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Gary Cheung

Perry Wong was born on January 10, 1989, less than five months before the People’s Liberation Army stormed Tiananmen Square.
It is a year that has left an indelible mark on his life, and he developed a strong incentive to learn more about the bloody suppression of the pro-democracy movement.
Wong was born in Guangzhou and moved to Hong Kong with his family in 1996, a year before the city’s return to Chinese rule.
“I got some ideas about the crackdown in my childhood, but the first time I learned more detailed information about the tragedy was when I was a Form 1 student,” he said.
“Some of my teachers talked about the crackdown on June 4 every year. I started reading information about the event and the collapse of the communist regimes in Eastern Europe, which also took place in 1989, on the internet.”

In 2009, Wong attended the candlelight vigil at Victoria Park for the first time to mourn those killed in Tiananmen Square.
“It was a stunning and unforgettable experience for me,” he said. “Attending the vigil is different from reading information in books, or on the internet.”
Now 30, Wong disagrees with localists who think the crackdown had nothing to do with Hong Kong people and have called the vigil “ritualistic”.
“The ritual of paying tribute to our compatriots who lost their lives in the fight for democracy must continue,” Wong said.
He has been attending the vigil, organised by the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, nearly every year since then.




Wong studied history at the Baptist University and became a history teacher in 2017. He has taught his students about what happened in Beijing in 1989.
“I believe history teachers have the duty to let students know about the tragedy and help keep the memory alive,” he said. “I presented different views on the pro-democracy movement and the subsequent crackdown. I let my students make their own judgment.”
The 1989 protests and crackdown fall within Chinese history syllabus for secondary schools. The subject is taught to all pupils in Form One to Three, but is an elective for those in Form Four to Six.
Schools are free to decide whether to include the 1989 crackdown.
Ken Lee was born in November 1989, five months after Tiananmen Square. Like Perry Wong, Lee will never forget what happened in Beijing in those fateful hours on June 4.
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He was aware of the link of the year of his birth and the crackdown when he progressed to junior secondary school.
“On June 4, 2003, my form teacher and Chinese schoolteacher told us the history of the 1989 crackdown during a lesson,” he said.
“They showed us video footage of scenes from Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Our form teacher was in tears at that time.”
He said he found the Chinese government’s forcible suppression unacceptable.
“The students were unarmed and the authorities should have handled the protests in a better way,” he said. “I also don’t buy the Chinese government’s tactic of justifying the military crackdown with the economic prosperity on the mainland in the past three decades.”




Lee started attending the candlelight vigil at Victoria Park when he was 17 years old, and has taken part in the rally for 10 years.
“I agree the vigil to mourn those killed in the crackdown must go on, although some criticise it as ritualistic,” he said. “We keep on paying tribute to our ancestors during the Ching Ming Festival and Chung Yeung Festival.”
Lee became a primary school teacher five years ago. “I seldom talk about the crackdown in classes because my students are too young to understand that chapter of history,” he said.
“But a Primary Six pupil last week raised the issue with me and I was happy to share my thoughts with him.”
He said he planned to tell his students about the crackdown in lessons of general studies, one of the subjects he teaches.


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The Hong Kong teachers whose lives are inexorably linked to Tiananmen Square crackdown making sure their pupils are taught about events of 1989

Perry Wong first attended a vigil in 2009 and disagrees with those who say remembrance has nothing to do with Hong Kong. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Primary school teacher Ken Lee, born in November 1989 talks about June 4 crackdown during an interview in Tsuen Wan. 02JUN19 SCMP / Jonathan Wong

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Perry Wong was born five months before bloody events of June 4, Ken Lee five months afterwards, and both agree it must never be forgotten


Perry Wong was born five months before bloody events of June 4, Ken Lee five months afterwards, and both agree it must never be forgotten.


Tiananmen Square crackdown

The Hong Kong teachers whose lives are inexorably linked to Tiananmen Square crackdown making sure their pupils are taught about events of 1989

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Perry Wong was born five months before bloody events of June 4, Ken Lee five months afterwards, and both agree it must never be forgotten

Perry Wong was born five months before bloody events of June 4, Ken Lee five months afterwards, and both agree it must never be forgotten