Keep the Legend Told, Cry for Change: Hong Kong National Identity in 2010

Abstract

The year 2010 in Hong Kong was kicked off by an influential political action that assembled a quasi-universal suffrage. In each election district (there are five in total in Hong Kong), one pro- democratic legislator handed in resignation. The action called “Collective Resignation of Five Districts” led to bi-elections in all five districts, a practically universal election. After handover by the British to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) government in 1997, Hong Kong politicians and its civil society have never stopped fighting for democratization evident in the selection of the top leader (Chief Executive, CE) and the Legislative Council (LegCo) based on universal suffrage. In 2010, discourse in Hong Kong featured the past colonial history which at the same time brewed the seed of revolution, the continuous legend of the city’s capitalism and its nodal position in the region—a hub in many terms—accusations of an unaccountable government and a cry for democracy. Generally speaking, while the negative colonial past was most frequently mentioned in elite texts, mainly high-school history textbooks, it was also highlighted in a popular movie that narrated a legend of past Hong Kong.