For the second world war survivors who marched yesterday to mark the end of Japan's occupation of Hong Kong, the events of 60 years ago cannot be forgotten.
Yuan Zhulin, an 84-year-old forced to act as a 'comfort woman' or sex slave for the Japanese Imperial Army, said she was still haunted by the memories.
'I can never forget this hatred [against the Japanese],' Ms Yuan said. She flew in from Wuhan to take part in the anti-Japan rally.
Ms Yuan became famous when Li Pi-hua wrote about her in The Red String five years ago. The book recounts how she became a comfort woman and how she met - and eventually lost - her husband.
Japanese soldiers took her when she was 14, forcing her to serve more than a dozen of them every day. 'They've left me unable to have children, and hit my head so badly.'
She said she was finally freed in 1944 by a sympathetic Japanese soldier and eventually met Liao Kui, who was able to overlook her inability to bear children and her vulnerable self-image to marry her.