Another Year to Remember June 4

Thousands of people walking past political party stalls to get to Victoria Park

Today I thought it wouldn't rain with blue skies, but around 2.30pm it started raining buckets and I got pretty soaked. Would the weather affect tonight's turnout for the June 4th candlelight vigil?

Luckily it started drying up around 4pm and the temperature cooled down too, making it the perfect conditions for the annual event in Victoria Park.

Joshua Wong got lots of attention

Coming out of the Causeway Bay MTR just after 7pm, there were throngs of people, with politicians of all stripes shouting into microphones to get noticed and garner donations. I didn't realize we had that many political parties!

Fernando Cheung Chiu-hung of the Labour Party was there, Audrey Eu Yuet-mee of the Civic Party, even Joshua Wong Chi-fung wore a turquoise T-shirt that read, "Determine our future", and getting a lot of attention from smartphone snaps.

It seems they were all out in force on the street towards Victoria Park because once inside, there were fewer booths than before.

Arriving almost 45 minutes before the event and I managed to get a spot in the front half of the park; it was worrying to see lots of empty patches that had yet to be filled.

But in the end, organizers say 125,000 people showed up, down 135,000 from last year. Tomorrow the police will say only half that number was there... nevertheless it was a relief to know that even though the Federation of Students, the University of Hong Kong and Chinese University were organizing their own events, there was still a united crowd in Victoria Park.

Democracy Goddess wants universal suffrage

In fact at one point in the vigil, a Chinese University professor came on stage to explain that even though he was from that university, and it was his alma mater, he felt it was important to come to Victoria Park instead, which got applause from the audience.

Two other students were with him, who also said the other university groups' choice of opting out wasn't their choice, that they preferred to be with us, and that they (the student unions) didn't represent an entire generation. It was an honest answer, but also a stinging public rebuke against the student groups that claimed they were more concerned about fighting for democracy in Hong Kong than in China.

The vigil also remained relevant by talking about forced disappearances, a direct reference to the missing booksellers that horrified Hong Kong people. They showed video clips of Lee Po that seemed so outrageous in his attempts to do verbal gymnastics in explaining his bizarre trips to the mainland without using his return home permit.

Another speaker was Jonathan Chan Ching-wa, a representative of the Hong Kong Federation of Students who was in Beijing during the Tiananmen protests in 1989. He tearfully recalled when they left for the airport, an old man knew they were from Hong Kong and instructed them to tell the world what had happened.

Organizers say some 125,000 people attended this evening

I have read comments from political commentator Johnny Lau Yui-siu in many articles, but as he pointed out when he got on stage, not many people have seen him in person, but now we had, much to the delight of the audience.

He gave a fiery speech, talking about how Beijing is still trying to exert its influence in Hong Kong, mostly through money, that it had been trying to sway foreign media through business investment -- Australia is the most recent one.

Lau added that the Chinese government didn't understand that its people don't just want economic gains, but also freedoms on the mainland.

Tonight's program in Chinese and English

By the end, there were calls for people to donate to the June 4th Museum so that it could move to another location. The landlord of the current premises is making it difficult for them to operate. And so there are calls for donations of at least HK$100 per person.

When the event was over, tens of thousands of us walked back to the MTR in an orderly manner even though there was lots of police presence. Some 300 people are walking to the Liaison office in Western with three paper figurines, representing Deng Xiaoping, Li Peng and Yang Shangkun, the three officials who were believed to have ordered the crackdown in and around Tiananmen Square.

For some reason, this year seemed particularly sad to me -- was it because we have to mark yet another year and still stony silence from Beijing?

June 4 Time to Reflect on Us

A public service announcement to remember June 4 at Victoria Park

We're pleased there was a reminder this morning for people to remember what happened 27 years ago in Tiananmen Square.

On a giant long white banner, appropriately hung on Lion Rock had the Chinese characters: "Never Forget June 4. See you at Victoria Park". It was apparently unfurled there at 9.10am and promptly removed by firefighters by 10am.

What's wrong with leaving a banner like that there? Seems like a good old school public service announcement for everyone to see.

Beijing's White Paper was issued in June 2014

People who remember watching the events unfold on CNN are pretty adamant about commemorating the victims every year in Victoria Park with a candlelight vigil.

But those born in Hong Kong who were too young or not even born yet have no connection to this horrific incident and feel it's time to focus on democracy in Hong Kong and not in China, as they feel that's a lost cause, and also don't have a connection the with the mainland.

They are tired of kowtowing to Beijing and feel fighting for independence is the solution.

But they are not thinking rationally. Whether they like it or not, Hong Kong is legally a part of China as of 1997, and it's quite obvious Beijing is trying to drag the city (which is kicking and screaming) to be integrated into the mainland as quickly as possible.

