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June 4 vigil
A record number of people mourned together on Monday night in Victoria Park for those who died in Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989. Byron Tseng was there to shed a tear…
It’s breathtaking. A sea of candles light up Victoria Park. Slogans and chants like ‘CY Leung is two-faced’, ‘down with the Communist Government’ and ‘democracy in China now’ ring around the venue. This year there’s a record turnout of 180,000 people in the park commemorating those who were killed in Tianenmen Square. It’s an amazing sight. And, with human rights in China and unease about the incoming Hong Kong Chief Executive on many people’s minds, feelings are high.
I don’t know why I haven’t been to this annual event before. I’m of Chinese descent and this event should have a special place in my heart – just like every other person in Hong Kong who was alive as the atrocious events of June 4, 1989, unfolded. We’re the ones who should learn from what happened.
We navigate ourselves through wave after wave of people who don black shirts and hold their candles aloft so we can find a place to sit. We hold up our candles to the patriotic songs and mottos harangued by the Democratic cheerleaders. I hold up my candle, which is resting on top a paper cup and suddenly my arm feels hot. I’ve set the cup on fire, turning my candle into a violent torch spitting embers. It’s fitting, the burning wax reminding me of the sudden chaos which erupted on that fateful day in China’s history. (However, I would recommend future vigil attendees to exercise caution with your candle!) Nevertheless, it was a privilege to engage in an activity our cousins in China would dare not do.Although we’re sure many would want to, if only they had the chance.
In the two-decade long series of vigils since Tianenmen Square, this one is blessed with a special guest star in the form of Fang Zheng. Fang is most notable for being the activist whose legs were run over by a tank during the massacre. It seems somewhat ironic that Fang, a student at the Beijing Institute of Physical Education, would have had an athletic prowess many at Tiananmen would have lacked. His act of saving a fellow protester from a column of tanks, only to be critically wounded himself, never halted his psychological struggle and healthy attitude. Fang informs us that he never truly believed the People’s Liberation Army would attack him and his comrades.
He recounts how, after the incident, he feels that the Communist Government and the ironically named People’s Liberation Army can no longer adequately represent the people. We are blessed with Fang’s appearance and his strong oratory prowess. However, two days later, he flies back to the USA and will probably never return to Hong Kong or China. This year, we hear, Hong Kong immigration overlooked him due to his relatively low profile, so next time the red tape will bound him in exile. Another twist of irony is that while America can provide activists like Fang Zheng and Chen Guangcheng ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’, the USA also deprives them of the only thing they ever really cared for: ‘the right to protest within China’.
So, it was a remarkable sight and an honour to be part of the vigil. I implore all Hongkongers to attend future vigils or visit the June 4 museum in Sham Shui Po. We don’t know when China will carry out serious reforms. Some make an argument that China was more liberal in the early 1980s with the Democracy Wall in Beijing. In the meantime we should all be thankful for the freedoms we enjoy in Hong Kong. For all we know those freedoms may all expire in 2047…
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