#224 | Six Months On, No Regrets: The Hong Kong Uprising, A Ground-Level View w/ Vivek Mahbubani

Intro: 7:21

In this episode, I speak with Hong Kong citizen, bilingual stand-up comedian, and activist Vivek Mahbubani. Vivek provides a much needed ground-level view of the historic and ongoing uprising in Hong Kong these past six months.

We begin with Vivek providing some details of his background as an ethnically-Indian person born and raised in Hong Kong, with all the challenges that come with being treated as an outsider in this complex society. Vivek then moves on to provide some much needed context on the months-long protests in Hong Kong, dubbed the Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill (Anti-ELAB) movement. This explanation includes how it started, what his participation in the protests has been from its beginning, the historic scale of the demonstrations, and the overall character and spirit of the resistance Hongkongers are actively engaging in against their government (both locally and from mainland China). Vivek does a spectacular job sussing out the nuances of this movement, as Western media tends to overly-simplify and flatten the nature of this movement in countless ways, with outside supporters and detractors of this protest movement focusing on very specific details that only serve to reinforce each of their respective narratives on the aims of the movement. As someone who understands and speaks fluent Cantonese and English, Vivek is able to more fully explain how this leaderless movement continues to organize itself, including how tactics have been developed to effectively counter increasingly violent and intrusive police repression, as well as what to make of the seemingly pro-American and pro-British displays by demonstrators within the protests. Vivek ends this discussion by elaborating on the recent District Council election on November 24th, in which "pro-democracy candidates swept aside their pro-establishment rivals in a political tsunami." (http://bit.ly/2Yu1NBb) What does this election mean for the future of the movement? Vivek gives us an indication what that may be in this interview. 

Vivek Mahbubani is a Hong Kong-bred bilingual stand-up comedian performing in both Cantonese and English. Having been crowned the Funniest Person (in Chinese) in Hong Kong in 2007 followed by his victory in the English category at the Hong Kong International Comedy Competition in 2008, Vivek has had the opportunity to take his sense of humor all over the world including Hong Kong, China, Macau, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India, Australia, Canada and USA. 

Episode Notes:

- Learn more about Vivek: http://bit.ly/2YuKWOP

- Read his article ‘How comedy and protests helped me find my Hong Kong identity’: https://funnyvivek.com

- Vivek sent me this photo timeline of the protests in Hong Kong: http://bit.ly/38kDJW8

- Read more about the District Council election: http://bit.ly/2Yu1NBb

- The songs featured in this episode are “Cbtw” and “Froov” by Dr. Doppler from the album Flips & Bumps.