It takes only 1 second to surrender but forever to persevere. When “backend supporters” become “frontline fighters”
Translated by the Guardians of Hong Kong Apr 29, 2021
As I wrote this article the former president of Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU), Carol NG, was charged with “conspiracy to subvert state power” along with other 46 persons due to their participation in the 2020 HK pro-democracy primaries (“2020 Primaries”) and all were put in custody and remanded. When the 47 defendants reported to the Police in February, they initially thought they could be put on bail and be “free” at least until Apr. Shockingly the regime pushed and pushed the prosecution a lot earlier to 1 Mar.
Before Carol NG entered the Police Station, she sent her words to fellow Hongkongers: “It takes only 1 second for surrender, but it takes forever to persevere.” To encourage Hongkongers to “persist and bear in mind what we all chase for” under the freezing winter. She missed her family and friends in HKCTU the most.
At the same time in the same court building, many riot cases were in trials, while many of our brother and sisters from the PolyU cases were remanded. They were the frontline fighters at the streets. The 47 persons in the 2020 Primaries are the most charismatic leaders from the Pro-democracy camp. When the frontline fighter groups collapsed, the backend support organisations would have to stand at the political front. How could they deal with current environment?
When citizens fighting for justice and rights were targeted and attacked one by one
Since last year, the regime implemented strategies to cleanse the “top 3 giant influential industries”, focusing on judiciary, education industry and the media, which are in full execution now. The cleanse of pinpointed civil servants, medical services workers and welfare workers then followed. White Terror was spreading among the industries, breaking the mutual trusts between citizens. At the same time, mutual recognition of professional qualifications for two fields caused the reduction of number of Hongkongers in these industries due to replacement from immigrated professionals from Mainland China.
White terror along with the breakage of professional industries have not only attacked the industries in HK, but also the moral and ethical spirits of HK people. These professionals truly showed theirs professionalism before and after the movements - they followed standards and were not led blindly by the regime and the market. The teachers of liberal studies, social workers who fought on the street, the lawyers who worked to free our brothers and sisters, the medical workers who joined the strike, the civil servants who organised the assemblies, the reporters who spoke the truth...They together establish this space where they could live up to their integrity, morality and spirits.
As such, the meaning of protecting the professionalism is to set up the real standards of profession to protect the moral spirit and integrity of Hongkongers and safeguard this place where they could put the spirit in action. As for those Unions, they should uphold and spread this consensus to all industries, to face the terrors with their fellows, to spread the perseverance and fighting spirits, so to keep the democracy movement memories refreshed and vivid. In order to achieve the goal we cannot stick to the classic structure of “union movement”, we have to widely enlarge the connections with social movements by stepping out of our comfort zone. If all parties only focused on their agendas, they would only be defeated by the regime, one by one.
When “backend supporters” become “Frontline fighters“
Nowadays, the social movements in all industries have become the frontline of the democracy movement. The professional spirits shown by all the professionals in industries - the teachers of liberal studies, social workers fighting in the street, the lawyer working to free our brothers and sisters, the medical services who joined the strike, the civil servants who held the assemblies, the reporters who spoke the truth...they are next targets, in the eyes of the regime.
If unions wish to escape from being defeated, they have to step out from their comfort zone. Joining the industry unions/alliances implies joining a network for the industry and the fate of HK.
There is a voice in the society saying that when surviving the dark age, social movement should be gentle and people in the movement should “avoid direct conflicts”, temporarily step back from “political sensitive topics” to “ general social and wellbeing issues”, using “not being killed” as an excuse but in fact retreating so the organization can be spared and be safe. It is obviously a wrong judgement - because living in this society is political in itself, we cannot reduce our political sensitivity since we have to take these topics seriously. Furthermore, non-political social organisations in PRC are not safe either, judging from the political fighters’ experience in Mainland China.
In history, many citizens in many places fought against totalitarianism; but only Hongkongers have a choice of migration to “solve” the problem. Protecting oneself is a natural reaction. However, our home still needs someone who are willing to stay and sacrifice.
Source：Standnews #Mar23
#CarolNg #Surrender #Persevere #Backend #Frontline