Speaker: Cai Yuqian, Predoctoral Fellow, Centre on Contemporary China and the World, HKU
Respondent: John Carroll, Principal Lecturer, Department of History, HKU
Moderator: Alvin K Wong, Assistant Professor, Department of Comparative Literature, HKU
Date: Thursday, February 13, 2025
Time: 5:30 pm Hong Kong Time
Venue: Room LE7, Library Extension Building, Main Campus, HKU
“Hong Kong exceptionalism” has been discussed by writers and intellectuals (such as Chan Koon-chung, Anthony Cheung, and Rey Chow) in its various forms—including historical, institutional, developmental, and cultural—since at least the 1990s. It is shaped by the city’s past experience under British rule and current status as a Special Administrative Region of the P.R.C., but it is also informed by the ideas of liberal and American exceptionalism, calling attention to the transnational history of the concept.
“Singapore exceptionalism” has also evolved since the 1990s, notably manifesting in the “Asian values” debate, and has become a prominent element in official discourse, endorsed by leaders and diplomats (such as Chan Heng Chee, Lee Hsien Loong, and Lawrence Wong). It reflects the city-state’s strategic, political, economic, and social uniqueness, as well as its global activism aimed at ensuring international relevance and competitiveness. Nevertheless, while transnational in origin and substance, the meanings of exceptionalism in Singapore differ strikingly from those in Hong Kong.
Evaluating exceptionalism as an identity-cum-justification narrative, this seminar will explore the two cities as comparable sites for understanding the transnational histories and various forms of exceptionalism within and beyond their immediate contexts.
Cai Yuqian is a Predoctoral Fellow at the Centre on Contemporary China and the World (CCCW) at HKU and a PhD candidate in Public Policy and Global Affairs at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He received an M.A. in East Asian Studies from Yale University and an M.A. in Liberal Studies from Dartmouth College. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in various journals across disciplines and languages, including International Studies Review, Cold War International History Studies, Canadian Review of Comparative Literature, and Il Tolomeo.
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