Sarah Lee’s ‘Come On’ Facebook post praised as Hongkongers interpret it as support for anti-extradition law protesters

Followers of Hong Kong’s world champion cyclist thank the Olympic bronze medallist and urge other athletes to voice their support
The Tokyo 2020 gold medal hope has yet to respond to queries on what she means by the post

Sarah Lee Wai-sze

Nazvi Careem

Published: 6:03pm, 13 Jun 2019

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Hong Kong’s world champion cyclist, Sarah Lee Wai-sze, is being praised on social media for a message that simply said “Come On”, with her fans appearing to interpret it as a comment on the street demonstrations in the city against a controversial extradition bill.

Lee, Hong Kong’s best hope for a gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, wrote “Ka Yau” in Chinese characters on Facebook – which translates as “Come On”.

The South China Morning Post asked Lee what she meant by the post but she had yet to reply. And she has not offered any follow-up explanation, nor responded to comments on her post.

Her followers, however, appear to see it as support for the thousands of protesters who have been taking to the streetsover the extradition legislation that, if passed, would amend existing law to allow the city to transfer suspects to jurisdictions it lacks extradition agreements with, including the mainland, on a case-by-case basis.

“You are the pride of Hong Kong people”, “Thank you Sarah, thank you for your rare voice and voice for the Hong Kong people” and “This is so admirable! Come on Hong Kong!” are some of the comments in reaction to Lee’s post.

Lee offered no explanation as to what her message meant, nor did she react to any of the Facebook comments from her fans.

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Her post comprised just two characters written in white on a black background featuring lines depicting meteors in the night.

One of those who reacted was Walter Yue Ka-lok, former executive director of the Hong Kong Cycling Association who is now track manager for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games – where Asian Games champion Lee is hoping for gold in the keirin and sprint events.

Sarah Lee after winning gold at the world championships in Poland. Photo: Handout

Yue was among the many who said they were proud of Lee, while a handful of users were concerned about her safety, urging her to be careful. Yue had previously changed his Facebook profile picture to that of the darkened Bauhinia flag that is doing the rounds on social media before updating it to a graphic that said “God Bless Hong Kong”.

One user urged other athletes to express their views, writing: “[Sarah Lee] has chosen a conscience, hope other athletes have the courage to say no to the mainland!”

Lee won a bronze medal in the keirin at the 2012 London Olympics but crashed in the final of the 2016 event in Rio. She is the world champion in sprint and keirin, which her among the favourites for gold in Tokyo.

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