2020 Master's Thesis: New Mong Kok Walled City Theoretical Report

2047

NEW MONG KOK

WALLED CITY 旺角寨城

YIP JING WEI

M.ARCH THESIS RESEARCH AND DESIGN A0159982J A Speculative Tale Of Hong Kong Post-2047 Under Chinese Rule

The Fate of Hong Kong, 100 Years Apart 香港的命運, 百年之差

2047

NEW MONG KOK

WALLED CITY 旺角寨城

The Fate of Hong Kong, 100 Years Apart 香港的命運, 百年之差 i

2047

NEW MONG KOK

WALLED CITY 旺角寨城

A Speculative Tale Of Hong Kong Post-2047 Under Chinese Rule 2020

Thesis Supervisor: Bobby Wong Chong Thai National University of Singapore Department of Architecture

Yip Jing Wei

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0 Preface “

What, if some day or night a demon were to steal after you into your loneliest loneliness and say to you: “This life as you now live it and have lived it, you will have to live once more and innumerable times more; and there will be nothing new in it, but every pain and every joy and every thought and sign and everything unutterably small or great in your life will have to return to you, all in the same succession and sequence - even this spider and this moonlight between the trees and even this moment and I myself. The eternal hourglass of existence is turned upside down again and again, and you with it, speck of dust!”

Bidding British rule farewell 156 years after its first occupation in 1841, the British handover of Hong Kong to its motherland in 1997 served as a spectacle to the world. Fast forward 23 years, Hong Kong has continued to serve as a spectacle for the rest of the world except this time, of violent riots subverting Chinese rule while capturing media attention to seek help from the western powers such as the United States of American and Britain by flying the US and UK flag. Since 2003, Hong Kong’s timeline of protest has only been intensifying from 500 thousand to 2 million dissidents in the most recent anti-extradition law protest with controversial phenomenons in which the following content will explore.

“The question in each and every thing, “do you want this once more and innumerable times more?” would lie upon your actions as the greatest weight.

Leveraging on the history of Hong Kong, phenomenons of Hong Kong’s riots, as well as the ideas of Friedrich Nietzsche’s Eternal Return, the thesis’ interest is in speculating an impending reversal of events when the unification between China and Hong Kong under one system is due. The design thesis therefore proposes a contingent containment city for the sycophants of the West by capitalising China's worst humiliation, the opium poppy, as a solution for a docile Hong Kong, giving those who continue to resist, the illusion of equality and freedom in a neo-British settlement within the Chinese domain while China awaits her rightful return once and for all.

Friedrich Nietzsche, The Gay Science on Eternal Return

The story traces back to the year 1839 when the First Opium War began, predetermining the fate of Hong Kong for an eternity. The cause of war - a miniscule opium poppy where beauty withers to unveil a shadowed evil that contained a panacea for all human woes. While the wave of analgesia and euphoria remained temporary, the magical drug illegally introduced by Britain to the Chinese had sentenced China to a long century of humiliation.

Losing both opium wars, Hong Kong was ceded to the British. As such, the westernised Hong Kong remains a humiliating testament of subjugation by the Western powers till today. However, all but one part of Hong Kong was ceded - the notorious Kowloon Walled City, originally a fort amidst the British invasion to house its Chinese troops, was the only part that China was reluctant to cede.1 Therefore, the Kowloon Walled City retains its significance as the only parcel of Qing Dynasty China that exists within the British colony until its demolition in 1993.

Keywords Containment, Dark Tourism, Freedom, Glory of Hong Kong, Kowloon Walled City, Mong Kok, Monument, Opium, Riot, 2047

Image (Left) Candela, M. 2019. Millions in Hong Kong Have Been Exposed to Tear Gas Since June. Bloomberg Business Week. Accessed https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-11-05/up-to-88-of-hong-kong-population-exposed-to-tear-gas-since-june 1 Carney, J. 2013. Kowloon Walled City: Life in the City of Darkness. South China Morning Post. Accessed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1191748/kowloon-walled-city-life-city-darkness

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Content 1-2

00 Preface Inspiration and Scope of Thesis

5-16 17-22

02 Research Studies Nietszche’s Eternal Recurrence: The Result of Independence, 100 Years Apart Denominator of Poverty to Denominator of Equality

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01 Background and Issues The History of Hong Kong

03 Design Narrative and Intervention Speculative Tale of Post-2047 Hong Kong

04 Closure Acknowledgment Proof of Document

05 Past Drawings Speculative Tale of Post-2047 Hong Kong

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1 Background and Issues The History of Hong Kong

Image (Bottom) Miyamoto, R. 2019. Kowloon Walled City as captured by Ryuji Miyamoto - in 1993 during demolition. Twitter. Accessed https://twitter.com/UrbanFoxxxx/status/1149998014414671872/photo/3

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The Beginning of Hong Kong

Opium Poppy: Panacea for All Human Woes

The story traces back to the year 1839 when the First Opium War began, predetermining the fate of Hong Kong for an eternity. The cause of war - a miniscule opium poppy where beauty withers to unveil a shadowed evil that contained a panacea for all human woes. While the wave of analgesia and euphoria remained temporary, the magical drug illegally introduced by Britain to the Chinese had sentenced China to a long century of humiliation.

