Hong Kong has all the time been a metropolis that is aware of how you can get up after a storm. Irrespective of how the exterior critics choose it or how narratives shift, Hong Kong folks proceed to reside, work and push ahead in their very own manner. As town regains stability and strikes into a brand new part of restoration, the necessity to inform Hong Kong’s story anew has turn out to be more and more pressing. Equally essential is the necessity to rediscover town’s angle as a result of the way forward for any metropolis is formed not solely by coverage and infrastructure, but additionally by narrative and spirit.
The town is respiratory once more after shaking off the aftermath of the 2019 riots and the COVID-19 pandemic. After years of turbulence, order has returned, the financial system is stabilizing underneath Chief Govt John Lee Ka-chiu’s administration, and every day life has steadily normalized. The momentum of town transitioning “from stability to prosperity” is actual, and Hong Kong is making ready for its subsequent chapter. On the identical time, town is present process a deeper strategy of institutional renewal and capability rebuilding, with new coverage instruments, governance mechanisms and regional alternatives reshaping its long-term growth trajectory. Domestically, these shifts are more and more acknowledged as a part of a broader effort to reposition Hong Kong for a extra complicated world panorama.
Internationally, nevertheless, a markedly completely different narrative prevails. Many Western media organizations proceed to filter Hong Kong by means of a slender, usually deceptive prism — decreasing town’s institutional depth, financial capability and social dynamism to a single storyline centered on the nationwide safety legal guidelines carried out within the metropolis. This selective framing reinforces a picture of Hong Kong as weakened, much less vibrant and insufficiently future‑centered.
The issue will not be that Hong Kong lacks tales, however that it has not projected them successfully. It doesn’t lack strengths, but it surely lacks visibility. It doesn’t lack spirit, but it surely must reawaken it.
In at this time’s information-saturated world, a metropolis’s status is not decided solely by its insurance policies, however by how its story is instructed and by whom. Singapore’s world picture, for instance, will not be solely the product of governance however of a coordinated narrative ecosystem involving authorities, enterprise, academia and media. Hong Kong wants the same functionality — a type of sensible media energy that isn’t about propaganda however about resonance, not about pushing messages however about constructing understanding.
The subsequent decade is Hong Kong’s alternative to reposition itself, retell its story and restart its journey. … If Hong Kong can harness sensible media energy, inform its story with confidence and reset its angle with sincerity, it will probably write a brighter new chapter within the years forward.
Hong Kong has world-class inventive expertise, a strong media sector and a novel skill to function throughout cultures and languages. These belongings, if used nicely, can carry Hong Kong again into world view. Movie and tv have lengthy been amongst Hong Kong’s most influential cultural exports. Beneath the Lion Rock as soon as captured town’s collective spirit and formed how generations understood Hong Kong. As we speak, town can produce a brand new era of tales grounded in on a regular basis life. The experiences of latest immigrants integrating into native communities, the routines of academics and nurses, the aspirations of younger innovators constructing startups within the Northern Metropolis, the realities of cross-boundary households and the heat of bus drivers, waiters and market distributors all reveal a Hong Kong that’s human, resilient and evolving. These narratives are much more compelling than any coverage doc and much more practical in serving to the world perceive town’s transformation.
The Lion Rock Spirit will not be a slogan however an angle rooted in diligence, pragmatism, mutual help and quiet willpower. These values helped Hong Kong rise earlier than, they usually might help town rise once more.
Storytelling alone, nevertheless, will not be sufficient. Hong Kong wants a multiplatform narrative technique that extends past movie and tv into worldwide media engagement, social-media visibility, short-form video storytelling, music, gaming and podcasts. The town ought to proactively present knowledge, professional commentary and coverage explanations that worldwide journalists can use, whereas additionally showing extra often on world phases from the Davos World Financial Discussion board to the Internet Summit. On the identical time, Hong Kong should reenter the social-media areas the place world audiences now devour data. On a regular basis scenes — the effectivity of cha chaan teng (conventional Chinese language-style tea eating places), the punctuality of the MTR, the vibrancy of moist markets, the revival of nightlife, the every day routines of cross-boundary college students — can form perceptions extra successfully than official statements. Hong Kong’s bilingual and internationally savvy content material creators can function cultural ambassadors who clarify, contextualize and humanize town for world audiences.
Cultural expression can even broaden Hong Kong’s attain. The town wants a brand new soundtrack that displays its id at this time, and its dense city material, hybrid tradition and dramatic landscapes are perfect for gaming worlds that would introduce world gamers to town. Podcasts supply a platform for explaining complicated insurance policies in accessible methods, permitting listeners to know Hong Kong’s transformation by means of voices, tales and lived expertise.
Telling Hong Kong’s story nicely is barely half the duty. The opposite half is resetting Hong Kong’s angle. Lately, some residents and guests have famous a decline in service tradition, a drop in administrative effectivity, a extra detached social environment, and an absence of belief between long-time residents and newcomers. Guests generally report that Hong Kong feels chillier than earlier than. These aren’t structural points however angle points, and angle shapes competitiveness.
Singapore’s success will not be solely coverage‑pushed; it’s behavioral, rooted in professionalism, courtesy, effectivity and respect for guidelines. Hong Kong has demonstrated these qualities all through its fashionable historical past, they usually stay a part of town’s underlying character. The duty now’s to reenergize them and to make them seen once more.
Cultural merchandise might help reset attitudes. Tv dramas, quick movies, promoting and influencer content material can mannequin constructive service tradition, cross-cultural understanding and the on a regular basis expressions of Hong Kong’s spirit. {Hardware} might be copied and establishments might be replicated, however a metropolis’s angle — its temperament, its manner of treating folks — is its most irreplaceable asset.
The subsequent decade is Hong Kong’s alternative to reposition itself, retell its story and restart its journey. Externally, the world must see the true Hong Kong quite than a distorted model offered by some hostile Western media shops. Internally, Hong Kong residents must see themselves once more quite than a metropolis outlined by previous divisions. If Hong Kong can harness sensible media energy, inform its story with confidence and reset its angle with sincerity, it will probably write a brighter new chapter within the years forward.
The creator is chairman of Doctoral Alternate, a Hong Kong-based assume tank.
The views don’t essentially mirror these of China Day by day.
