Hong Kong struggles to find its identity as China prepares to take over

Five weeks before Britain hands over the territory to China, Hong Kong is searching its soul to find its own distinct identity.

Squeezed between the British, which gave it its institutions, and China, with which it shares rich history and culture, Hong Kong is trying to come to grips with the reality that it is neither one nor the other.

Represented in flags and emblems by the Bauhinia flower, Hong Hong is not quite comfortable with British jingoism or Chinese propaganda and patriotism. Yet its own identity is not sturdy enough to overcome the self-doubts over the identity that either side is trying to impose.

''Most young people immediately identify themselves as Hong Kong people, but what does that mean?'' says Pang Kin-Fu of the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups. ''Over 30 or 40 years of Hong Kong's development, people have developed their own distinct identity.''

''It has a unique culture, which is the 'traditional' east tinged with the 'unconventional' west,'' says Pang.

''Hong Kong is trying to find itself, never having thought of itself as either Chinese or British. Now we've been forced to find our own style,'' says Hong Kong fashion designer Pacino Wan who puts prints of Britain's Queen Elizabeth and the British flag on faded denim.

Like the Germans before the Berlin wall fell, Chinese and Hong Kong people while sharing a common ethnicity, culture and customs, have grown up against the backdrop of different political events, differing values and exposure to the outside world. In particular, amid differing material circumstances.

Antony Leung, a banker and member of the post-handover chief's inner cabinet, sees Hong Kong in terms of its distinct ''spirit''. He says, ''We are Chinese living in Hong Kong.''

''We should inherit the best things from Chinese tradition -- patience, industriousness, respect for our elders -- and also profit from our full exposure to Western culture. We combine the Chinese and Western ways of doing things and we pick the best. That is the Hong Kong way.''

Those who fled China, particularly those who arrived in Hong Kong without a penny in their pockets, feel a deep sense of belonging to Hong Kong because of the opportunities it gave them, which, they recognise, they would never have got in China.

Author Louis Cha, who penned more than a dozen bestselling Kung Fu novels, arrived penniless in 1948 and rose to own a newspaper and other publishing enterprises. He describes Hong Kong as ''a place where hard work is fairly rewarded''.

''I love Hong Kong not because it has any special characteristics. I love it because it has been very good to me. I am deeply indebted to Hong Kong, and from this indebtedness, love grows.''

A recent survey by the Baptist University's Hong Kong in Transition project found almost two-thirds of respondents describing themselves as Hong Kong Chinese or ''Hong Kongers'' with only 31 per cent seeing themselves as ''Chinese''. Less than three per cent described themselves as British, although many have British passports.

Culturally, Britain has left little stamp on Hong Kong. The colonial masters kept themselves largely aloof in expatriate enclaves, entertaining themselves in their clubs rather than patronising and promoting local Chinese culture.

British writer Jan Morris notes in her book Hong Kong that the British, of all its colonies, made the least impact on Hong Kong. ''The mass of the Chinese in Hong Kong today are not a jot less Chinese because they live beneath the Union Jack,'' she writes.

Yet as the Asia Society's Kenneth Lieberthal notes in a document on Hong Kong's transition: ''The underlying reality is that Hong Kong is Westernised, modern and Chinese. British rule highlighted the first two characteristics which have in fact become core dimensions of Hong Kong society.''

He adds, ''Hong Kong is over 98 per cent Chinese in ethnic composition and in the future, some redressing of the balance in favour of being Chinese is inevitable.''

Among people below 30, the percentage of those describing themselves as ''Hong Kongers'' rather than ''Chinese'' comes up to 80 per cent. These are the people who were born and brought up in Hong Kong, most of them never visiting the mainland and regard the Chinese as uneducated and uncouth. There is a clear sense of superiority over mainlanders.

But an incident last year sparked some sort of patriotism towards the mainland. When Japan laid claim to the disputed Diaoyu Islands, young people began to call themselves ''Chinese''. ''Everyone's patriotism was pushed up a notch,'' notes one school teacher.

Choreographer Edward Lam adds, ''All of a sudden I see people -- from students to the elderly -- crying out in patriotism. It is almost like the conflict has given Hong Kong people a chance to find their identity as Chinese.''

Among the territory's new political elite who will run the territory after the handover, Hong Kong's woolly sense of identity is seen in a negative light.

A pro-China district board member, Ho Han-Cheung, said youngsters grew up being ''too Hong Kong-oriented''. Their ''Hong Kong-oriented values'' prevented them from realising that the territory's development would be closely linked with China after the handover, he said.

''Such a one-sided attitude is very unhealthy because it will weaken their involvement in integrating into Chinese society.'' The authorities, who had given such issues little thought in the past have now issued guidelines for civic education which include teaching children to ''love'' China. Students from kindergarten to age 12 will be taught ''patriotism'' defined by the education department as ''the recognition and sense of belonging to China.'' Kindergarten children will be told they are Chinese.

Others like Wan feel it is imperative to find a distinctive Hong Kong ''voice''. But such a voice will not be found overnight.

''The mentality now is to think of oneself as a Hong Kong Chinese and ultimately after the handover there will be a group of people who will have a hard time finding where they belong,'' reflects Lam.

UNI