Losing both opium wars, Hong Kong was ceded to the British. As such, the westernised Hong Kong remains a humiliating testament of subjugation by the Western powers till today.

However, all but one part of Hong Kong was ceded - the notorious Kowloon Walled City, originally a fort amidst the British invasion to house its Chinese troops, was the only part that China was reluctant to cede.1 Therefore, the Kowloon Walled City retains its significance as the only parcel of Qing Dynasty China that exists within the British colony until its demolition in 1993.

Timeline: 1839 First Opium War 1841 Hong Kong Island was ceded to Britain 1860 Kowloon was ceded to Britain 1898 Lease of New Territories to Britain for 99 Years 1994 Kowloon Walled City Demolition 1997 Handover to Hong Kong 2047 End of One Country, Two System Opium, a simple yet extremely potent drug has therefore left not only a historical event but an indelible scar on China, a scar that forever remains a reminder of the humiliation from the Western powers during 19th century Qing Dynasty.

Image (Right) Yip, J.W. 2020. Joy Plant Gas Factory Concept Drawing.

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Joy Plant Gas Factory Concept Drawing Axonometric Drawing

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Chinese on English Land

Chinese Kowloon Walled City in British Territory Hong Kong is made up of three territories namely Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and New Territories. 19th century Qing Dynasty China had ceded Hong Kong Island after the First Opium War through the treaty of Nanjing. In 1860, Kowloon was ceded and New Territories was leased for 99 years from 1898. While most parts of Hong Kong was gradually colonised by Britain, there is one part where China was reluctant to cede - Kowloon Walled City. Initially, the city was used as a walled fortress during British invasion to house Chinese soldiers as well as their family members. However due to unresolved sovereignty fights, the city soon became the only ungoverned enclave of Chinese refugees living lawlessly within the British colony after the second world war in the 1950s.2 As one of the most densely populated places on earth, the slum had witnessed extremely poor living conditions, with only 8 water supply taps and electrical points offered by the government. However, the slum of close to 50,000 inhabitants cramped into 2.6 hectare of land without governance had illustrated a network society of self-organisation by tapping onto the limited resources for survival.

The abomination of the walled city that had contained the city’s poorest had resulted in the demolition in 1994. With the demolition, it signifies the erasure of a part of Hong Kong’s colonial past. However, the abomination of poor living conditions had only begun to manifests in a new, decentralised architectural language around Hong Kong. (See pages 11 & 12.)

2 Carney, J. 2013. Kowloon Walled City: Life in the City of Darkness. South China Morning Post. Accessed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1191748/kowloon-walled-city-life-city-darkness Image (Right) Saywell, J. 2014. The Architecture of Kowloon Walled City: An Excerpt from ‘City of Darkness Revisited’. ArchDaily.

Accessed https://www.architectural-review.com/essays/city-of-darkness-surreal-photographs-of-day-to-day-life-inside-kowloon-walled-city/8661292.article

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Image Reuters. 2015. A man burns incense while sitting in a “cage home” in Hong Kong’s Tai Kok Tsui district in 2008.

RadioFreeEurope RadioLiberty. Accessed https://www.rferl.org/a/china-hong-kong-housing/26872808.html 11

Image Lam, B. 2017. Cage Home Interior. InsideHook.

Accessed https://www.insidehook.com/article/architecture-real-estate/coffin-homes-hong-kong 12

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English on Chinese Land

The English Sycophant in Chinese Domain

The 1st of July 1997 marked the official handover of Hong Kong to China. Ever since, this date has signified an annual protest rally, varying in the the intensity of resisting Chinese rule.

While past protests have garnered an increasing number of participants, the most recent 2019 protest is by far the most violent and persistent protest, lasting over 6 months against the anti-extradition bill to extradite criminal suspects to mainland China. The Anti-ELAB movement has thus far witnessed 2 million participants, over 6000 tear gas canisters fired, as well as an increasing violence. Over the past 6 months however, one peculiar sight was observed - protesters flying the US and UK flag, pleading for western leaders to liberate Hong Kong.

