ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) impact on Hong Kong, a territory whose global importance is disproportionate to its size of 980 square kilometers and population of almost seven million. It examines the concept "community of fate" and proceeds to apply it to Hong Kong in the spring of 2003, and shows how it amplified political "voice". It focuses on the nature of military language and the nature of social ritual. The chapter refers to this social ritual as "efface work" and draws attention to its anomalous character in a masked city fearful of bodily contact and co-presence. It argues that mask culture under these conditions promotes emotional contagion, while attempting to keep disease contagion at bay. SARS came to Hong Kong in late February 2003 when Liu Jianlun, a doctor from Guangdong province, visited Hong Kong for a wedding, stayed at the Metropole Hotel, and unwittingly infected fellow residents.
