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Hong Kong society
OpinionComment
Brian Y. S. Wong
Brian Y. S. Wong

Opinion | Hong Kong’s story is best told by letting its people speak for themselves

  • Dry statistics and bland public relations campaigns are not enough to assuage criticism and concerns about Hong Kong’s status
  • The best way to improve the city’s image is to let ordinary Hongkongers be its voice and tell the story of the city they love

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People buy seafood at a market in North Point on May 13. Rather than high-priced public relations campaigns, the words of ordinary Hongkongers might be the best way to tell Hong Kong’s story well. Photo: Yik Yeung-man
Brian Y. S. Wong
There has been much talk recently about “telling the Hong Kong story well”. After all, after more than two years of self-imposed isolation, an ongoing exodus of talent and the political upheaval that preceded both, it is understandable that our government wants to revive the city’s international image.
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It is also fair to say part of the criticism aimed at Hong Kong has had ulterior motives. Scoring points is easy, fixing problems is harder.

Yet, there are two core dimensions to Hong Kong’s malaise. The first constitutes the perception problem – Hong Kong is perceived to be a struggling, lethargic city, one with more departures than arrivals, more doom and gloom than hope and optimism. The second is the many socioeconomic and governance issues that have long afflicted the city.
On the first, attempting to hard-sell the city simply won’t cut it. The millions pumped into public relations have yielded stiff, stale campaigns riddled with slogans and assertions that neither speak to the hearts and minds of prospective audiences nor address how the city’s virtues and strengths have evolved over the years.

The low tax rates, concentration of wealth and robust legal infrastructure are virtues that are either accepted as normalised givens by supporters or neglected by naysayers.

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Merely trotting out statistics and other evidence will not help assuage the worries from those in between that our city is losing out to regional competitors because of its ossified human capital and industrial policies, or that the “one country, two systems” formula has been severely damaged.
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