At present the streets around town are adorned with decorations celebrating the 60th Anniversary of Communist rule in China. The politicians and civil servants are giving the anniversary the hard sell, which is fine - we are part of China, and even though Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region, we are technically encompassed by the celebrations. But how it must stick in the throat of all those Hong Kongers who struggled to leave China over the last 60 years precisely to get away from the repression and purges. They must see the Chinese Communist Party subsume the magnificent history of Hong Kong and China as leading up exclusively, extollingly, to the Party’s own dominance. We usually refer to China as simply China – but its full name is the People’s Republic of China. The communists popularity and drive to seize power 60 years ago was driven by inequality, increasing poverty and corruption. Today China is one of the wealthiest nations on the planet, but the income gap between the rich and poor has perhaps never been greater. Corruption and nepotism is rampant, criticism of the ruling party quashed harshly, freedom of the press non-existent; the internet allows some air of free speech to seep in, but there remain attempts to censor it.

What next for the People’s Republic? By virtue of its wealth alone, China will dominate the world for decades to come. The question is whether it can make those steps to become an excellent, exemplary country – with opportunities for all, education and health care, freedom of speech. This, I believe, is where Hong Kong must contribute – we have an independent judiciary, we have the ICAC, we have health care and education for all, we have freedom of speech and an environment where any person, regardless of race, colour or sex can (albeit through varying degrees of hard work) succeed. Looking back, it wasn’t easy – but I’m proud to say I’m a Hong Konger and I live in a great city.