Ideal and the Real
Let’s remember
For what kind of man would I be if I do not remember? We remember the day. The very day when people will be assembled again. Standing together, lighting a candle in their hands.
The “magic numbers”—“8964” are used to describe an incident— the “June Fourth Incident” in Beijing, China at the year 1989. People in China are not allowed to talk about it openly. They can not search for any of those information on the internet because of censorship: the Great Firewall even after more than three decades. You'll be “in trouble” if you speak of the “numbers”, implying, or mentioning anything about the events. They will shut you down and there will be consequences that not only happen to you, but maybe to your family and your friends. Most people refuse to talk about the topic because they don’t want anyone get into troubles because of their action.
While in Hong Kong, we used to have freedom of speech just like people in the West. With China’s National Security Law enacted in our city, our life and freedom have already been affected.
Activists, politicians, and students who were involved in the “2019 Hong Kong protests” were “punished”, either being arrested, or going to jail. There was violence, and some people died during the protest. As a Hong Konger, I tend to believe most people in Hong Kong wish to have a peaceful society. We are well-known for protesting peacefully even though there were more than a million people on the streets. A video by Vox explained the protests.
Every year, we held a traditional memorial in Victoria Park, Causeway Bay at 4 June. On that night, people will dress in black and light candles. To pay tribute to the victims of China’s 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters. This “candlelight vigil” might possibly won’t happens in the near future. It was banned by the police in the name of COVID since 2020. To anyone who’re reading, here’s the online museum about 8964.
What would you do as a normal person to against the current of time? I do not know what will Hong Kong be like in the future.
Hoping you can change the society / legal systems tomorrow? People who want to rock the government, and demand democracy by just dreaming about it? Too ideal.
What else could I do as a citizen, a Hong Konger, a Chinese living in such a city?
Let’s be real. The reality doesn’t always look good.
People live their own lives, some may hold more privileges, and some struggles with their living. Everyone has their worries, agendas, and concerns.
But I don’t want to be indifferent.
What kind of person would I be if I ignores these events, pretending they never happened? I’ll regret not doing anything at all. Thing is, one can do so little about the situation we’re in. Not that I’m going to be an activist. It will be too arrogant for an individual to think who can fight for the future of Hong Kong people.
So, what must I do?
To remember it. It has to be remembered.
I started a little project regarding the topic in general, my stance of “freedom”. “8964” means more than just some numbers, but a symbol conveying much more than that.
Designing the logotype is the first step of the project. There’re some numbers hidden in the word “DEFY”. If you don’t see it at all, then it might be better that way. I’m still working on it, let’s see how it plays out.
Until next time.
This is #Day21 of #100DaysToOffload.
Footnotes
- 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre via Wikipedia. ↩︎
- Great Firewall via Wikipedia. ↩︎
- 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests via Wikipedia. ↩︎
- Hong Kong’s huge protests, explained by Vox. ↩︎
- June 4 Memory & Human Rights Museum by The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China. ↩︎