Tributes aside, leftists' instigating role in 1967 riots must not be whitewashed
Gary Cheung says the death of a ringleader of the riots exposes polarised views even today
Lyrics from the Simon and Garfunkel classic, The Sound of Silence - "People talking without speaking, People hearing without listening" - may well sum up the divided response to the death of Yeung Kwong, the ringleader of the 1967 riots and veteran leader of the Federation of Trade Unions.
Pro-Beijing newspapers heaped praise on Yeung's "contribution to the labour movement" and people posted tribute messages like "we will miss our fellow fighter in the anti-British and anti-persecution struggle", which FTU lawmaker Alice Mak Mei-kuen put up on her Facebook page.
Meanwhile, some internet users who are critical of the pro-Beijing camp posted messages like "Yeung Kwong, you are a murderer with blood on your hands" on Facebook groups set up by like-minded people.
The polarised views of Yeung, who was director of the All-Circles Anti-Persecution Struggle Committee during the 1967 disturbances, underscore the entrenched division between the leftist camp and mainstream society, long after the bombs and bloodied bodies have been cleared from the streets.
Forty-eight years on, the 1967 riots still polarise Hong Kong. While the leftist camp boasted of their "righteous revolt" against the oppression by the colonial government, most people outside the camp highlighted the killing of Commercial Radio broadcaster Lam Bun in August 1967 after he criticised the rioters on his programme.
In their condolences, neither acting chief executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor nor the FTU, which Yeung led from 1962 to 1988, mentioned his role in the leftist-inspired riots. Lam praised Yeung for his contributions to the labour movement, reminiscent of the justification for awarding him the Grand Bauhinia Medal, Hong Kong's highest honour, in 2001.
The 1967 riots were seen as a spillover from the Cultural Revolution, which Mao Zedong launched on the mainland a year earlier. While Yeung led the struggle committee, the unrest was actually masterminded by the Hong Kong branch of Xinhua News Agency - which served as Beijing's de facto embassy in Hong Kong at the time. Yeung was chosen as the figurehead of the struggle committee largely because of Beijing's preference for a leftist union leader to highlight "the leadership of the working class".