"Patriotism" seems to have taken on a pejorative connotation in Hong Kong lately. It should not. Webster's Dictionary defines "patriotism" as "love for or devotion to one's country". It is natural that one should feel kinship to one's motherland.

Perhaps it was Hong Kong's history of being governed and ruled by a British colonial government for 155 years, and perhaps it was the nature of its population mix with constant influx from the southern Chinese provinces and emigration to Western countries, that caused people in Hong Kong to always have mixed-emotions about their national identity.

Hong Kong was referred to as "borrowed time, borrowed place".

I, for one, encountered many embarrassing situations while studying abroad in my youth when I was asked of my nationality. Every time, I had to struggle hard to put down "British national" in the appropriate column as I was holding a British National Overseas passport. I am sure that there are many in Hong Kong who had similar experiences.

On July 1, 1997, I started having a country of my own. China was not yet strong then, and still had many internal and external problems to face. Nonetheless, it is my country and I, her national. The transition was a moving and earthshaking one for me.

It was like an orphan coming home to his natural mother's arms.

It has been twelve years since 1997. China has resumed exercising sovereignty over Hong Kong, and a new government for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has been established. Do we feel at home here in Hong Kong as children of China, our motherland?

A recent poll conducted by the University of Hong Kong interviewed 1,000 citizens on the subject of national identity. Fifty-seven percents of those interviewed considered themselves "Hong Kong persons" while 43 percent did not identify with Hong Kong, even in the broad sense. Furthermore, only 43 percent of those interviewed considered themselves as "Chinese nationals", and 57 percent did not. The study revealed that not everyone in Hong Kong, for one reason or another, feels a natural affinity to one's motherland, especially among adults who underwent years of schooling under a colonial system and lived under a colonial government in Hong Kong. For them, patriotism is not natural but acquired and has to be cultivated. No wonder that our leaders have on many occasions pointed out the importance and urgency of promoting national education in Hong Kong.

National education is more than a series of courses building on a curriculum of information and knowledge. It consists of steps leading to realization that devotion to one's country is without reason or justification. Coming into contact with the motherland is the first step. Finding out and learning more about her history and recent development is the next, leading to a compassionate understanding of her causes and circumstances. Then comes respect, and the acquisition of an identity with her.

National education requires serious and continuous efforts. An example of one such effort may be observed this Saturday, September 19, 2009. Details could be obtained from www.mychina.hk.

The author is former secretary for home affairs of the Hong Kong SAR government.

(HK Edition 09/16/2009 page1)