[“2020FamilyPortrait”istheyear-endfeatureof”Position”DifferentfamiliesandgroupsinHongKongareinvitedtotakeafamilyportraitandsharestoriesSee the previous article】
This summer, Tony and Stephanie, who have lived in the UK for more than 5 years, informed their friends that they are going to live in Hong Kong. But my friends were polite, half-joking and half-seriously persuading: “Oh okay…I can’t go back…”, “Hong Kong can’t live without people!”…
In 2020, many Hong Kong people are busy immigrating, and the UK is especially popular, but the two are against the general trend. Ask them, come back at this time, are you worried about making the wrong decision?
The couple laughed and said that too many friends had asked the same question. “We talked all the way back, and many Friend said that we are like salmon, reverse immigration.”
Tony and Stephanie are university classmates. They got married six years ago and went to the UK to study for a PhD together a few months after their marriage. However, the two have been undecided whether to stay in the UK or return to Hong Kong after graduation.
Until this year, the pneumonia epidemic raged, the British epidemic was severe, and the global economy was shrinking, and it was difficult to find jobs. It happened that Tony found a part-time teaching chair in a tertiary institution in Hong Kong… For the two of them, returning to Hong Kong to live at this time is not so much against the current. For them, it is actually more logical.
“Actually, I have been constantly (continuously) thinking about (returning to Hong Kong) for several years, but I have never made a decision constantly.” Stephanie said with a smile, “But because the epidemic is so serious this year, we will stay in the UK without being well.. So Both decided to return to Hong Kong.”
Stephanie 和 Tony
* * *
British Cheese and Hong Kong Donki
When asked how they lived in the UK in the first half of the year, the two couples first looked at each other and then laughed.
“Ah…it’s blank!…as if nothing happened.”
The UK has closed the city twice this year in response to the epidemic. In addition to going to work to buy food, Tony and Stephanie stay at home the rest of the time. “For a while, even the park was closed down, maybe I wanted to go outside to shake my breath…”
Due to various accidents, I finally decided to return to Hong Kong. Although the UK is not the place where the two were born and raised, after all, they have lived there for 5 years and have established a certain friendship with the local community, friends and colleagues. After the two return to Hong Kong, they sometimes miss life in the UK, the leisurely pace of life, the convenience of the small shops in the town, the convenience of Park n Shop (not Pokka), the freedom of driving to travel around Europe during holidays…but stay After a long time, the United Kingdom, as a “different place,” sometimes becomes accustomed to it.
“It’s like eating food, maybe Europeans eat milk and cheese, they are not easy to be sensitive, but ours will easily react…”
From food and cultural viewpoints to possible discrimination, “When you go to a certain place, you will find that you are an outsider.”
After getting married 6 years ago, Tony and Stephanie went to the UK to study for a PhD and lived in the UK for more than 5 years. The picture shows the center of the town where they live.
After getting married 6 years ago, Tony and Stephanie went to the UK to study for a Ph.D. They lived in the UK for more than 5 years. The picture shows the path they take when they go to school every day. (Provided by interviewee)
Back in Hong Kong, in addition to the presence of family and friends, the living habits and even the familiarity of taste are also gratifying.
“For example, today Yan Zhou went to Donki… and when I came out, I felt like, “Ah! I’m going to stay here!”” Tony exaggerated and made Stephanie laugh. “Always live in Hong Kong. For more than 20 years, our appetite and living habits have always been Asian habits.”
However, on many levels, Hong Kong in 2020 is no longer the one where the two left 6 years ago. When returning to Hong Kong this year, when she set foot on the Hong Kong Airport and saw the many police officers in the lobby, Stephanie felt a panic in her heart.
“It’s a first reaction, I feel different.”
* * *
“I want to experience it together”
In the second half of 2019, Hong Kong’s anti-regulation movement broke out. Tony and Stephanie remember that when they were working or attending classes in the UK every day, they couldn’t help surfing Facebook after a short break, hoping to get closer to 9,000 kilometers on the Internet.
On the afternoon of June 12, a crowd of people poured into Admiralty Central, and the Legislative Council was once again filled with smoke after nearly 5 years. It was the morning time in the UK. Stephanie was working in the hospital where she was intern. She applied for a half-hour break from her boss. She stayed on the terrace while tracking news in Hong Kong while contacting family and friends, hoping to make sure everyone was well.
The social movement in Hong Kong continues to ferment, but life in the UK is as usual. Stephanie often has the urge to explain the situation in Hong Kong to his colleagues and friends around the local area, telling how his hometown has been devastated and how the people resisted… Later they participated in the UK again. They support the Hong Kong parade, but looking at the suffering of their own land, there is still no way to resolve.
“One day when I return to the placement, the office is very quiet, and 4 or 5 colleagues, each of you work hard… After watching the news, I endured hard work, and in the end I couldn’t help but talk with him.”
But after only two sentences, the topic quickly ended. “He doesn’t feel the seriousness…you have an urge to talk about, but don’t feel comfortable after you finish talking.”
The sense of imbalance in the outside world contributed to the decision to return to Hong Kong to a certain extent-even if you know that you live in Hong Kong today, you may face all kinds of anxiety and fear every day.
Stephanie was silent for a while, and said slowly, “Actually, one of the reasons I am looking forward to coming back is because I want to feel scared… The situation and atmosphere of the family in Hong Kong are different. I want to experience it together.”
After getting married 6 years ago, Tony and Stephanie went to the UK to study for a PhD. The picture shows their residence in England. (Provided by interviewee)
Go together
In 2020, the “National Security Law” will suppress Hong Kong and the political environment will be tightened across the board. Some people face an imminent crisis and are forced to leave Hong Kong in exile; more people are worried, and the shaky sword above their heads does not know when it will fall. Uncertainty itself is a source of fear.
Tony and Stephanie are also ordinary people, and they are not fearless. They confessed that they are not the ones who have planned long-term, but if there are suitable job opportunities elsewhere, or one day they have children, the education of the next generation is likely to be the reason for the two to leave. But at least temporarily, they will stay in Hong Kong.
“For the younger generation, it’s not just that they will be stunned the next day, but it is a kind of uncertainty, or looking forward to the future, I think it is really true. ..” But Tony said that the nature of their work is not considered the highest risk, and they can probably stay in Hong Kong — or a little longer.
Stephanie agrees, “Maybe we won’t be framed by others? I think we can still be myself.”
After living in a foreign country for several years and experiencing the pandemic of the century, one of Tony’s experiences is that no matter where he is, he will have to face the problems of the society. Leaving is not necessarily done once and for all.
“Indeed, every place has its troubles… There are many companies in the UK that have been in charge for hundreds of years, and the government has no money to help them. During the epidemic, masks and protective equipment are not enough. , You don’t have to be admitted to the hospital if you are infected, you have to go to the house…”
However, people always have their resilience, and in the midst of crisis, the most common human glory is. “But it’s better not to have good or bad things… Even if I see the glory of human nature, I’m okay.” He laughed.
There is a classic British sentence called “Keep Calm and Carry On”. Tony said that this is indeed the motto of the locals.
“No matter how far you go, there will be uncertainty and difficulties… and then you find that all you can do is: keep calm and move on.”
For Stephanie, the most important meaning of coming back is to be with family and friends.
“Although I can’t see friends and people in housing estates all the time because of the epidemic, I feel that returning to Hong Kong is like-I’m already very happy.” She laughed.
Stephanie 和 Tony
Text/Liang Kaicheng
Photo/PW
–
