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Seriously not funny: it’s high time to find common ground

South China Morning Post

發布於 2019年11月11日16:11 • Alex Loalex.lo@scmp.com alex.lo@scmp.com
  • The people of Hong Kong cannot continue to demonise each other as the city burns; surely there must be a way forward
What is truly disgusting are rioters who trash someone’s shop and livelihood because the business may be associated with someone else who expresses views they oppose. Photo: Winson Wong
What is truly disgusting are rioters who trash someone’s shop and livelihood because the business may be associated with someone else who expresses views they oppose. Photo: Winson Wong

Many good people in Hong Kong are starting to propose ways out of this hellhole we have dug for ourselves in the past five months.

One forum is to be held this weekend by professionals and academics, who call themselves the Hong Kong Forward Alliance, to find common ground and ways forward. I applaud their efforts and wish them every success.

Some of them are big thinkers and experienced professionals. I doubt I have any big ideas to rival theirs. So, I urge you to attend the forum at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai.

I would make one suggestion, a minor one, because this has bothered me most. Everyone should make an effort to judge something or someone on their own merits, not by their ideological colours. Who cares whether someone is "yellow" or "blue", anti-China or pro-government, if he or she is a dear friend?

Being one or the other doesn't make you a better or worse person, I can assure you. It's who you are that decides your real worth.

Hong Kong forum to discuss ways to encourage reconciliation

I suggest everyone does that with other things as well. I think the city lacks good political satire, and the only regular offering on television is Headliner, on RTHK. But I stopped watching it because it's pathetically unfunny, not because it's blatantly "yellow".

Recently, a food guide using Google Maps has surfaced, showing the names and locations of supposedly "yellow" and "blue" restaurants and fast food outlets. The whole idea is morally repugnant.

The only thing you need to know about a restaurant is whether the food is good, if it provides value for money and if the service is of an acceptable standard. We shouldn't care if the owners or chefs are "ideologically correct".

But what is truly disgusting are rioters who trash someone's shop and livelihood because the business may be associated with someone else who expresses views they oppose.

It's understandable that many people find it hard to deal with others who disagree with them on issues they care about.

I suggest there are two main reasons for that, though you may have other ideas. One is that you are so convinced you are right that the other person must not only be wrong but evil. Another is that you are so insecure about yourself you can't stand being challenged.

There is an easy cure for that: stop taking yourself so seriously.

Copyright (c) 2019. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

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