Simon Parry

Opinion | Hong Kong protests fail to burst bubble of expat brats

However, the unrest has given at least some of the city’s young ‘smartphone zombies’ a purpose, with phones transformed from thought-sapping siphons to tools that inform, educate, agitate and organise

Reading Time:2 minutes

Why you can trust SCMP

Armed with their smartphones, young Hongkongers fight for their futures. Illustration: Mario Riviera

Simon Parry

Published: 11:00am, 19 Sep 2019Updated: 4:14pm, 19 Sep 2019

“You can say what you like about these protests,” my wife remarked breezily, between sips of Gordon’s on her chaise longue in our expat housing complex, Ivory Towers. “But at least it gets youngsters off their mobile phones and gives them a bit of exercise for a change.”

Affronted by her crass colonial-era insensitivity, I lectured her sternly for several minutes about the evils of the now-abandoned extradition bill and the erosion of basic freedoms in Hong Kong as I topped up her pint glass. But on reflection, I had to admit she had a point.

One of the most striking aspects of the past three months has been the sight of young people communicating verbally and animatedly rather than slouching zombie-like in MTR carriages, oblivious to any human presence, as they play games or watch amusing cat clips. I even saw one teenager drop his phone and carry on running in the face of a police baton charge.

For the time being at least, smartphones in Hong Kong have been transformed from thought-sapping siphons into frontline tools for passing on encrypted information and capturing history-shaping events in real time. They have suddenly been weaponised and used to educate, agitate and organise. And people holding them seem energised and inspired in their reduced dependence, and capable of moments of sublime creativity, such as the appearance of a masked orchestra playing Glory to Hong Kong.

Tragically, those not touched by the struggle – our own entitled expat offspring, for instance – still inhabit an intellectual void where smartphones relentlessly fulfil their intended purpose of dumbing down the masses.