Someone asked me why I loved Hong Kong. I said it was because people don't care about you here. My friend's contorted face suggested the answer seemed somewhat curious. It was not a prepared or rehearsed response. I was not really sure why I chose to phrase it quite like that. Having thought about it for a while, I feel I might now be able to explain why.
The expectation of social life in big, loud, multicultural, metropolitan, globally-networked-locally-contested cities has now plunged to the level where being left alone and accepted without overt prejudice may, by itself, be considered a valuable experience. So "not caring" roughly translates to "not bothering".
If I'm not pulling out all the stops trying to highlight every unique marker of my identity, others will not beat me over the head with my difference either. Actually, even if I were brandishing and embellishing all aspects of who I am, I would be treated, at worst, as an oddity. Now and then a passer-by might even toss me some change for trying so hard and to show appreciation for the entertainment I had provided him or her. The point is that too many people and places judge others. Hong Kong doesn't. Hong Kong accepts all sorts of consumers.
Everyone in Hong Kong is anonymous, or at least can be. Maybe Hong Kong is blind. Everyone is not equal in Hong Kong, but everyone is the same - a consumer wandering through a maze of commodities. There is no need to be anyone else if you can be a consumer. And if you can't be a consumer you're a nobody anyway.
Is this utopia? Probably not. I don't want to be a deal-hunter in city of malls, but Hong Kong doesn't really offer alternatives. What it does offer is an opportunity to get truly lost. And I mean that in the best possible way.
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3 comments:
I think you could be on to something. There's this suspension of curiosity there that's lacking in other parts of this so-called Asia. In Laos people want to know your name, your job, and how much you make. In Singapore there is a constant sussing out of the next person. It's a Hong Kong thing - get out of there and you'll find that not all southern chinese (descendents) are made equal!
sorry that was me -- theresa. :P
hey you... thanks for stopping by the blog :D i am back to school already. hope i can get back to the more curious parts of asia soon :)
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