Excerpt from the article:
"Facing the inevitable cultural differences, we all should show tolerance. Especially the recent years in China and Hong Kong, there are cultural differences that have stirred up many societal issues. Many people like to record the interesting behaviors/actions of people from China and share the videos online. Many people comment and share their views on those videos, but actually when HK became an English colony, there had already been a lot of cultural differences. At the time, the British would tease the people of HK for not having any manners or etiquette, so HK people today shouldn't evolve into people who make fun of its own people.
We are all Chinese people. We should leave room to accept them (Mainlanders). We all live in a different environment and have different cultures. We shouldn't be picking on them or judging them right off the back. We should be showing tolerance and consideration, or perhaps help them understand our culture and fit into our society. It is just like how we, Chinese people, lived in other countries. At first, we didn't feel comfortable and we weren't happy, but they slowly showed tolerance and through communication, there was a consensus. This kind of society can survive through the differences of people and voices. There shouldn't be so much hate and discrimination."
At the charity event, Ella quickly explained herself in an interview with the media. She publicly asked for forgiveness and started sobbing. After taking a break, she came back and expressed: "My article was mainly about the minute etiquette in life. I understand why my friends and Netizens were so upset. I just told them to accept it without actually feeling their pain and pressure. Actually I never been in contact in that area, (referring to the baby formula and schooling battles) but I'm personally striving to avoid misunderstanding from happening. I really feel unhappy that I made them upset because I really meant well."
Netizens criticized Ella since she holds a passport from a foreign country, she starts speaking "sarcasm". Ella lost her voice from crying, she said: "I was born in the French Polynesia, but I carry a Hong Kong SAR passport. I came back to HK when was 2 and pledged to get my Chinese name. My parents are from HK and I love HK too. I know many people will say I'm acting (her crying), but I really do understand why everyone is so upset. I was only speaking to the details in the etiquette of life. It is just like a person goes to a foreign country and does something, that person never thought what they did would make so many people unhappy. It is my fault, I should have been more cautious. Everything I said has absolutely no business elements."
Ella got more and more emotional, she mentioned it is an issue of her character. She had always been a sincere person, she is an "artist", not a "con artist". Ella said: "I do things based on my conscience. You say I'm a 'con artist', then that includes lying and deceiving people, but I have never done such thing. I just wrote an article without getting an understanding of the situation beforehand and caused a misunderstanding. Hong Kong is my home, I really like Cantonese and this incident really makes me feel like I'm disliked by family."
0 comments