The past few years have seen Hong Kong weather some of the most difficult moments in its history – as a city, but also as a collective. From the sociopolitical unrest and large-scale protests, to the polarising and deeply vitriolic politics, to the seismic institutional transformations to the government and political infrastructure of the city, to, finally, the mass exodus we are witnessing today. Switch on one’s TV (or whatever one decides to watch); flick open one’s Facebook, and it wouldn’t be particularly difficult to spot news that would take a pretty intense and heavy mental toll on one. And indeed, recent events have made it rather difficult for the ordinary Hongkonger to feel hopeful – whether it be the sense that the internationalist and cosmopolitan glow that had once made our city great is ostensibly vanishing, or that the values and norms that some believe typify Hong Kong are gradually dissipating and displaced by a new influx of cultural and social mores. In any case, one thing is clear: this city is experiencing a dearth of hope, and there is a dire need of both reform and restoration – reforms that would tackle the structural issues endemic to the city; restoration, in terms of restoring the mojo to the once-glitzing jewel of the East.