Hong Kong has shut down

I do support freedom of expression and the right to peaceful assembly. But I have to admit that I’m not sure what the protesters in Hong Kong actually want.

I spent an overnight in Hong Kong this week for a business meeting. Apparently, I was there on the worse day since the protests, initially against a proposed law that would allow Hong Kong Chinese to be deported to China, started. Actually, the law is a misnomer since one can only deport a person to the territory of a foreign state. Hong Kong, even during the period when it was leased by the Brits, has always been Chinese territory.

I was shocked. Although a veteran of many rallies back home, we never quite succeeded in shutting businesses completely. But business did stop in Hong Kong last Monday. The entire Kowloon Island, where bulk of the protest actions were, was closed. Even in Hong Kong, Causeway Bay and Central were also closed due to protests. I saw protesters in Causeway Bay on my way to Ikea, which was closed. The only shop open was the supermarket Wellcome, but even that store was rather empty by Hong Kong standards. Protesters wore black and wore tear gas masks. The mood, unlike our people power protest, the mother of all modern civil disobedience, was rather tense. And yes, it was a sight seeing Caucasians in the ranks of both the protesters and the police.

The embattled government of Hong Kong has since backed off and has recalled the proposed legislation. This apparently has not deterred further protests, although it is unsure what the issue is now. Some Hong Kong residents may want independence in the footsteps of Taiwan. I do not think Beijing will ever allow this in the same way that we will not allow the independence of Mindanao. Preserving the territorial integrity of a state is after all probably the most basic of state powers. Others probably want genuine self-rule, meaning genuine autonomy with little or no interference from the mainland. This too is our preferred solution to our own Mindanao problem. I guess the betting is with the ongoing unrest, will mainland allow this?

I do support freedom of expression and the right to peaceful assembly. But I have to admit that I’m not sure what the protesters in Hong Kong actually want. The truth is everyone who has been to Hong Kong like it because everything works there. Be it the subway, the taxis, the restaurants, the markets and phone service, they all work. But one thing is for sure now. Hardly anything works in Hong Kong nowadays and I do not know why.

We need to be prepared for the further shut down of the Hong Kong economy. Already, trillions of dollars have left the territory, most of which are from Taiwanese investors. Unfortunately, only Singapore has benefited from this capital exodus. Perhaps our own banking community should take steps to attract part of this capital outflow.

Worse, with the possibility of the mainland cracking down on the former crown colony, we better be prepared to give our hundreds of thousands of overseas Filipinos workers there alternative livelihoods when they opt to return home. This is the problem with an economy anchored on the export of manpower. It makes us susceptible to world affairs because, unlike other countries, international affairs can literally mean bust for the lives of our ordinary people.