THE RIGHT TIME

By Sam Yin
A friend of mine recently told me about his thoughts on Occupy Central. He concluded, “It is not the right time.” This sounded to me like a typical response to an innovative idea from an official who detests change. But later I asked myself, “So when is the right time?”

The discussion of Hong Kong has been mostly centered at economics. For most Chinese citizens, Hong Kong is characterized by its free and energetic market, and the government’s strategic plan of development has been based on this perception. The political system has, either deliberately or unintentionally, been downplayed in our conversations regarding the strategic plan for future. The current protest could be considered as an unfortunate consequence of this neglect. This conflict pushes us to challenge the long-held mindset: Hong Kong enjoys freedom only because of its financial importance to the mainland. It sounds so idealistic and arbitrary to someone who does not directly benefit from Hong Kong’s prosperity. The purpose of democracy has been defined so narrowly about economy that we have ignored other aspects and interests involved, such as the self-governance of the people in Hong Kong, which should not be eliminated if we truly care about its future.

I believe it is time to embrace the complexity and reconsider Hong Kong’s development beyond economic prospects. This requires a great amount of reflection on our values and perspectives, as well as learning of all stakeholders, i.e. citizens in Hong Kong, government, social media, etc. A perfect environment for this process would be a “pressure cooker,” not as stressful as protests but intense enough to engage people to make a change. But Occupy Central undoubtedly provides the momentum to start a deeper and more thoughtful discussion. It will be tough, as we are examining the system we have gotten so used to, and simultaneously time painful, as we question principles we perceive as truth. The greatest temptation of the work is to seek for a simple answer to the situation and regard it as a cure-all. It is impossible to resolve all the problems with only a few policies or oppressive measures. The real focus is how we could build up Hong Kong’s own adaptability to prepare it for the challenges in the future.

Thanks to Occupy Central, we get the chance to think over this question in a more attentive and responsible manner. If we fail to grasp this opportunity of improving our self-understanding, we would miss the right time for the whole nation to make progress.

Sam Yin is a second-year Statistics major at Duke University. 
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