Monday, April 6, 2009

Old Hong Kong scenary disappearing

I was walking down Hong Kong Island’s streets. I remembered a different kind of life used to go on in these spaces. Yet they're being renovated at such a fast pace that nobody can recall their authenticity or keep track of their changes. I have many memories attached to these spaces. They have once been a part of my life. I remember living in Hung Hom and going to primary school on Robinson Road. I saved the bus fare by walking all the way up from Central. When I looked at these streets, I couldn’t help feeling melancholic because I was seeing the scenery and places of Hong Kong I once liked disappearing.

July 1, 1997 came and went. According to the promise for Hong Kong, moving toward a directly elected local legislature could begin after 2007. For the time being, however, Chinese officials are using all the other powers at their disposal to wean Hong Kong away from its fond attachment to the Western ways of political life. Beijing's insistence on national security and its procrastination over keeping its promises are the most important indicators of how Hong Kong is being slowly eased into the mainland-style governance.

All these have changed the feeling of Hong Kong’s streets. The change means different things to different people: the winners, losers, and critics. But the change doomed more than the fate of the Star Ferry. To us, who are sidelined, we have to find parallels in nature. Adjusting to its unrelenting way of irreversibility. Even though we are no longer young, it is comforting to know that we were once young. We have lived in free.

【摸魚兒】寄故人

寫繁華,覓香花陣,春風輸我詞筆。

慣將山水同遊處,留取故人消息。

時縱隔,訊依舊,匆匆卻是花顏色。

少年遊歷,任醉裏疏狂,當時只恨,從不把愁瀉。

平生矣,四顧中流正急,江山偏少豪客。

軟紅塵裏歌如舊,鐵板誰來敲拍?

頭已白,未辜負,男兒宵起猶磨墨。

幾堆平仄,怕兩樣銷魂,笑談才氣,寫入等閒冊.

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