Being Home in the Pearl of the Orient

Abstract: Hong Kong is an Asian metropolis with a population of approximately seven million. Previous studies on the region concentrate on its history that is marked by radical changes to conclude that the on-going makeovers in the physical environment leave people without a permanence of place. Researchers also say that this fluid history eradicates temporal identity because pre-modernism and post-modernism exist at the same time. This study investigates how to describe and explain the relationship between people and environment in Hong Kong. Six informants who are from Hong Kong and who live in Hong Kong help to portray an image of home that does not agree with earlier studies. By looking at physical and emotional boundaries, expressions, and temporal dimensions, this study shows that people cannot be separated from their environment as both parts constitute the unity of being home. This study therefore concludes that neither the sense of place nor the temporal identity is threatened by the region's history of instability. Rather, the informants express a strong sense of home because of the fast pace of life in Hong Kong.