Still living a nightmare more than one year on, but seeing that justice can prevail at times along the way

  

A mask worn by many people in Hong Kong on Halloween last year

 

Masks won every day by pretty much all Hong Kongers 

when out in public these days 

One year ago, I had a nightmare experience on Halloween.  Actually, if truth be told, it feels like I've been living in a nightmare for more than a year now, thanks to Carrie Lam having decided to introduce a controversial extradition bill and the Hong Kong police exercabating matters with their actions on June 12th, July 21st, August 31st and so much more.  And that's all before China stepped in -- or, perhaps more accurately, took off its mask and revealed its hand with such as the introduction of a national security law for Hong Kong.  Oh, and of course we can't forget the unleashing the Wuhan coronavirus onto the world.     

And even while things appeared to calm down quite a bit on the ground -- at least on the surface -- in recent weeks (and the spectre of Wuhan coronavirus also feels smaller than in previous months -- what with Hong Kong back to single digit numbers for new cases and even some days without any local transmissions, like today), the fact of the matter is that there always are goings on that those of us keeping an eye out for things that keep us troubled.  As an example: I was really upset to discover yesterday that, contrary to my earlier belief, Junius Ho (of Yuen Long 7.21 infamy) had, in fact, managed to wrest control of the Legislative Council's IT and broadcast panel, and was proceeding to make the kind of proposals that we feared that the pro-Beijingers would do upon truly gaining the upper hand in the legislature.  

   

I learnt about this in an Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) article reporting on Ho having called for Hong Kong's sole public service broadcaster to be merged with the government's public relations unit; a move that would truly neuter the already under threat organization.  One has to worry for the professional future of RTHK staffers Nabela Qoser and Yvonne Tong: the former of whom won many fans when she took Carrie Lam and her officials to task over what happened in Yuen Long on July 21st, 2019; the latter of whom's interview with a World Health Organization (WHO) senior official caused quite the sensation as a result of her asking him about Taiwan.  Furthermore, I do fear that the day when the Great Firewall of China will encircle Hong Kong -- and make the use of such as Google, Facebook, Twitter and Blogger illegal -- is going to arrive sooner rather than later.

 

Ironically, this Halloween Day has actually brought some good news to lift up my spirits.  More specifically, there came news today that seven people, aged between 20 and 27 years, were acquitted of rioting during a protest in Wan Chai and Causeway Bay on August 31 last year; with presiding District Judge Sham Siu-man's stating that even if the defendants are to be regarded as being related to the incidents that occurred before their arrests, their participation in a riot was not the only reasonable inference.  

 

This same judge had previously dismissed the case against Jackie Chen, a social worker who had volunteered to monitor police behaviour during pro-democracy protests, "for the lack of prima facie evidence".  Predictably, the Justice Department has filed an appeal to reverse the judge’s decision.  And there also is the possibility that the Judge Sham Siu-man will be reassigned so that he won't be overseeing cases involving pro-democracy protestors; as has happened in recent months to two magistrates accused by pro-Beijingers of being biased against the police.  

For now though, we enjoy this victory for justice and the pro-democracy movement.  For if we can't allow ourselves to celebrate and savor such occasions, our world would feel so very dark and depressing; and it would be impossible to have any hope that we could, and can, ever emerge from this living nightmare still strong and sane.