SERENA
Form: IV
From: Hong Kong
Location: Music Building
Opinion:
As I've gone to local schools in Hong Kong my whole life before I came to SPS, I'm quite exposed to local HK culture and opinions, but at the same time having parents from mainland China exposes me to their opinions on the issue.
The more I hear from both sides, the more I'm stuck in the middle with this issue because I don't think that either side is right. I don't appreciate some of the cultures and habits that exist in mainland China, and I do not agree with most of mainland China politically, so I find it hard to resonate with mainland China.
I understand that democracy is important and I want that for HK too, but I think that Hong Kong citizens are protesting in the most unreasonable way possible and blindly attacking Chinese people and Chinese culture with hardly any basis for their attack at all.
The initial conflict was about different political systems and how HK doesn't want to be censored and controlled like the rest of China, which I totally understand and support. However now it has come down to petty attacks on every aspect of Chinese life, attacks on the police, on mainland Chinese people, boycotting things like simplified Chinese.
Hong Kong citizens’ hatred for mainland China is almost radical and it worries me. It has influenced my life a lot because I hear about things every day and sometimes I find myself disagreeing with most Hong Kong citizens. They are just too angry and irrational to stop and think about what they're doing.
I think that in America there is definitely bias towards the issue. Since HK is fighting for democracy America naturally supports HK in this conflict and this can be seen by Joshua Wong's cover on TIME magazine. I didn't see the article but I bet they made him out to be some kind of hero, even though he's just a stupid angry kid who couldn't even get into college.
In conclusion I just think that fighting for democracy is awesome and that should be the main focus of the conflict, not stupid personal attacks and boycotts that reflect badly on Hong Kong citizens.
