Agnes Chow was already a veteran political activist back in 2017...
Yesterday was the second anniversary of a dark day for Hong Kong: one which saw the Hong Kong Police Force do things that damned them -- and the powers they protect as well as represent things -- as villains in the eyes of the majority of the Hong Kong people. For much of it, the skies were gray, if not outright dark, and it rained quite a bit -- leading me (and at least one other Hong Kong resident) to imagine that the heavens were crying for what has befallen Hong Kong since, as well as in remembrance of, that fateful day.
As it so happened though, there was a piece of good news to savor yesterday -- for the morning saw Agnes Chow emerge from the maximum-security Tai Lam Centre for Women after having served the prison sentence imposed on her for having played a part in a protest against police brutality outside the police headquarters in Wan Chai back on June 21st, 2019. (A reminder: she, Joshua Wong and Ivan Lam pleaded guilty to the charges -- because they didn't think the courts would be fair to them -- but they were not the real organizers of that siege.)
Such has been the way things are these days in Hong Kong that part of me doubted that Agnes Chow would be allowed to walk free out of prison. And the fact of the matter is that she still does have a possible national security charge hanging over her head. This may account for her uncharacteristically not speaking to the press upon her release. At the same time, it also is understandable that she needs some time to rest for a time to recuperate from her ordeal. A reminder: the veteran political activist still is only 24 years of age and she had never been put behind bars before this multi-month incarceration. And, as the photos taken of her yesterday show, she -- who already was on the thin side previously -- looks to have lost weight while in prison.
I imagine that Agnes Chow was happy to spend much of yesterday resting quietly at home. Due in part to the weather, lots of Hong Kongers stayed in too. There also was the not small matter of some 2,000 police officers being deployed yesterday to specifically guard against assemblies taking place on one more key extradition bill protest anniversary.
I went to Causeway Bay to do some food shopping yesterday afternoon and saw more cops than I felt comfortable with. I know I wasn't the only one who had this reaction. And this was even before we learnt of arrests having being made and the police casting their net so wide that they ended up exposing two of their plainclothes colleagues! Frankly, I think it's only natural; and this particularly so if you are on the young side and favor wearing black attire -- the latter of which applies to the majority of Hong Kongers!
Meanwhile, over in the likes of London, various American cities, Sydney, Tokyo and Vancouver, there were protests to mark what happened on June 12th, 2019, in Hong Kong. When collated together, the pictures tell quite the damning story -- damning re Hong Kong and those that have denied the people the right to assemble to protest or even just plain remember, that is. Ditto re video clips of Hong Kong on June 12th, 2019, and last night.
On a day when Hong Kongers had to be flexible -- "be water" in yet another way? -- and suck it up in order to live to fight another day, it was gratifying to see people standing up for Hong Kong elsewhere. As far as people living in Hong Kong are concerned: With all due respect to the likes of Qu Yuan (the patriotic poet who the Dumpling/Dragonboat Festival commemorates), sometimes discretion is the better part of valor and it's wiser to be able to know when is a good time to fight and when is a good time to rest; this especially when one is feeling tired but still unwilling to give up. Also, remember the declaration of many a Hong Kong protestor post arrest in 2019: "I will not commit suicide". (And yes, I realize that it was frequently a reference to being a victim of the police but I also did see it, even then, as a defiant cry in favor of living.)
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