March• 2018 | 113toseepharmacystaffunloading
countless boxes of baby formula
onto shelves. Mainlanders snap
itupduetotaintedbabyformula
scares in China. At a 2014 protest in
Hong Kong, mainlanders were de-
nouncedas‘locusts’eatingthecity’s
resources.Signsread,“GoBackto
China”and“ReclaimHongKong”.
LateoneafternoonImeetupwith
Mark Sharp, aSouth China Morning
Posteditorandwritersincebefore
thehandover,intheseasidetown
of Sai Kung, in the New Territories
–themostlyruralregionbetween
Kowloon and mainland China.
Overabeer,heconfirmslocalsare
more outspoken nowadays. “People
worrythatasmoremainlandChi-
nese come, Hong Kong will lose its
identity.”Youngpeople,Sharpsays,are
especially vocal. They are Hong
Kongers first: a recent Hong Kong
University survey showed that only
3 per cent of people aged 18–29 iden-
tify as Chinese, an all-time low since
thesurveysstartedin1997;back
then,thatnumberwas17percent.
JoshuaWong,20,isthefaceofthe
generation that has known Hong
Kong only as part of China. At age
14, he led a successful student pro-
test against mandated ‘national
education’courses.Inhisopinion,
the courses were intended to create
loyaltytotheCommunistregime.
“We think that reduces freedom of
thought,”saysWong.Asleadersof
the Umbrella Movement, Wong and
twootherswerejailedlastAugustfor
PHOTO: BONNIE MUNDAY six to eight months for their roles.
Lamma Island is just half an hour by ferry from Central but a world away