View of Happy Valley Racecouse at night
I’ve actually landed in Hong Kong since it was part of the British Empire and was granted permanent leave to stay by Her Majesty’s Hong Kong Government (hence the title of this post). This is the city I called home for more than a decade of my life, but yet I wasn’t eligible for a Hong Kong passport until I turned 13.
When I was young, I had to enter and leave Hong Kong as a resident with my ID card but could not travel to foreign countries as a citizen of Hong Kong. This caused some complications at immigration when I entered a country with a passport different from both my parents’ passports. It wasn’t until I turned 13 when I could actually call myself a Hong Konger. This experience is very different to that in Berlin where a complete foreigner could be granted limited citizenship rights on arrival!
Local street restaurants
Sure, I made friends and had strong social connections in Hong Kong, but I never felt that this place was really mine. I could tell my friends I lived in one of the most successful cities in the world, and when politically convenient, call it my home. This place felt transient, like nobody intended to stay here for too long. Everyone was in to make a quick buck or a million and then set off somewhere new to spend their hard-earned cash.
The Hong Kong International Airport has been the subject of much despair in my life when I had to move to new places. I still have mixed feelings about this city.
