What's so special about Hong Kong?
From SCMP:
[...]
Hong Kong does indeed have a special feeling around the Lunar New Year. For
those of us who grew up here, it's an instinctive perception. Others learn to
sense it. The visible "feel" is everywhere, and easy enough to see and hear -
closed shops, eerily quiet streets, lai see packets, most everyone in new
clothes, overflowing litter bins and the loud clangs of lion dances.
But there is also an inner feeling that makes this time of year especially
meaningful, a sense that binds everyone to the city as if we are all part of
something special. To me at least, Hong Kong seems to be losing this special
inner feeling. Call it progress. You used to see it in the happy faces of
children dressed in colourful traditional clothes; in people rushing to get
haircuts before New Year's Day, gladly paying twice the normal price; in
housewives preparing the end-of-year feast for the family; and in the
neighbourhood children setting off firecrackers which kept you awake all night -
but you didn't mind. It was all part of the feeling.
Much as some would like time to stand still, every city must progress for its
own survival. But, for some reason, we in Hong Kong seem to think progress means
abandoning our past, that to move into the future we must leave behind the
things that shaped our character and identity. Again, the visible signs of that
are everywhere - historic structures thoughtlessly reduced to rubble to make way
for yet another high-rise; entire neighborhoods modernized in a way that they
become unrecognizable; and a skyline that once stood out for its mountains and
scenic harbor turned into a forest of buildings.
The firecrackers are gone, for reasons of safety, and I have no quarrel with
that. There are still happy faces, and some parents still dress their children
in traditional clothes, but this token gesture seems lost on them. Instead of a
home-cooked end-of-year feast, many families now make do with eating out. And
rather than soaking up the special feeling of being here, tens of thousands now
head off for the beaches and resorts of Thailand and elsewhere to soak up the
sun and sea instead. Even as Hong Kong progresses away from its old identity as
a conservative Chinese city under British rule, it seems unsure of what new
identity it wants. A westernized city under Chinese rule? Or one that is drawn
to its Chinese roots but feels it must adopt western ways to be modern?
In a way, Hong Kong is like no other city. Nearly nine years into the handover,
it is still not sure how much of its colonial heritage it should shake off, or
how much of the motherland it should embrace. What other city has holidays for
Christmas, Easter, the Lunar New Year, Buddha's Birthday, the Dragon Boat
Festival, China's National Day, Labor Day and so on? [...]
Well said.
Honestly, to me, the feeling of Chinese New Year is fading.
For one thing, I have been collecting fewer and fewer red pockets. Before I would not be allowed to take a shower/ bath on the New Year's Day. Now? I was pouring myself from head to toe early on that morning.
Still, others would remind me it's CNY.
I was overcharged for $20 as I ordered a home-delivery. When I asked why I was being overcharged,
"It's because we don't have discount for tea/ coffee during the Chinese New
Year" explained at the other end of the line.
Though upset, I "could" not get mad at her.
All because of the Year of Dog.
