First Person: Law Yuk-kai
An activist and the director of the Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor, Law Yuk-kai is passionate about all issues related to freedom and justice in the SAR. He talks to Emily Wu about the government, the police, our relationship with Beijing, and his hopes for the Post-80s generation.
I am Hong Kong born and bred.
I came from a grassroots family. Both of my parents worked on a farm, and injustice was commonplace during my childhood. I saw many farmers hawking their produce on the street getting beaten by the police.
I started to take an interest in law and order in the late 70s, when social movements were taking hold in China. My schoolmates and I loved to discuss political issues.
More about my family? Perhaps we should focus on human rights and not go much into personal questions.
I was a Maoist when I was young. Fed up with inequality in Hong Kong’s colonial society, I projected my hopes of a better future towards the land on the opposite shore. I saw China as a wonderland.
I thought it would be easier to realize my dreams there, where the ideology of socialism was maintained. Everyone was equal. Nobody would be left to sleep under a bridge.