HK's agony and ecstasy: the novel
By Hong Liang (China Daily)

In her column in the South China Morning Post, political scientist Kitty Poon passionately reminded us of an idea for a novel that all Hong Kong writers want to write. Indeed, the struggle of the people who came together on this barren rock and turned it into an economic powerhouse against all odds is a story waiting to be told.

Much has been written about the dramatic change of Hong Kong from a fishing village to an international financial center with a history of little more than a 100 years. But most of these writings are either too academic, narrowly focused or uninspiring to do justice to the people who created this miracle.

Some of the most popular writings about Hong Kong are the biographies of the property barons who amassed fabulous fortunes by gaining a stranglehold on the supply of residential apartments in land-scarce Hong Kong. But none of these books provide readers with a credible view of the persons and the social and economic circumstances that have enabled them to enrich themselves on such a grand scale.

Critics have long lamented that Hong Kong has no real culture. The merchants of Venice, at the height of their city's commercial power in the 15th century, were discerning patrons of the arts. But the property barons and financial wizards of today's Hong Kong seem to be better known for their amorous affairs with film celebrities and Canto-pop stars.

The extensive reports of the excesses of the Hong Kong super rich paint a grossly distorted view of the city and its people. The true heroes are the many men and women who are trying their best to cope with the fast changing social and economic landscape, and, in doing so, create a brave new world with their talent and hard work.

"It is my dream that Hong Kong's dramatic changes of the past decades may some day be captured in novels, paintings and dramas. Only then will we come to grasp the full implications of change that profoundly affected our lives," Ms Poon wrote.

Those changes have indeed been dramatic.

The large influx of people into Hong Kong in the 50s and 60s stretched the social fabric to its limit. Instead of sinking into despair and poverty, these people turned into the driving force that transformed Hong Kong from an insignificant trading outpost to a manufacturing powerhouse.

In the process, Hong Kong went through numerous economic down cycles, some of which were devastating enough to wipe out the fortunes of many corporations and families. The stock market crash in the early 70s exposed the vulnerability of the regulatory framework and the frailty of the scandal ridden corporate sector.

Instead of cowering under these challenges, Hong Kong people simply set about remaking the city by turning it into a high-value-added service-based economy. The process gained tremendous momentum after the mainland began to pursue economic reform and an open-door policy in 1978. Since then, the Hong Kong economy has become increasingly integrated with that of the mainland in general, and the Pearl River Delta region in particular.

Like Ms Poon, I have always wished there was a book that captured the agony and ecstasy of Hong Kong's past so we could all be inspired to face the future with confidence and hope.

(China Daily 01/23/2007 page10)