Dedicated Hong Kong follower of June 4 events pledges to attend vigils for as long as he can
Former driving instructor laments fact that more youngsters now no longer identify with mainland China
On May 28, 1989, then 52-year-old driving instructor Wong Ching-wo parked his car in Kowloon Tong and hopped on a bus heading to Central. From there, he joined the other 1.5 million Hongkongers in a massive demonstration supporting the pro-democracy protests in Beijing.
Six days later, Wong cried as he watched television footage of tanks rumbling down the streets of the capital and people covered in blood being rushed away on carts.
Since then, he has never missed one June 4 candlelight vigil remembering the crackdown. He will once more be at Victoria Park on Sunday to call on Beijing to rescind its denunciation of the Tiananmen protesters.
“I will be going to the vigil until I am not able to,” the 80-year-old said. “I hope I can see the verdict overturned during my lifetime. People deserve a result.”
Hong Kong has been hosting the world’s largest June 4 vigil since 1989. But amid the rise of localism, a growing number of youngsters, who do not empathise with the victims 28 years ago, have abandoned the symbolic event.