Chapter 27 Twenty-Four Moderate Rebellion

Long Yingtai's letter to his son: Walk for the child Dear Andre, Philip: The day before the Hong Kong parade on December 4th happened to be the county elections in Taiwan; as a result of the elections, the ruling Democratic Progressive Party lost support in most areas in a way you could say was "humiliated".During the parade in Hong Kong the next day, do you remember one of the banners read: "Compatriots in Taiwan, I envy you that you can vote!" He and Philip participated in two parades on July 1st, and a sit-in to commemorate June 4th. (Is this part of your nostalgia for Hong Kong, Philip? If yes, next time there is an anti-Iraq war parade in Frankfurt, will you go there?) Hong Kong people have not yet learned the Taiwan people's agitation and will-inspiring political movement techniques ; If the four-kilometer parade is operated by Taiwanese, it will be very different. Taiwanese will use various sound and visual designs to create or exaggerate the "atmosphere".For example, there is likely to be a drum team, because the sound of drums is the most inspiring and gathers strength.Hong Kong people basically just walk quietly.

Like you, what touched me the most were so many children, many of them were pushing baby carriages, and many of them let laughing children ride on their shoulders.Ask them, everyone said, "I am marching for the next generation." The feelings of "bow your head and be willing to be a bully" are fully reflected in Hong Kong people. The demands of their demonstrations are sadly low: Hong Kong people are not asking for democracy, they are just asking the government to come up with a timetable, which is just a timetable.They're not even asking, "Let's have universal suffrage by such and such a month," they're just asking, "Give me a timetable"!

From my outsider's point of view, this is a request that is too "low-key". In Hong Kong, many people think that this request is too "excessive". Hong Kong people have always reacted rationally and mildly in the face of things, and they are very proud of their rationality and mildness—laughing at Taiwanese people's easy to be emotional.I have always believed that Hong Kong people with civic literacy and the spirit of the rule of law, once they implement democracy, can definitely create a democracy of higher quality than Taiwan (Taiwan's democracy has no "quality" at all), because civic literacy and the spirit of the rule of law are the foundation of democracy. Two major cornerstones.But the December 4th parade gave me new doubts:

Moderation and rationality are the external manifestation of civic literacy and the spirit of the rule of law, and are important people's "character" in the practice of democracy.Taiwanese people are not so "gentle and rational" compared to Hong Kong people, because they have come out of a long-term "resistance to violence"—the "violence" against Japanese colonialism, the "violence" against the high-handed KMT rule, and now they are resisting the democratic progress. The party is incapable of corruption and the "violence" of abuse of power.In Taiwan, there are more and more "moderate and rational" people, but their "moderate and rational" is brewed bit by bit in the process of uninterrupted "resistance to violence".The "moderate rationality" of the Taiwanese is calm after being hurt.

Where does the "gentleness and rationality" of Hong Kong people come from?Not from the "violence"; they had neither resisted the "violence" of British colonialism nor the "violence" of the Communist Party.In the fate of history, Hong Kong people only have experience of "escape" and "immigration", but no experience of "resistance to violence".Their "gentleness and rationality" is a mixture of the "bringing" training of the British drinking afternoon tea and a kind of "helplessness" cultivated in the face of rough and tyrannical China.

Therefore, Hong Kong people's "moderate rationality" is very, very different from Taiwanese people's "moderate rationality" in terms of degree, especially in essence.The roughness that Taiwanese often show has its own origin, and the upbringing of Hong Kong people who never lose their line has its own origin. Putting it this way, my dear children, let's think about this: The civic literacy and the spirit of the rule of law of Hong Kong people must be the best in democratic practice. However, when there is no democracy and you want to fight for democracy, especially in the face of a huge and unshakable power structure, this kind of British afternoon How useful are tea-style "education" and Chinese suffering-style "helplessness"?

This is the first time I think of this question, Andre, Philip, what do you think? As for universities, Andre, you said that in Hong Kong, "universities are only concerned with the instillation of knowledge but not with the cultivation of personality and the establishment of ideas." To be honest, I was taken aback.It is not unique to Hong Kong that the university becomes a training institute for technical personnel, and it is only in pursuit of grades that it is separated from humanistic care and social responsibility.China, Taiwan, Singapore, all of them.You are so accurate.But tell me, kids, isn't your education in Europe the same?Can you be more specific?

I can't write any more because I have to get my hair cut.Philip, don't drink too much beer, even if it's weak—what secrets do you not tell me? MM 2005-12-08 in Taipei