For nation states, but also regions, cities, unions or sports clubs flags are an important source of identity. They are full of symbolism that aims not just to portrait and reflect, but also to create the values of the people they are supposed to represent. There usually are no coincidences when it comes to flags, and every little detail is carefully thought of.
Category Archives: Society
The Opening of the Umbrella
The events around Sunday, 28 September 2014, when the police repeatedly used tear gas against peaceful student protesters in Admiralty and Central are well documented, as are the days after, when Hong Kong appeared on the radar of a larger international audience, with even James Nachtwey, a veteran photojournalist who made his name on the streets of Thailand, Iraq and Northern Ireland being spotted on the streets of Hong Kong.
But this movement wasn’t expected, it wasn’t even planned. It took the organizers almost as much by surprise as the police, and most of all it caught the international media completely off guard who were almost completely unrepresented until students were being met with tear gas. Sadly they can now only speculate to what galvanized a student strike into an internationally recognized popular movement.
I would like to add my own account of the events between September 25 and 28, which I find crucial to understanding the movement’s origins.
A student leader giving a motivational speech ahead of an expected standoff with police
Foreign Spies and China’s Internal Affairs
Chances are that if you don’t look Chinese and engage in any activities critical of the Chinese government or its many affiliates you will at some point be accused of being a foreign spy. If you are an actual spy, which includes anybody working for an organization at least partially funded or endorsed by a foreign government, you will be accused of ‘meddling with China’s internal affairs’, which we can only guess is some kind of treason. Continue reading
Confessions at Hong Kong University
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This gallery contains 15 photos.
For the first time ever, HKU hosts a Student Art Fair on its campus, which opened on April 8, 2013 and will continue with various exhibitions and events until April 20. One of the exhibitions allows students to write down … Continue reading
Queuing for Democracy – July 1st
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This gallery contains 18 photos.
Happy independence? July 1st is a day of both celebration and grief for Hong Kongers. It both marks the day on which Hong Kong was finally released from the rule of the British, whose only good policy was to not … Continue reading
License Plates
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This gallery contains 20 photos.
Hong Kong license plates are numbered chronologically, starting with HK1 to HK9999, then XX1 to XX9999. From there it went on more logically with AA1–A9999, AB1–9999 and so on. Not all two-letter prefixes were allocated. BA and BF were not … Continue reading
The Chinese Pop Culture of Randomness
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It appears to be badly translated, or some sort of prank, but Chinese Pop Culture very much values the art of random expressions, like the one below seen on a shirt sold by Zhejiang Semir Garment.
The tax mans taken all my dough,And left me in my stately home,
Graffiti
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This gallery contains 77 photos.
Hong Kong does not has as much of an open and striving street culture as other cities do. But when walking around slowly and looking carefully, you can find bursts of creativity and criticism around you in the form of … Continue reading