We Are HKers - Ted | Evolution of a protestor: resistance as an ‘occupation’ - "We must turn our grief into action."

“Regardless of my position as a PRE, part of a road-blocking team, or as a driver shuttling protestors around, I truly believe that each role has its own impact… You can never foresee how your actions today will spur the actions of other people in the future… We must turn our grief into action, so that we can bring about changes for Hong Kong, for our next generations, and for the sake of democracy and freedom.”

— Ted

I am Ted. I used to be a ‘peaceful, rational, elegant’ (PRE) protester. I believed in peaceful protests, so I would only participate in mass rallies. However, over these four months Carrie Lam has taught us that peaceful protests are not effective, which is why I became increasingly involved at the frontline of the protests.

I was one of the 1 million people who went to the mass rally on 9 Jun. Back then, I was probably a classic ‘peaceful, rational, non-violent’ (PRN) type of protestors, similar to many people of my generation. We do not oppose the Valiants (as part of the protestor’s population), but we would only take part in mass rallies and leave once it ends.

I was extremely furious when Carrie Lam delivered the press release at 11pm on 9 June, announcing that the government would resume the second reading of the Extradition Law Amendment Bill (ELAB) in a full Legislative Council meeting. As I reflect back on the 12 June’s general strike, as well as the HKSAR government’s political suppression and indifference towards public opinion, I hoped I could do much more for Hong Kong.

Hong Kong’s Children

One night, I read on Facebook that a lot of young frontline protesters were starving. They bought gears for this movement, and went out to every single protest despite facing financial cutoff from their parents.

“Since their biological parents do not want to take care of them, they are the children of every Hongkonger, especially when they are giving so much of themselves for Hong Kong.”

Therefore my friends and I decided to support these young people financially, and to provide them with protective gear and equipment. In the beginning of scouting these ‘toys’, we had no clue about the different protective respirator models, where to buy them, or what sorts of equipment are lacking on the front line.

All we could do is to pay attention to any relevant information everyday, to study the ‘toys’ specifications on LIHKG, and then we went out to hunt for them at hardware stores. We learn about the different aspects of protective gear from the frontliners, the usage of respirator filters from the manufacturers, and what are the demands for gears on the front line from the social workers.

After purchasing the necessary items, we prepared for the protest day to distribute the supplies at the frontline. As we are a group of professional public relations personnel who cater to customers of high-end brands, we are obsessed with packaging and appearance. We could indeed use this obsession here. The idea of ‘elegance’ in ‘peaceful, rational and elegant’ just matches us well: we insisted on being elegant as always, even when distributing gears to the frontliners. To reduce the chance of being searched by the police, we packed all the protective gears like brand-name products and put them inside paper bags of major brands, as if we just went shopping.

Photo: Paper bags containing protective gears with wrapping papers

Since we only distributed gears before the conflicts broke out, we could leave elegantly every time. However, as the police have been pushing the time of firing tear gas earlier and earlier, our activities were not entirely safe anymore. Once when we were giving out gears at the frontline in Sai Wan, someone suddenly shouted “run!” The riot police had already fired tear gas at the front, but my friends and I didn’t even have surgery masks. The people nearby ceaselessly helped us pack our things and led us away. As we retreated to the HKU station, we saw other ‘frontliners’ getting ready to go on the streets, and the friends around me cried out, “Keep going! Be careful all of you!”

How indifferent and inhumane does it take for the regime, and how deep is the youngsters’ love for Hong Kong, that they are willing to sacrifice everything to protect this place?

Doing as much as we can for youngsters

I believe we can only help them by transforming sorrow and grief into action. I don’t want them to be arrested or face dangers. However, as things stand, they are determined to put their lives on the line and fight for Hong Kong’s democracy at all costs. They cannot be dissuaded. All we can do is to prepare supplies for them to give them some protection, so as to lessen the danger of participating in the resistance movement as much as possible.

Apart from purchasing supplies, I have also arranged the ‘school bus network’, as well as contacting my lawyer friends to gather legal advice. My friend said, “I didn’t know you have been quietly doing so much.” “Even if I am doing much more, it can never be compared with the young frontliners.” I replied. This is not being humble or polite - it is a fact. We are merely providing support behind the scenes. Our effort pales in comparison to that of the frontliners. In fact, we can only do as much that we could do.

This belief drove me from being a PRE protester to one of the road-blocking teams. I was helping with the distribution of protective gear in Shatin. As I was about to leave, I saw fellow protestors using zip ties to bundle the metal barricades, with only two or three people holding up umbrellas to keep out cameras. I ran over to join the “umbrella formation,” but when I saw that they didn’t have enough people bundling the barricades, I might as well help with that. As we were about to finish, we heard a sudden “bang!” It turned out that the police just started firing tear gas directly ahead. This time I still wasn’t wearing any protective gear. The protestors who tied up the barricades with me shouted, “They don’t have any gear, let them go first!” With tear gas coming so suddenly, some initial confusion was inevitable. Despite that, they still helped me leave first. The frontline, the battlefield, is always a place where one “cares for others more than oneself.”

Photo: 5 Aug, Ted participated in the territory-wide strike.

Creating the Miracle of Hong Kong

The four-month long struggle hasn’t stopped, and I believe it will keep on going for some time. This movement has uncovered Hong Kong’s rotten core, but it also revealed many miracles. Regardless of my position as a PRE, part of a road-blocking team, or as a driver shuttling protestors around, I truly believe that each role has its own impact. Before this movement, who would have thought that Hongkongers would join a flowing rally in the torrential rain? Who would have thought that Hongkongers would, for the sake of sanctioning the regime that betrayed them, be able to raise funds in a short while to buy advertisements in international newspapers, and write letters asking other nations to take away the foreign passports held by Hong Kong officials? Who else would have thought that Hongkongers would organize their own Citizen’s Press Conference to challenge the regime’s lopsided messages?

The road ahead is rough, but we must remember that everyone has an impact. You can never foresee how your actions today will spur the actions of other people in the future. The daily news is distressing, but we must turn our grief into action, so that we can bring about changes for Hong Kong, for our next generations, and for the sake of democracy and freedom.

Five demands, not one less.

Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times.

I’m Ted, I am a HKer.

Ted | Evolution of a protestor: resistance as an ‘occupation’ - "We must turn our grief into action."

Hong Kong’s Children

Doing as much as we can for youngsters

Creating the Miracle of Hong Kong