Avery Ng provides some cheer to what's been another largely bad week in Hong Kong

 

A reminder that Hong Kong is really beautiful

 

This has been one of the weeks with a lot of bad news and developments for those of us who really care about, and love, Hong Kong.  In addition to that which I outlined in my Tuesday post, Hong Kong has also seen such as veteran politician Lee Cheuk-yan being sentenced to three weeks imprisonment for the ridiculous "crimes" of "flying a balloon exceeding two metres in controlled airspace, and obstructing a police officer" and university student Lui Sai-yu being sentenced to five years in prison for committing the national security law crime of "inciting secession" (i.e., he sought to sell weapons on line and post pro-independence messages on social media).   

With regards to Lee Cheuk-yan: it is very much worth noting that he is one of the 47 politicians and activists arrested back on February 28th, 2020, on national security law charges and has been denied bail, and thus been behind bars all this time.  In other words: he's already been in prison even prior to having been sentenced to three weeks in jail this week.  But all the time he's been in detention thus far is deemed to be separate from his newly imposed three weeks jail sentence.

 

With regards to Lui Sai-yu: his case has caused quite the stir because his sentencing involved an about face by presiding judge Amanda Woodcock that broke the "guilty plea discount custom" in Hong Kong courts.  There's a detailed thread about this on Twitter by the Hong Kong Rule of Law Monitor (the account of a group of Hong Kong lawyers based overseas).  And the final Tweet explains things in a way that even non-legally trained individuals like me can understand: i.e., "Once again, this case illustrates how there is a great lack of clarity in the [National Security Law] - which is always used against the accused and never for their benefit."  

 

Also, it's quite incredible to realize that, as Timothy McLaughlin has pointed out: " Last month, a Hong Kong man was sentenced to less time in jail (27 months) for anally raping his underage sister."  Note: both the original 3 years and 8 month sentences that Lui Sai-yu was given after he pleaded guilty (in return for a more lenient sentence) as well as the amended  five year sentence he eventually received are lengthier!

Even away from the courts, bad things have happened in Hong Kong this week.  As an example, consider the death of veteran actor Kenneth Tsang Kong while in a quarantine hotel (while undergoing the mandatory 7 days of quarantine upon returning to the city after a trip to Singapore and Malaysia) this Wednesday.  It's not just that a popular actor who has touched the lives of many by way of his more than 200 film appearances has passed away.  Rather, it's also the circumstances of his death.  And yes, I know some people will look at his advanced age (87) and think, well, it was his time.  But dying alone in a quarantine hotel is a sad way to go. For anyone. Young or old. Celebrity or not.

So I've not been a happy camper for much of this week, to say the least.  And it hasn't helped that yet another friend broke the news to me that he is leaving Hong Kong -- though not until the end of the year.  

 

Yesterday though came a bit of welcome news: the release of political activist Avery Ng from prison.  Adding to the good news: The League of Social Democrats man showed early on that his spirits was undaunted -- by sending out a message of his plans for the day (involving going for a haircut, and eating some siumai and hargow!), and to get back into groove in the coming days.  

 

Then, on his first full day out of jail today, he headed to the government offices to hold a one man protest for labour rights — while wearing a Pikachu t-shirt!  (Hong Kong’s soon to be anointed next leader is John Lee's Chinese name is Lee Ka-chiu -- which sounds a lot like Pikachu, don't you think?)  Truly, it's lovely to get evidence so soon after his release from prison that Avery Ng's not lost his courage nor sense of humour! :)