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Opinion | How Hong Kong, divided by protests, can unite Yellowland and Blueland
- True reconciliation is an urgent task, especially because many of the alienated in Hong Kong society are our own younger generation
- Problems can be solved when we are willing to put aside our differences and embrace the values of pragmatism and common sense
Reading Time:3 minutes
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Even the most resilient person would admit the last year in Hong Kong has been challenging. At the height of the protest unrest, travel and transport were so disrupted that the city’s everyday life was more or less impossible.
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Those days are behind us, we hope. Even if the buildings and other facilities have been repaired, though, there is much more to be done in making society whole again.
How are such divisions healed? A moment’s thought shows that dividing Hong Kong into Blueland and Yellowland would not work.
True reconciliation is an urgent task, especially because many of the alienated are our own younger generation. We cannot declare perpetual war on our own children.
It is important that we make up for lost time and get to understand our young people. Hong Kong is lacking in serious sociological studies on the subject, but what has been done in recent years has indicated overwhelming feelings of hopelessness among our youth.
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Youth in Hong Kong and Taiwan need a chance to build their political ‘driving’ skills
Youth in Hong Kong and Taiwan need a chance to build their political ‘driving’ skills
This is quite a contrast with their parents and their grandparents, who may have been poorer but also shared in the optimism and progress of the “Lion Rock” period. These fortunate elders might be accused of lacking sensitivity since they have concentrated on lecturing the younger generation on how lucky they are rather than trying to get to the root of their problems.
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