Hong Kong won’t see a bright future by constantly looking to its past

Ken Chu (LLD) is the chairman and CEO of Mission Hills Group, with businesses in hospitality, leisure, entertainment, sports, wellness and education in China.

Earlier this month, the first batch of 14,000 free tickets to visit the People’s Liberation Army’s naval vessels during their stopover in Hong Kong was claimed within minutes of being released. Families queued online for the opportunity to step aboard the ships, and the open days quickly became one of the most talked-about events of this year’s handover anniversary. The scenes stood in contrast to those of July 1997.

When the PLA Hong Kong Garrison was first stationed following the handover, images of the convoys crossing the border were watched around the world with intense attention on the city’s future. Nearly three decades later, a naval visit by the same institution has become a community event attracting families, students and visitors alike.

Whether one sees this as growing familiarity, curiosity or a stronger sense of national identity, it reflects an undeniable reality: Hong Kong has changed.

However, that is no longer the most important story. Every handover anniversary invites inevitable comparisons with 1997. We ask whether Hong Kong has become more prosperous, resilient or confident than it was nearly three decades ago. While these reflections are natural, at what point does a city stop measuring itself against its past?

Twenty-nine years is a long time – long enough for an entire generation to have known no other Hong Kong. For much of the past three decades, Hong Kong has understandably measured its progress against its own history. That made sense during a period of significant transition as the city adapted to new constitutional, economic and social realities.

Today, Hong Kong is entering a different phase. The challenge is no longer simply to demonstrate how far it has come since 1997. It is to demonstrate how far it can go during the next 29 years, and that requires a different benchmark.