Indeed, it was precisely British colonial institutions that made Hong Kong ripe for its current immense socioeconomic inequality, where mansions and cage homes coincide. In its crescendo of 黎明來到要光復這香港 ('Break now the dawn, restore Hong Kong') the song phrases this tension in its most striking form: the cause of freedom in Hong Kong is expressed simultaneously as an advance towards a new day and a return to the old ways – a combination of nostalgia for colonial-era institutions (such as the rule of law) that are currently under threat, and yet a recognition that the freedom and democracy we so desire was never attained under British rule. To begin, the song represents the tension with relating contemporary Hong Kong to its British colonial past. “Glory to Hong Kong” – a collective anonymous Internet piece born in the turmoil of the 2019-20 protests as Hong Kong’s own ‘national anthem’ – is a song that embodies the sense of alienation all those who politically identify as ‘Hong Konger’ must confront: the struggle in grounding an emancipatory identity of ‘Hong Konger’ upon the city’s unique and contradictory history.

Thomas dgx yhl - “Glory to Hong Kong” Desmund Hui

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