While the more extreme fights for independence, majority of the protesters are fighting for true democracy, one that entails promised 50-year freedom as well as equality as illustrated by the protest’ 5 demands - one of which requesting universal suffrage.

However, the ongoing turmoil in Hong Kong today stems not only from the frustration of its political situation. The dissent is also a culmination of many unresolved social issues such as economic disparity, high poverty rate as well as space scarcity that has rendered Hong Kong a perfect dystopian background in science fiction movies.

Image (Right) Wong, W. 2019. Are Hong Kong protesters pro-American or British when they wave the US and UK flags?

The answer is complicated. SCMP. Accessed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3023817/are-hong-kong-protesters-pro-american-or-britis h-when-they

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Image Elizabeth-II. 2020. A Powerful Shot in Hong Kong.

Reddit. Accessed https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/dybzwo/a_powerful_shot_in_hong_kong/ 15

Image AP. Daily Mail UK. 2019. Anti-government protesters wave British flags as they gather for a rally outside the British Consulate in Hong Kong. Twitter. Accessed https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7738433/Hong-Kong-police-consider-using-powerful-weapons-quell-protests.html 16

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2 Research Studies Friedrich Nietzsche’s Eternal Recurrance The Result of Independence, 100 Years Apart Denominator of Poverty to Denomintor of Equality Image (Bottom) Miyamoto, R. 2019. Kowloon Walled City as captured by Ryuji Miyamoto - in 1993 during demolition. Twitter. Accessed https://twitter.com/UrbanFoxxxx/status/1149998014414671872/photo/3

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Eternal Recurrence of the Same

Friedrich Nietzsche

Throughout the process of the thesis exploration, the studio had a realisation of Friedrich Nietzche’s theory of the Eternal Recurrence of the Same in which this section would attempt to explain.

The saying goes “Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.” While history exists under the perception of a linear timeline, such rational understanding of time may only be restricted to one’s lived experience. However, in a relatively microscopic medium such as a movie or film, the notion of time as a linear or circular entity is debunked - as we become conscious of the other. In films, what may seem like the future may have been portrayed a past and vice versa, lifting the linearity of time from our perception.

Here, Nietzsche argues that time is structured ecstatically where the past, the now and the future has already happened which points to the concept of fate. However, the becoming almost always anticipates a throw of the dice given the varying context. Therefore, Nietzsche’s Amor Fati (Love of Fate) which seeks to accept all good and bad has influenced the thesis partially, allowing the leverage on China’s historical plight to inform the future of change and reversion.3

3 Classical Philosophy. 2019. The True Meaning of Nietzsche’s Eternal Reccurence of the Same. YouTube. Accessed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hj6fjW11QBM Image (Top) Glaveski, S. 2019. Over 50 Lessons from Friedrich Nietzsche on Business and Life. Medium. Accessed https://medium.com/@SteveGlaveski/over-50-lessons-from-friedrich-nietzsche-on-business-and-life-a0b640be69e3

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Reversal 1

The Fate of Hong Kong, 100 Years Apart The New Walled City

Of Protection for the People of China Kowloon Walled City [1950 Slum] Of the territories that Qing Dynasty China has ceded to Britain, Kowloon Walled City remained the only parcel of Hong Kong that was left to its own. It started as a fortress for China’s imperial soldiers during the British invasion, the city became an enclave of Chinese refugees during the second world war. Therefore, the Walled City has lived through its existence fundamentally as a protection for the Chinese in the British colony.

Yet in a hundred years difference, the world witnesses a reversal of events. Under the extremities of the East and West, the Chinese born becomes gradually equipped with western ideologies over time. Despite the official handover to China in 1997, the humiliation of West continue to fuel the flames till today, for the Chinese to extinguish.

New Mong Kok Walled City [2047] Hong Kong is stuck in a dilemma, unable to cling to the past yet reluctant to face the imminence of Chinese rule.

Therefore, the thesis envisages a reversal of history, once again for the protection of China’s people as well as future - a containment walled city for the western sycophants who continue to cause turmoil in the country.

As a neo-British settlement existing within the Chinese domain, the city shall ensure a smooth transition into 2047 without turmoil.

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Reversal 2

Denominator of Poverty to the Denominator of Equality

Manifestating True Democracy

Mentioned in Chapter 1: Background and Issues, the culture of Hong Kong’s riots persistently reflects the subversion of the imminent Chinese rule. The temporality of violence however surfaces a much deeper reason for the turmoil that has haunted the city - its unresolved social issues.

