Fireman Wong and the Identity Crisis

"I struggle to comprehend the mentality of those who elect to fight the issue of Hong Kong's identity on the battleground of an alleged sex offender."

Fireman Wong Yiu-tak faced arrest on Wednesday by the Japanese police for an alleged sex attack in Tokyo. Wong, on his honeymoon, left his new wife in the hotel on Sunday evening while he went out for food. Yes, he was there on his honeymoon!

Reports say he approached a Japanese lady asking directions before dragging her into a nearby toilet. There he apparently molested her — some reports say he raped her.

Working from CCTV coverage, the police identified Wong, detaining him as he checked out of his hotel. He will have his day in court and could face five to twenty years in jail if convicted. Meanwhile, his poor wife and the victim must process these traumatic events.

What intrigues me is how this saga soon embroiled the debate around Hong Kong people's identity. First, the Japanese media reported that Wong was "Chinese", which is true. However, gullible anti-China elements immediately seized upon this as meaning Wong came from the mainland. 

On social media, these malcontents began a torrent of vile comments. They attacked mainlanders, attributing no end of horrors to them. Yet, when it emerged that Wong came from Hong Kong, their prejudice caught them out as they fell silent. 

Others, unwilling to drop the matter, rebuked the Japanese media reports, asserting that Wong should be described as a "Hongkonger". 

I struggle to comprehend the mentality of those who elect to fight the issue of Hong Kong's identity on the battleground of an alleged sex offender. What an absurd and alarming approach.

Yet I suppose some Hong Kong people still grapple with defining their identity. This struggle is understandable because all humans seek a defining uniqueness. 

Still, if Hong Kong suffers an identity crisis, this is self-generated. A walk around Central or Kowloon demonstrates Hong Kong's cosmopolitan vibrancy mixed with Cantonese and broader Chinese culture. Sure, you hear more Mandarin spoken these days, but that's to be expected. 

For generations, Hong Kong held a unique status in the eyes of many people on the mainland and here. As a world-class trade and finance centre, this prosperous international metropolis showed what was possible. Likewise, Hong Kong's movies and entertainment sector shaped perceptions. 

Simply put, although Hong Kong remains a vibrant city, mainland cities like Shanghai and Shenzhen have overshadowed its original brilliance. These successes and Hong Kong's slippage damaged the brand of the local identity. In turn, this generated animosity that helped drive the 2019 protests. But what people forget is change is always with us.

Since I arrived here in 1980, this place has constantly evolved, with the latest iteration no different from what we saw in the past. Let's remember that Hong Kong has absorbed wanderers, refugees and migrants of all hues, including millions of folks from the mainland.

Unfortunately, many Hongkongers yearn for a past, an era seen through the rose-tinted visage of perceived simpler times. Some have now fallen into a council of despair hankering for something that never existed. In the process, they’ve ignored it was always the confluence with China that sustained this place. And once deeply contemptuous of their countrymen from the North, they now find their mainland cousins prospering and taking great strides forward. 

Sometimes you have to embrace the complexity. I'm a proud Hong Kong citizen with family ties to the United Kingdom. I was born there, and those bonds remain with you. But, likewise, I recognise my adopted home is an integral part of China with all the issues and advantages that status confers.

For me, drawing distinctions or placing a line between these various categories of identity lays the seeds of division that are the root of many world problems. So rather than draw boundaries, I'd rather see a Venn diagram of intersections. Because at the end of the day, we are all citizens of this tiny blue dot sitting in the vastness of space. That's our ultimate identity. 

Anyway, getting back to Earth, no matter how you cut it, this Tokyo incident has damaged Hong Kong's reputation. Even so, Japan remains a massively popular tourist destination for the city's people, who embrace the food, sights and warmth of the Japanese. 

Therefore, it is gratifying to see that some Hong Kong netizens acknowledge the impact of this event. At least some folks haven't lost their minds or sense of common decency.