Who are the young civil servants defying peers and elders by holding a rally against Hong Kong’s extradition bill?
- Plan to gather some 2,000 government employees means putting names on record – and potentially careers at risk
- One organiser says ‘I hope we can provide a platform for rational and peaceful exchange”
A group of young civil servants have defied pressure from their peers, elders and supervisors to organise the first political rally by government employees over the extradition bill crisis.
The plan to gather some 2,000 civil servants was announced on Sunday night at the peak of the latest clashes between anti-government protesters and police in Sheung Wan – and it immediately raised eyebrows.
Last week, hundreds of civil servants – administrators, executive officers, clerical staff, disciplinary forces and even government lawyers – issued anonymous petitions urging Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor to order an independent inquiry into the escalating extradition bill fiasco.
But putting their names on record – and potentially their careers at risk – is different.
I am not worried about possible retaliation. The promotion of civil servants, after all, is made in accordance to their performance
“Most colleagues involved in the discussion were wary of being named in the public and becoming a somewhat public figure,” said Michael Ngan Mo-chau, 29, a co-organiser of the rally, which is scheduled for Friday at Chater Garden in Central.