Michael Chugani

Public Eye | Celebrate the handover anniversary? Hongkongers should ask if we’re better off now than 20 years ago

The fault line now splitting the city is ideological, not political

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The flags of the People’s Republic of China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region stir a range of emotions for many residents in the former British colony. Photo: Reuters

Michael Chugani

Published: 6:24pm, 27 Jun 2017Updated: 10:00pm, 27 Jun 2017

To celebrate or not to celebrate? Are you among the Hongkongers asking themselves this question as we mark the 20th anniversary of the city’s return to Chinese rule? If yes, why? Isn’t reuniting with the motherland a cause for celebration?

Yet here we are, 20 years after the colonisers left, grappling with a question that in itself suggests something is terribly wrong.

Before you decide whether or not to celebrate, ask yourself whether Hong Kong is better or worse off than it was 20 years ago. Is it better to have a governor imposed on us by the British monarchy or a chief executive elected through an imperfect democratic system?

Is it better to have a cabinet filled by bosses of British business houses and a British garrison commander or one that is top-heavy with the chief executive’s allies? Is it better to have a legislature of British-appointed yes-men or one that is partially directly elected and partially indirectly elected in a process favouring Beijing?

Is it better to be ruled by colonisers or communist countrymen of your own kind?

Is it better to be ruled by colonisers or communist countrymen of your own kind? Now that’s the crunch question. Depending on how you answer it, the other answers will automatically fall in place. That’s because the fault line that splits our city is ideological, not political.