I especially like Hong Kong, its rule of law, and its pragmatism. Therefore, I am particularly saddened to see formalism spreading and growing in Hong Kong.
The reason why Messi’s non-appearance in the Hong Kong exhibition match was criticized at a political and nationalistic level is fundamentally because some people messed up formalism in Hong Kong and then became angry and frantically shifted the blame.
Before talking about formalism, let’s do a small survey:
Do you know that Inter Miami played an exhibition match in Mumbai, India on January 19 this year?
Well, readers who chose “know”, I’d like to ask where you learned about it.
After all, on January 19 (local time), Inter Miami, where Messi plays, played an exhibition match against the El Salvador national team, and Messi played for 45 minutes, with the two teams drawing 0:0.
In addition, Inter Miami has also played two exhibition matches in Saudi Arabia recently, with opponents including Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr. I guess you, like me, haven’t heard of this news, and you don’t even know that Messi played in that game but Ronaldo didn’t. Right?
Doing this small survey is to share a simple fact with everyone:
The fact that Inter Miami plays an exhibition match in a city has absolutely no international influence.
Even if you are a die-hard fan and followed Messi’s game in El Salvador, do you know what the most worthwhile industry to invest in in El Salvador is now? Don’t even talk about industry, I don’t even know which city its capital is…
Then you say, can El Salvador have international influence by spending money to invite Inter Miami to play an exhibition match? Can it drive overseas investment?
What is formalism? In the name of expanding international influence, spending a lot of money to invite the King of Football, Messi, to play a game that has no international influence at all, this is called formalism.
Of course, in the current Hong Kong, this is not called formalism, it is called the event economy.
For a commercial metropolis like Hong Kong, which was once known for its pragmatism and integrity, this is very unusual. Ten years ago, if the SAR government had financially sponsored such a formalistic “grand event”, it would definitely have been questioned by the Legislative Council members:
Why are you spending this money? How do you prove that this game has enhanced Hong Kong’s international influence? Is there a purely commercial solution that can be achieved without spending government money?
Now, without these inquiries, the SAR government has become much more efficient in organizing grand events. Therefore, a commercial and entertainment-oriented football exhibition match has been elevated to the level of politics and national sentiment.
It’s just that Messi, this young man who hasn’t read much, doesn’t understand these twists and turns…
It’s just that, I really didn’t expect that copying homework would be so thorough and fast…
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