Memory making, identity building: The dynamics of economics and politics in the New Territories of Hong Kong

Abstract

Hong Kong has reunited with China and this unique decolonization process has facilitated a distinctive discourse in the remembrance of the past and the negotiation of identity. This article considers how the highest representative organization of the indigenous inhabitants in the New Territories—the Heung Yee Kuk—remembers their past. I argue that this recollection of the past is not solely for the people themselves, but also for different targeted audiences. This article demonstrates that the memory of the past is about a contestation of economic interests, as embedded in the discourse of changing land values in the process of urbanization. It is shown that social memory is framed for the sake of bargaining for economic, social, and political benefits.