When I feel down I take a train to the Happy Valley

With more then seven million people Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated city in the world; a multicultural environment with a mixed collective memory, an intersection of experiences and a complex sense of belonging.

Hong Kong is currently living one of the most delicate moments of its history, facing new growing uncertainties, before the “two country, two systems” arrangement will cease to exist in 2046.

I moved to Hong Kong in October 2014, at the beginning of the Umbrella revolution. At that time thousands of protestors, mostly students, have taken the streets and occupied for more then seventy days Hong Kong’s major intersections.

The movement, while demanding for a truly universal suffrage, contributed to further divide public opinion and augmenting anti-mainland sentiments, especially among the younger generations.

These sentiments have exploded again in the summer of 2019, when a series of city-wide protests have erupted, following a controversial bill proposal that would have allowed prisoners’ extradition to mainland China. The escalating violence, and the lack of trust in

both the government and the police force have been polarising public opinion, further deepening Hong Kong’s current identity crisis.