplified Chinese then complain Standard Charter bank has simplified posters in thier banks now…
I told them what I thought of them.
What is worse is that mainland Chinese can read trad. Chinese anyway so what is the point.
The mainland use to copy HK now HK is copying the mainland- that sucks!
Maybe Hong Kong is going to sell dog meat noodles as well!
they have taken the simplified chinese down, anyway.
I doubt complaining to Park N Shop (PNS) would do much especially the POS/SOB who owns PNS (better known as the HKG Superman)
The Game is up for HKG about 50 days after July 1, 1997 when press freedom is curtailed…now freedom of assembly and speech being curtailed. Today businesses kow-tow to mainland chinese and HK getting flack for considering those who live in HK Hong Kongers.
Either change policy stating that if both parents are not Hong Kong residents, then the child won’t inherit that right to abode. OR deny any mainland pregnant women entry to Hong Kong AND its hospitals, even if it means leaving them die on the streets.
remember once mainland chinese have their right to abode, they will NOT contribute to Hong Kong, financially and socially and WILL CONSUME RESOURCES meant for people of Hong Kong who lived there for generations.
By the way, have you tried complaining to the manager of Park N Shop? Might be worth a try, although I doubt they would care.
Reminds me of when my wife and I had our baby last year in HK around this time. All the mainland mothers were going around buying up all the baby formula. We couldn’t find any for our baby, and I was angry. I eventually found a Watsons that had some and nearly punched a mainland woman in her face for trying to take the cans away from me. I yelled at her in Chinese and embarrassed her in front of everyone until she ran out. Sure, it may have been a little cruel, but some of these people are unreal!