By Joy Pamnani
Last month, Hong Kong held its first Legislative Council elections since the Umbrella Revolution in 2014.
Among the pro-establishment and pan-democratic camp, a new group of localists emerged, with an aim of preserving the city’s autonomy and local culture.
Nathan Law Kwun-chung, 23, a key student leader during the Occupy Protests was a localist elected in the legislature.
Law is the youngest politician Hong Kong has seen, representing a generation of youngsters in their fight for genuine universal suffrage.
Law’s political background goes back to the Umbrella Movement in 2014, where Law and Joshua Wong were important student leaders in the city’s fight for universal suffrage.
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A the time, Law delivered those protesting on the streets for democracy. He was also involved in meeting officials during the movement, calling for a genuine implementation of universal suffrage in 2017 Chief Executive elections.
The Year 5 Cultural Studies student never thought of entering politics as a child, thinking of it as “a dirty game with people fighting among one another for self-interest”, as quoted in an SCMP article.
But witnessing the “limitations” of established pan-democratic parties in the city’s sit-ins, he decided to take on making Hong Kong a better place.
Law formed a new party with Umbrella Revolution student leader Joshua Wong in April 2016, calling for Hong Kong people to have the right to vote in a referendum on independence from Beijing.
Photo Credit: Nathan Law/ Facebook.
The group has vowed to hold a referendum in 10 years to let the people decide their own fate beyond 2047, when the principle of “one country, two systems” expires, and secured a seat in the Legislative Council with its 23-year-old chairman Nathan Law serving as a legislator from the Hong Kong Island geographic constituency.
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The idea of independence has circulated throughout the city, yet received backlash from the local government.
Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying announced “Hong Kong independence” should not be a discussion topic at schools, also warning teachers they could lose qualifications if they advocate independence in class.
However, the team has pledged to work for the “self-determination of Hongkongers”, with the use of non-violent means.
Few days back, Hong Kong saw its new legislative councillors sworn in. During the ceremony, three pan-democrats and localists wearing “Hong Kong is Not China” banners’ oaths were declared invalid, after they modified the words and insulted China.
After Law was sworn in as a lawmaker, he asked Legislative Council Secretary General Kenneth Chen what authority he had to decide that three members’ oaths were invalid, and whether they were allowed to vote for the Legislative Council President on Wednesday afternoon.
Despite not getting an answer, Law kept his cool, and quoted Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi. “You can chain me, you can torture me, you can even destroy this body, but you will never imprison my mind.”
While youth political participation is uncommon in today’s age, but the case is different in Hong Kong.
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According to Dr Chor-yung Cheung, a professor at City University of Hong Kong, the city’s unique status as a Special Administrative Region is a reason why.
“The deadlock in Hong Kong’s democratic development plays an important role in youth activism here,” Cheung told RISE NEWS in an interview.
The rise of youth activism in Hong Kong began in 2009, during anti-express rail campaign.
In the days leading up to the Umbrella Revolution, a student class boycott was held at the Chinese University in Hong Kong, in response to Beijing ruling out public nomination for the city.
More young people stepped in during the protests.
“After the Umbrella Movement in 2014, many young people here are very unhappy about the political deadlock we have in Hong Kong and quite a number of them have become politically very active, to the extent that they now is an important political force in Hong Kong,” Cheung said.
Through the elections, Law has seen Hong Kong people want a democratic future.
With the support of the public, Law hopes to bring about political change in the future.
“We inherited some spirit from the (Umbrella) Movement and I hope that that can continue in the future,” Law said, in an interview with Hong Kong Free Press.
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in the world. You can write for us.
You can also like our RISE NEWS Hong Kong Facebook page to stay engaged with our local coverage.
Cover Photo Credit: Nathan Law/ Facebook
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Photo Essay: Goodbye (For Now) To Hong Kong’s Hipster Paradise Hidden Agenda
By Sing Lee
HONG KONG- Hidden Agenda, the largest performing venue dedicated to indie music in Hong Kong, is being evicted for its third time since its founding seven years ago, due to “land use abuses”.
