HONG KONG. words by Cara Pomerantz illustration by Nina Bridges
A
t first glance, Hong Kong seems like a typical crowded, bustling city. And it is, on parts of the islands. There are three major islands—Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and Lantau. The western Coast of Hong Kong Island is the well-known part—with Victoria Peak, the central business district with huge banks and energy companies, and the hot nightlife of bars, international students, and dance clubs. I lived on Kowloon this past semester, in a district called Hung Hom. My favorite fact about our neighborhood is that it is said to have more dead people than living. This is to say, the area is known for its high volume of elderly residents, funeral homes, mausoleums, and funeral flower shops. For that reason, we were able to avoid the worst of the protests and unrest, until the very end of our stay. The culture in Asia has a large focus on uninterrupted rest for both the elderly and for the dead. So the protestors, who were mostly university students from local colleges (including CityU, the school partnered with Syracuse University), respected the area enough to keep their protests away from our neighborhood. For the first half of the semester, the energy around the city seemed normal; we would see kids walking to school, people crowding the subways on their way to work—business as usual. People went about their days, with the occasional closure of the central subway station, or a warning to stay away from certain areas. However, as time went on, the adults and elderly citizens of Hong Kong became more and more vocal about their displeasure with the protests and the attitudes of the youth protesting. They were, as many expressed to us in class and on field trips, disappointed with the rebellious nature of students and younger generations, when they had
worked hard and lived through a lot to give them a better life. This general unpleasantness and disdain for protesters, expressed through grumpiness, and in some cases, refusal of service in shops and restaurants, was pretty much the extent of our exposure to the unrest for the first part of the semester. Eventually, as protests escalated and larger events happened, the protests became a more prevalent part of daily life in Hong Kong. There were weeks when mini buses, cabs, and other alternate forms of transportation became necessary, as the subway system began to close at eight or nine pm (effectively cutting off all travel between islands), and there were times when our classes and even our midterms were postponed because it was deemed unsafe to take the subway due to violent disruptions at stations. The last week we lived in Hong Kong, was the climax of the protests and unrest. A gloom settled over the city. The final few nights of the semester, the protesters had moved into our neighborhood, we could see tear gas and fires from our apartment windows. Going out to the markets and malls for last minute Christmas present shopping was depressing. So few people were out and about, and those who were, were quiet and sullen. Even
"the protests became a more prevalent part of daily life in hong kong."
