Letters | Hong Kong’s best chapters are still unwritten

Feel strongly about these letters, or any other aspects of the news? Share your views by emailing us your Letter to the Editor at [email protected] or filling in this Google form. Submissions should not exceed 400 words, and must include your full name and address, plus a phone number for verification

As Hong Kong celebrates the 28th anniversary of its return to Chinese rule, I can’t help but recall my first impressions of the city. As a child, I watched the handover ceremony on television in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Hong Kong wasn’t very familiar. We knew it as the land of kung fu or Britain’s crown colony. I read about Kai Tak airport in a book written by Satyajit Ray and imagined Hong Kong as a vibrant city, shrouded in mystery.

After 13 years, Hong Kong has become home. I’ve seen many changes, from student protests to the national security law, from overtourism to shuttered businesses, from zero-Covid policies to an economic slump. But one thing has never changed: Hong Kong’s ability to bounce back in the face of adversity every single time.

After concerns about the national security law and the city’s Covid-19 measures prompted many to leave, some in the West proclaimed that “Hong Kong is over.”