Letters | Why Messi struck a nerve in Hong Kong

Readers discuss the Argentinian football star’s failure to play in a match in Hong Kong, and the narrative of the city's naysayers.

Hong Kong society

Letters

Published: 2:30pm, 16 Feb 2024

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I refer to the report, “Messi affair in Hong Kong: no-show Argentine football legend leaves fans furious, sparks calls for refund” (February 4).

Yes, I’m angry. We all are. Who wouldn’t be in our shoes?

Not only did Lionel Messi not play for even a minute, he seemed uninterested throughout the match, walked off while players were shaking hands with Hong Kong’s chief executive and didn’t offer an explanation for why he didn’t play soon after the game. How else would anyone interpret all this except as gestures of contempt?

I understand that the relationship between China and the West has not been good recently, but surely we deserve a little more respect.

Was Messi’s behaviour connected to our political status quo? Or is it that we have become so negligible on the international stage? Are all Asian fans treated the same way, or was it just us? Has there been some misunderstanding or misdealing before the match that we are not aware of?

The way the West is treating us these days is worrying. Ratings agency Moody’s downgraded Hong Kong’s credit outlook to negative; Nicole Kidman came here to film her new television series, but the show isn’t streaming in Hong Kong. Will Taylor Swift agree to come, or will she be another disappointment?

Jacqueline Kwan, Sai Ying Pun

New story of Hong Kong has only just begun

Hong Kong has had its fair share of naysayers recently. Stephen Roach, former chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia, writes in the Financial Times a predictable story of the death of Hong Kong. It is a tale told by a man who yearns only for old Hong Kong, one that fulfilled his expatriate lifestyle as a young man in the 1980s.

Hong Kong’s “extraordinary energy” remains; it is vested in our youth, in our position within the Greater Bay Area and in our role as a leading city within China. The narrative has indeed changed; landing at Chek Lap Kok may not be as exciting as at the old Kai Tak airport, but driving across the 55km Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, the world’s longest sea crossing connecting Hong Kong to the economic powerhouse of the Pearl River Delta, remains unforgettable.

Mr Roach may believe the story of Hong Kong is “over”, but he is wrong, it has only just begun.

Mark Peaker, The Peak