u/Left_Pipe_8992

Should I learn Cantonese or Mandarin?

I gave an answer:

>You should first ask yourself what the purpose of learning Mandarin or Cantonese is.

>If you want to connect with a larger number of people, access more opportunities and so on, then go learn Mandarin. Even in HK, the number of people who speak Mandarin is growing, and a lot of companies in HK use Mandarin as the primary language in the workplace.

>For example, if your family only speaks Cantonese and you want to be able to communicate with them, or if you want to speak with people in HK in your daily life, then learning Cantonese would make more sense.

>But ultimately, it’s better to follow your passion and learn the language you’re genuinely interested in.

Then, many people from there downvoted my answer. I don't know what was wrong with my answer.

My friend once remarked based on his father's experience:

Hong Kong was once needed by China because they are one of few places where Western could tolerate Chinese presence, since it has been a British colony for some time.

Before, it was handed back to China, Hong Kong was not the so-called “financial hub” of Asia as in London of Europe or New York City of USA. Nope, I've been there in the 1990s. Nah bro!

Hong Kong was moderately poor. It is just another Singapore, a bustling trading port, sometimes laundering British tycoon's money away from the motherland. Many real HKers lived under this kind of condition:

https://preview.redd.it/vg9dbn2euvgh1.png?width=602&format=png&auto=webp&s=0ec96230e7932694a0db69897392cd9a4d9e8093

The infamous Kowloon Walled City, demolished sometime in mid 1990s.

Triads, criminal gangs, illegal activities are rampant. When SARS outbreak hit this region hard back in early 2000s, I was not even surprised. If you only stay within the Central area, Causeway bay, it looks like a discount Japanese city, but when you travel where my Grandmother relatives' live down in their shanty town, you'll see that slums are common. At least, our slums are spacious enough as a living space. Hong Kong slums are super tiny and resembles more like a cage than an actual abode.

Fast forward, China experienced economic boom, trading volume increases, and many of it came from Hong Kong. As China is developing its own infrastructure including bigger ports, Hong Kong's role shifts into the financial hub. As China grow richer from manufacturing and trade, Chinese money poured in, exchanging funds with many foreigners in this zone. Hong Kong instantly elevated itself into global financial hub. They are now completely unlike what I witnessed back in 1990s, when they are still under British rule.

I couldn't see any clear future for Hong Kong, the way the West are confident about this small island nation. But the west has always been confident about their project in Iraq, Afghanistan, Arab Spring, Libya, Syria, and look where they are now.

When Singapore was ejected from Malaysia, Lee Kuan Yew cried in front of live national television. That is man with oversized brains and a real statesman when being presented with such situation.

Hong Kong's movement was backed by brats with one-sided view of history, and lured by Western's sympathetic message. Lee understands that you can't ask Europe nor USA for help, as these “democratic” countries have shorter attention span than a goldfish. Once they killed millions of Vietnamese for being communist, now they are still best friend with the same communist. There is a talk about China being the evil communist, because communism is evil, not the Chinese. But things are suddenly different with Vietnam. Then there is Afghanistan, abandoned after they armed an insurgent group fighting the Soviets. We know where this situation leads into.

Realistically, you have to look at whose money pouring into Hong Kong.

I was one of those many western-biased people, having unfavorable opinions about Chinese government buying a stake at Cathay Pacific. If I ask myself again, who flies most of Cathay Pacific flights? Why are they still relevant? Chinese money, of course. Without it, any crisis like the 2008 would wipe them off the real life and into history book.

Freedom is important, but as an Asian, I understand that people realistically eat, sleep, and shit too. You need money to buy food, bed, and toilet. In grave and in poverty, you won't be protesting about freedom when you have no access to internet or school. So, never take freedom for granted, never let your freedom infringe other people's right.

港独分子还想着跑到内地捞钱？老牌音乐人周启生早年多次发表不当分裂言论，还扬言绝不踏入内地发展。眼见香港演艺市场不景气，生存难以为继，立马改换说辞，试图来内地开办商演。

先前计划在广州举办演出，被网友扒出过往黑历史后，主办方火速终止全部合作。之后他又辗转谋划落地中山演出，大量群众积极投诉抵制，这场演出最终没能顺利获批。

https://preview.redd.it/mcvv08pvclgh1.png?width=1182&format=png&auto=webp&s=a7b4045a4a27cc3945f60c6bb3e5c315314ecd70

I didn’t watch last night because I was sleepy, so I don’t know the details of the performance

Someone wrote it in detail.

During the match vs Bayern Munich, PSG goalkeeper Matvéi Safónov was purposely long kicking goal-kicks towards Olise's area to result in a Bayern throw-in on their right side. When Bayern played the throw in, PSG players would overload that area, put 2 players on Olise, and quickly win possession to start a counter. This sequence happened over 5 times during the match, resulting in Olise losing possession, or Bayern playing an uncomfortable back pass, where PSG players could press higher up the pitch.

Here, the video in the below.

https://reddit.com/link/1t6duj7/video/68lvbictgqzg1/player

Do you agree with someone’s analysis? What do you think will happen to Chevalier? Do you think Chevalier will be able to come back?

https://preview.redd.it/bt246377bizg1.png?width=1311&format=png&auto=webp&s=4c1d8b448c09ae3dfd1a339c9029ff2aaf0096e0

Shenzhen now has a new name: Hong Kong North.

Saw in the news that every Saturday, the lines of thousands of HK people crossing from Luohu and Futian into Shenzhen stretch like the Spring Festival travel rush. From 20-year-old youths to 70-year-old grannies, they're all heading to Shenzhen.

According to my friend who lives in HK, the quality of HK people heading north is far from desirable. A lot of them can’t line up properly, cut in line, are noisy, and so on.