This is something I do not wish to be told, ever. I am having a hard time processing when my dad told me “don’t come home, it’s not safe”. I am still trying to comprehend this.
If you are wearing any sort of face masks, black clothing, or carry a laser pointer, you are putting yourself at risk of being arrested. There are people who were “being suicide” for practising their rightful freedom of speech. There are people who were sexually assaulted by the police. I have never seen any riot police in my time growing up in Hong Kong, it almost look like movie scenes when I see riot police everywhere shouting and beating the shit out of people on the news. Hong Kong was one of the safest cities to travel on the planet, but now civilians are in fear of the police. They have become the government’s instruments to carry out wicked plans, treating protesters as their enemies.
Just want to take this moment to acknowledge the privilege that I have, that I can choose to be ignorant and still get on with my everyday life. I am lucky to have my parents telling me to not come home from a place of love. But there are teens who got kicked out, who lost their jobs, who got beaten up, all because of their political views. This is as real as it gets.
Maybe one day I can be in Hong Kong, where human rights are honoured, where it is still the safest city to travel in, where my family and friends are safe and sound.
And if you are in Hong Kong reading this, please, stay safe, be smart and fight on.
Heung Gong Yan Ga Yau