Hong Kong remembers, and keeps the flame of resistance alive, on the 32nd anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre

With the candle I got from the June 4th Museum in front of 

the statue of Anita Mui earlier this evening

 

It may not be obvious but one of the buildings 

in the background of this photo is that of the 

People's Liberation Army's Hong Kong headquarters!

The first piece of news that caught my eye this morning was that detailing the arrest of barrister and June 4th candlelight vigil co-organizer Chow Hang-tung who, in an interview last week, talked about how, "when people get arrested, when human rights abuses occur, we should speak up" and "compromising… will only in return see an infinite expansion of the red line".  Should anyone doubt that the authorities really didn't want people turning up at Victoria Park today, a lockdown also was imposed in the public park that effectively sealed off much of it to the public for much of today (the 32nd anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, should anyone have forgotten).       

 

With Bruce Lee's "Be water" injunction in mind, I decided to head off to other, less police-infested parts of Hong Kong this evening to commemorate this dark day in China's not so distant history.  I must admit to missing taking part in a moving ceremony with many thousands of others and hearing the stirring music that I've come to associate with the once traditional candlelight vigil in Hong Kong (including Bloodstained Glory, an anthem I've come to also associate with the late Anita Mui, and that which I think of as the Wong Fei Hung theme song).  At the same time though, I consoled myself with participating in a new version of the candlelight vigil: one which many other people armed with candles (or, at the very least, mobile phones that they lit up this evening) were also doing at the same time as myself, just not in the exact same place.    

 

Should anyone have doubted it, the Hong Kong spirit of resistance remains alive -- despite the, frankly. crazy amount of police deployed to ensure that this would not be the case.  Yes, Victoria Park was empty of people (besides police officers) this evening but not far away from it, hundreds, if not thousands, of people did gather, complete with candles and lit mobile phones, and proceeded to walk around the park's perimeter.  In addition, a number of people on buses and trams that passed by Victoria Park lit up their phones to show their support and/or perform their own personal acts of commemoration while others contributed by doing such as leaving candles by the park or in MTR stations for others to take. 

 

Elsewhere in Hong Kong, a number of churches held special June 4th masses this evening and the Mass in Memory of the Dead was broadcast live in three churches.  And calls for people to get creative to mark the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre did bear artistic fruit -- last night as well as tonight -- and more.  And, actually, I honestly think that the heavy police presence constituted the authorities' contribution to the June 4th performance art -- or, at the very least, made for the kind of optics that are a photographer's delight and propagandist's nightmare. 

Rather than end with a laugh (at the police's expense -- because, truly, things became so weird at times because of them that it did become funny on some level and, also, because what they seemed to have ended up doing was create scores of candlelight vigils and candlelit scenes all over Hong Kong even while keeping Victoria Park eerily empty tonight), here's going with something I hope you'll find inspiring, like I did: a neighborhood dessert shop decided to commemorate June 4th by lighting its space by candlelight alone this evening.  (See?  Yet another creative take on mourning as resistance.)  Of course, it's a member of the Yellow Economic Circle -- and well-patronized too (judging from what I saw when there this evening)!  And should it not be clear: of course those who want democracy for Hong Kong have fellow feeling with those who want(ed) democracy for China!