No regrets for doing what I/we did three years on

White was the (main) color of protest on June 9th, 2019

 

Even after day turned into night, Hong Kongers continued to

vote with their feet and march to protest the proposed extradition bill

 

Three year anniversary.  There's no way I can forget what happened in Hong Kong on June 9th, 2019, and not mark them on this blog.  As can be seen on such as Twitter, many other people feel the same.  E.g., see here, here, here, here and here.

 

Perhaps my favorite set of Tweets today come by way of a Hong Konger known as Red.  Here's quoting and sharing what he wrote there over here for those who don't go on the bird app:

I’m not really sure what to say (or what can be said) about all of this. Only a hollow feeling in the chest that will linger for months as I watch any acts of commemoration be silenced promptly.We aren’t allowed to grieve, nor remember, but I think we know that already.

 

Three years is a significant period of my life thus far. As the clock ticks forwards, I catch myself thinking about the years ahead.At some point, the years after 2019 will exceed the years before. At some point it will become history.

 

Of course, the events of 2019 weren’t in isolation, but to me personally they were a turning point, like someone flipping on all the lights in a room. Once you see — really see it —it’s not something you’ll ever forget.  

 

I look at the people I knew prior to 2019, those who turned a blind eye, and catch myself envious of their happiness. They’ve moved on with their lives, never troubled by the sound of a siren on the street, and I wonder what all of this was (or is) for.

 

I guess at the end it’s love, carried on towards infinity. The spirit will live in inside of ourselves, and we’ll do our best to live on — in spite of those who wish us not to, and for those who were unable to. 香港人， 共勉。

 

Also, I know I just shared this quote from Louisa Lim's Indelible City: Dispossession and Defiance in Hong Kong yesterday but I think it bears repeating: "The [June 9th, 2019] march embraced all who elevated principle over pragmatism, hope over experience.  The moment was a triumph of idealism from a people long stereotyped by their colonial masters as motivated only by the pursuit of money.  In the only place on Chinese soil where political protest was allowed, Hong Kongers were performing their identity as a city of protest in order to defend it."
 

Something else which she wrote about the June 9th, 2019, march that I think is worth sharing: 

At ground level, Hong Kongers' astonishment and euphoria at the [massive] turnout was tempered by a shrewd, bookie's-eye view of the future.  The mood was encapsulated by a video clip that was circulating on social media.

 

"Do you think this march will bring change?" an off-camera reporter asked a young man.

 

"No, absolutely not," he replied, without hesitation.

 

The reporter pressed on: "So why are you doing it?"

 

His answer, a model of brevity: "At least you tried." 

Truly, exactly.  That's what and how many of us out there that day felt.  And continue to feel, three years on.