The current 3,600-square-foot unit, which can accommodate about 300 people, is located in Ngau Tau Kok industrial district, a home to a lot of band rooms, movie production studios, churches and martial art training centers.
These alternative uses of industrial buildings are violating the land lease agreements, which ban the sites from being use as any purpose other than “industrial and/or warehouse”.
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The venus received a rectification order from the Lands Department in June this year, while they made an agreement with the landlord to move out this month.
The order was based on two land lease agreements issued by the government in 1967 and 1973, when manufacturing industries was still a pillar economic sector of Hong Kong.
Industrial building users has been asking for legislative amendment on the regulations including place for public entertainment licences, fire safety regulations and land lease terms, to adapt to the change of usages as time goes by.
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Open in 2009, Hidden Agenda has been a home to shows performed by both local and international units, such as the American recording artist Toro Y Moi.
The live house’s team initialed a crowd-funding project its fourth generation in September, raising HK $517,000 in a week from the public.
They are acquiring a food factory licence, rather than a place for public entertainment licences they failed to apply for, to operate legally as a tuck shop which provide live music for its customers.The venue will be re-opened in December this year at its new address, while its last show for now, called “Continue to Grow”, was held on 10 October.
This photo essay records the yet final performance at what the audience called “HA 3.0”, indicating its third location, and the disassembling of the stage immediately afterwards.
Read More: How Nathan Law Is Representing A New Generation Of Leadership In Hong Kong
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in the world. You can write for us.
You can also like our RISE NEWS Hong Kong Facebook page to stay engaged with our local coverage.
Photo Credits: Sing Lee
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What The Walk21 Conference Taught Me About The Future Of Hong Kong
By Iverson Ng
HONG KONG- Hong Kong’s “Walking Movement” has officially been kick-started after the 5-day global conference Walk21 took place at Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai.
With 156 experts gathered from 38 countries, this conference was truly a global collaborative platform to come up with ideas of how to improve walkability of this international finance hub.
Why the conference came to Hong Kong, should be a surprise to none.
With a total area of 1100 square kilometres, this city has less than 1/4 developed land while as much as 40% of this metropolis is preserved as country parks and nature reserves.
Stunning as it may sound, living within some 1,300 skyscrapers standing taller than 100m out of almost 8,000 buildings according to the global provider of building information Emporis, Hong Kongers struggle to live with a population density of almost 6,700 persons per square kilometre.
Among the 18 districts in Hong Kong, the most densely populated district goes is Kwun Tong, which has some 57,000 persons per square kilometre.
Walk21 wants to make Hong Kong a more walkable city in order to fight climate change and overcrowding. Photo Credit: Yi Chen/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
Statistically speaking, Hong Kong is a notable city that values walkability as a tool for commuting when financial services, trading and logistics, tourism and professional and producer services are four key industries.
Looking beyond the prosperous side of this packed city, though, Hong Kong still faces several challenges–heavy reliance on railways, redevelopment projects and lack of private car regulations–to improve walkability.
While both Hong Kong and the Swedish capital Stockholm, for example share similar world-class railway systems operated by the Mass Transit Railway (MTR) Corporation, the railway in Hong Kong seems to be overloaded–on average about 4.7 million passengers taking the MTR everyday.
As a Legislative Council report shows, the maximum capacity of the carriages in the East Rail Line and Ma On Shan Rail Line is or above 100% during the rush hour.
Several transit stations such as Amiralty, Mong Kok, and Yau Tong are packed with people getting on and off from work, making people hard to transit from one location to another location smoothly.
Like what Civic Exchange CEO Maura Wong suggested in the conference, Hong Kongers spend roughly 50 minutes commuting on average, but they tend to spend only 5 minutes walking. Perhaps we should consider walking as a lifestyle instead of making it as a function for commuting.
