INDELIBLE CITY. Dispossession and Defiance in HONG KONG.

INDELIBLE CITY.   Dispossession and Defiance in HONG KONG.

LOUISA LIM.

Perusing Libby (SA library online service) I saw this title but just continued searching.  Later I noticed it again and clicked borrow,  I am glad I did. Reading Chinese history wasn’t really my thing but because of China’s recently implemented extradition laws regarding Hong Kong, I decided to educate myself.  Hong Kong was in rebellion.  

First, note my error, Chinese history is different from Hong Kong history.  According to Lim.  It is a bit more than a stopover city for people like me heading for other countries, I.e. England, Europe etc.  I knew of Hong Kong’s independence from Britain in 1997.  We have watched recent dramatic events in Hong Kong since 2018 when mainland China introduced extradition laws and police locked down protestors.  

Lim delves into Hong Kong’s history as a separate indigenous entity from China. This is quite enlightening and she has a character to support her thesis that HK was/is not automatically Chinese.  

Her character is The King of Kowloon who some call a nut case as he has for years wandered around the city daubing his large untidy calligraphy over government buildings, walls and other surfaces.  Tsang Tsou Choi is said to paint petitions for historical wrongs to be corrected.  i.e. who owns Kowloon.  These have become collectable artefacts for some who are making money from the daubs.

Lim reports events such as the umbrella movement, spontaneous protests, Hong Kong police tear gassing its citizens who had cleverly organised the making of banners etc.  Street protest took on a new look with Postnote walls and Lennon walls which call out for peace. I am impressed with these.

Kowloon is situated on the northern part of HK on the mainland across Victoria Harbor. Old records give dates of habitation 960 -  1279. Kowloon was once a separate walled city. In 1860 Hong Kong was acquired by Britain and in 1997 returned to China.  

Lim is interested in HKs  history prior to British colonisation. As was the King of Kowloon who claims heritage back before British colonisation. It is his land so he said.

Were they just fishermen on a barren rock.? There is a reference to folk art which depicts men with fish heads.  Who knows?

Certainly the protest movement in current years has become brutal and dangerous for protesters and citizens lifestyle has changed.

I wish them well.  I am pleased to have read the book.

This is my sketch for them today. HK.