Who are the young civil servants defying peers and elders by holding a rally against Hong Kong’s extradition bill?

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.

“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.

“But I am not worried about possible retaliation. The promotion of civil servants, after all, is made in accordance to their performance.”

Organising a rally was not entirely new to Ngan, who once served as vice-president of Chinese University’s students union.

In 2012, he helped organise a class boycott on campus to demand the scrapping of the national education curriculum – but that was his last encounter with social movements. Of 10 fellow members in the student union, only two remained active in local social movements. Ngan was the only one to join the public sector after graduation.

He started working for the government in 2016 and now works as an Assistant Labour Officer II.

“I have never thought of organising [a rally] for civil servants, but just like this entire movement [against the extradition bill], many have made their first attempts,” said Ngan.

Another co-organiser, 32-year-old Cheung Ka-po, said he had been closely following the extradition bill crisis since March, but only decided to take action on July 21 – the night when a mob indiscriminately attacked passengers and protesters in Yuen Long MTR station.

“Why did the police fail to show up on time? I’m worried this could hurt citizens’ confidence in civil servants,” said Cheung, who works in the Transport Department. “I hope we can provide a platform for rational and peaceful exchange.”

Ngan, Cheung and three organisers – from the highways and housing departments and the Land Registry – came to know each other and other supporters on LIHKG, the social media platform, and set up a group on the encrypted messaging platform Telegram a few weeks ago.

Cheung said he had only met Ngan in person once before they announced the plan to hold a civil servants’ rally. He added that they had already received nuisance calls from unknown people.

He described himself as a newcomer to social movement.

“I have no experience in applying for the letter of no objection [from the police], let alone holding a rally,” Cheung. “I just hope we do not have to do it many times.”