The “Futurings” of Hong Kong

Abstract

Trepidation comes in two guises when venturing into space and time of an Other. First is that never arrives at where thinks oneself to be (among few, Edward Said made this clear some time ago in Orientalism when he exposed discovery of East as an invention and export of West); second, that might unwittingly offend very people to whom wishes to show respect. For me, Hong Kong was a port of entry into China as a history, thinking, and culture. As such, no matter what learns, there is an overwhelming sense of just how little knows, just how much there is to know, how much has been forgotten, AND how little those things that are of great value are valued. Against this setting, Hong Kong epitomizes a geography and history of ambiguity, richness and terror, limitation and potentiality. These figures are not binaries but unified opposites (a relation understandable through Chinese concept of Yin-yangD). Ambitiously, I want to evoke Hong Kong's potentiality as both and global. In so doing, I want to position readers outside Hong Kong as actively engaged with this communication of thinking. To that small, but very significant, design community in Hong Kong, hopefully will provide a new perspective on familiar issues of practical value. To do this is, to use an Australian term, a big ask for all concerned. However, there are lessons for all of us in this communication. This is because we still are lodged in an inadequate kind of thinking that makes clear dis-tinctions between the local and the global, while we need to think glocally (in spite of this inelegant term sticking in our craw).2 This then is a glocal communication about Hong Kong and about design thought otherwise-which will be seen at end of essay when ancient Chinese structurally inscribed modes of design will be shown to have much to teach future of designing otherwise. Although now touted as a material expression of system of China's one nation, two systems philosophy, new ideology has not displaced old Hong Kong images and habits. The place of course is of most image-saturated cities in world. The fact that it now is a Special Administrative Region makes little difference to such cultural perceptions. Like London, New York, or Sydney, Hong Kong has been made instantly recognizable to itself and elsewhere because it has televisual presence. Its image is constituted by an amalgam of stereotypical figures: Star Ferry crossing 1 The complexity of Yin-yang is discussed at length and in various ways in David L. Hall and Roger T. Ames, Thinking Through Confucius (New York: Suny, 1987). 2 As is often case, theory trails events. Glocal products have been around for a long time, and long before globalization hit airwaves. Certainly, from 1 920s, way in which General Motors not only retained badging of car companies they bought up around world, but also retained and played nationalist rhetoric associated with badge is example of this. This history is evident in Australian example of Holden Motor Company. Staying with car industry, more sophisticated late-modern examples of this currently are evident in China, where increasingly locally coded product is glocalised by a design strategy that uses global automotive companies, design teams, components to create cars with which to build a massive car market and to cater for desires, perceptions, budgets, and conditionsthe Lucky Star car is example of this. The project was marketed (so promotional materials tell us) to synthesize a whole range of plural and sometimes contradictory messages to demonstrate: advanced global car technology and components; best of Chinese wisdom, and needs of people; inspiration from nature; high style; comfort; a wide range of different models; economy and reliability; and greenness. The design team for car included Porsche engineering, Fiat, Renault, and Mitsubishi; and it has been produced by Shenzhen Tint Dragonfly Industrial Company with mature foreign components such as engine and chassis.