However independence and remembering the victims of 1989 are two different things. Twenty-seven years ago the students were protesting government corruption and called for freedom of speech, freedom of the press and restoring workers' rights.

While they may have demanded democracy, they didn't know what it was at the time, an idealistic concept they saw in the West.

Protesters took over Admiralty on September 28, 2014

In Hong Kong, our bid for democracy ended in June 2014 when Beijing issued a  white paper reiterating it had full control over the city, and said we could vote for the chief executive, but only from the two or three candidates pre-approved by Beijing.

The anger that erupted in Hong Kong resulted in the 79-day Occupy protests, which many still look back on it wistfully, when thousands of people were united for the most part peacefully for a cause.

But many think Occupy was a failure, and hence the emergence of localist groups and their more radical and violent actions, thinking provocative acts and statements will get China's attention.

And now here we are at the 27th anniversary, more fractured than ever, with the Federation of Students withdrawing participation from the annual candlelight vigil.

Division in Hong Kong is exactly what Beijing wants, bickering among ourselves so that we are too distracted to see what's really going on.

We need to be united in our cause because Occupy really freaked Beijing out. To them it was mayhem; to us it was utopia.

Radicalism only gives Beijing reasons to further clamp down on us and is that what we really want?

Divergent Tiananmen Goals

The head of the procession that marched from Wan Chai to Western today

This afternoon, several hundred people marched ahead of the June 4 anniversary, calling for Beijing to admit its wrongdoings in Tiananmen Square 27 years ago.

Young and old walked from Wan Chai to the Beijing Liaison office in Western carrying banners and shouting slogans.

The turnout was also an indication of support for organizers of the annual June 4 candlelight vigil in Victoria Park, the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China.

Earlier this week Hong Kong Shue Yan University's student-run editorial board likened the organizers to "pimps and bawds in a brothel".

Thousands of students fighting for democracy 27 years ago

Last year, post Occupy, students at the University of Hong Kong decided to hold their own vigil for the victims of the June 4 massacre, saying there was no point in trying to push for democracy in China, when we should be fighting for democracy in Hong Kong.

And this year the HKU students will be doing their own thing, along with the Federation of Students, and Chinese University is doing something separately.

I had never heard of Hong Kong Shue Yan University before and had to look it up. It's a private liberal arts college near Fortress Hill with under 3,000 students. Making statements equating people to "pimps and bawds" will definitely get attention and illustrate the students' outrageous thought process.

"The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China has become pimps and bawds in a brothel after they themselves were raped," wrote Ng Kwai-lung head of Hong Kong Shue Yan's student editorial board.

Remembering the victims of June 4 at Victoria Park

One of the student leaders in the 1989 protests in Beijing, Wang Dan, who now lives in Taiwan, said the students' sentiment was similar to the standard of the wumao, or "50-cent gang", the army of internet commentators who supposedly get 50 cents for every comment they make that support the Chinese government and attack its critics.

The students have a really bizarre sense of thinking. Do they think anyone will take them seriously?

It will be interesting to see how many people show up on Saturday at Victoria Park. I just hope there won't be torrential rain....!!!!

Further Clampdown on Occupy Leaders

Joshua Wong, Nathan Law and Alex Chow enter Wan Chai police station

Eleven months after the incident, three students were charged today for starting the 79-day Occupy Movement.

Scholarism leader Joshua Wong Chi-fung, Federation of Students secretary general Nathan Law Kwun-chung and his predecessor Alex Chow Yong-kang went to Wan Chai police headquarters to plead not guilty.

Wong was charged with taking part and inciting others to take part in an unlawful assembly; Chow was charged for taking part in an unlawful assembly, and Law for inciting others to take part in it.

The trio were part of a group who broke into Civic Square at Hong Kong government headquarters last September 26. That incident was precipitated by students who had staged a class boycott for several days outside the building protesting Beijing's white paper on election reform, where all candidates would be vetoed by a 1,200-member pro-China committee.

The eruption of tear gas sparked the occupation of Admiralty

After the young people broke into Civic Square, police surrounded them and then two days later, members of the public (myself included) went there to demand that the students be released. Hours later the police shot 87 canisters of tear gas that sparked the occupation of Admiralty, Mongkok, Causeway Bay and briefly Tsim Sha Tsui.

"'Civic Square' had been a place where we gathered freely to protest against the national education curriculum and the free television license decision. We were only trying to get into that place... So this is a political prosecution," Wong said. "The break in was the best decision I made in the last four years."