Given the economic disparity in Hong Kong, it is not difficult to imagine the city post-2047.

Based on empirical evidences of migration in Hong Kong as well as personal conversations with Hong Kong’s newspaper operations director, those who have the financial capabilities would have prepared to exit the country in the face of such uncertainty, leaving behind the common, plebeian Hong Konger.

Divided by the waters lies on one end the glamour of Hong Kong Island and on the other, the antithesis of the rarefication - the derelict Kowloon Mong Kok, the battleground that has witnessed some of the most barbaric and violent riots.

Between poverty and equality, there lies a similarity - mass consumption. Inspired by the identical cage homes that has been issued to the country’s poorest, the thesis will be building on the cage home as the denominator of equality for the containment city.

Image (Right) Unknown. Undated. Hong Kong’s now-defunct Kai Tak Airport forced jets to fly through high rise buildings in order to land. Pinterest. Accessed https://ar.pinterest.com/pin/288793394841915384/

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3 Design Narrative and Intervention A Speculative Tale of Post-2047 Hong Kong

Image (Bottom) Wong, F. 2019. Protesters gathered to mark one month since the introduction of the mask ban in Hong Kong, marching through Tsim Sha Tsui. South China Morning Post. Accessed https://www.scmp.com/video/hong-kong/3036478/protesters-gather-mark-one-month-mask-ban-was-introduced

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A Momument for Hong Kong Post-2047

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The New Mong Kok Walled City

Containment City 2047 Narrative from 2042:

Phase 2: 2047 (See page 29) The New Mong Kok Walled City is erected on the 30 June2047, one day before unification.

Large quantity of opium poppy is imported into the NMKWC for the production of opium gas, otherwise known as joy plant to supply for the contained rebels of Hong Kong.

It is the year 2042, just 5 years before the one country, two system agreement expires.

Hong Kong today is a city threatened with anarchy alongside deeply rooted and unresolved social issues, Leading up to what may seem like a political cul-de-sac, affluent societies of Hong Kong who withheld several passports have either joined the People’s Republic of China or have escaped to other regions of the world, leaving behind the plebeian hardcore democrats to suffer the consequences of a once arnarchic city.

Phase 3: 2050 and beyond (See page 34, 36, 37) In NMKWC, the enclave of democrats avail oneself of the dogma of true democracy, one which supplies equality and freedom. Every single resident gets a housing unit, universal basic income as well as social workers to cater to their needs. Under the illusion of false victory of an independent Hong Kong, residents of the NMKWC continues to live with the wonders of analgesia and euphoria.

Alas, Hong Kong proceeds without further turmoil.

In the face of an ungovernable resistance and violence, the culmination of riots since the 2019 has called for an emergency plan to be initiated by the joint government starting with Mong Kok - the most active protest site.

The NMKWC is completed in 3 phases; Phase 0: 2020 (See page 27) Intermittent riots happening in Hong Kong, exhausting governmental resources.

From plan view, the site plan envisages the Jack Union sitting in the middle of the Chinese domain. Slicing across existing tenement buildings, the interior is exposed to the eye, a living exhibition for the Hong Kong that will soon be redeveloped into another great Chinese city. Then alas, Hong Kong rightfully returns to China after one century of humiliation.

Phase 1: 2042 (See page 28) The government works with local triads society to import opium panacea into Hong Kong. Injecting small doses of opium gas into each tear gas canister, the police fires them into the city during riots, sending waves of analgesis and euphoria across the city. Exposed to large amounts of opium as well as tear gas, the rioters state of mind gradually exists a false utopia. Meanwhile, the New Mong Kok Walled City containment plan is underway.

Keywords Containment, Dark Tourism, Freedom, Glory of Hong Kong, Kowloon Walled City, Mong Kok, Monument, Opium, Riot, 2047

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The Jack Union Plan, Mong Kok Site Plan

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Phase 1 2042 One Country, One System Emergency Plan Underway Affluent Hong Kongers departs the country leaving plebeian Hong Kongers behind. The New Mong Kok Walled City is erected to contain persistent rioters that causes turmoil in Hong Kong, impeding the process of transition into one China.

Containing the English sycophants, the site plan reveals a Jack Union, symbolising the containment of the rebels of the country in the enclosure of the walls.

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Phase 2 2047 Opium Gas Production Zone The New Mong Kok Walled City is erected to welcome the rioters that have been causing turmoil to the city. Here, tourist gets to enter via the MTR Lite trains for an exhibition of the process of opium making. The machines, due to long term exposure, slowly rusts into blood red colour, revealing the a red cross that completes the image of the Jack Union flag when viewed from above.

