13: Tough Spot Caused by the Previous Generation's Refugee Mentality

Tough Spot Caused by the Previous Generation's Refugee Mentality

Translated by Choi Siu-wa, Edited by Chen-t'ang, Written by 13
Original: http://polymer.hkgalden.net/articles/2014/04/03/2248 

"Make money for emigration"

Those who were born and bred in Hong Kong often find it very difficult to understand the mentality of the previous generation. The previous generation identifies themselves as Chinese (not ethnic Chinese). They do not recognise the Communist Party of China (CCP) but accepted in silence that the country was stolen by the CCP thieves. They curse the CCP for causing countless Chinese people’s death and wish that they could brutally kill those corrupt officials who tunnelled China. They, however, show unlimited tolerance to the CCP thieves when those scumbag officials come out and make excuse by saying that “China is still a developing country. There are plenty of aspects to be improved”. If you scold the thieves, they will respond by asking “Why did you scold your country in such a way? Aren’t you Chinese?”.

The growing stories of these “previous generation of Hongkongers” are most likely as follows:

The parents of the previous generation grew up and married during the world war. Therefore, quite a number of them were separated from their families or even died in the war. They sought for shelters everywhere with their young children, and many of them chose to settle down in the Pearl River Delta region. They considered three cities, including Hong Kong, Macau and Canton (Guangzhou), and opted for the one where they could make a living easier. Some of them eventually chose Hong Kong and their children became the first generation of Hongkongers. These children watched the process of the Cultural Revolution across the border when growing up. On the other hand, some settled down with their parents in Canton were lucky enough to flee to Hong Kong with their chilling memories in China. These memories, which even the devils in the hell find it frightening, later became a part of Hongkongers. These two groups of people who were deeply influenced by the war became the main constitution of the “previous generation of Hongkongers”. Moreover, as only those who put “money makes the mare go” into practice were able to flee to Hong Kong, Hongkongers have an intense concentration on making money.

They worked hard to make money in the 50s because of uneasiness.
They still worked hard to make money in the 60s because of uneasiness.
They were still absorbed in making money when they had opportunities in the 70s because of uneasiness.
Hong Kong became an affluent city in the 80s, but a stock disaster woke many Hongkongers up and they realised that they actually had nothing, leading to a soaring increase of their uneasiness.
They stayed in Hong Kong because of uneasiness originally, but in the 90s they realised that Hong Kong would be taken over by the evil regime northern the border.

The previous generation of Hongkongers suffered from the war because of their Chinese identity. They will think that their suffering, which lasted for decades in their lives, worthed nothing if they deny their Chinese identity. This kind of strange mentality makes them never wake from the nightmare of being a “Chinese refugee”, and therefore they have been saving for a rainy day. They did all they can to make money so that they could flee from the war. Those who were eligible fled from Hong Kong after the Tiananmen Massacre, leaving spaces for those who could not flee at that time to climb. Later, when they became eligible, people who were inferior replaced their places. This cycle continued until there were only the shameless who just know petty tricks and betrayal left in the top level of Hong Kong’s ecosystem, and also a number of those called “greater Chinese morons” who cannot flee from Hong Kong and separate their emotion from the CCP left in Hong Kong.

I emotionally understand that the reason why their mentality is so twisted: they are all war victims. It is, however, these traitors and greater Chinese morons’ fault that the democratisation of Hong Kong has faced so many obstacles. Moreover, the biggest problem is that many of these people are the parents and elders of today’s localists. They have been imposing family pressure on the localists and hindering the development of localism on a certain level. How do we get out of this tough spot? Do we really have to break off our ties with our parents and elders? I don’t have a single idea.

(Photo: 膠登時報 Polymer)