Voices of Hong Kongers Thus Analysed
Video clips for sharing:-
http://commentshk.blogspot.com/2010/01/80.html
Brief outline of their views:-
On the relation between the express rail link and the community:-
The crux of the matter is social justice – it’s hard to justify building the rail link just to benefit one small group of people who need to commute between the mainland and Hong Kong (by way of shortening their trips by just one hour) while ignoring the sacrifice of another group of citizens who would be forcibly uprooted from their long-established homes and lifestyle. In other words, the distribution of benefits of the rail link would be most uneven and lack all fairness to society as a whole. Besides, what kind of concrete economic benefits would those commuters bring to Hong Kong vis a vis the humongous cost of building the link? If Leung Man To’s own case (he would benefit from the rail link as a regular commuter) could serve as an example, it would be a case of taking economic benefits out of Hong Kong into the mainland.
On interpretation of the “post-80s”:-
The media and the SAR government tend to demonize the “post-80s” as a group of unreasonable, uneducated, frustrated and bitter youngsters who are bent on opposing any kind of development just for the sake of opposing and who go on the streets just because they are embittered by their inability in getting ahead in society. The actual fact is that a group of highly educated, high-minded and rational young people have come to realize the far-reaching damages that could result from unsustainable and wanton development and have taken it into their own hands to change society’s traditional mind-set. It’s an awakening to a new set of values, a second modernization, which is in fact a continuity of an old set of values related to the homestead. It’s important not to limit the label of the “post-80s” to a certain age group, as there are all kinds of age groups within the newly formed group of activists who have come together in the last few years as they share the same ideals and values, which place more emphasis on the spiritual side of a community and the relation between the community and the environment they live in.
Why has Hong Kong been marginalized?
It’s farcical to say that transportation has anything to do with the marginalization of Hong Kong. The main culprits are the vested interest groups who view the financial sector as the omnipotent industry and the SAR government who has embraced a high land price structure. They are exactly the ones who have ruined Hong Kong. Yet the culprits have ridiculously pinned the blame on others. Does anyone believe that all of Hong Kong’s problems can be solved overnight just by building the express rail link?