Page 179 - Preservation for the Documentation of Chinese Christianity

A Challenge for the Hong Kong Christian Council

Rev. Kw ok Nai-w ang

W hat is the m essage o f the church in H ong K ong to the U nited C hristian H ospital is an exam ple o f the
the six m illion citizens w ho are jittery in facing the latter. How ever, som e m em ber churches in the late
eventuality that the C hinese C om m unist R egim e 1980's questioned H K C C 's traditional roles,
w ill becom e H ong K ong's sovereign governm ent in especially that o f social critic. In m y opinion, the
July, 1997? T he traditional m essage w hich says, Council has since been absent from the quest for
"don't rock the boat, play it safe" is no longer social justice.
acceptable.
A decision to sit on the fence is m orally
To begin w ith, everyone seem s to recognize the fact irresponsible and theologically indefensible. By not
that the boat w e have in H ong K ong is rather old, taking sides, churches m ust know that they are
and is not safe. T his boat is m onopolized by a few . abetting the rich and pow erful to continue their
M ost o f the decisions affecting the livelihood o f the repression. If churches in H ong K ong truly w ant to
m asses are m ade by very few people in H ong K ong. be reconcilers, they m ust learn afresh from w hat
Jesus did. A ccording to the Synoptics, especially
A direct result o f this is the ever w idening gap the Gospel according to Luke, not only did Jesus
betw een the rich and the poor. T he gini-coeff icient take sides, but he alw ays took the side o f the poor,
gave H ong K ong a rating o f 0.43 in 1973. It the pow erless and the socially deprived. "C are for
jum ped to 0.48 in 1993. H ong K ong is now one of the w eak and the young" (M atthew 18) w as Jesus'
the w ealthiest territories in the w orld. A ccording to adm onition to his disciples.
A sia W eek, the per-capita gross dom estic product
(purchasing pow er parity) for H ong K ong is So, if denom inations in H ong K ong do not find it
U S$19,446 o r H K $ 154,000. It ranks N o.6 in the com fortable to speak up, the H K C C should not shy
w orld. Y et there are still 300,000 citizens living in aw ay from this responsibility. T he H K C C m ust
tem porary housing. A m enial w orker earns as little have the m oral courage to stand by the side o f the
as H K $5,000 per m onth. m asses and encourage them to articulate th eir fears
and hopes.
O bviously, thin g are far from alright in H ong K ong.
In order for H ong K ong to go to forw ard, past 1997, H ong K ong citizens are m ost afraid o f losing their
personal freedom - freedom o f m ovem ent, of
into the 21st century, H ong K ong citizens m ust be
together. T hey m ust feel that the boat they are on is religion and o f speech and freedom of press as w ell
as academ ic freedom after 1997. T his is the real
not only the boat w hich belongs to a few rich and
reason w hy up to 20% o f H ong K ong citizens are
pow erful individuals, but to them as well.
looking for citizenship elsew here.
In the process o f societal transform ation, m ost
H ong K ong citizens are very w orried w hen C hina
churches in H ong K ong have decided to distance
does not follow the Sino-B ritish Joint D eclaration
them selves from it and rem ain silent. W hat about
regarding H ong K ong's future, in letter and spirit,
the H K C C ?
and that its cadres m ight com e to H ong K ong and
interfere w ith the operation of the territory.
T raditionally, the role o f the H K C C has been tw o­
fold: to do things w hich are not convenient for the
churches to do and to do things w hich no single H ong K ong citizens hope that their basic individual
church can undertake. E xam ples o f the form er rights w ill be safe-guarded. T he setting up of a
include the organization o f the C hristian Industrial hum an rights com m ission in H ong K ong and
C om m ittee in 1967 and the establishm ent o f the C hina's early decision to becom e a signatory o f the
Public Policy C om m ission in 1981. T he building o f two international covenants on civil and political

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