Remembering Apple Daily and those who worked for it one year and one day after its final issue came out

Display at a "yellow" shop around this time last year

 

Another sad anniversary came and went yesterday.  Specifically, yesterday was the one year anniversary of the last issue of Apple Daily, Hong Kong's last democratic newspaper.  I must admit: I still find myself looking for copies for Apple Daily at news stands in Hong Kong from time to time.  I guess I still can't completely believe or accept that it's really gone.  And if I feel bad about Apple Daily being no more, how much worse must those who used to work there feel.

A piece in The Guardian by former Apple Daily features editor Norman Choi gives some idea, and also about what is life now is like.  For those who are fine with just a summary, consider its title: 'My career is finished, my friends are in prison and I'm an alien in my city': Life after Hong Kong's Apple Daily".  Some excerpts from the article:   

Sometimes I feel like a garden gnome, hunkered down and being comfortably ignored. Other times I feel anxious and helpless when I think about my former colleagues in custody. 

I have known some of them for many years. In our old life, one joined me on a 100km charity walk in Japan, another often went trekking with me. Surrounded by nature we watched the sunrises and sunsets together. We shared hot dumplings on a chilly day after another exhausting hike. We laughed and cried together.

While they have been detained for almost a year., I still feel their presence...

It is a struggle to try and put my emotions at what has happened to us all into words, so instead I will share an excerpt from a letter I received from a fellow journalist, now in prison.

“Life will nevertheless push us forward, like a stream that brings both hungry and sleeping fishes downstream. Strong wind will lead us towards tomorrow, no matter if we are anxious or calm.”

A Radio Free Asia article attempts to paint a more positive picture of life post Apple Daily for some of its former journalists. "One year after the paper was forced to shut down and several senior editors arrested by national security police, former reporters at Hong Kong's pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper are still writing the stories the paper might have run, and posting them to social media", it reports.  "The Apple Daily shouldn't be allowed to just disappear like this," it quotes one of them as asserting; "I figured there had to be some work I can keep on doing."

 

These ex-Apple Daily journalists are providing us with profiles in courage.  One that the head of the Foreign Correspondents Club in Hong Kong (who also happens to be the current head of the journalism school at the University of Hong Kong) should draw inspiration from but won't.  

 

More than incidentally, a group of former Apple Daily journalists went to the site of their old office on Thursday night to literally shine lights there and leave the message that "They tried to bury us but didn't know we're seeds."  Their presence and actions prompted the arrival of police officers to harass them but -- touch wood -- there have been no reports of arrests.  

 

On a related note: Inmedia (an independent Hong Kong media platform which has not shut down but, instead, relocated to Singapore carried a piece this week about what had happened to plants "rescued" from the Apple Daily building by members of the public when the paper closed.  Hong Kong journalist turned London-based journalism professor, Yuen Chan, relayed the story in English on Twitter.  The final Tweet on the thread is as follows: "These plants are hardy, like the former Apple Daily staff, they have dispersed to different places, finding new meaningful roles. One former worker says his plant is a living connection to the company: "And behind its life there is a spirit, a spirit that pursues freedom".  

 

And yes, I realize that this may sound rather pathetic and like grasping at straws to some folks.  But from a little hope, much can grow.  And, as Claudia Mo relayed to people, it's important -- especially in these current circumstances and time -- to hold on.  And not forget.  And also to feel like there still is support from other out there.     

 

Speaking of which: The Consulate General of Ireland in Hong Kong put out the following Tweet yesterday: "On this significant date of 24 June - the first @UN International Day of #WomeninDiplomacy - we were delighted to welcome back to the office - fresh out of #Quarantine - our Deputy Head of Mission, Katrina Devine."  "What does this have to do with Apple Daily?", I can hear you ask.  Well, if you clicked on the supplied link, I'll ask you to cast your eyes on the photo and what can be seen in it (along with Ms Devine and the flags of Ireland and the European Union): i.e., a plate of apples, and a framed copy of the final issue of Apple Daily.