EggPost website urges Chinese to debate democracy

Japanese author Haruki Murakami, in his 2009 Jerusalem Prize acceptance speech, compared eggs to people and a wall to "the system".

"If there is a hard, high wall and an egg that breaks against it, no matter how right the wall or how wrong the egg, I will stand on the side of the egg," he said.

EggPost, the name of which was inspired by the analogy, is a new website that also stands on the side of the egg, says its founder, Kwok Ka-ki. The Civic Party Legislative Council member hopes the site will spark a conversation about democracy in Hong Kong and on the mainland, censorship permitting.

"Hong Kong has always played a pivotal role in the modernisation of China," says Kwok, adding that the site aims to educate the younger generation about the city's political past.

Doctors, lawyers, social workers and others passionate about democracy in China, mostly of Kwok's generation, have joined his mission. Younger recruits have designed EggPost's modern interface. Published in traditional Chinese, simplified-character and English-language versions are in the pipeline.

The site has two sections: EggWord and EggTalk. The former publishes opinion pieces written by public figures such as journalist Ching Cheong and political commentator Johnny Lau Yui-siu, as well as members of the public. The latter is a video platform broadcasting interviews by Kwok with political figures such as former chairman of the Democratic Party Albert Ho Chun-yan.