RWBB | The life of a typical ’90s Hongkonger
RWBB is a '90s young adult born and raised in Hong Kong. He’s currently an office worker and deems himself an otaku. His hobbies are drawing and writing, and in 2013 he made a Facebook page, “RWBB”, to share different facets of life in Hong Kong with netizens.
“As a student in 2014, I had more opportunities to take to the streets. In 2019, my burdens increased, I lacked the courage to go out, and couldn’t be as carefree as I was. But that’s inevitable as we age – the more we have, the more we worry about, and the larger the costs of taking to the streets, the more excuses we make.”
Journalist: Kristen Cho
Illustrator: thank.kiu.very.much
I’m an office worker in my 20s. Like many others, I’ve spent my childhood stuck in Hong Kong.
I was a boisterous child and lacked ambition, but I often dreamt of becoming a famous singer because I loved listening to Canto-pop in my spare time, and my favourite singer was Joey Yung. During the SARS outbreak in 2003, I was still in primary school, and the second term was suspended. Teachers mailed us our homework and even exams as well. Later on, in secondary school, I was the first cohort of students (lab rats essentially) to experience the new academic curriculum while in high school. Studying for the diploma of secondary education (DSE) consumed my life. Every day I juggled exams, classes, and papers. In retrospect, those days were tedious, but studying with friends and supporting each other made for some bittersweet memories. When I got into university, studying, becoming an executive committee member of different societies, and hanging out with friends made up my four years. After graduation, I found an office job and hoped that I could live a stable, comfortable life with a certain standard of living where I could go on vacation every year. To put it frankly, my life is as mundane as any Hongkonger.
When I first got into university, I stopped stressing over the thought that exam grades dictated my future; instead, I had more time to pay attention to what was happening around me so I started a Facebook page to note down the bits and pieces of my life and my thoughts regarding different issues and hot topics in society. That’s how RWBB was born.
Political enlightenment
I used to be an unmotivated, forlorn youth who loved to hide at home, but since the 2012 protest against the implementation of national education, politics became a motivation. From a young age, I was taught that it is my obligation to care about our society, but the mind blowing scenes at the protest actually sparked my curiosity. I started looking into Hong Kong’s political system, including dual universal suffrage, the composition of the legislative council, and counting votes by elected groups. The more I understood, the more indignant I got about the status quo. On the surface, Hong Kong appears to be an international financial centre, with all its citizens well-fed and satisfied, but in reality, we lacked fundamental civil rights, and the problems in our political structure greatly affected people’s day to day lives.
The beginning and end of the Umbrella Movement
After realising Hong Kong’s absurdity, while in university, I devoted my all to the Umbrella Movement. Coincidentally, I was also an executive committee member of a student society that year, so while I was organising activities, I also encouraged my fellow classmates to speak out. I constantly reflected on what more I could do. As a passionate person, my identity as a student excited me and stirred up a lot of thoughts and feelings.
Following the end of the Umbrella Movement, I was unmotivated for a period of time. During the next couple of years, apart from participating in the 1 July marches, I spent most of my days being willfully ignorant. As for my Facebook page, I also lost inspiration and readers, so I stopped updating it for a while.
Making a comeback
Since the start of the anti-Extradition-Law-Amendment-Bill (anti-ELAB) movement, I wanted to use my words to sway, inspire, and enlighten more people. Although my original intention of running this Facebook page was to share bits and pieces of my life, nowadays, apart from politics, there is nothing else I want to talk about. Because of my personality and interests, the content of my page is inevitably focused on politics.
Although I started off treating my Facebook page as my personal blog, the more I wrote, the more readers I had, so I wanted to use my influence to promote our cause. On my page, the posts that garnered the most attention were ones defending frontline protesters; I knew it would take time for most people to accept how the frontliners protest, and I had hoped to use my words to help people further understand and accept them.
Because of my experiences in the Umbrella Movement, I understood what was at stake this time around, so I tried to play a part in this battle. In 2014, we wanted to win, but even if we failed, we could leave with our lives, but this time, it’s different. . If we lose, we lose everything. Add to it the burden of police brutality and fellow protesters’ lost lives, there is no scenario in which we can accept defeat.
In this movement, I hope that “RWBB” can influence more people, that “yellow* ribbons” can resonate with each other, and that we can unite the hearts of people no matter which shade of “yellow” they are. I also want to garner the support of the apolitical folks and even police supporters, so they can understand more about our movement and even support our cause.
The rifts in my family
Although I can speak eloquently online, I am disappointed and helpless when it comes to my family. My father has a “don’t rock the boat” attitude and complains about the deterioration of the market conditions, and although he claims to care about the youngsters, he never puts himself in their shoes. Thankfully, during this movement, my mother has converted from a police supporter to a pro-democracy supporter, and she’s been following the news more closely than I have. The two ends of the political spectrum have sparked arguments in my family, and the more we argue, the more annoyed we get, so we end up not saying a word about it.
What does it mean to grow up?
As a student in 2014, I had more opportunities to take to the streets. In 2019, my burdens increased, I lacked the courage to go out, and couldn’t be as carefree as I was. But that’s inevitable as we age – the more we have, the more we worry about, and the larger the costs of taking to the streets, the more excuses we make. On the other hand, I gained the ability to think critically, deal with people more decently, and reflect on every step I take. Although I’ve gotten more cowardly as I age, my conscience is something that will never change.
In hindsight, I’m really thankful that I made a Facebook page, because it is now an essential part of my life, and it allowed me to resonate with people who share the same values as me.
The moral
Even an ordinary person like me can create a Facebook page, and this shows how everyone has some form of hidden talent that isn’t fully utilised yet. On that note, I want to encourage teenagers and youngsters who lack confidence: no matter how many people look down upon you, please never lose your confidence, for only you know what you value and treasure and for which you will work hard.. Persist in what you believe in. After all, many milestones in history stemmed from a once unthinkable idea!
I also have a message for Hongkongers: we have to stay united. Although we may not see the light at the end of the tunnel, no matter how long our movement takes, we can’t be easily defeated.
These years I’ve always thought that being a Hongkonger is very unfortunate. However, as long as there are many people sharing the same values as me, I am willing to be a Hongkonger again in my next life. Hongkongers are the f**king best!
“I am RWBB, I am a HKer.”
* Yellow is the symbolic colour of the pro-democracy movement, while yellow ribbons are a symbol of the movement.
Support our Journalism with a Contribution
Many people might not know this, but despite our large team of contributors, which we are immensely grateful for, We Are HKers is still a small bootstrapped group that runs on no outside funding and loans. Everything you see today is built on the backs of warriors who have sacrificed opportunities, time, meals and sleep to help give HKers all over the world a voice and keep our culture alive.
However, we still face many trials in the running of our platform, from finding the necessary equipment for our video interviews, to subscribing to the necessary tools to facilitate our remote work process of our global team, to trying not to get fired from our main jobs as we run this project secretly in the background, and to keeping our platform running and storing our files securely.
We hope you consider making a contribution, so we can continue to provide you with moving stories of HKers all over the world and keep our heritage and culture alive. Even a £1 contribution goes a long way. Thank you for everyone’s support. We love you all and can’t appreciate you guys enough.
**Please note that your support of We Are HKers Ltd. does NOT constitute a charitable donation. We really appreciate your support in independent journalism. If you have any questions about contributing to We Are HKers, please contact us here.
- 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