Say No to Violence; We Need Peace!( part II)
Hong Kong, a historical part of China, used to be captured by U.K for more than 150 years. Because of being governing under U.K, English instead of Mandarin or Cantonese was the official teaching language. Cars ran along the left side of road. National flags of U.K were seen everywhere. Moreover on the item Nationality on Hong Kong people’s passports was written U.K, which caused a big problem when people there planned to travel around the world, for some of them would rather consider Hong Kong as their nationality which was unacceptable then considering HK is but a subsidiary of the Great Britain. Yet when Hong Kong people feel quite content with the rapid development of
Hong Kong economy and prosperity of its international metropolitan environment, they would not complain more about those mentioned small issues. Thanks to the application of the economic and social system of U.K, Hong Kong grew from a smelly fishing village to one of the most important financial centers in the whole world. People from around the whole world love to come to Hong Kong to eat, to shop or even just to stand by the Victoria Harbor at night. Suddenly one day the government of People’s Republic of China announced of resumption of the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong. This news cheered millions of mainlanders but panicked locals in Hong Kong and almost all the other countries. International companies that centered or had branches in Hong Kong were preparing for leaving; Hong Kong stock market was met with huge decline; some people immigrated (or probably they would call it escape) to U.K or some other countries. Newsweek once used title “The Death of Hong Kong” as one issue’s cover. Why did these happen? Change! A much bigger change than an all-women college going co-ed. You can imagine how mentally difficult to accept the truth is to most Hong Kong people, just as now how some of our upper-class women still cannot believe that guys already move in and take courses with girls in the same classroom. Our government tries their best to keep everything going as usual in Hong Kong, such as keeping their capitalism though mainland China applies socialism. 10 years has passed since Hong Kong was united to China again. Did Hong Kong die yet? No. A recent survey indicates that most Hong Kong people are more satisfied with their temporary life than they used to be 10 years ago. What is it supposed to mean? It means bad things didn’t happen as the majority expected. On contrast it turned to be much better.
I know it’s not easy for anyone going through this transition period. It took Hong Kong 10 years to get accustomed. How long will it take our Randolph (I insist not using Randolph-Macon) women and staff to get used to? Nobody knows. But I know conflicts are never solutions to problems. I am living on a floor called Peace and Diplomacy. What I am supposed to focus on is the whole world. Yet as a part of our world, if even our college is not peaceful how we expect peace in a more broad area?