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Luisa Tam

Whenever outsiders mention Hong Kong as a city of China, many Hongkongers tend to become defensive, partly because of fears of losing their Hong Kong identity.
The truth is Hong Kong will never lose its identity. Moreover, the city does not have just one identity, it has multiple identities so as to adapt to changing circumstances and adjust to challenges. That is why Hong Kong people are true survivors.
Since the change of sovereignty in 1997 when Hong Kong reverted to Chinese rule, Asia’s world city has been adrift between its British colonial past and as an international Chinese city. Strangely, it is now on the cusp of “adulthood” being on the road to discovery, trying to find a way to become its own master.
There are countless qualities that make Hongkongers unique.

Some of the admirable characteristics include their respect for the rule of law; their courage to speak up against injustice and their loyalty to families and loved ones, just to name a few.
Other qualities are their resilience, adaptability, efficiency, street-smartness, open-mindedness, and civilised attitudes, all of which are contributory factors to their distinctive “Hongkongness”.
The recent political upheaval in the city caused by the now-suspended controversial extradition bill has put the courage of Hongkongers on full display to the world.
Some of the people I have talked to said although they had been saddened by the recent violence erupted during protests against the extradition bill, they have nonetheless remained proud of being Hongkongers.
From social media to encrypted messaging: tech’s changing role in protests
They explained that the core character of being a Hongkonger was to have the durability and resilience to withstand and overcome all kinds of challenges and difficulties.
They said as Hongkongers, they found it their obligation as well as their natural desire to love this city unconditionally, and that is what drives them to do their utmost to safeguard their families, their homes, and their future.
One thing that is a markedly Hong Kong characteristic is that despite their individualistic attitude, which is sometimes viewed as being self-centred, Hong Kong people can come together as an unstoppable force. When they act in unison, they can achieve almost anything.

Look at the turnouts of protesters against the extradition bill on two consecutive weekends in June. On June 9, there were 1 million marchers, then a week later, 2 million turned up – both of which were indicative of this colossal collective power and determination of the local population.
But in some ways, the technology era is altering Hong Kong people’s self-identity by shifting from being internally to externally driven. And social media is certainly having an impact on the formation of their identities.
Previously, factors that influenced the formation of the Hong Kong identity were families, peers, communities, and maybe even the mass media.
All have helped shape their views and how they should perceive themselves. But now this Hong Kong identity can be – and certainly has been – deeply affected by outside factors mostly stirred up by social media.




Today the Hong Kong identity is not as straightforward as before.
First, social media encourages its users to manufacture facades of who it wants us to be. It does this by tapping into our desire to feel good about ourselves, and a need to feel accepted. This social media culture tells us what we should believe about ourselves.
The problem is that this type of self-identity does not necessarily serve what is best for us.
This is not our self-identity as it does not come from within ourselves, but rather an identity that is projected on to us. It is rather dangerous because if the mainstream thinking out there gives us a distorted view of what we should do in order to be ourselves – it could dictate us to do things we would not normally do in the first place.
Hong Kong must clean up its mess – because Beijing may just let it be
Social media has caused us to shift away from being true to how we feel in ourselves. It forces us subliminally to please others in order to get accepted. In the end we have become obsessed with reaching the goal of acceptance, popularity and status.
The Hong Kong identity is one of a kind; Hong Kong people need to stop undermining their true self-identity and appreciate they are what they are. Hong Kong people are unique, headstrong, and courageous in times of trouble and hardship.
Hongkongers have endured a prolonged identity crisis to come to where they are today, and this evolution is still ongoing and will become even more rapid and dramatic when confronted with challenges like what have so far happened in this extradition bill saga.
However, Hongkongers are fundamentally peaceful, law-abiding, and empathetic.

