And that's the way it felt. Call me crazy. My wife and I were staying in Kowloon, amid the glitz of Hong Kong. To me the takeover hearkened back to an older time. I'd be far away, not worried about anything. At that time the worst thing for me about Hong Kong was flying amid skyscrapers to reach ground at their old airport.

However, at the time I had many opportunities to ask people what they were going to do in four years. From my standpoint it had everything to do with income. My tour guide said all the rich folks were leaving. Finding out I was from Canada she told me there was a new name for Vancouver. She called it "Hong-couver." Her plan was to stay the course. She realised she didn't have a choice to leave and the future she didn't find that scary.

Another person I talked with at time looked at it another way. He was clearly nervous. He didn't speak much English so our jilted conversation was a bit tough. However, he told me he was very nervous about 1997. Maybe his job as a waiter to western tourists stoked his tension. I'm sure as 1997 got closer he was asked that question over and over again.

This morning (Wednesday) I talked with Enamul. As he said, he is in China. In fact it seems to be a regular gig for him now. He's watching Chinese TV and telling us not to believe everything we see in the western media or western TV. Well, I'm afraid many of us here in the West would say ditto for him. I know for a fact that I don't want to base everything I see on Chinese television. I know Enamul is not, me neither.

However if this column has a "raison d'etre" it's the fact that people from different parts of this earth see things differently. That being the case, what is right, what is just and what is really happening out there? I see that first hand when I turn up in Asia from time to time. Being so far away from western circles, Asia always has a different bent on something. You see it in their press, in their streets and on their billboards. Ditto for the rest of the world. As 1997 neared the western media ran wild with the Hong Kong apocalypse to come. We know in 2007, it didn't happen.

Fast forward to 2003. That's when your loyal scribe once again found himself in Hong Kong. However, this time it was China and I wasn't staying long, only a few hours. I had a flight cancelled on my way to Bangladesh because of snow in Newark, New Jersey. My job in Hong Kong was to find a way to Dhaka. I'd been told in Sarnia, Ontario: once I was on the ground in Hong Kong I'd have to find my own way.

I lost track of time somewhere on the flight over the Bering Strait. As the plane neared Hong Kong I quickly calculated I still had time to catch a flight to Singapore and get my other flight to Dhaka. Knowing time was short, I almost catapulted out of the plane into the brand spanking new Hong Kong International Airport.

I was quickly confused. All I saw was Mandarin. However, everybody was going that way so I quickly shuffled off. Still, there was no English, only Mandarin. However, I could read "Singapore Airlines." So after much fast confusion I made it to the Singapore Airlines booth, explained my situation and made it to my next flight with 20 minutes to spare.

However, on that harried run I learned many things. There were English signs and lots of them. Nonetheless, you had to work a little harder than 1997 to see them. The airport was beautiful, just as striking or more so than the glittering Changi Airport in Singapore. In my very short time there, Hong Kong post-1997 looked very good to me.

Like many things in life, we only know what we know. There surely were and are competing visions of Hong Kong pre and post 1997. Both our respective media on each side of the divide do what they do. Everything is not always as it seems. The challenge is spreading that little gem around the world.

East/West is a joint column written by A.K. Enamul Haque and Philip Shaw. Dr. A.K. Enamul Haque, is a Professor of Economics at East West University. Philip Shaw is a farmer, writer, and broadcaster in Ontario, Canada.