Their day has come, and so will ours

Both the sad events of the Tiananmen Massacre in China and the Hillsborough Stadium stampede in English happened in 1989. Both involved the loss of many lives, the former far more than the latter.
But the major difference, as demonstrated by what transpired this week, is that while the truth of the Hillsborough tragedy has been uncovered by a 396-page report by an independent panel revealing that a police cover-up had taken place which had intended to shift the blame to the victims themselves, the truth of the Tienanmen is still hidden.

The victory of the Liverpool families is, of course, largely the outcome of their courage to persist in the fight for justice, but such courage has also been demonstrated by the families of the students who were killed, and the admirable effort of the group called the Tiananmen Mothers is an excellent example.

However, while in Britain the families have the rights and freedom to make the fight and the means and channels in the system for them to do so, in China any such attempts are forcefully suppressed.
And the outcome is that, the victims of the Hillsborough have now been, as Sunderland manager Martin O'Neill said, "totally and utterly vindicated". The Tienanmen victims and their families, on the other hand, may have to wait until the fall of the Communist Party for their names to be cleared. But I am totally convinced that, the day will come when, like the Liverpool families, the Tiananmen mothers will be vindicated.

One country, one system

A BBC article today, called China suicide blast man's 'act of desperation', reported how a wheelchair user blew himself up in a government office in Shandong using home-made explosives, injuring six government workers. According to his brother, the 49-year-old man had been paralysed following an accident at a building site almost 20 years ago. He couldn't make ends meet and had petitioned officials for years, seeking more compensation than he had already received.


The following are some observations made in the article:
The case is a graphic illustration of the social tensions that have been felt across China.
There has been a growing number of attacks on local officials in recent years.
There are thousands of protests every month.
Many people are angry about official corruption and abuses of power.

Ironically and worryingly, these phenomena in China have become perfectly applicable to the situation of Hong Kong today, although they are amplified in different forms here. Social tensions, protests and attacks on local officials (strictly confined to verbal attacks in the case of Hong Kong) have become the order of the day, and these are caused by many people's deep-seated anger about official corruption and abuses of power.

The evidence for the contamination of Hong Kong's way of living following the tighter and tigher grip and more and more naked intervention of China couldn't be more obvious.

'Act of Desperation'

A BBC article today, called China suicide blast man's 'act of desperation', reported how a wheelchair user blew himself up in a government office in Shandong using home-made explosives, injuring six government workers. According to his brother, the 49-year-old man had been paralysed following an accident at a building site almost 20 years ago. He couldn't make ends meet and had petitioned officials for years, seeking more compensation than he had already received.

The following are some remarks made in the article:

• The case is a graphic illustration of the social tensions that have been felt across China.
• There has been a growing number of attacks on local officials in recent years.
• There are thousands of protests every month. 
• Many people are angry about official corruption and abuses of power.

Ironically and worryingly, these statements have become perfectly applicable to the situation of Hong Kong today, although they are amplified in different forms here. Social tensions, protests and attacks on local officials (as yet strictly confined to verbal attacks in the case of Hong Kong) have become the order of the day, and these are caused by many people's deep-seated anger about official corruption and abuses of power.

The evidence for the contamination of Hong Kong's way of living following the tighter and tigher grip and starker and starker intervention of China couldn't be more obvious.

God is smiling

The hunger strike of three students in protest against the government’s plan to implement the controversial National Education curriculum ended prematurely after the blood sugar level of one of the students was found to be very low. The hunger strike, which was supposed to be for 72 hours, ended at midnight after having gone on for 56 hours.

The student whose health condition was at stake was apologetic, saying that she would have liked to persist until the last moment as she had pledged.

Tears welled in my eyes as I saw her say that on TV. I don’t know whether they were tears of sympathy or tears of shame. As I said in an SMS to a friend:

“Those Scholarism [the student activist group to which the three students belong] kids deserve our utmost respect. For them to sacrifice themselves like that is both heart-rending and soul-searching. Shouldn’t we adults be ashamed of ourselves?”

A positive development is that ten citizens, ranging from tertiary students to retirees, have now gone on their hunger strike and taken up the fight with the government.

At the venue of yesterday’s assembly, which was reported to be attended by 40,000 people, a double rainbow stretched across the sky. Obviously, it was God’s way of giving the movement His encouragement and approval.

A riding lesson

Today, as I was on my bike, making the difficult steep climb up the hill like I do every Saturday morning, I thought to myself: “Instead of thinking about how much more upward distance I still have to cover, I should just focus on every single step I make.” That change of mentality did make a difference. Instead of being concerned about the future, I was more focused on the now. The task became less daunting because all I was thinking about was just one next step.  My capacity for enjoying the ride was also increased. The singing of the birds, the caress of the breeze and the fragrance of the plants, which usually were screened out, made their ways into my consciousness, and what a pure joy it was.

So the lesson I have learned today is that by taking one small step at a time, I will get the big thing done in a less intimidating and more enjoyable way.