[After Resignation] 20 resigned district councillors find new approaches to serve the community amidst sustainability issues
Translated by Guardians of Hong Kong, October 10, 2021
In July, the government imposed a new mandate of oath-taking for District Council members (DC Members) already in offices. This led to a wave of massive resignations. Some of the resigned DC Members left Hong Kong but some stayed. Many former DC Members want to stay and serve the community, however, how could they live without government subsidies and salaries of a DC Member?
Some former DC Members discovered a new approach. Risks are everywhere but it is most important to try.
A unit on the 7th floor at Golden Hill Commercial Building in Mongkok, named “Roasted[SIU] Pig[CHU] Office”, used to run monthly social activities, seminars, movie gatherings and sharing sessions, to connect with the residents in the community. The office was jointly held by Derek CHU and SIU Tak-kin. However Siu resigned as DC Member in July.
Their office changed name but the interior has not changed much. Chu and Siu served the community as usual, many residents would visit the office in the afternoon, and had gathering and activities for movies and academic discussion in the evening.
After Siu’s resignation, they kept holding activities in their office, but they were met with obstacles last month. Siu invited Kiwi CHOW to their office to discuss the movie “Beyond the Dream” with the viewers. However the Police and Food and Environmental Hygiene Department issued fixed penalty tickets to all for violating “599G” [a newly legislated clause to regulate public gatherings in view of the pandemic] .
Siu was shocked and confessed that he might have to hold activities underground in the future. “Actually that day when we watched ‘Beyond the Dream’, we were calm and did not involve much politics. Now we don’t know how to assess the sensitivities of activities.”
Without his DC Member title, Siu is just an ordinary civilian. He can no longer stand between the police and civilians to try and resolve disputes. He has to face the fear with ordinary people together. No one could foresee being surrounded by the police even for watching a movie. “However, we have to fight against fear.”
On the other hand, YEUNG Yuk put a lot of emphases on social services in the community. He resigned after being a DC Member for 8 years, returning his office to the government. He rented another office in a community centre to meet neighbours three times a week regularly, doing blood pressure and glucose level tests for them. Yeung has to do part-time jobs to finance his living and these social services. He does not want to give up community services as he thought these connections provide hope. Yeung will still work hard to handle complaints by making use of his earlier connections with the authorities in the old days as a DC Member. He is finding ways to sustain these community services. He is running some activities that can connect the community, such as group purchases, to keep up the energy in the district.
Recently, 20 former DC Members including Yeung and Siu, unite and run a group purchase business, selling “Hongkongers Sake”. The Sake is produced by an old sake (rice wine) factory in Fukuoka, Japan. They got connected with the factory via the referral of a “Yellow” shop [of similar political views]. After a few months of negotiation, the Sake can be sold in Hong Kong. During the process, they found that many Japanese are sympathetic to Hongkongers. Moreover this historical brewery is willing to change the alcohol label to “Hongkongers Sake” to pay their respect. Coincidently, this kind of Sake was named “Be Water”, which was the name of a counsellor important to the development of Fukuoka during the Warring States period in Japanese history.
Now, the Sake can be ordered at an online platform with first shipment expected to arrive in September. Their intentions to hold this Sake purchase program is to raise funds and support prison inmates for studying, which is still legal under the current situation. Whereas another part of the income from the program is to support resigned DC Members to continue their district services.
Yeung does not want the bridge in the community to disappear. He understands the importance of connections in the community. He had considered working full-time, but that would mean he has to give up his community which was not desirable.
Sake purchase is their first try. They would try other commercial products. Via small businesses, Yeung wants to build up confidence with other former DC Members who want to stay in the community. “I don’t want other DC Members to give up their community. We could try new working models to continue our survivals.”
Under the National Security Law, leaving is a norm. Siu and Yeung chose to stay and work hard in different roles.
“As a person with a bit of status, if I also give up, the society will be hopeless.” Yeung says he cannot be opportunistic - he won’t leave his football team even if his team got demoted to a lower division. “That depends on whether you can still enjoy the game. I think I will play on if I still see my role useful and find room to do something.”
Siu has a little daughter to look after. He admits that he ponders about staying or leaving all the time. After long and deep thoughts he chose to stay. What were his main considerations? His answers are human being, relationships and burden. “Human relationship is of utmost importance. In the past two year I met many good beings with a lot of relationships and burdens … between one another.”
At this moment Siu’s eyes turn red, his face showing his unwillingness to give up. With a crying voice he says, “(I am) asking a question – do we believe sincerely in what we say? Or do we … do we choose to escape?”
Those who choose to stay try different things like setting up shops, tutorial institutes and selling wines to explore new social servicing models to persevere.
Source: The Stand News #Sep05
#DistrictCouncillor #Community