Meifei | 'School bus' driver - "It was fate that led to us providing free rides and helping student protestors get home."
A Hongkonger; a ‘School bus’ driver, who started providing free rides on 1 Sep 2019, during the Dunkirk evacuation when protestors were retreating from Tung Chung. Animal caregiver. As noble as a dog, sharp as an eagle.
“As for the ideal Hong Kong, I think it would be similar to how it was pre-1997, when there was the Independent Commission Against Corruption and a fair legal system, when the civil service system was sound and citizens had housing... Twenty years after the handover, we are shocked to discover how much we have lost. The prosperity has faded and the glory days of this resplendent metropolis are over. ”
“We must not isolate ourselves. We must connect with others because only through connecting with others will we have greater power,” said Alex Chow Yong Kang, the then secretary general of the Hong Kong Federation of Students during the 2014 Umbrella Movement.
It was during those times when I became one of those connected. Before the Umbrella Movement, I was indifferent about politics. Not long after 4 June, 1989, my mother sent me to the UK, where I stayed for eight years. At the time, news and information was not easily accessible. I developed homesickness for my family and Cantonese-style cooking, which were both a Pacific Ocean away. When it came to Hong Kong’s political development, I was completely clueless. Because of this cognitive dissociation, I felt more and more emotionally detached from Hong Kong.
I returned to work in Hong Kong after graduation. I worked in different private institutions in succession, travelling for work throughout Southeast Asia and Europe. Like many frequent flyers, I thought Hong Kong was the best place even after visiting many countries. It wasn’t until the Umbrella Movement five years ago, when the cacophony of 87 rounds of tear gas awakened me, did I truly see beneath the prosperous facade of Hong Kong for the first time.
I couldn’t help but wondered, “why are there so many people willing to risk everything to continue occupying?” The peaceful and composed occupied area brought a bigger shock to me than the tear gas. One by one, colourful tents linked up into clusters, forming circles and lines of a larger community — a utopian existence full of subversion yet as tranquil as still water. Walking amongst them, I was not only amazed, but I also felt a huge sense of powerlessness. When protests, however boisterous or calm, are ignored by the people in power, what can we do to make our voices heard?
By chance, I entered a quasi-governmental organisation for work. I chose this job with a goal of serving my fellow citizens, but when I actually started working, I discovered it was completely different from what I had expected. The organisation promoted phrases like “caring for the community,” and “helping those who are in need,” but ultimately, those words only served as empty mottos. A pedantic system led by conservative upper management has caused the organisation’s true beneficiaries to be, yet again, large financial groups and institutions. What’s worse is the nepotism at the top, which is similar to and as unreasonable as the culture within Chinese funded companies, where people are promoted based on relationships instead of hard work. It harkens back to the decision on 31 August, 2014, when the National People’s Congress issued the election framework which only allows a small group of people to vote. I thought defiantly: “Why?”
If this unfairness only existed in the workplace, quitting would solve the problem. But when all of Hong Kong has been corrupted, can we sit back and watch with indifference? Hundreds of billions are being spent on white elephant construction projects that are full of problems and unusable when completed. The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge’s construction cost HKD$120 billion, but what we got is a drifting artificial island and non-stop cost overruns. The Sha Tin to Central Link of the MTR cost HKD$97.1 billion, but many stations are affected by subsidence, suspected to have been caused by substandard work. Yet the government decided to relax the construction standards without holding the contractors responsible. The airport’s third runway will cost a fortune, but the airspace in the Pearl River Delta is congested; rushing to build via a forced push through the legislation will likely result in the runway reduced to being a parking lot for airplanes. The bid for Heung Yuen Wai Highway was successfully won by a Mainland Chinese company in 2012. The construction commenced in 2013, and after six years with over HKD$10 billion in spending, it is only partially open to traffic. When the corruption of various systems are given legitimacy by the coalition of the government and Chinese funded financial groups, those with special privileges are able to hide behind the guise of economic development and do whatever they please. I finally realised this year that while this seems glamourous on the outside, it is rotten to the core.
Therefore Hongkongers resisted. These four months of protest movement have revealed how many public institutions and private companies are capable of burying their conscience while parading around. On the fiery streets, large swaths of graffiti pierce through the fakeness of the pro-Beijing parties. Hong Kong’s gilded facade is starting to peel away and is finally starting to match its rotten interior. As for the ideal Hong Kong, I think it would be similar to how it was pre-1997, when there was the Independent Commission Against Corruption and a fair legal system, when the civil service system was sound and citizens had housing... Twenty years after the handover, we are shocked to discover how much we have lost. The prosperity has faded and the glory days of this resplendent metropolis are over.
As the saying goes, out with the old and in with the new; the current privileged cliques are disintegrating, while new grassroots circles are popping up non-stop. From my beginnings as a one-of-a-million march participant, I gradually made new friends who support the same cause. Then I asked myself if I could do a bit more, and through my circle of friends, I became reacquainted with a former classmate who is now a social worker — a fated coincidence. As a group we tried to provide free rides, help student protestors get home, buy supplies and deliver them to the front lines… and then? The rest is history.
During these warring times, gunshots and insults continue to assault our hearing. These are the worst of times, but wave after wave of people are pushing forward. One after another, Telegram groups are being formed, and voices singing 'Glory to Hong Kong' will never cease. Carrie Lam, who was elected through a ‘small-circle’ election, ran on the slogan ‘We Connect’ in an attempt to reach out to young people. It is evident that she has failed miserably. The irony is, she has successfully connected generations of Hongkongers and induced the formation of many freedom-seeking circles of friendship.
- February 2022
- December 2021
- August 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
Journalist: Perspectives HK
Photos: KC