These distinctive characteristics were clearly demonstrated during a moving scene on June 16 when thousands of protesters were seen retreating like the parting of the Red Sea in order to clear a path for an ambulance to pass through.
We have witnessed numerous violent clashes between opposing groups in the extradition bill debacle. But no matter how difficult and how messy the situation has become, the bottom line is that the hearts and minds of Hongkongers cannot be bought, or beaten; they have to be won.
Luisa Tam is a correspondent at the Post


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How the Hong Kong identity is being warped by social media, as protests rage

The identity of Hongkongers has been in a state of flux for a while, and is still evolving. Photo: Robert Ng

Anti-extradition bill protesters flood Causeway Bay and march to the Central Government Offices in Tamar calling on city leader (chief executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor) to resign. Picture shows protesters holding up placards reading 'Stop Killing Us'. 16JUN19 SCMP / Winson Wong

Protesters flood Causeway Bay and march to the Central Government Offices in Tamar calling on city leader to resign. 16JUN19 SCMP / Edmond So

TOPSHOT - An ambulance is pictured surrounded by thousands of protesters dressed in black during a new rally against a controversial extradition law proposal in Hong Kong on June 16, 2019. - Hundreds of thousands of protesters choked Hong Kong's streets for a second straight on June 16 in a defiant rebuke of a reviled extradition law, piling pressure on the city's embattled pro-Beijing leader despite a weekend climbdown. (Photo by HECTOR RETAMAL / AFP)

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Tourists take pose for photos at the Avenue of Stars in Tsim Sha Tsui. Photo: Sam Tsang

Mainland Chinese tourists photographed at Times Square, Causeway Bay. 28JUN19 SCMP / Edmond So

People participate in an anti-extradition bill march held from Tsim Sha Tsui to the West Kowloon High Speed Rail Link Terminus. Picture shows thousands gathering outside the high-speed terminus in West Kowloon. 07JUL19 SCMP / Sam Tsang

Protesters march from Victoria Park in Causeway Bay to the Central Government Offices in Tamar against the extradition bill on the 22nd anniversary of Hong Kong's handover from Britain to China. 01JUL19 SCMP / Dickson Lee

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Police lines hold back protesters at an action in Tsim Sha Tsui. Photo: Edmond So

Professor Yuen Kwok-yung photographed at the University of Hong Kong in Pok Fu Lam. University of Hong Kong (HKU) establishes Mature Airway Organoids for Predicting the Infectivity of Emerging Influenza Virus. 11JUN18 SCMP / David Wong

Protestors clash with police after the march in Sheung Shui against parallel trading by mainland Chinese visitors. 13JUL19 SCMP / Felix Wong

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HKBU students from Central Asia performing a Kazakh traditional dance at a Spring Festival event. Photo: Handout

Rustam Juraev holding flag of Tajikistan during his hike to Suicide Cliff. Photo: Handout

epa07636702 Thousands of protesters take part in a march against amendments to an extradition bill in Hong Kong, China, 09 June 2019. The bill, which has faced immense opposition from pan-democrats, the business sector and the international community, would allow the transfer of fugitives to jurisdictions which Hong Kong does not have a treaty with, including mainland China. Critics of the bill have expressed concern over unfair trials and a lack of human rights protection in mainland China. EPA-EFE/JEROME FAVRE

Students from Kyrgyzstan in traditional clothes during a cultural event at CUHK. Photo: Handout

Will China send in the troops to stamp out protests in Hong Kong?

PLA soldiers show their skills during a naval base open day in Hong Kong. The PLA has had a presence in Hong Kong since the city’s return to Chinese sovereignty. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

Crowds hold up their candles at the June 4th Candle Light Vigil, marking the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989 in Victoria Park, Causeway Bay. 04JUN19 SCMP / James Wendlinger [FEATURES 2019]

WAS109:DENG BEIJING,19 FEB 97 - FILE PHOTO 5 JUN 89- A Peking citizen stands passively in front of tanks on the Avenue of Eternal Peace in this June 5, 1989, file photo taken during the crushing of the Tiananmen Square uprising. The tanks turned around him before taking up positions in another part of the city. Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, whose economic pragmatism transformed China but whose political authoritarianism led to the Tiananmen Square massacre, died February 19 at the age of 93. cm/File REUTERS

People's Liberation Army perform demonstrations to the public of Hong Kong at their barracks on the open house day at Stonecutters Island. 08JUL17 SCMP / Edward Wong

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Online pressure to please others and win plaudits is reshaping Hongkongers’ sense of who they are


As unrest grips the city, online pressure to please others and win plaudits is reshaping what it means to be from Hong Kong.


Uniquely Hong Kong

Blowing Water

Expresses the views, ideas and conclusions of the author. (Eg. Enough of Crazy Rich Asians, think of crazy poor Hongkongers.)


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Blowing Water | How the Hong Kong identity is being warped by social media, as protests rage

Online pressure to please others and win plaudits is reshaping Hongkongers’ sense of who they are