National identity has never been a problem among people my age, the so-called post-war babies. I was born Chinese, I am Chinese. No alternative has ever crossed my mind.
But then, probably around the late 1970s, we suddenly found that, in our identity cards, we were labelled British. That came with a British passport for easy travelling, and if you insisted you were Chinese, you got something else that was extremely inconvenient - a certificate of identity that was not recognised elsewhere. As most Chinese are pragmatists, we just went along with things. The Basic Law reflects this pragmatism and regards foreign passports as travel documents, not proof of nationality.
Even when our generation emigrated - the situation got so bad that we had to leave - we still thought of ourselves as Chinese. We stuck to our old lifestyle, watching TVB programmes and singing Chinese songs.
Generation X grew up in this environment, where up to a quarter of the Hong Kong population took up a new nationality. To them, national identity was not inborn, but a matter of choice. Many chose to swear allegiance to the Canadian flag, but then they moved back to Hong Kong. Nothing seemed to have changed, and they somehow still managed to obtain a home return permit and travel freely in and out of mainland China as Chinese.
Until now, this generation has been very confused. They can be, say, Australian, Chinese and Hong Kong citizens at the same time. Many maintain that they are Chinese. They are adamant that they love China's culture, history, food and so on, but it is the current regime and the 1.3 billion people that they can't stand.
Well, not exactly: they would naturally cheer for Chinese athletes in international competitions - as long as the opponents were not the Hong Kong team. They feel proud seeing Chinese astronauts orbiting in space, but will be quick to point out in the same breath that they are 40 years behind the Americans. Chinese from across the Shenzhen River are corrupt, dirty, greedy, and they flock to Hong Kong to snap up everything precious, notably hospital beds, apartments and baby formula.