176 Ka-ming Wu
from the feeling of belonging to an “inequality-reducing” movement of some kind
(Žižek 2014). Ethical consumption might also reinforce an apolitical doctrine of
personal responsibility, an ethos that fits well with neoliberal trends of displacing
responsibility from governments to individuals (Miller 2007; Lewis 2008).
But the Ma Shi Po campaign goes beyond trying to simply get visitors and
customers to feel good through consuming cool organic products. Its tours and
classes, rather, enjoin people to reflect on existing modes of urban development
and, more particularly, real estate dominance in Hong Kong. Real estate
dominance is a prominent political and economic issue in the city as there was
no law against monopoly until 2014. Four big developer conglomerates dominate
not only in the real estate sector (such as middle-class housing estates, shopping
malls, and office buildings) but also in trade and finance as well as in local retail
businesses (such as supermarkets, pharmacies, restaurants, and food and drinks
businesses) in Hong Kong. These developer conglomerates also control major
utility and public service companies in the city, including buses and ferries,
telecommunications, power and gas, and cargo logistics. The acquisition of these
utility and public service companies has allowed the developer conglomerates to
take over an incredible amount of land resource and land holdings at cheap prices
without having to compete with other developers in land auctions (Poon 2010, pp.
20–1, and 76–7).^2 No wonder there is a popular saying in Hong Kong that the city
is not ruled by the Hong Kong government but by a few business tycoons. Such
political economic arrangements have made the few developer conglomerates in
the city become the richest companies and families in the world at the expense
of a fairer and more equitable Hong Kong society. The monopolized economy
also breeds collusion between political and business actors, and public and social
policies tilted toward corporate interests (Poon 2010; Goodstadt 2005, 2013).
In the context of such serious real estate dominance, Ma Shi Po’s advocacy to
preserve urban farming in the New Territories is therefore more than just about
supplying organic produce and natural food; it is also about resisting the corporate
power that is eating up every inch of life in the city. The Ma Shi Po campaign deploys
popular consumption practices to help participants reflect on the political economy
of Hong Kong and explore the potential of a “consumer-based mode of political
action” (Barnett et al 2005; Lewis 2008). They invite customers to think about the
value of having local farms in Hong Kong and connect their love for natural lifestyle
to both family needs as well as public interests. In short, one major success of the
Ma Shi Po campaign is its ability to combine consumption practices with a citizen
concern for the issue of land planning in Hong Kong, thus bringing local politics
into the picture. Consuming locally grown produce is, therefore, not just part of an
alternative lifestyle; it also helps to revive traditional farming neighborhoods and to
generate new forms of social activism and engagement (Lewis 2008).
Permaculture workshop: Cultivating a new Hong Kong community
The Ma Shi Po campaign has a third level of sophistication: the permaculture
workshop. If the farmer’s market and baking workshop appeal to middle-class