Source:
https://scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3012148/hong-kong-teacher-hopes-new-book-tiananmen-square-crackdown
Hong Kong/ Politics

Hong Kong teacher hopes new book on Tiananmen Square crackdown can educate younger readers

  • Hoi Wai-hang, who was eight when the protests happened, seeks to explain events of April-June 1989
  • ‘It will be difficult for us to understand relations between Hong Kong and mainland China, and the current political situation in Hong Kong, if we do not understand June 4,’ he says
Hoi Wai-hang, a Chinese history and and liberal studies teacher at SKH St Mary’s Church Mok Hing Yiu College. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Teacher Hoi Wai-hang has devoted much of his free time over the past 10 years to writing a book about events at Tiananmen Square in 1989, and hopes it will appeal to a younger generation.

Called Ten Questions about June 4, it summarises and explains the many facets of the student-led protests, the bloody military crackdown and its aftermath in easy-to-understand chapters.

Although numerous books have been written on the topic, Hoi said most were memoirs, interviews with key players or academic analyses. What was missing was a basic introduction to what that momentous event was all about.

“Is it possible to provide readers all the layers of the June 4 narratives in one book? That is the goal of my book,” said Hoi, 38, who has taught Chinese history and general education in SKH St Mary’s Church Mok Hing Yiu College in Lai Chi Kok for 15 years.

To do that, the book tackles 10 questions, including why the protests began on April 15, what happened each day between then and June 20, how China’s top leaders decided to crack down violently on the protesters, whether the student leaders deserve to be blamed for the movement’s failure, and lingering issues to be resolved.

It is presented with many entry points, allowing readers to zoom in on what they find interesting, rather than reading it from start to finish.

Hoi was just eight years old when the crackdown happened, but recalls the reactions of adults around him over three critical days.

On June 3, when the troops moved into Tiananmen Square, his parents allowed him to stay up late to watch the television news with them.

The next day, June 4, they took him to Happy Valley Racecourse for a rally supporting the protesters and condemning Beijing. It was his first time at the track.

“On June 5, when school resumed, a number of teachers were crying, but I could not understand why,” Hoi recalled.

Married with two children, he said he understood why some young Hongkongers have shunned the annual candlelight vigil at Victoria Park in recent years and say Tiananmen Square has nothing to do with them or Hong Kong.

“I understand that some young people, out of resentment against the mainland Chinese regime, have now turned a blind eye to June 4. I don’t agree with them, but I won’t blame them because everyone should be free to choose their own causes,” Hoi said.

But he also said: “It will be difficult for us to understand relations between Hong Kong and mainland China, and the current political situation in Hong Kong, if we do not understand June 4.

“The way China handles June 4 is the way China chooses its future, because a real redress and rehabilitation must come with China’s democratisation.”

The 300,000-word book, published by Step Forward Multi Media, is expected to be in bookshops before the 30th anniversary of the crackdown.