The task set – that is, to write a piece of journalism regarding some issue – was daunting, not for the writing and revision it would require, but for the multitude of topics from which an apt subject was to be chosen. The choice was tough, but after much tergiversation, a conflict close to home seemed most appropriate. The island of Hong Kong, my place of residence for 8 years, has experienced many rescissions of the political autonomy promised in 1997 by China, and therefore lent itself well to the task.
So I commenced a lengthy, almost feverish quest for profound knowledge regarding the recent political developments in Hong Kong. It took me from the white paper published by the Chinese government and the 2014 Umbrella Revolution to the Ming Pao knifings and the construction of several transportational leashes between China and Hong Kong. And the more I read, the more I felt obliged, as one who had benefited from the city’s democratic workings, to speak out, to advocate, to enlighten people that China’s expansionist inhibition of Hong Kong’s sovereignty was not for the better.
Stimulated by this calling, I wrote and articulated, redrafted and revised, edited and adjusted till the words of my article drifted in my dreams. When all was written and done, a sentiment that I had completed my duty resonated through my mind. This piece was not so much a travail I was pursuing for an assessment as a travail I was pursuing for a cause, for myself.