Abbas’s text here was focusing on the term ‘disappearance’, where its meaning of cultural (architectural) disappearance due to Hong Kong’s Urbanisation gave me a hard time on reflecting what we had sacrificed in the past decades to build what we see today. Surprisingly, the ending of the text pointed my mind to a whole new perspective, when our city became more ‘placeless’ and ‘anonymous’ due to hyperdensity and economic growth, instead of making Hong Kong characterless, would that actually brings us character? Hong Kong were nowhere before being colonised by the British, although this opens up Hong Kong to be a cosmopolitan, we cannot trash our identity of being a Chinese society away as we still kept their traditions. As result, Hong Kong per se should be a place symbolising cultural blend and being adaptive to the future. There wasn’t much of a ‘Hong Kong style’ architecture to be appreciated until we get the astonishing skyline from the modernised Victoria Harbour, what we fight on conservation today were either Chinese or British styled architecture. Constantly being nostalgic, I stand with conserving some truly meaningful monuments, however from now on, I will appreciate our modernised environment that make my home ‘Hong Kong’ even more.
Your reflection on Abbas reveals your optimistic outlook on the future condition of Hong Kong’s cultural identity, well-written and thoughtful piece. Good job!