If this were one of the last views of Hong Kong I got...
In what can seem like another lifetime, I was an Anglophile who considered Britian -- more specifically, England to be my spiritual homeland. But after spending time at boarding school there, I decided to head over to the U.S.A. for my further education. Thus it was that when I left England at the end of my secondary school days, I wondered when I'd return there and, figuring it'd be a long time, got all weepy when the plane I took after leaving boarding school took off from Heathrow Airport and I looked down at England for what I thought might well be the last time in my life.
From that experience and how much I know that I love Hong Kong, I think I'd be a quivering wreck on the last plane I take out of the Big Lychee. And so I very much feel for Samuel Bickett, who this evening posted an account on Twitter of his having been banished from Hong Kong by the authorities -- and given no time to wind up his affairs here or even say goodbye to his partner and other loved ones here in Hong Kong.
A quick rewind: the last time that I wrote on this blog about Mr Bickett was on February 9th, and it was to report that he had been sent back to serve his remaining prison sentence after his High Court appeal against his being penalized for going to the aid of a young man being assaulted by what turned out to be an off duty policeman proved unsuccessful. The last day of the American Hong Kong lawyer's prison term was yesterday. But rather than be allowed to stay in Hong Kong and do such as lodge an appeal to the Court of Final Appeal with regard to his case like he had intended, he was taken immediately from prison to Immigration Detention, then put on board a plane out of the place he has come to look upon as home.
In his own words: "While I wasn't born in Hong Kong, it has long been my home. Like many other Hongkongers, I have been forced to leave behind my loved ones and my city by an unelected government that, with open contempt for Hong Kong's system of law and justice, has sought to destroy everything and everyone that makes our city exceptional."
Samuel Bickett may now be out of Hong Kong but the sense I get is that he left at least part of himself and his heart here. And he definitely wants to return -- and I totally believe that he'll be fighting for Hong Kong while he's away from it. Like so many other Hong Kongers abroad (including Nathan Law, Ted Hui and Kacey Wong) who look upon themselves as exiles rather than migrants.
As for those of us who are still here: I know there are many people who think we're foolish to remain. And of course I've had to think about and consider leaving Hong Kong, and figure that I will have to at some point. But, for now, there still is enough here to love that makes me loath to voluntarily take my leave. And I know I'm not alone; not least as a result of reading Karen Cheung's The Impossible City: A Hong Kong Memoir (which I actually have not yet finished reading but already have found much to like, even love).
Here's sharing a bit from its Preface: "The day after the national security law was enacted, a gray banner that lay betweeen tram tracks read, "I really fucking love Hong Kong"... The photograph [of it] went viral, as a sort of declaration of love toward the place everyone told us was now disappearing. The catchphrase accompanied cute protest artwork, playlists of local music, stories of random acts of kindness by Hong Kongers. But did we really fucking love Hong Kong? The timing of the statement felt almost ironic, like we were describing an abusive partner on their deathbed, and you couldn't talk about how much they suck... But maybe this is what it means when we say we love this place -- we recognize all of its imperfections, and still refuse to walk away."
Also from Karen Cheung in The Impossible City: "It takes work not to simply pass through a place but instead to become a part of it." I know there are people who came to Hong Kong just to make money and left untouched by its charms. I also know of people who came to Hong Kong thinking that would be the case for them and ended up falling in love with Hong Kong and staying for far longer than they thought they would, and even coming to think of themselves as Hong Kongers.
I am one such individual who came to Hong Kong from elsewhere but has come to feel that this is home. So is Karen Cheung (who was born in Shenzhen and who also has family ties with Singapore). And so is Samuel Bickett. Which is why I'm sad to know that he's left these shores as well as saddened by the injustice meted out to him. But also heartened by his continued defiance, which can be seen in his message this evening also including the following words: "The fight for truth and justice in Hong Kong was never going to be easy, nor won quickly. But it is worthwhile. And I have faith that one day I will be able to once again walk the streets of a Hong Kong ruled by law and governed with the consent of its people."
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