The Fulcrum Five | 2026.07.17
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| Ray H. Bennett Lumber Co., Inc., No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons |
NB: The Fulcrum Five began as a weekly news bulletin that I send to followers of my Instagram broadcast channel, Cultural Fulcrum. After a few weeks of experimentation, I realised that simply sharing news digests no longer satisfies me. I'm more interested in identifying the thread that connects seemingly unrelated stories and reveals the bigger question they're collectively addressing.
As the project evolves, I'm publishing the full essay here, breathing new life into my long-idled website, while continuing to share a condensed version on my Instagram channel, which exists only within Instagram's mobile app.
This is very much a work in progress. Let's see where it leads.
The Fulcrum Five | 2026.07.17
📍Five observations. One bigger picture.
This week's news has been haunting both my current home and my former one.
From Hong Kong to England and the art world, the headlines couldn't be more different. Yet they've all left me thinking about the same question—What actually makes a place feel like home? Between material prosperity and intangible freedoms, security and belonging, and economic power and cultural confidence, what are the forces shaping our narratives, cultural influence, and sense of belonging?
This reflection coincides with my preparation for the panel discussion that I will be joining this Sunday. Set against the backdrop of the exhibition "No Place Like Home III" curated by Hoa Dung Clerget and KV Duong at SLQS Gallery in London, the notion of home is exactly what this is exploring.
1️⃣ Why one family is leaving Britain for Hong Kong
The almighty algorithm has sent me this video of an Italian woman explaining why her family is leaving the UK after eleven years for Hong Kong.
Her reasons?
• Britain's public transport sucks and overpriced.
• Hong Kong is safer and more family-friendly.
• Racism in Britain is getting worse.
She's probably right about the trains. But the other two are a lot more nuanced.
Racism certainly exists in Hong Kong. It often manifests differently—in Cantonese, through social norms or institutional blind spots—and if you don't speak the language, you may never notice it. White privilege still exists today. This recruitment post specially says that only Caucasian would be considered, blonde with blue eyes preferred, despite it's potentially illegal, even in HK.
As for family life, Hong Kong can indeed be wonderful—if you can afford it. Money buys space, childcare, international schools and a comfortable lifestyle. It shields you from many of the city's structural problems. I cannot comment on that. It's the luxury I never had growing up in a grassroots background.
Safety, too, depends on what we mean by the word.
2️⃣ What does "safe" really mean?
The same week that people were praising Hong Kong as a safe haven, national security police raided two independent bookstores and arrested five booksellers on suspicion of selling "seditious" publications. Authorities also continued tightening pressure on independent booksellers around the annual Hong Kong Book Fair, where some independent bookstores were excluded from participating.
I grew up in Hong Kong during a period when books, ideas and debates were widely accessible—a privilege that I took for granted. I had the luxury of enjoying the freedom to read widely, disagree openly and ask difficult questions shaped the journalist—and the person—I became. Today, I understand that freedom is not free.
So is Hong Kong safe?
If we're talking about violent crime or mobile phone robbery, perhaps. The city is still one of the "safest" cities in the world.
If we're talking about intellectual freedom and freedom of expression, it's no longer a straight forward question.
Home isn't only about whether your body feels safe. It's also about whether your mind is allowed to be free.
Hong Kong's birth rate is among the world's five lowest. It happens for a reason.
3️⃣ England lost. But something else won.
To some, it might be a bit hard to fathom why Hong Kongers support England at the World Cup, but to us, it's almost the most natural. Growing up during the British times, we have been watching English football since a long time ago—I remember my earliest memories of football was 1986, when England lost to Argentina because of Maradona's Hand of God. I was just a young child, and yet I was devastated because it was unfair. From then on, I had been following English football closely until the 2000s.
So England's progress at this year's World Cup brings me back to the world of football. All the players I knew from the past have gone on to become football pundits. But I've discovered the great young players such as Jude Bellingham, Anthony Gordon, and Djed Spence.
England's defeat to Argentina in the World Cup this week was heartbreaking. They were so close to the final and bring football home.
But watching the reaction afterwards reminded me why I've grown to appreciate this country. There was disappointment, of course. But there was also generosity. People analysed tactics rather than searching for scapegoats. There was criticism, but also gratitude for what the team had achieved.
Public culture matters. How a society responds to failure tells you as much about its character as how it celebrates success.
Money can buy you a big apartment in Hong Kong, but not integrity.
4️⃣ Every football match carries history—and whose story is it?
After defeating England, Argentina's players including Lionel Messi celebrated their victory posing with a banner referencing the Falkland Islands, claiming that the territory belongs to Argentina. This has clearly violated international football rules as political statements are banished from the football pitch. And despite public outcry and interference from the UK, the I do not have much hope on FIFA taking action on this.
But inspired by Argentina's controversial tactics on and off the pitch during the tournament, I found myself reading about this South American country's history—its waves of European immigration, the marginalisation of Indigenous peoples, and the often-overlooked history of Afro-Argentines, whose presence has largely disappeared from the country's national narrative. The deeper I read, the more I realised how national identities are constructed as much through omission as remembrance.
While I was reading up on Argentina, I discovered history about Hong Kong.
Then still under British rule, Hong Kong played a logistical role during the 1982 Falklands War as a staging point for Royal Navy operations. Around 400 Hong Kongers were said to be among the crew, and eight died in this conflict that was initiated by Argentina, which invaded the islands. This was rarely discussed in our collective memories of Hong Kong, and yet, it should be treated as a key incident of how we were hurled into a conflict like this. This event also played a significant role in Britain's subsequent negotiation with China on the future of Hong Kong, with its fate sealed by the Sino-British Joint Declaration signed in 1984.
History has a habit of connecting places we rarely think of together.
5️⃣ Money can buy art—but can it shape cultural influence?
At first glance, the answer to this question is yes. But if you take a step back, the answer is not so straight forward.
This week, auction houses reported significant growth in their H1 results, with a 69.8% year-on-year increase. It's not a surprise, considering how big ticket items have been making headline-grabbing sales since the beginning of the year. Some auction houses reported that Asian buyers have been actively bidding at the top level, competing for multi-million blue-chip Western pieces.
Does this mean the art market has recovered? Most certainly not. Many people have analysed this already. I've also had many dealers and galleries, especially mid-sized ones, telling me that they have been struggling. Placing a work has never been harder.
So where is the money actually going?
That question reminded me of a recent Mandarin podcast I recorded. I was invited to join Taiwanese art advisor Gladys Lin on her podcast The Gallerina to discuss a fascinating topic: Why do Asian collectors have to follow the Western art market rules?
I responded with some fundamental questions—Why do people in Asia collect art in the first place? Why do they buy art from Western galleries?
The art market as we know it today was invented by the West, and if you want to participate in this, of course you have to play by Western rules. If you want to buy art from Western galleries thinking that they are the ones holding the golden standard, then of course you have to play by their rules. Simple as that.
But why can't Asian capital be building its own cultural narrative, rather than simply reinforcing Western institutions and Western rules? Why is it always getting a mention in the FT or the Guardian equals to attaining the "international" golden standard, something to boast about? I haven't seen a Western player boasting about getting a rave review in a local/regional paper like, errr, The Japan Times.
I don't think the problem is a lack of capital—the art market has already shown us the money—nor even a lack of talent.
Is it a lack of collective imagination—or the confidence to build alternative ecosystems? Why can't the Asian standard be the golden standard?
Money can buy artworks. It cannot, on its own, build cultural influence?
It is time to reconsider how we can collectively establish our cultural confidence and tell our own stories.