Portraits of persistence: the Hongkongers refusing to let memories of China’s 1989 Tiananmen crackdown die
Gloria Fung and Kenneth Lam, two ordinary Hongkongers who witnessed first hand the tragic events of 29 years ago, have harrowing stories to tell. It is their duty to keep telling them, they say
While the violence and bloodshed that rocked Beijing 29 years ago may be fading from public consciousness, for some in the capital on that fateful night, the experience remains etched in their memories, and has profoundly shaped the course of their lives.
Ahead of Monday’s anniversary of the 1989 crackdown on democracy protesters, the Post spoke to two of the few Hongkongers who witnessed the chaotic clearance operation. The pair shared how they narrowly escaped death amid the gunfire and tanks that ran across the city on the night of June 3 and early morning of June 4.
With the help of trusted locals – who hoped their escapees would pass on the truth of what transpired – some Hongkongers managed to evade Chinese authorities and slip out of the country in the days that followed the tragedy.
Kenneth Lam, then a student leader at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, has since become a local human rights lawyer, fighting for the rights of grass-roots workers.
He considers his work an extension of the spirit that drove the Tiananmen protest movement almost three decades ago.