From distillation to refinery, the last process is storing the opium gas in the gas tanks lined up alone the Union Jack cross into the living quarters of the city. Piped into individual living units in small controllable doses, inhabitants are kept docile with analgesia and euphoria.

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Phase 3 2050 and Beyond Analgesia and Euphoria Apart from the pipes that deliver opium gas into the living units, residents of the NMKWC is also given universal income in the year 2050 to splurge.

Facilities such as the opium den bar ensures that the residents’ needs are met. Covertly however, the facilities capitalises on the addictive qualities of the joy plant to continue the false illusion of victory and happiness.

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Phase 2 2047 Preparation for Containment As many identical living units are imported into the NMKWC and placed into the exisiting tenement buildings. Some of the buildings are sliced according to the Jack Union Plan, exposed to the glimpse of the tourists as a living exhibition of the Hong Kong way of living.

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Phase 3 2050 and Beyond Denominator of Equality Influenced by the primitive parallel of the 2019 cage home, each 2047 living unit is identically equipped with ventilating unit, a network of pipes supplying opium gas from the factory, storage units as well as a tele-screen.

Compared to the population of the industrial and mechanical, 2047 is an era, 100 years apart with a population that is reified through wireless connection, the internet of surface, skin and the digital as opposed to volume, physical and analog world 100 years ago.

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Phase 3 2050 and Beyond Everlasting Glory of Hong Kong

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Acknowledgment Prior to stepping foot into my final year of architectural education, I have anticipated the challenges that may come my way. However, the year 2020 has full of adversities as the process of creation becomes disrupted by an unwelcomed pandemic - covid-19.

Therefore, this thesis would definitely not have been possible without the help of my dearest mentor, friends and family for enduring this difficult time with me. The messages below is sincerely dedicated to the individuals whom have dedicated their time towards the invention of this one year project.

sharing one’s most personal stories. While some may not aspire to be the greatest architect, I am glad to have crossed paths with an aspiring monk/ fengshui master in which both Amanda and I will glady visit in five years time.

FRIENDS AND FAMILY

2020 has been a trying time with a global pandemic going on. I would like to give thanks to every single one who stood by my side through the course of my education.

Special thanks to my mother for the hot bowl of soup every meal, boyfriend and C5. Without your support, I would not have been where I am.

MR BOBBY WONG CHONG THAI

I recall that the start of this project was a rocky one, tumbling between the various globally controversial topics such as the high suicide rates in Japan to the religious wonders of the Tibet and finally to the revolutions in Hong Kong. Throughout the process of searching for a worthy topic, my thesis mentor, Mr. Bobby Wong has never given up on me. Under Bobby’s guidance, I believe I have learnt more than I could beyond architecture through his elaborate and passionate stories. Apart from which, I would also like to give thanks to his benevolence and humility.

On one memorable occasion in the Tanglin Club where we always hold our discussions, I overheard Bobby saying “Can I have more cookies please? I have guests. Thanks.” as he never fails to order us a pot of tea during these consultations. It is definitely with great honour to have worked alongside a veteran architect/ educator who treats everyone around him with kindness and respect.

OTHERS

Thank you to those who have given me the opportunity of a lifetime and contribution to my thesis experience, whether directly or indirectly. It has been an extremely blessed journey in both Singapore and in Hong Kong.

AMANDA YAP + CLIFFORD GOH

It all started off so foreign when I entered this three man team. After many awkward conversations and false kindness later, I have come to realise that studio mates are extremely important despite each of us working on entirely different projects. As pillars of support, especially mentally after the brain-ded moments after consultations, I especially enjoy the casual hang-outs at Ion Orchard, the adorable homes game as well as last minute panick producing together. I hereby thank both for the assurances you have given me, as well as the openness of

Special Thanks by Name Mr. Bobby Wong Chong Thai, Mr. Chaw Chih Wen, Mr. Joseph Lee, Mr. Tsuto Sakamoto, Amanda Yap, Aaron Tan Nam King Clifford Goh, Eitan Leo Woo, Janet Ng Siew Fong, Joel Rasis Ismail, Matthew Toh Min Zhe, Michele Tay, William Tin Wai Leung, Yang Lulu

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Past Drawings Semester 2 Term 1 Semester 2 Term 2

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NEW MONG KOK

WALLED CITY 旺角寨城

The Fate of Hong Kong, 100 Years Apart 香港的命運, 百年之差 50

The Fate of Hong Kong, 100 Years Apart 香港的命運, 百年之差