After graduation, I came to Hong Kong to work. In the beginning, I similarly focused on work and kept myself away from the media. Wherever I went on occasional holiday outings, I only got to feel the convenience and efficiency of Hong Kong. Later, I gradually learned Cantonese and Hong Kong-style Mandarin. Then, I turned on the TV or opened the newspaper and -- good gracious -- I could find all kinds of weird stories, quite on a par with what I had been familiar with in Taiwan (except that Hong Kong did not have the tireless bombardment of on-the-hour TV news and blood-thirsty satellite news gathering). Once again, I began to readjust my subjective feelings.
Created by the information you are exposed to, such subjective feelings depend partly on the angle you take, and partly on the angle taken by the mass media. Looking at the frequent reports about "the vice president making a big fuss and filing a lawsuit against the media; the boring disputes about the romanization of Chinese characters; and discord in the government agencies causing individual officials to come out one after another and hold press conferences," it is easy to "feel" that life is not happy here. If one sells one's TV set and exposes oneself only to the information of your choice, then you may have a refreshing feeling that the MRT has reduced the frequency of your being late for work; that a new, cozy Starbucks coffee shop has opened up around the corner; or that the latest issue of a magazine you subscribe to looks more beautiful than the previous ones.
Or perhaps you feel that the bombardment of the news channels been reduced; that the coverage of volunteer groups has increased; that there are more programs offering in-depth analyses of domestic and overseas tourist spots; and more programs about how to make your own furniture. In that case, it might be a pity to sell your TV set.
Shanghai fever? Immigrating to Shanghai? Perhaps we should first stop, look and listen -- and do our homework first. Perhaps we should wait until we have enough balanced, objective information.
Jason Yeh is an assistant professor in the department of finance at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Translated by Francis Huang
RSS