Years ago, when I was based in Hong Kong and the year 1997 was approaching for the handover of Hong Kong to communist China, every one living there was very apprehensive and fearful as to what would happen to them and what changes would be implemented. To everyone’s surprise, the transition went so smoothly it was practically a "nonevent", except for the parades, change of flags, fireworks, celebrations and hundreds of thousands of tourists, and the change of "top management" in the various state departments. The Chinese are very clever people. They saw that everything was working like clockwork and they left things unchanged. Even the streets and surrounding bays still have the same English names 21 years later, such as Stanley Bay, Repulse Bay and Victoria Bay, and streets and roads such as Harcourt, Nathan, Queen Victoria, Wellington and Rumsey. Even Victoria Peak, which overlooks the island, has retained its name. The one change that took everyone by surprise, though, was the na...
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