The Kai Tak stage resonated with the song "Monsoon" from 30 years ago, eliciting cheers from some and tears from others. Canadian singer The Weeknd's new song "Hong Kong," with its fleeting images of taxis, teahouses, neon lights, and nightscapes accompanied by Faye Wong's vocals, felt like a love letter to Hong Kong. A passerby, through a few glimpses of bygone days, seemed to have triggered the city's emotional response more quickly than the Hong Kong stories told over the years. Why is it that emotions so readily understood by Hong Kong people are so difficult to articulate in today's public narratives?
What people cherish isn't necessarily just the 1990s. The Hong Kong Film Award-winning film *Goodbye UFO* takes us to Wah Fu Village, where three children once gazed at the sky from a rooftop, believing in miracles. As we grow up, amidst money, plans, and uncertainty, we gradually begin to doubt the light we once witnessed. Nostalgia isn't about believing everything was wonderful in the past, but rather about comparing ourselves to today and realizing that we've lost more than just old buildings and familiar scenes; we've also lost the imagination to believe that cities can change and that life can offer alternative paths.
Rainbow Village is entering its final countdown to reconstruction. Barbershops, eateries, couples, brothers, fathers and sons, and old neighbors—each has its own deadline. The drama "Rainbow Under the Sunset" resonates not because the series preserves the colorful facades, but because it chronicles how the lives of several generations intertwine within a single village. A place becomes a hometown not because the scenery remains unchanged, but because a part of our lives was once situated there.
Politicians are not detached from the community, and the government is not without consultation. It's just that when the voices of the people reach the center of power, they often end up with only a policy list on paper—a list that feels unfamiliar, disheartening, and unsettling, its voice lost in the layers of bureaucracy. The government paints a picture of what Hong Kong will become, while the public questions what kind of Hong Kong they feel a sense of belonging to; the two increasingly resemble the same city. Leaders cannot merely point to the distant future; they must also bring the unspoken concerns into the shared future. Whether the Hong Kong story is moving doesn't depend on how it's packaged, but on whether Hong Kong people can see themselves reflected in the city as it moves forward.
Ming Pao:https://news.mingpao.com/pns/作家專欄/columnist/20261106/s00202/1793894459097
