People in Hong Kong have been very shocked recently to see in many discussion groups and even among friends, there have been passionate discussion [on the merits of occupying the streets]… But this shouldn’t be a surprise, because it’s normal for any society to have opposing views on issues. It’s just that during the colonial period (1842-1997), the British never gave the Chinese any political rights, thus Hongkongers lived very harmoniously… This kind of rift is very common in the United Kingdom. In any family, it’s normal for the father to support the Conservatives, while his children support the Labour Party…This is British culture, stemming from 300 years of tolerance. They understand that neither the political left and right is absolutely correct, and one needs to be a centrist, and being a centrist means needing to understand the theories from both sides. Thus, the politics of English-speaking countries are always in the centre. If it gets too far on the left, for example, it’ll adjust itself. They’ve a fair election system and a spirit of debate. Next time, when you see someone who has different political views, detach from it a little bit. If you know this person has different views, talk about something you’ll both enjoy, like food. The dinner table talk amongst Chinese people, food is always a safe topic. Many people are leaving certain social networks, and unfriend each other on Facebook over the protests in Hong Kong. This isn’t good, because getting emotional over this issue hurts yourself… But this kind of high-level political discussion [on the merits of using civil disobedience to fight for democracy] can only take place in truly tolerant societies, one in which parents and children know how to coexist, and relatives and friends know how to respect differing opinions of others, and not get emotional every time. This is something that Chinese people just can’t do… If it can’t be done, then they shouldn’t be discussing it. For British people, if they’re just causal friends, they won’t debate politics. Why do they only talk about the weather? Because through the small talk on weather, they can get each other’s social status and political beliefs through accent, vocabularies, and level of humour. If one’s a liberal, he/she won’t talk about the greatness of Marxism if the other person is a conservative aristocrat. You try to convince others, and maybe enlighten them. Did that person pay money to learn things from you? Knowing how to hide yourself and avoid controversial topics are arts of social relations. ~ Chip Tsao and Alex Bao, on how Chinese people in general lack tolerance for differing viewpoints, on the 03/10/2014 edition of Summit.
Posted on: Mon, 06 Oct 2014 05:57:03 +0000
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