Benny Tai's daughter writes of 'unbearable pain' seeing her father's 'white hair, coarse voice'

The daughter of Occupy Central co-founder Benny Tai Yiu-ting has written of her "unbearable pain" at seeing her father's "white hair, coarse voice and staggering steps" since the protests began.

In a 1,900-word article posted on the In-media website yesterday, Tonya Tai wrote in Chinese of her father, the "most diligent person and best husband and daddy in the world".

The article includes an old photograph of Tai and Tonya as a little girl. The byline is "Tong-ya", but In-media editor Damon Wong Chun-pong confirmed it was written by Tonya, a fourth-year student at Chinese University's government and public administration department. Tonya also confirmed she had written it.

Tai, an associate professor of law at the University of Hong Kong, said yesterday he "dared not read" the article before the lecture he was about to give as he was afraid he would get too emotional. Tai has two other children.

Tonya begins by saying how proud she is of Tai's knowledge, and that he "respects and enjoys his job more than anyone else".

"I am most proud of his selfless and fearless spirit," she wrote, adding that Tai continued to be dedicated to his job in academia after starting up the civil disobedience movement about two years ago. "I've seen a lot less of dad at home [since then].