Welcome Back to 2019!

POSTED ON FEBRUARY 14, 2019 BY TEELE REBANE

 

In today’s world everything is globalised to the extent of cultural erasure. To the point
where you know the rest of the world better than your own neighbourhood. You can tell
the political leanings of all of the US 2020 presidential hopefuls, but maybe you have no
idea who to vote for in your own local government elections. If you are living in Hong
Kong, you may give a recipe for rice paper rolls or tacos or banana bread, but maybe the
only Cantonese dish you can make is hotpot.

That is because these days we live large. Our playing field has grown from our backyard
to the entire world. Our hopes and dreams are now set on a global scale. So much so, that
we are starting to overlook the local community. But it is often where it is at. Where
global trends begin and where they play out. There is no place as unique or idiosyncratic
as the root of something. And that should be celebrated.

That is precisely what the Shroffed team is set out to do. Our team represents Hong Kong,
and the world, the way it is — mixed, conflicted and curious. We are looking to bring out
the minuscule and the compelling, from quirky local stories to global matters. It is near
impossible to represent every perspective, but by letting our authors express their ideas,
opinions and individuality we get as close as possible. There are no bumper sticker
restrictions at Shroffed. We share what is important to us personally, as well as what
matters in the world.

As you must have heard hundreds of times, the media is under attack right now. Day in
and day out you hear stories of state censorship, murdered journalists, the need for
independent media and freedom of information. Some serious issues.

In response to this, publications like to position themselves as the forerunners of free
speech, at a time when the word ‘free’ means nothing. They like to market themselves
as more than news agencies, as freedom warriors. Warriors who shed light on the truth
and bring power back into the hands of people.

And we could do the same. Plop ourselves into the same pot with the New York Times,
the Boston Globe, the Washington Post, the so-called truth-bearers, because we do also
believe in these things and we are also fighting the good fight.

But tycoon publications like these cater to such a wide audience that they become a
blanket of information. Their target audience has become so wide and their stories too
big that they lose that factor of uniqueness you can only find at the root level. That is
the blind spot we want to cover, especially trends beginning in Asia and our position
as a world player. Because in fighting for major problems, we do not want to forget
individual issues.

As much as we seek to report with integrity and wit, like the publications mentioned
above, we hope to have perspective that is more insightful than the default global view.
And if that wasn’t enough to convince you — we also do not have a paywall.