Lennon Wall Guardian - "Every initiative, every contribution, every idea can have a massive impact in this movement."
“I used to think that Hong Kong people were so selfish. They would never budge and make space for you on the MTR, and couldn’t care less about you. I think that’s why Hong Kong people have been so affected by this movement: it has united people from all walks of life.”
I am an interior and architectural designer. I first began participating in social movements during the 2014 Umbrella Movement, though I did not play a big role in it at the time. In the years after the failure of the Umbrella Revolution, I felt like I didn’t really know what to do. I think a lot of people didn’t know how to continue after that moment––some may have even stopped watching the news.
Five years later, in 2019, the anti-extradition movement began, which inspired so many Hongkongers to come out again. I came out, too! I really wanted to do something for the movement. We may not all be able to stand on the frontline, ‘fighting’ against the police, but I think we can all play our roles and contribute in our own way.
This was the idea behind the Lennon Wall located in Happy Valley (located in Hong Kong Island), which is where I live. Some friends and I had been thinking about initiating this Wall for a while. Then, on one Sunday – it must’ve been after a protest – I saw some other people sticking up the flyers they had been holding onto the wall. They had the same idea! So I reached out to some of my friends who did not live in Happy Valley but wanted to help. We decided to put up a Lennon Wall together.
That night, I printed out lots of different posters, wrote the words “Lennon Wall”, and prepared some post-it notes with messages on them. We went as a group of three because we felt it would be safer than doing it alone. That night, we finished putting up the posters quickly – it took us about 10 to 20 minutes. At first, there were only 30 post-it notes, plus maybe 10 or so posters. No one thought it would expand into such a large Lennon Wall.
A few days after the Wall was built, more and more people started contributing to it. However, the Wall was torn down a week later. By the time I went back there, there weren’t even any posters left. I talked to my friends about it, and we decided to rebuild the Wall again that night.
Just as I was about to go home to get more materials, I saw a man starting to rebuild the Wall. I went up to him and asked if he needed any help. I then noticed that he had a few pieces of A4 paper with lots of post-it notes on them. And I thought they looked familiar! I realised that these notes were the same ones that had been on the previous Wall before they were torn down.
"I picked everything up and took it all home, so I could piece everything back together again,” he explained. He was using glue rather than tape to put up the posters, which would make the materials harder to remove.
My friends and I joined him, and as a team, we rebuilt the Lennon Wall. While we were working on the Wall, some people brought us popsicles and drinks. You could really feel everyone’s desire to contribute – it felt very special.
As we were talking with the man, he stepped back to smoke a cigarette. When he reached into his bag, he noticed that there was still a poster left. It was a poster about the man in the yellow rain jacket, who took his own life at Pacific Place (a mall in HK).
“It’s (the Wall) missing this poster. With it, the Wall’s finally complete,” he said as he put the poster on the wall. “I can finally sleep soundly now.”
As we stood back and admired the wall together, we talked to the man a bit more. He told us that he was working as a driver for someone from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which means that he has to listen to their propaganda everyday. He said it made him really angry, and that he wanted to do something about it. After our conversation, we said our goodbyes. I thought I would never see that man again.
Then, something amazing happened.
I had just gotten out of a meeting in Central one day when I saw a Mercedes Benz pull over on the street. I thought the driver looked very familiar, and I realized that the man behind the wheel was the man who we met at the Happy Valley Lennon Wall! It was serendipity. I saw him drive someone away – it was probably his boss. I don’t think he saw me. But it was such an incredible moment – it's like something that would happen in a movie.
When I first started putting up posters for the Happy Valley Lennon Wall, I posted on LIHKG - a popular HK forum, looking for help. Slowly, more and more people started contacting me. Someone added me to a 'Happy Valley group'. After that, everything happened very quickly. We gathered at the Wall, with lots of posters and post-it notes already prepared. Some of the freshly-printed posters were still warm to the touch!
I think this is what ‘Be Water’ means – to be efficient and to achieve wonderful things in a short amount of time. Since then, the Lennon Wall has been continuously rebuilt by different people. I haven’t been able to go there as often as I had before, but I don’t have to because there are always people who will step up to take care of the Lennon Wall.
I think this is the most amazing part of this movement. No matter where you are, you are surrounded by people who could be your allies. I used to think that Hong Kong people were so selfish. They would never budge and make space for you on the MTR, and couldn't care less about you. I think that’s why Hong Kong people have been so affected by this movement: it has united people from all walks of life.
2014 Umbrella Movement and now
I think it is also very important to not distinguish the 2014 Umbrella Movement and this current protest as two contrasting events. In fact, I think it is a progression from the former to the latter. It is because of the 2014 Umbrella Movement that so many people are coming out today. Of course, our resistance efforts today are different to those used in the past. We have adopted more advanced strategies by learning from past mistakes.
I believe that no matter whether this movement succeeds or not, the legacy will endure for a long time. The underlying convictions have become deeply rooted in the people of Hong Kong.
Clean up Hong Kong
At first, when I heard people were planning to have a ‘Clean Up HK’ campaign aiming to tear down the Lennon Walls, I was very angry. But now I think we have all matured in some sense. Whenever anyone is saying something like that, we all just have a laugh. From their (the pro-establishment camp’s) tactics, you can see the CCP’s way of thinking from the way they suppress the voices of the people. People like Junius Ho are also allegedly involved in gangs. But for us, it is just amusing. When they threatened to tear down our wall, we will just say, "Thank you for helping us clear the outdated materials so that we can put up new posters!"
Solidarity through small actions
I wanted to share another story. A few weeks ago, I had this idea to buy some tear gas masks for the frontline protesters, so I started looking for them on Amazon. I decided to ask some of my colleagues if they would be interested in ordering some gear together.
One colleague, who is a very successful salesperson, had been telling me about how guilty he feels about not being able to be one of the frontliners. I asked him: “Why don’t we order some gear together? Many kids are starving themselves to save money so that they can purchase gear. At the same time, not many people have responded positively to the food voucher offers either.” My colleague immediately said yes, and asked me to order 10 sets of gear on his behalf.
I told the rest of my colleagues about his donation. All of a sudden, they said that they wanted to donate 10 sets each too. Now, I have 40 sets of gear in my flat ready to be distributed to people on the frontline soon.
My main point with all of these stories is not to emphasize my own contributions, which are insignificant compared to the sacrifices made by the frontliners, but to say that every initiative, every contribution, every idea can have a massive impact in this movement. It may feel like a small action when you’re doing it, but when you put everything together, it can be extremely powerful.
I want to tell all Hongkongers this: don’t underestimate the power that you can have. I also hope that we will not divide into factions, or allow ourselves to be divided by others. Take care, protect yourselves and each other. There is a long road ahead, but we will keep persevering together.
Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of our Times! 光復香港，時代革命！
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Journalist: Memo
Photos: Lennon Wall Guardian