Last week, it emerged to the surprise of Wikimania 2013's organizing committee in Hong Kong that the tagline of this year's Wikimania, "Of one mind in pursuit of our dream, all discord set aside" has caused some concern. Those so concerned viewed it as mockery of the FDC process which apparently left WMHK with no funding to continue running itself after Wikimania.
Many of you who attended Wikimania 2012 will remember that the tagline was announced at the closing ceremony of Wikimania 2012. Tom Morris even joked on Twitter that "that's the new ArbCom motto".[1] We couldn't foresee the future - we simply know that Wikimedia is full of imperfect people like us so conflicts are abundant. However, given the concern expressed, and the fact that the tagline will appear on the Wikimania 2013 T-shirts, I thought I should explain the tagline fully.
The quoted song, Under the Lion Rock, is a soap opera theme tune from the 1980s. This song is often hailed as the unofficial national anthem of Hong Kong. (Lion Rock is an iconic natural rock atop the hilly ridge which divides Kowloon and the New Territories, so "under the Lion Rock" is a metonym for all of Hong Kong.) For attendees from Hong Kong, these lyrics show that this Wikimania embraces Hong Kong fully, and Wikimedians from Hong Kong are just like everyone else.
For those who have been involved with Wikimedia for a long time, it is obvious that there is discord all over the place. Wikimania is often seen as the "cream" of Wikimedia, the "bright side" of everything. By picking these lines for our slogan, we want to make the point (which hasn't ever been as prominent in any past Wikimania) that we don't shy away from conflicts. The "conflict" theme runs right through the proposed agenda in our bid; it was even suggested that we invite a banned editor from Hong Kong as keynote speaker. (That fell through. He never felt compelled enough to show up in person.) The lyrics affirm that it is our shared Wikimedia vision which brings us together, in a way that urges us to live with our differences.
The outside world often thinks of Wikipedians as a homogenous bunch, slaving away behind computers like robots. We want to say that we actually disagree on lots of things, in ways that similar disputes would roll out in real life. Hong Kong editors tend to be a bit proud of ourselves and quite sceptic towards the current Chinese regime, such that we would go to any length to fight against patriotic mainland Chinese editors and panda-licking American editors. Although we would quickly switch sides and stand with Chinese patriots when it comes to the Diaoyu/Senkaku dispute, and the adamant insistence that "China"!="PRC" and "Taiwan"!="ROC". And we're (surprisingly to most foreigners) rather Falun Gong sceptic too.
If people (Wikipediocracy?) insist on thinking that the theme decided a year ago is a dig at the recent FDC furore, then they can put the same into the mouth of any slogan we come up with. What we want to show with these lyrics is that we are connected to all of Hong Kong at heart, and we don't want to shy away from the differences between us in Wikimedia.
Full quotation of the chorus of "Under the Lion Rock", as translated by the Hong Kong Government Budget 2002/03:[2] *Of one mind in pursuit of our dream All discord set aside With one heart on the same bright quest Fearless and valiant inside
Hand in hand to the ends of the earth Rough terrain no respite Side by side we overcome ills As the Hong Kong story we write.*
[1] http://eventifier.co/event/wikimania2012/deryckchan [2] http://www.budget.gov.hk/2002/eframe2.htm
With Wiki-Love, Deryck Global Engagement Coordinator, Wikimania 2013