What Mentality: Have The Cake and Hate It?
Translated by Karen L., Written by Lewis Loud, Edited by Chen-t'ang 鎮棠
Two news articles were published today on Sing Tao Daily, concerning the "mainland talents and professionals". They, I have to say, are more of advertorials which you cannot tell if it's truly happening. My impression over these two can only be described by the you-know-what emoticon. To cry or to laugh about these two? A puzzle. For students from mainland China, there must be this one vision on their minds - studying abroad and eventually leaving the "Motherland". Hong Kong to them, would be an alternative to dive in.
Coming as a swarm of bees, mainland students who can afford can have most of the academic seats reserved, like no differences with outsourcing all the Hong Kong graduate schools to China. Yet somehow their fear has driven crazily that more of their comrades taken by the graduate schools in Hong Kong would mean depreciation of the master degrees. In other words, they act discrimination on their own species.
Demand comes with supply. It's the same when the eight profiteering universities raised up the places ceiling to satisfy the predator style of studying. Or else, complaints from mainlanders will be expected to appear claiming how academic institutions in Hong Kong put on airs. Now the adjustments are made to suit them, taking the influence of our "Motherland" into consideration and sustaining the spirit of "education for everyone", however, such move isn't appreciated. They consider these actions as overflowing and fear that their master degrees will no longer be "special" anymore. According to their logic, local students should probably fight back as the predator style of studying has inflated their degrees and has directly encumbered the competitiveness of HK students.
Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is well-known to have the Head who is an expert in the field of public relations. He loves to talk about dreams, but he doesn't fail in the business part, and has even opened another CU in mainland. I am wondering if their graduation certificates there will be accepted by the society of Hong Kong. If "yes" be the answer, then will the students from CUs have their degrees work like QE, and eventually lead to the chaos of German papiermark?
As for the "talented" mainlander in the news article who has developed his business in Hong Kong, he expressed his feelings of how hard it is to have a "home" in Hong Kong, and even worse, they will have to pay for the Double Stamp Duty (DSD). "We came here [Hong Kong] with our professional talents, and we have been paying taxes. We are not going to apply for public estates or trying to take any extra resources [from the government]. But we still can't survive in discrimination, are there problems in 'foreign talents policy' yet to be amended?" He wrote. But when we look into the situation of our property market, the madness, if it wasn't the speculators from mainland who keep pouring hot money into the market, will Hong Kong people be able to live up all by themselves as we all know they have got the disgrace title of "Hong Kong Chink" (港燦, self-mocking term like Hongkie)?
And this Mr. Talent Mainland can "pay HKD$500,000 DSD for the property bowing to the reality", it's obvious that he isn't any ordinary person suffering from the cooling measures. It just appears to me like Marie Antoinette, the Queen, who will possibly hang her lip and furrow her brows if just one little cherry went short on her cake. And you know, crying and yelling will follow. The locals have to suffer in their butchered rooms, and get no channels like news articles to confide in, in the end, it's all their own faults not being mainland talents.
Another complaint on the news article goes like this "Not permanent residents mean second-class citizens!" Let me ask you. Is there any mother in the world has not been a woman? Have you ever seen a single person changing to first-class citizenship right after they immigrated? It's all about the want of "exempting from DSD when buying in any property". What a story to sell! Those mainlanders can never be sincere, but live by their nature. They have come to Hong Kong with opportunities more than the locals, yet still asking for more or blaming people to treat them as second-class citizens! Shame for them. It's always the normal case when foreigners immigrating to other countries to be classified as second-class citizens in the beginning. If not, how would it be fair to the locals?
But still, those mainlanders could seek help from the left-wing organisations and pan-democracy camp to fight for "fair treatment". "What is the point to distinguish [you and me]? We are both Chinese. Why do they have to pay for DSD? Isn't discrimination?"may probably come from their mouth. Mainland Chinese get used to sell stories, and they, if not all, become worse when they come to Hong Kong. The reason is caused by their thought that Hong Kong has returned to the embrace of the Motherland. So that means, Hong Kong properties, are their properties. Need not to distinguish between them anymore. And you must have heard this Chinese saying "As a man be powerful, his dog shall be cocky". Mainland Chinese can see what CCP has done to Hong Kong, that's why they come here to see if there's any chance for them to take advantages from our government, which is known as incompetent nowadays. It simply doesn't make sense why the left-wing organisations and pro-democracy camp would think people living less than 7 years in Hong Kong are qualified to sign up for Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA), but at the same time disagree over the American spouses, European spouses, Middle-East spouses, Taiwanese spouses or Singaporean spouses of the locals to have the rights.
What we call "the international human rights" to say bye to poverty, are merely said to be happy. These rights are still dominated by "family reunion" as this is what has rooted in Chinese blood. "Patriotism", in translation, has caused such sorts of chaos, privileges and loopholes, which are all evil schemes by those patriotic pan-democracy camp. Even the non-locals are using "the blood" to take benefit from Hong Kong like "We are all Chinese, then why can't I...?" Nothing's different with hoodlums, right? Hong Kong people are tied by "patriotism", which make them all to go by the "moral" and "political" rules and can never break through the inferior status. That's why a "We are all Chinese," by Ella Koon burnt the whole society of Hong Kong.
Roy Tam, "Master Kim Kim" and Gary Fan went to Mong Kok and wrote Lunar New Year blessings on red banners, and in the middle of it, they mentioned that the travelers coming to Hong Kong through the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) has reached to an extent to affect daily lives of the locals, and suggested them to travel out of Hong Kong. Such kind of speech is criticized, coming from nowhere, as "hurting the relationships between Hong Kong people and mainlanders". The core value can be inferred as "We are all Chinese. And Hong Kong belongs to China. Surely I can come whenever I want." The word "relationship" referred to mainlanders is of chinoiserie. They smuggle, they go on a shopping spree, they break the rules, they fill up Hong Kong and they put us all in hell. Relationship? I can't see positive ones. To me, the relationship between these Shylock-like mainlanders and Hong Kong are like Johns and prostitutes. Now the prostitute want to stop dealing with him anymore, but got "You hurt my feelings!" in return. I am like "What?" Ridiculous!
Who would like to be a Chinese? I doubt. "We are all Chinese" again, works the way like Nobi and Goda [in Doraemon]. Nobi's properties belong to Goda, but that of Goda? Still himself. It only for poor Nobi himself would think he is the one tolerating Goda. Everybody understands this simple principle, except for some self-isolated idiots from the ivory tower and political apathetic artists.
Hong Kong has one foot in the grave because of this "patriotism", for "the ghost" has been haunting here for a few decades. It's long attached to the soul of Hong Kong. Can help or cannot help. This is the question.
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