Apple Daily Thanks its Readers

People lined up in the rainy weather to buy copies of the paper

 

After a late night absorbing the news that Apple Daily was closing for good, I could only sleep a few hours and woke up at 5.30am.

So I got up and went downstairs and across the street to buy the last edition of Apple Daily. The convenience store had a massive stack by the entrance. I grabbed several, paid for them and went back home. 

As expected there were highlights of stories they had done over the years, and a nice editorial summing up Apple Daily's 26 years' of existence.

The paper highlights its top stories in its 26 years

From June 20, 1995, "Our first editorial made our stance clear: 'What we need to be is a newspaper for Hongkongers.'"

One of its first editors was Tang Kwong-kit, who set up a breaking news team of 100 bikers trained in photography and journalism and zipped around town to cover the latest car accident or fire.

"People look down on social news. They think we are stirring up trouble by reporting on a chopped finger or a duck run over by a car. But the smallest incidents reflect a wider picture of society and its development," Tang said. "I am really proud of being a journalist."

The editorial ends by saying:

Apple Daily is not perfect, but what will a Hong Kong that cannot permit Apple Daily's existence look like? It is hard to be hopeful or optimistic as we look at the seemingly insurmountable mountain before us, but please trust that darkness comes before dawn. Being able to walk with you for 26 years has been priceless. Although our steps have faltered, in fighting this good fight, there is beauty still -- even in its cessation. We thank every reader of Apple Daily; this last chapter was written in conjunction with all of you. From this vantage point, we can perhaps say we have no regrets. Let's keep fighting -- together.

Before people went to work this morning they went to newsstands to pick up a copy of the paper. Some lined up for hours around the block, or became worried when all the copies were sold out. 

I came to work with those extra copies and gave them to colleagues who desperately wanted it and couldn't find it. It was my good deed of the day.

@surrealhk's image of apples all over Tamar...

Associate publisher Chan Pui-man wrote a farewell letter in the last edition of the paper.

"When an apple is buried beneath the soil, its seed will become a tree filled with bigger and more beautiful apples."

Was this what she had in mind?