《就係香港》

I was determined to hunt down a magazine that I wanted. I didn't ship it into Singapore because the shipping cost was twice the retail price. Naaah. When this last-minute trip happened, I was thrilled.

To my horror, the magazine was sold out at many of its designated retail points.  I knew it would take some effort to find a retail point but it took more effort than assumed. I zipped in to the bookstores first, and they were actually out of stock! Ugh. I finally found two last copies at a newspaper stand in Central, outside GAP, right across from H-Kore.

I sought the first edition of said independent magazine titled 'Being Hong Kong'《就係香港》. The first edition 'Winter 2018 / 2018 冬' did a print run offering two differently designed covers. The magazine features the stories of Hong Kong and its people, presenting it in a series of reflective essays, written in traditional Chinese script (繁體漢字). As it is with independent publishers and magazines, you never know if they can continue production beyond the first year or two, so I really wanted to stock up on as many issues as possible.

I'm already nostalgic about the traditional Chinese Han script. I like it very much, and am trying to amass a bit of a book collection in this script. But only Taiwan and Hong Kong use it now. (Yes, I'm disregarding Macau.) That's an estimated 23 million + 7 million people who should be versed in writing the script. People who practice calligraphy and such would still be sentimental about it, I suppose. However, China is extremely forceful. We know the political implications and stories. Depending on how the political winds blow, this script might be archived as a historical quirk in two generations. Who knows.

The magazine is active on social media, showing us comments and photos of a slice of Hong Kong that the writers know. These are sides of the city that I've come to appreciate. These make up a Hong Kong that's fast disappearing. Since 1997, Hong Kong has faced waves and waves of enormous social changes, and not all are for the better, based on our current understanding of the world.

The stories it has chosen for this first edition are impressive. They trace the different ethnic races that make up the city, in spite of its 92% Chinese majority. The stories take readers to view how Hong Kong has developed through the years. Human faces and experiences underline each story, right down to ecological balance, academics and environment advocates. When I finished all the stories, I get the distinct sense that all these, the Hong Kong as we know, might cease to exist as China exerts greater influence and pressure on the city. I fear Hong Kong might become a Guangzhou or a Shenzhen. Clearly, these are subjective views.