This part talks about the spirit of Hong Kong buildings. As an international metropolis in China, Hong Kong combines Chinese culture and western features with its own local culture. Many newly built buildings show the most cutting-edge design, but they abandoned the unique features of Hong Kong. The author is also concerned that Hong Kong may lose its unique feature after returning.
This book was written in 1997 when Hong Kong returned. The author is a former professor at HKU. Hong Kong was one of the most developed cities, while China was getting more and more influential worldwide. Hence, how to keep Hong Kong’s uniqueness while getting engaged in fast-rising China was the common concern among intellectuals.
In my opinion, the author showed his love and pride for Hong Kong. But his concern towards Beijing is surely unnecessary since the central government always respects Hong Kong’s own tradition.
Perhaps Abbas is not trying to point out the loss of Hong Kong’s unique features after the handover, but how people here are used to neglecting the cultural context where architecture is concerned. In my opinion, the culture of disappearance is at once a critique and a lens to understand Hong Kong.