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Even though the MTR Corporation will finish its 4 strategic rail extensions including West Island Line, Shatin to Central Link, Kwun Tong Line Extension and South Island Line (East) in the foreseeable years, to improve walkability in Hong Kong, the uncontrollably frequent road traffic doesn’t just make it harder to extend more accessible walkways for pedestrians, but also discourages people to ride bikes for work and leisure.
Currently, there are as many as 530,000 licensed private cars, making up more than 2/3 of all vehicles this year, according to the HKSAR government fact sheet.
Watch: The Welcome Video to Walk21
Not only does it exceed the number of private cars in 2020 predicted by the government in 2007, but it also contributes one of the reasons why the traffic congestion is prominently serious everyday.
The government should give incentives to encourage private car owners to take public transport instead.
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While the Walk21 conference might not make a short term impact on the above issues, it is still likely to help usher in a gradual change if Walk21’s main themes–walking between layers, walking with multiple benefits, walking smart, and walking together–can spread out to the general public.
Let’s hope these change help Hong Kong become the city we all want it to be.
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in the world. You can write for us.
You can also like our RISE NEWS Hong Kong Facebook page to stay engaged with our local coverage.
Cover Photo Credit: Walk21/ Facebook
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The Story Behind How A 20 Year Old Hong Kong Cop Became An International Hero
Last month, 20 year old Hong Kong policeman Ifzal Zaffar became a viral star after gaining international media attention after saving a man from killing himself.
Many have called Zaffar a hero.
Zaffar, who joined the police less than a year ago was acclaimed for his act which prevented a Pakistani man from committing suicide.
In addition of risking his own life by climbing on a crane, the constable used his language skills to communicate with the suicidal man and avoided what could have been a tragedy.
Zaffar — a Hongkonger of Pakistani origins — joined the police force less than a year ago through Project Gemstone, an initiative launched in 2013 by the Hong Kong Police Force to enlist members of ethnic minority communities.For many years, it has been difficult for ethnic minority members to find jobs within the civil service in Hong Kong.
However, such projects have given their fruits and showed how important it is for Hong Kong to culturally diversify its disciplinary forces.
Last week, 12 Nepali males were arrested in Yau Ma Tei on suspicion of taking part in illegal activities.
In order to insure a smooth operation, the police in Yau Tsim Mong called on the help of Niraj Gurung — a 20 year old constable of Nepali origins who’s grandfather served as a Gurkha back in the old days.
Gurung was also recruited through Project Gemstone.
Through the use of his language skills, Gurung was able to avoid the situation to worsen as it was sadly the case in 2009 when a homeless Nepali male was shot dead by police mainly because of cultural and linguistic barriers.
The newly serving officer was able to gain fame after being requested by his superior to hold a press conference in his native language, which was so far uncommon practice for the force.
Such measures are necessary in order to break the barrier between the community and the police and it seems that the government became aware of this undeniable fact.
The presence of South Asians in the police can be traced back to 1862 when William Quin — a Superintendent who previously served in Bombay — decided to recruit police officers from India.
At the time, the recruitment of South Asians was regarded as a way to maintain neutrality during conflicts between Chinese villagers as these officers were unlikely to take a stance due given the cultural distinctions.
Nowadays, their presence is as necessary as before but for a slightly different reason which is that — as Asia’s World City — Hong Kong needs to be representative of its population.
Let’s for once admit it: some government departments have done a great job thanks to initiatives such as Gemstone.
At the same time, ethnic minority recruits have been able to feature their substantial professionalism and proved of the necessity to have them as being fully part of our community.
Overall speaking, let me give credit to the police for their commitment in including ethnic minorities as part of the local community.
Let me also congratulate these officers who made Hong Kong proud of what it is.
Let’s end with a quote from an old police recruitment advertising campaign from the 1980s: “Yau Ma Tei 3am, a fine time to discover yourself”.
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in the world. You can write for us.
Cover Photo Credit: Ifzal Zaffar/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
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