Exodus

Exodus is a mass departure of people the most widely known of which is the Book in the Bible. It is also a great social change with or without moving away.

In Hong Kong, there is an exodus of protest into the street, designed to annoy and highlight deeper issues. Many prefer to kill the whole thing. Like facing your child who has come into adulthood without your consent, it is easy to condescend, criticize and just write them off because you'd rather be their authority figure forever.

Like a child growing up, an exodus from an outdated system is happening. The implications seem frightening because the protests are like a mirror to the world around them. Hong Kong society  was always a shelter for the historic exodus of China for the last 100 years. It still does but some want to stop it.

Even before the fall of the Qing dynasty, Hong Kong was a center of commerce, an experiment of East and Western culture and a society with its distinct entrepreneurial free markets. It absorbed traditional Chinese families, religions from outside of which the many shades of Christianity dominate, developed it's own kind of "Chinglish" etc. It has its charms, its weaknesses and direction like all cultures. The greatest distinction compared to inward looking China over the years is it's international nature. Even the British empire encouraged this by its trade focus. One of the greatest exports of Hong Kong has always been people through emigration.

Hong Kong has always been at least a stop over for exodus. Exit from imperial China, China in turmoil, China at war, communism, poverty, revolution. It embraced freedom to learn, earn and move. Many admirable aspects of Chinese culture were upheld, like the language, family focus, respect and care for the elderly, social harmony...all the while forgoing outdated rituals towards social equality, rule of law and clean government. Exodus of mind, culture and ambition.

The youth in 2014 merely continued this social progress started 100 years ago. They were educated to reason, discuss, be creative and think in an environment of diversity in thought, culture and aspirations. As the exodus from the past continued, some people for the love of money, self-protection and power, are asking the youth to "stop".

Imagine what would have happened to Israel during their exodus from slavery, if Moses decided to stop and never reach the promise land.

Exodus cannot be interrupted especially when it is an escape from an industrial mindset, from self indulgent leadership to join an open creative economy that is making billions and promises to be the future engine of growth. China is itself committed to this.

Short term dangers and criticism aside, the exodus is continuing among the students and those who understand the currents of thought and passion that underlie the seeming immature, stubborn and inconvenient sit-in protests. Their group leadership, much of the discussion, most of the art and all of the passion is exactly what is needed in the post industrial world.

I hope the elite in Hong Kong will wake up and see that by stopping this exodus, they are short changing their own privileged children to an outdated way to increase their own wealth. Worse still they are dragging the intelligent middle class with them into a purgatory of outdated industrial models.

Since 2008, a PwC survey has revealed that small to medium family businesses in Asia (mostly based on traditional industrial models), have under performed the developed West by 50% in revenue growth. It implies falling productivity and wealth growth.

For me, this exodus from industrial hierarchical models to more flexible diversity is enlightened and unstoppable. If not the protest, I think 80% of youth under 30 want this change. Forward momentum is a natural part of Hong Kong's character. The world economy needs precisely this kind of exodus, including China.