“I am in my last year of high school and waiting for my day in court.” - A Letter from a High School Student

#FrontLine #ProtestStories 

Ten years. What’s ten years? One-eighth of my life could be spent in jail watching my comrades get arrested, killed, raped or simply disappear. Yet there is simply nothing I can do about it.

I meet “peaceful, rational and non-violent” (PRN) Hongkongers every now and then, and they ask me, “Why do you have to stand so close to the frontlines? The police have lost their minds. They beat young people up so ruthlessly. It hurts to see it.” Usually, I will just chuckle and say “sorry”, because I simply do not know how to respond. 

Why do kids have to go to the front? Because there are no adults up there. I know, I know, you all have your burdens - work, mortgage, family. But I have my own burdens too. I’m not asking you to abandon all these responsibilities to go to the frontline. I just want to remind you guys that the load on my back is just as heavy as yours.

I met this big, tall guy once at a protest. He didn't look like a policeman. I could tell he was a PRN and he had a look of fear on his face. I asked if he ever thought about going to the frontlines. He said he would be too scared. Feeling scared is normal actually, even if you are always found on the frontlines. Fear is, after all, a primal survival instinct. 

I had the thought, wouldn’t it be awesome if all frontline members were as big and tall as that guy. Maybe less of us would get caught and the police may even be afraid of us. 

This classic line from Spiderman popped into my head at that moment: “With great power comes great responsibility.” Right now, we definitely have the responsibility to make use of the power given to us. It is no longer a question of whether you want to or not. 

It is 2am in the morning as I'm writing this. The police may have killed yet another one of our comrades. They abuse their power because they are not being held accountable. On the other hand, some people will just say they are angry, very angry (towards the police) but lack actions to back their words up. Some of them have not even participated in any rallies. 

If you happen to be reading this and you are of a certain position with power, then please do something with it. I hope you will do something to show the police that there are consequences for their evil deeds. I don’t believe killing the police is a great sin because, in war, being kind to your enemy is being unkind to yourself. We have nothing to lose at this point. 

I also have something to say to my PRN comrades. I know you may be thinking of joining the frontline but are not able to due to various circumstances. If that’s the case, then keep doing what you do. Don’t give up. We will fulfil our own duties, but still remain as one.

I love this place and I love the people. Ten years in jail is not a big deal as compared to death, which I am prepared for anyway. Please keep marching forward on this road that I built with my blood, sweat and tears. Don’t ever give up.

I just want to ask everyone to do a little more, go a little further. Us youngsters have already sacrificed ourselves. The police will not stop until they realize that there are consequences to their actions. 

Don’t worry, we will never turn our backs on you.