After migrated to New Zealand, Bernard returned to Hong Kong. He felt that things in Hong Kong had changed. He went to work in Beijing several years ago and had considered residing there, but he was loath to leave Hong Kong at the bottom of his heart. Seven years ago, Zhang Chongxue, in her early twenties, came to Hong Kong under the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme to join the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra. She appreciates Hong Kong’s fairness and impartiality, and it is one’s strength instead of one’s relationships with other people that counts here. She fell in love with the city and decided to give up her household registration in Shanghai to become a Hong Konger. Zhang Chongxue found what Bernard had lost here. Similarly, Bernard found what he had lost in Beijing. As the Earth is round, the starting point can also be the finishing point at the same time.
Shi Dean moved to Hong Kong with his family at the age of 12. He began to come into contact with social movements when he was studying in university. Because of his participation in the movements, he gradually developed his affection for Hong Kong. However, he is leaving. The chaos, noises in the city made him difficult to breathe. Zeng Xiankui grew up in a farmer’s family. After his university graduation, he completed his master’s degree at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, got a job and stayed in Hong Kong. In two years, he was already promoted to Associate Director in a financial institution and made more than a million per year. Now, he and his wife, also a mainlander staying in Hong Kong after her graduation, are planning to have their own family here. Perhaps the situation in Hong Kong is just like an “enclosed city”: people outside want to get in, while people inside want to get out. Can this “enclosed city” absorb a wide variety of individuals and contain people from all over the world like before?
Some people look for opportunities in Hong Kong while some people pursue a stable life here. For the overseas Chinese who have experienced a volatile life, Hong Kong is a place where they can settle down. It is estimated that in the 1970s, 300,000 to 400,000 Chinese emigrants came from the Mainland to settle in Hong Kong together with their spouses and children. Overseas Chinese have led a drifting life. Some of them eventually take Hong Kong as their final stop but some of them opt to leave for another country again. Are the overseas Chinese and their younger generation in Hong Kong just sojourners or Hong Kongers? In this episode, the two overseas Chinese families have four choices and they finally find their home after all the turns in their lives.
What Hong Kong has achieved today is built upon the continuous efforts of local elites of different generations. Various effective and long-standing systems and values have been groped, developed and created for passing from one generation to another. Law Chi-kin joined the Social Welfare Department in 1952, and he is one of the first generation of social workers of Hong Kong. Their thoughts of serving Hong Kong back then were to exercise their team spirit to ensure that every job was well done, so that people could lead a better life. His son Law Kin-chung, Christopher is a famous local architect. Though they are from different professions, they do have the same affection for the community. They proactively promote sustainable development of society, and look forward to using new thoughts to draw the future cityscape of Hong Kong. It is this spirit of ensuring that every job is well done that gradually turning into the biggest power of people in every generation to push this city forward.
The spirit of Hong Kong is also known as the spirit of “Below the Lion Rock”: hardworking, perseverance and continuous self-reliance. Since the 80’s and the 90’s, when industries moved northwards, the society began to transform, and Hong Kong has become an international financial city! The mentality of Hong Kongers has also changed, and Taiwanese scholar Lung Ying-tai calls it “the values of Central”. Financial and real estate transactions can create wealth, but they can also create bubbles. Some industrialists and entrepreneurs still believe that creativity is the essence of sustainable development for a society. Garment factory proprietor Eva Siu and Keith Li are two of Hong Kong’s entrepreneurs. Will “the values of Central” turn Hong Kong into a monotonous society? Is Hong Kong still pluralistic and open, encouraging creativity and enjoying freedom?
Riding on a rapid economic take-off, Hong Kongers born and grew up in the 80s and 90s are enjoying the fruit of the speedy development. Demolition, reconstruction, and construction of taller buildings, as well as in search of higher economic value, have resulted in a sparkling city full of skyscrapers, and this is the formula of development in Hong Kong. “The promotion of efficiency and the pursuit of economic value” becomes a golden rule for Hong Kongers. But during the process, what have we sacrificed? And has this economic value-oriented development pattern brought a better life for us? Isaac and Simon are two post 80’s. Apart from working full time, they are striving for the conservation of old districts and blocking the wheel of development with a gentle approach.
Hau-chun and Ho-man are two grassroots youngsters. Their parents’ generation made tremendous contributions during the most robust period of Hong Kong’s industrial and construction sectors, thereby building today’s prosperous Hong Kong. However, can Hau-chun and Ho-man of this generation benefit anything from it? While the two youngsters are working hard to earn a living, they have not forgotten to show their care for the homeless in Sham Shui Po. The work they are doing may not be enough, but in the eyes of the homeless, it is already another kind of starlight behind Hong Kong’s prosperity.
In the past, working hard would earn you a promotion and a raise. Does this “hard work brings you success” formula still exist nowadays? Does the young generation still believe in this success formula? Or should they open up new routes to create a whole new world and redefine the spirit of “Below the Lion Rock”? Shek Chi-wan (Adam) and Lai Kin-kee (Ah Kee) are graduates of Architecture and Cultural Studies respectively. The two post-80’s are pursuing a different career path after their graduation. Adam joined a social enterprise, and he trains his willpower by means of running. Ah Kee still attends classes after work, as he wants to be a social worker and strives to promote policy development in Hong Kong.
Young people lack opportunities for upward social mobility. Is that why they have to win at the starting line? Chu Tsz-leung (Mew) studied Form 1 for three times. While being assessed as a gifted student, Mew opted to attend practical school, where he was inspired by his teacher Siu Wing-ngan. Subsequently, Mew worked as an apprentice working on animation, and his supervisor, Daniel, promoted him to Senior Animator after only one year. Suffering from dyslexia, Mew is now working on an astronomy photo book to promote astronomy by photographic images. Cheung Kit-ying (Carol) obtained her Master’s Degree in Music Therapy in UK. As there are too few jobs in her field, she has to teach music to make ends meet. Her student Edward is in pain from the loss of his wife, and Carol applies her music therapy techniques to compose a song for him to relieve his emotions. Mew and Carol started from different starting lines but their goal is the same, and their ideal is to care for other people.
The two protagonists of this episode are former advertising professionals, one of them is residing in Beijing and the other in Hong Kong. The choice of where they live, to a certain extent, reflects their collective experience. The theme of this episode is: How to live a good life in a big change of environment. Andrew went to study in Canada in 1983 while the Sino-British negotiation took place, and subsequently migrated to Canada with his family. He was particularly aware of his identity of being a Hong Konger when he was there. Ten years later, he returned to Hong Kong alone. In 2003, when Hong Kong was hit by the Financial Crisis and SARS, Eliza and her husband Danny were not able to continue to work here, and they have been working and living in China since then. Andrew loves the culture of Hong Kong, and has established a local cultural product brand as well as a web tv channel, so as to safeguard the core values of Hong Kong and the cultures that are on the verge of disappearing. Living in China has inspired Eliza to create her own brand of trendy product. Work is only her 'part-time job', and she devotes all her spare time to her family. She thinks that living in Beijing can allow their kids more room for development, and this is one of the reasons that they stay in Beijing.