Law explained the reasoning behind pleading not guilty. "We are jumping into this procedure today to expose [the injustice] in it. When the law is used to suppress the people, we will not bow down... and show remorse or apologize just to get a milder penalty," he said.

Wong's lawyer, Michael Vidler, is considering asking the court to end the legal proceedings permanently because it was wrong to prosecute 11 months after the incident.

Exactly. Why is this happening now? Is someone or a group trying to get revenge for the outright rejection of the political reform package, after several pro-Beijing lawmakers walked out of the Legislative Council minutes before the vote?

Why weren't these young people prosecuted as soon as the 79-day protest was over and they willingly gave themselves up at that time?

Benny Tai faces punishment at HKU for his part in Occupy

Meanwhile three academics at the University of Hong Kong, including Benny Tai Yiu-ting, faces punishment from the university for receiving donations and not following the rules.

The punishments were proposed by HKU senior management, that many see as retaliation against Tai, and HKU Public Opinion Programme director Dr Robert Chung Ting-yiu, and Humanities professor Daniel Chua. Others see the punishments as a way for the trio to avoid outright dismissal.

Tai, an associate law professor, faces a three-year ban on assuming managerial posts, receiving donations and supervising researchers at HKU. Chua faces the same three penalties as Tai, but for a shorter period, while Chung is banned from receiving donations for a shorter period.

All three declined to comment citing confidentiality, and it seems they want to read the fine print to get a better understanding of what possible punishments they are facing.

It's interesting these developments are happening now, one month to the one-year anniversary of the Occupy Movement. Surely it's an attempt to preempt some kind of event happening a month from now, but is it really necessary?

After Occupy was shut down eventually in mid-December, the momentum and appetite to continue the protest significantly died down, mostly because it ended so ugly with violent clashes with police.

While Wong, Shum, Law, Tai and Chung gained notoriety for being the faces of the movement, they are already paying the price for sticking their necks out. Chung received a number of death threats, and what are the chances of someone employing Wong after he graduates from university?

Surely these are punishment enough?

Fast Losing Moral Ground

Protesters gearing up to fight with police last night at Tamar

The Occupy/Umbrella Movement's credibility is sinking faster than a lead balloon with what has happened in the last 24 hours.

Around 10pm last night, protesters tried to storm the Hong Kong government offices, particularly the Chief Executive's offices in a bid to paralyze the authorities into having a dialogue.

Not exactly the most diplomatic way of going about things, but perhaps when the government ignores you for more than a month you get frustrated...

But the police were prepared, and armed with batons and pepper spray, they also escalated, and from the footage I saw, they had no mercy in hitting people, spraying them and arresting them.

Some of the young people seemed shocked by what was happening, but should they? The occupation of Admiralty, Mongkok and Causeway Bay has lasted 65 days. The majority of people in Hong Kong have had enough with the protests and want life to return back to some kind of normality.

Protesters running from police on Lung Wo Road

Someone from above had instructed the police officers to do whatever it took to keep Lung Wo Road clear, and also try to clean out several areas including Tamar Park, where several tents had been there for weeks.

The Hong Kong Government is to blame for its inaction, with no interest in having any kind of dialogue with the students. The authorities [Beijing] don't want to be seen as bending to the students' will, so it is a losing battle.

So the clashes in the end didn't make many advances, and it was shocking to see protesters with doors acting as shields, and some kind of metal sticks as weapons as well as bricks. This is not what the protest is supposed to be about.

Meanwhile how many cans of pepper spray have the police used?

Some 40 people were arrested and 58 sent to hospital for injuries.

Protesters are now fighting amongst themselves or angry at the student leaders for not having a concrete plan. Alex Chow Yong-kang apologized tonight, but that won't retain support for the movement anymore. Some people are angry at them -- these protesters have been camping out for two months only to see things devolve into this.

Joshua Wong has started his hunger strike for attention...

And now the latest is that Scholarism's Joshua Wong Chi-fung is starting a hunger strike with two others in a bid to secure talks with Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor.

Really? Is that your solution? No one really cares if you starve... to death... people conduct hunger strikes everyday. And having lost so much credibility, pulling the sympathy card is not going to work this time.

It's conflicting and sad to see the protest movement quickly falling apart now after all this time. And now the government has every reason to shut down the protest sites because people are getting violent.

How much longer will it last? Hard to say but could be less than two weeks now that the movement has lost moral credibility. Who is going to continue to stick it out and at what cost?

Regardless, the Umbrella Movement has made it harder for Beijing to influence the next generation. And for Hong Kong, that's a victory to remember.

Tensions Flare; Family Frictions

Large numbers of people at Admiralty, who later clashed with police...

