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https://scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3031215/give-hong-kong-democracy-do-you-hear-angry-people-sing Comment
Give Hong Kong democracy: do you hear the angry people sing?
- Protest anthem ‘Glory to Hong Kong’ captures perfectly the spirit of a movement that isn’t seeking independence but, rather, freedom from Beijing’s ever-tightening leash
- With long-cherished rights under threat and the civil unrest reaching its bloodiest point yet, the anger is boiling over
Students gather at a shopping mall in Lok Fu on September 23 to sing “Glory to Hong Kong”, which has become the anthem of the pro-democracy protests. Photo: AFP
Have you heard the people sing? I have, lots of times. Not the one from Les Misérables or the national anthem that millions sang across China on October 1 to mark its 70th National Day. The one I have heard is the home-grown Glory to Hong Kong, composed anonymously and fine-tuned by netizens.
If you think such an online job can’t possibly be meaningful, you’re wrong. The tune, lyrics, and video capture perfectly the spirit of the political movement rocking Hong Kong. That movement reached its bloodiest yet two days ago.
I was covering the protests. Never had I seen such seething anger on the streets of Hong Kong. The city had the feel of a war zone combined with martial law. This is what I wrote on June 27: “Bricks, sharpened poles, sieges, rubber bullets, and tear gas today. What next? Burning cars, bombs, shattered shop windows, and real police bullets in response? Let’s not even go there.” We went there two days ago.
This is what I wrote on August 8: “Even if the protests fade without the government meeting at least some of the protesters’ five demands, it will be like lava settling back in a volcano. Sooner or later, that volcano will erupt again. Who’s to say it won’t happen on October 1?” It happened.
The most striking line in Glory to Hong Kong is, “Liberate Hong Kong; revolution of our times”, coined by the now-jailed activist Edward Leung Tin-kei. Loyalists condemn it as seditious. But, taken in context, the lyrics don’t advocate the overthrow of the government or independence.
It’s simply a cry for freedom. I interpret the anti-government movement as a rebellion to liberate Hong Kong from Beijing’s ever-tightening leash. That’s not the same as an independence revolution.
A cry for freedom? But Hong Kong’s freedoms are intact. That’s what loyalists insist. They are on ever-thinning ice. Let me tell you a tale of two freedom standards.
Last week, a woman was doxxed for backing the police at Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s community dialogue. Chief Superintendent John Tse Chun-chung confirmed she was a former auxiliary police officer but added: “Even if police officers participate in such dialogues when they are off-duty, they are exercising their rights as a citizen.”
I applaud him for championing free speech. But what about the free speech rights of Cathay Pacific staff? Beijing forced Cathay to fire dozens just for exercising their rights as citizens. BNP Paribas lawyer Jason Ng had to resign last week just for using Facebook to support the protests.
Mainland netizens forced BNP to apologise for Ng’s totally legal behaviour. Will Tse champion the rights of these people? It wasn’t just Tse who condemned the doxxing, the government did, too.
Let me remind them of what happened in August when Julie Eadeh from the US Consulate held a meeting with democracy activists, including Joshua Wong Chi-fung.
Beijing mouthpiece Ta Kung Pao published an article disclosing her personal details, including the names of her children. Will the government condemn the doxxing of Eadeh? I won’t bother answering that.
Wake up, people. Our freedoms are far from intact. Authoritarianism is chipping away at them. Police have taken away even the basic right to hold peaceful marches, on the grounds that they would end in violence.
That’s the same as taking away the rights of millions of law-abiding citizens to rein in a small number of radicals. Doesn’t the government know Hongkongers will march anyway, as they did two days ago, to protect their rights?
Hong Kong police officers search suspects along the harbourfront on October 1, amid celebrations marking the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China. Photo: May Tse
Now the government is even considering an anti-mask law with the excuse that even Western democracies have it. Hong Kong is not a Western democracy. It’s a semi-democracy slipping into authoritarianism.
The government even bans activists from elections. Police stop and search young people just for wearing black. So, please, don’t put Hong Kong on a par with democracies. Make us a democracy first. Meanwhile, hear the people sing.
Michael Chugani is a Hong Kong journalist and TV show host