MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN
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From the March of the Volunteers to forging a Hong Kong as part of China |
Those who put together the film of the national anthem in Beijing probably did not know
that many of us had already learnt it.
I was taught how to sing "The March of the Volunteers" in
an Anglo-Chinese school which had a chaplain called Mr Fisher, a chemistry teacher called
Mrs Pain and an English teacher called Mr Emerson.
In the same Anglo-Chinese school, I learnt the recent history of
China from a Mr Thomas, the history teacher. We were introduced to books written by Edgar
Snow, a "Communist Sympathizer" who died in exile in Switzerland during the
McCarthy Era and by Joseph Stillwell, a cynical American general who fought with the KMT
during the Second World War. I felt that I would probably have become a
"Communist" if I had been born in China in the 1920s. But as I was born in 1955,
I also knew my luck to have been born in Hong Kong.
July 1, 1997 came and went all too suddenly. As we are still
struggling to comprehend what happened, some have formulated policies how on how Hong Kong
would be treated already.
During an HKDF luncheon, Mr Richard Boucher, the guest speaker and
US Consul General for Hong Kong encouraged Hong Kong people to speak up for the things
we’are good at: a working legal system, separation of powers and an effective
administration system relatively free of meddling from politicians. These elements
separate us from China and it is based on these elements that the US will conduct a
separate foreign policy towards Hong Kong.
I tend to agree with Mr Boucher as I've always felt that, whether we
like it or not, we will have to represent ourselves as people from Hong Kong to China and
to the rest of the world. I feel that we would be better off if we could assert the
strengths of our people and institutions. This would be a better and more positive
"foreign policy" toward China than the prevailing public opinion led by the
aftermath of "June 4th".
The Central Government has always understood the strengths of the
Hong Kong education and administrative systems. In this respect, I am convinced that they
mean it when they say "One Country, Two Systems"."
The convincing we will need to do is in the areas of our
contributions towards the social and political development of China and the merits of
keeping and expanding our democratic institutions during this process.
Alan LUNG Ka-lun
Chairman |
