Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 2020complete | Page 425

Greater Bay Area
Korean International School, Fung, Man Yin - 13
Sunset. Like usual, I walked along the coastline. I bought some food for dinner the following morning. I checked
my mailbox, and found something I wasn’t expecting. It was a letter from the government. At first, I thought it
was some pointless and irrelative advertisement, but apparently, I was the few chosen to live in the brand new
launched “sort of” country. Government leaders have plans to launch what they call the GBA, which stands for
Greater Bay Area, including southern China, Hong Kong, and Macau. The region will have more land than
Switzerland, more people than Canada, and will contain more business activity than the whole of Australia. I
can’t describe how excited I am.
16th of December, 2029. I did my final check on my luggage and headed my way to the bridge. It was an 8-
hour flight, so it shouldn’t be much of a problem. After a few hours, I finally arrived. As I was walking to the
security checks, this places feels rather “fresh”. It’s unlike any other country I ever visited. The technology here is
significantly superior to other countries, such as artificial intelligence and machinery. The Government provided
me with a place to live and, but in return, I have to do a job. Like most people, I am assigned to work for
technological advancements.
A week had swiftly passed by. Life was so far alright. There are quite a lot of magnificence sights here, such as the
buildings lined up near the sea. During the night, all the buildings light up and from a far distance, it is a view
that is unforgettable.
The people here are a pleasure to interact with. They are quite approachable and friendly. Like for instance, one
time I forgot to bring my wallet, and I don’t have enough to get to work. Having this frustrated look on my face,
this man approached me and said, “You don’t have enough? Here, take this. This should be enough for the trip
back as well.” I would have kindly denied but considering the fact that I’m about to be late for work, I accepted
his offer. I suggested that I should return the money back someday, but he said there’s no need for such a thing.
But there’s one thing that I extremely dislike. Privacy. Here, you can’t have internet access or information from
the outside world, which means that anything like social media is unable to operate, and you can’t travel to other
countries. You could feel very lonely at times, which explains why they chose people that don’t have any family
members or friends to work and live in this place, like me. Also, this place is heavily surveilled. Armed troops
roam across the streets, and security cameras built all over the place. This makes life here quite isolated from the
outside world, having no idea what’s going on out there.
Honestly, I’m not even sure what my future plans are. There’s almost nothing to do here, and you can’t leave
this place forever. All we do is follow orders and nothing else. I’m starting to realise this is suffering more than a
privilege. I have to break out.
But I soon discover that’s almost impossible. I’m more on the side of Hong Kong, making escaping a bit easier to
accomplish, since it’s very near the coast. I’ll need help, but I’m not sure if I can trust anyone. Considering the
risks are too high, I’m going to work alone.
Going North into Shenzhen is definitely not a great idea. It is a heavily militarized border, guard by millions of
troops. If I try to escape this way, I’m most likely to step on a landmine, get electrocuted, or gunned down in
cold blood. I could escape by sea, either from the west coast or the east coast.
If I go west, that complicates things even more. Macao is still part of the Greater Bay Area. If I go further, I
could go to Vietnam, through Hainan and Guangxi, where it is geographically and navigationally easier. But
since the government is well aware of that, chances that I will be found by patrols. I could go more to the south,
a safer route perhaps, further out to sea...expect it’s not really safer. The seas are unpredictable and anything could