As I write (10.30pm Sunday) there are clashes between protesters and the police in Admiralty, where crowds have overtaken Lung Wo Road.

Police knew something was coming with the Federation of Students told people to come to Admiralty at 6pm and have goggles and helmets on hand.

The crazy thing is that I was just there two hours ago and while I was impressed with the turnout -- there seemed to be just as many as in the first week of the Umbrella Movement -- I didn't feel there was tension in the air.

There was lots of police presence, standing at various points where there were barricades, but other than that it seemed like a typical night in Admiralty.

However, things have escalated in the last half hour and so far five people have been arrested.

But my blog post wasn't supposed to be about Admiralty today, but about a documentary I saw before dinner time at the Asia Society as part of the 15th Hong Kong Jewish Film Festival.

It's called Life in Stills by Tamar Tal and tells the story of a grandmother and her grandson who run a photography shop in Tel Aviv.

Miriam Wasserstein with grandson Ben in Life in Stills

The shop, The Photo House, was started in 1940 by the grandfather, famous Israeli photographer Rudi Wasserstein who captured images of the place before it was formally a country from the mid 1930s until his death. There are over 1 million negatives in the shop that they carefully archive and sell prints to customers.

Grandmother Miriam is 96 years old and a no-nonsense woman who has really dry humour, while her grandson Ben has the patience to look after her and explain what is going on around her which she may or may not accept.

Their shop is facing eviction because developers want to build something new on the block, while they try to fight to stay there. Meanwhile we find out why it's only the grandmother and grandson around -- four years earlier his mother was murdered by her husband who then committed suicide.

Miriam is still reeling from her daughter's death, while Ben has compartmentalized it elsewhere in his mind and has moved on. He also reveals he is gay and moves in with his boyfriend, but does Miriam approve? We are not sure.

Wonderful photo of a younger Miriam by her husband Rudi

The documentary is only an hour long and at the end we see the shop has to move temporarily for at least three years while the new development is built; when it is completed they will get to move back, but not exactly in the original location.

We also see photographs that Rudi Wasserstein took, and perhaps for many Israelis they are considered iconic images, but more explanation and captions would have been appreciated for those not too familiar with his work.

Ben knows the camera is watching and at times looks like he's trying to act, when he should just focus on what is going on, like Miriam who acts very natural, or maybe she doesn't even realize the camera is there!

Nevertheless, the tender portrait of the grandmother and grandson is poignant, revealing the various layers they struggle with together and individually.

Here's a taste from the trailer:

Life in Stills

lifeinstillsfilm.com

Keeping Up Morale

A Lego dramatization of the Umbrella Movement on show at Admiralty

A referendum was supposed to take place tonight at Admiralty to gage what protesters thought should be the next plan of action.

But it was called off hours before it was due to start, mainly because protesters had different views about how to move forward and felt the poll would not achieve much.

Have your portrait taken at the site with an "umbrella"

"The public may feel that there are problems with the movement's organization and leadership, and we admit that... I promise that in the future, we will have sufficient notification and discussion with protesters, before making a major, formal decision, said Occupy co-founder Benny Tai Yiu-ting.

Federation of Students' Alex Chow Yong-kang said some protesters felt there was no need for a vote because them occupying the streets proved they supported the issues in the referendum.

It's an embarrassing gaffe for the Occupy/Umbrella Movement, but tonight there was a strong turnout in Admiralty.

There was a mini concert held, a guy with a guitar sang a few songs followed by speeches by others to fire up the crowd, marking Day 29.

A yellow umbrella mobile hanging by the escalator

The newest thing now is to take a portrait at the protest site and with the camera shutter open for a long exposure, a guy with a yellow light "draws" between two people to make it look like they are holding an umbrella.

We also saw a young woman using a whiteboard marker drawing on the hood of her convertible -- how did she drive it in there? She wrote "I love students" complete with a drawing of an umbrella and lion with the banner "I want true democracy", referring to the Lion Rock banner stunt. She invited two kids to write "add oil" in Chinese.

There wasn't any hard feelings about not having the vote -- it was probably for the best.

However this weekend Robert Chow Yung's group was out in force, collecting signatures to support the police, an indirect pro-Beijing reference. They were in every neighbourhood including mine soliciting signatures, though I heard even children's autographs were accepted, which may explain why they had some 300,000 on the first day.

A woman draws on the hood of her car

This numbers game just creates a greater divide between people instead of trying to inch closer to some kind of consensus...

But it got really ugly in Tsim Sha Tsui last night, when some anti-Occupy supporters had scuffled with journalists, when a RTHK reporter was dragged to the ground, and a TVB reporter and two TVB cameramen were injured.

And people try to claim Umbrella Movement protesters are inciting violence?