Not sure where this could go, but here is good enough.
Was at a mate’s 60th birthday party last night, and a jolly time was had by all. I’ve known him nearly 40 years, we worked together in Hong Kong, he’s returned here with his (HK Chinese) wife relatively recently. Quite a few other newly returned people at this thing too. I asked a few whether the current ‘situation’ in HK with the clamp down on freedom of speech etc had a role in them deciding to leave. They all very politely, and in quite a well practiced way, dodged the question.
Felt it was odd at the time, but it was a party so I didn’t press it. And the beer was plentiful and there were lots of other things to chat about, like how the hell his son has ended up as an apprentice scout for Villa. Only this morning did I realise why they didn’t want to discuss this. Most of these people have lived most (in the case of my mate, we were early twenties when we started work there, I left after 3 years, he was there for 35 at least) or all (for the HK Chinese present) of their lives there. They have family and close friends there, and will want to return for visits etc. For those, like my mate, who worked for the government, or one of the universities, their pensions are drawn from there. They were scared. Even in a party and amongst friends, they were worried that a critical word could get back to the Chinese Communist Party, and have ‘consequences’.
And, on reflection, I don’t blame them. Freedom of speech isn’t just about laws, it’s about fear and self censorship.
