Mourners shun main event and flock to HKU and Tsim Sha Tsui to mark June 4
Students hold separate mourning event from Victoria Park, joined by radical localism groups
As a blanket of sorrow enshrouded an annual Victoria Park ritual to grieve for victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, some people marked the tragedy in a different way.
At the University of Hong Kong in Pok Fu Lam, around 2,000 people attended a separate student union vigil to reflect on what else should be done besides the candlelight event held by the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China.
A third commemoration got under way in Tsim Sha Tsui, led by radical localist groups.
All eschewed the Victoria Park gathering this year, partly because they believed the city had no role in "China's internal affairs" and could not agree with the organisers' call to "build a democratic China".
"The alliance's vigil is mainly for mourning," participant Ben Li, 22, said. "There is singing and chanting of slogans. But here there is a platform for people to communicate … and to know what Hongkongers think after all these years."
At the start of the HKU event at 7.50pm, a student host said: "Our vigil won't have any fundraising or souvenirs, because this is not a carnival. We won't sing song together, nor would we ask you … to give yourself a round of applause … What we have here is respect for the dead."
The opening speech was followed by a minute of silence, with about 10 students on stage representing the students' unions of HKU, Chu Hai College of Higher Education, and the Baptist, Lingnan and Open universities.
A highlight of the programme was a discussion on the "June 4 Massacre in the Destiny of Hong Kong", whose co-hosts included veteran journalist Tse Chi-fung, writer Eric Tsui Shing-yan and former chief editor of HKU's student magazine , which Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying singled out in January for allegedly advocating Hong Kong independence.
David Pang, in his 50s, echoed Li's views. "The event at Victoria Park is about the same every year. That is OK, because it cannot be a show. But this year is special because [the students are hosting their own vigil]."
Website editor Ken Lam, 22, said he did not agree fully with the alliance's cause. "I disagree with its objective of building a democratic China and its call for the vindication of June 4, because it means recognising the legitimacy of communist rule."
Lam said he expected a stronger sense of political struggle at the HKU vigil.
Elsewhere, young faces made up a crowd put at 790 by police at the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront.
A woman was critical of the alliance's vigil. "Look at those who speak on the stage; it is always the same faces after all these years." She voiced discontent with the alliance leadership's failure to "pass the torch to the young".
Over in Tai Wai, an accountant said she did not think it was necessary to show up at Victoria Park. "It is OK as long as you remember it in your heart."
Another participant said he decided a few years ago to take some time out, after having joined the park vigil for years. "It's not that I no longer support them or democracy, but I guess I'd like a break after all these years."
Hong Kong, being shielded by the Basic Law - which guarantees freedom of assembly and speech - is the only place on Chinese soil that holds large-scale events and protests every year to commemorate June 4.
The Victoria Park vigil is the largest and longest-running commemorative event for June 4, held annually since 1989.
