Hong Kong cafes’ cultural historical past began sooner than in communist China, and the tradition that developed didn’t originate from the mainland; the founding father of the Museum of Hong Kong within the UK mentioned at a two-day occasion (July 9-10) in London about Hong Kong’s conventional cafes.
The occasion about Hong Kong’s bing-sutts (icehouse cafes) passed off in London’s Hackney Chinese language Neighborhood Companies Centre, the place the cafes’ distinctive flavours had been reproduced for guests.
Calvin is the founding father of the Museum of Hong Kong within the UK. One of many causes that motivated him to host the occasion was the hope of constructing extra Hongkongers conscious of the true historical past of Hong Kong.
He confused that Hong Kong’s historical past might be traced again greater than 100 years. He cited an instance, “ When one opinions historical past and information reviews, bing-sutts existed already through the 1910 period earlier than the primary world conflict. But when one searches the net for info, the conclusion is that bing-sutts had been introduced from Guangzhou to Hong Kong after the second world conflict. This conflicts with historic archives. Within the Nineteen Thirties, information reviews described bing-sutts as eateries for widespread individuals.”
He mentioned many individuals had been led to consider that Hong Kong’s tradition was shaped after the second world conflict when there was a big inflow of refugees from China, particularly from Shanghai, on account of persecution by the Chinese language Communist Occasion.
As to why Hong Kong’s native historical past was missed or twisted, Calvin mentioned it was as a result of “some individuals favored to emphasize that every thing in Hong Kong, large or small, was all carefully linked with China. The mainstream saying was the conflict between the nationalists and communists pressured refugees to maneuver to Hong Kong, and these refugees had been the makers of Hong Kong’s tradition. Nonetheless, there was a large hole between this saying and the reality.”
Calvin talked about “cultural conflict:” “Previously, Better China beliefs dominated the writings about Hong Kong tradition. They prevented Hong Kong tradition from being seen as equal to that in locations reminiscent of Gibraltar, with separate political methods. Underneath the affect of the “cultural conflict,” Hong Kong was often “summed up” as a department of Chinese language tradition fairly than an impartial entity.
Calvin mentioned, “Hong Kong is an impartial entity. Nonetheless, some individuals attempt to intentionally belittle Hong Kong tradition, whereas others use the topic to challenge Chinese language tradition as a long-standing and distant supply. Some individuals had been misled into pondering that Hong Kong’s authentic tradition was interlocked with Chinese language historical past.”
Calvin described the “Hong Kong Soul” because the Hong Kong native tradition preserved by Hongkongers, which should be understood when defining Hong Kong tradition. “Earlier than 1997, there was a definite model in Hong Kong’s meals, clothes, buildings, transport, leisure, and companies, which might solely be present in Hong Kong.” His profound perception was that to protect Hong Kong; it’s essential to outline Hong Kong’s tradition, language, and identification. Nonetheless, on this side, Hong Kong remains to be growing.
“All Hong Kong films and music that everyone knows by coronary heart had been made between the Sixties to Nineteen Nineties, a wonderful interval for the territory. Little doubt about it.” Calvin mentioned. “Movies and music are all the time the media for interpersonal communication, no matter place or nation. Subsequently when one talks about identification, Hong Kong’s movie tradition and music deserve our full consideration.”
The final occasion hosted by the Museum of Hong Kong was the ninth Hong Kong Competition in Brent, in northwest London, on January 26. The theme of the occasion was “Celebrating Hong Kong’s Birthday.” There was an exhibition about Hong Kong’s founding, with displays, tradition, and historical past.
If Hongkongers need to promote Hong Kong, they’ve first obtained to know the historical past of Hong Kong to have the ability to protect its heritage, Calvin mentioned.
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