BREXIT CHAOS STIRS BEMUSEMENT
Ex-colonies have mixed feelings about UK’s exit from EU soon
ACROSS much of Britain’s former Asian colonies, many are greeting the United Kingdom’s impending departure from the European Union with a mixture of bafflement, apathy, amusement — and a touch of schadenfreude.
Britain long justified imperial subjugation by arguing Rule Britannia brought order, stability and shared prosperity — even after its retreat from colonialism birthed a host of troubled new nations still saddled with historical grievances and legacies to this day.
Now Brits face a chaos and internal division of their own making, alongside potential isolation and years of economic hardship — particularly if the UK crashes out with no deal on April 12.
“I was born and brought up in this British colony called Hong Kong and used to think that the Brits were a very sensible people,” remarked Claudia Mo, a prodemocracy lawmaker in the financial hub.
“I’ve been watching (the) Brexit process as a former colonial person and it’s almost like a farce, it’s sadly funny, sadly amusing. I’m baffled as to why and how things got to where they are now. To outsiders it’s almost unthinkable,” Mo, 62, said.
Many youngsters, Mo said, were still looking for opportunities overseas given Beijing’s increasingly authoritarian grip, but they might be less inclined to opt for Britain.
“I think their first choices here are more likely Australia and Canada,” she remarked.
In India, Sreeram Chaulia, dean of the Jindal School of International Affairs, said many regarded Brexit as the latest chapter in what had been a “sharp decline in the place Britain commands as a great power”.
“They are not a gold standard to look up to,” he said.
“We get a feeling of a sinking ship and everybody wants to leave a sinking ship.”
India’s economy is set to overtake the UK’s later this year.
“The UK will then become a middle power. It is like a reversal of scale,” he noted.
Given its cultural and linguistic links, Australians have followed the Brexit drama perhaps more closely than any other former colony.
Nick Miller, Europe correspondent for the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers, noted there was “immediate interest” from readers.
Singaporean economics student Linus Yeo said he was keen to look for silver linings.
“Feels like the perfect time to take a holiday in the UK,” he said.
“The pound is probably going into freefall.”