Go out there and see the world for ourselves

Brian YS Wong July 19, 2024 22:09

“So you’re finally taking an interest in us, are you?”

This is a question I oft hear – half in-jest, half a damning indictment – whenever I travel throughout Southeast Asia. The Association of Southeast Nations (ASEAN) is a region of over 660 million people, with a median age of 30.2 years old (as compared with China’s 38.4). With a burgeoning middle class, significant swathes of critical raw materials, and a highly lucrative and high-potential manufacturing scene, there is much to love about the region.

Yet for decades, many in Hong Kong – including the self-anointed political and economic elite – have largely neglected this region that is right around the corner (if you don’t believe me, try find out how long it takes to get to Hanoi from Hong Kong; a flight to Hanoi takes two-thirds of the time required for us to commute to Shanghai and vice versa). The rationales – or excuses – supplied are aplenty: Hong Kong doesn’t know ASEAN, unlike Singapore… ASEAN is too ‘developing’ and isn’t ‘happening’ enough (that is a deliberate usage of ‘happening’ – as Singaporeans do; not a typo)… or the classic, ‘Hong Kong already has (mainland) China and the US – there is no need for more.’

The sad truth is, there is indeed much need for more. Gone are the days when we could rest on our laurels, by turning into our conventional trading partners of mainland China and the US. The Chinese economy is struggling as it seeks to reorient away from old, ossified, and increasingly unproductive sectors, towards higher-productivity and greater-value-added sectors and industries. The US establishment, on the other hand, has opted to cynically position Hong Kong as a tool for criticism, castigation, and attack of China. After all, where better to start with the establishment’s strategy of comprehensive containment, than triggering Beijing to close off its most international city through securitisation?

At times like these, it falls upon us to wake up. As Hong Kong citizens, we are uniquely endowed with a bilingual city with a robust rule of law, and with one foot each through both the international and Chinese doors. We also possess near-unrivalled international connections and the savviness required to navigate a fraught and byzantine global geopolitical environment. Yet what is uniquely missing – and hence the butt of jokes by many of my dear friends from Southeast Asia – is exposure to the unknown. Hong Kongers are too good at what they do within the comfort zone and have come to forget the virtues and necessity of pushing beyond their realms of comfort.

We need to go out and see the world for ourselves. Only by embedding and immersing ourselves in the business and intellectual idiosyncrasies on the ground, can we come to appreciate the subtler and oft-uncodifiable nuances about regions such as ASEAN, the Gulf, and Latin America. These emerging markets are rapidly rising to become leading players in the era of renewables. For Hong Kong to look down upon them – to pass over the opportunities and huge upsides to be gained from working with them – would be a grave and massive mistake. A friend of mine confessed that it was not until recently that he visited Jakarta for the first time, despite his portfolio – held for the past few years – nominally including Indonesia and Malaysia. One visit alone was sufficient in changing his mind about Indonesia: he now views it as a must-have stop whenever he flies in from Europe.

Furthermore, seeing the world also helps put matters into perspective. There is a curious and dangerous bifurcation in discourses about China, here in Hong Kong. Many are unreservedly positive, showering and piling heaps of praise and compliments onto the powers that be – whether they do so out of genuine belief, or out of careerist considerations, remain to be seen. Others are unequivocally negative, worshipping the so-called ‘Western ways’ at the expense of commonsense and any semblance of pride and sense of co-ownership in the Chinese identity. In practice, we should recognise that true patriotism requires understanding and grasp on China’s strengths and deficiencies, and how Hong Kong has a role to play in the latter. If the SAR were to become a wholly mainstream mainland city – what function and value would it possess in the eyes of Beijing?

It is imperative that we empower our youth to venture beyond Hong Kong – and indeed, beyond their own country (China)’s borders. Many of my students have mentioned that they are keen to work in Southeast Asia and Latin America. Sadly, for a vast majority of Hong Kong teenagers and even university students, to work in emerging markets is seen as a chore, a daunting task, and something to be frowned upon. Such mindset, as with the rejection and refusal to experience the mainland as it is today, speaks to the perilous parochialism that has fomented and festered amongst our youth. To ensure that such inward-looking, closed-off thinking does not rear its head further (or again, given the events of the 2010s), the government and corporations alike must work hand-in-hand in creating an environment where international exposure is not only not frowned upon, but in fact appreciated and rewarded in hiring processes.

Leaving is not about quitting. Leaving – for the moment – paves the way for a more productive and meaningful return when the day comes.

Brian YS Wong

Assistant Professor, HKU