Bruce Lee's Philosophy and the 2019 Protests

Lee's saying, "Be water, my friend" inspired 2019 protesters

In North America it's July 20, the 50th anniversary of martial artist Bruce Lee's death at the age of 32.

Even five decades on Lee continues to hold a fascination for old and new fans.

Lee died 50 years ago today in Hong Kong

He inspired the 2019 protesters with his philosophy, "Be water, my friend".  Lee's full quote: "Be formless, shapeless, like water. Now you put water into a cup, it becomes a cup. You put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend."

What he meant was to constantly transform and adapt to situations, and with the protesters' uniform of all black, they were unidentifiable, and they made decisions organically, decentralising the movement.

Lee's saying actually comes from the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, who said: "Water is fluid, soft and yielding. But water will wear away rock, which is rigid and cannot yield. As a rule, whatever is fluid and soft, and yielding will overcome whatever is rigid and hard. This is another paradox: what is soft is strong."

Horrific attacks in the Yuen Long MTR station

In Hong Kong, it is the fourth anniversary of the July 21 attacks in Yuen Long. It was also the same day that protesters defaced the emblem of the People's Republic of China at the Liaison Office in Western.

Most people remember what happened in the Yuen Long MTR station and were traumatised watching the images of helpless people being attacked by men in white shirts with rods.  Those assaulted included lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting, reporter turned politician Gwyneth Ho Kwai-lam. 

Lam is in jail for his part in the Yuen Long attacks when he was a victim -- he was assaulted and had a wound that required 18 stitches on his mouth. Ho recorded someone hitting her with a rod, and she is in prison too.

Most Hongkongers did not trust the police ever again. They still don't and some are triggered seeing officers on the streets.

Ho became a politician after Yuen Long attacks

Tangentially journalist Bao Choy Yuk-ling worked on an RTHK documentary about the Yuen Long attacks, doing some investigative work on the vans that transported some of the attackers. 

For the award-winning documentary she was fired and then arrested for violating the Road Traffic Ordinance for falsely declaring her intention to find out the owners of the vans. 

She was found guilty of two charges and fined.

Last month she finally won her appeal against her sentence which was annulled by the Court of Final Appeal.

This was the one bright victory in the years since that fateful night. 

Meanwhile those who are languishing in jail are making the most of their time there.

Lam needed stitches after being attacked

It has been reported that a 21-year-old inmate earned the best-ever public exam result taken in prison in Hong Kong for the Diploma of Secondary Education Examination.

In addition eight of 18 young detainees who sat for the DSE exam achieved scores good enough to enter a university.

They are not only using their time behind bars to study hard, but it also shows Hong Kong jailing its best and brightest.

The Day After June 4

A Porsche escorted by police as its plates have "8964" on them

This weekend in Hong Kong saw many arrests (and releases) of people testing what they could and couldn't do to commemorate June 4.

They could not hold up candles -- even unlit ones -- nor books or flowers. Not even a license plate that happens to be 8964.

Punters trying "8964" combination bets

But they can gamble.

Punters at the Sha Tin Racecourse yesterday made quartet bets using various combinations of 4, 6, 8, 9. That said there is no word on if they won or not.

But we'll take it as a win.

The other big win was today, June 5 in Hong Kong.

Bao Choy Yuk-ling, the freelance producer for RTHK's Hong Kong Connection, where she did investigative reporting on the July 21, 2019 attacks on commuters at Yuen Long Station by men in white shirts armed with long sticks. 

There was video footage of the men being transported by vans and showed the license plates. So she went to the Transport Department to trace the license plates to the owners. However, the form did not have an option for journalism or investigative purposes.

As a result the magistrate found Choy guilty of misstating her intention in obtaining the license plate information and was fined HK$6,000 (US$770). 

She appealed all the way to the Court of Final Appeal which today ruled journalism was a valid reason for her to access the official records.

Choy all smiles outside Court of Final Appeal

"The issues of falsity and knowledge were wrongly decided against the appellant because her journalistic investigation into the use of the vehicle on the dates in question did fall into the wide catchall category of 'other traffic and transport related matters'," the judgment read.

Even if it did not, it was 'not an irresistible inference that she knew that to be false," the judgment said. There was no reason that "bona fide journalism" should be excluded from the phrase," it added.

Choy had big smiles outside of the Court of Final Appeal, a stark contrast to when she was convicted in April 2021.

Before the judgment she said: "Over the last few years, we might have found that many things have disappeared quietly," Choy said. "But I believe our beliefs in our hearts can't be taken away that easily. No matter I win or lose today, the persistence [demonstrated]... is already a meaningful thing."

There to celebrate the win was former Hong Kong Journalists Association chair Sham Yee-lan who hugged Choy. 

"This is real happy Hong Kong," Sham said, referring to the current tourism campaign. 

Indeed. The courts are still defending press freedom.

It's a good day.

Yuen Long Attacks Changed HK

Men with sticks attacked MTR passengers in Yuen Long MTR

In Hong Kong it is the third anniversary of July 21, 2019.

Two incidents happened -- protesters went to the liaison office in Western district and splashed black paint on the Chinese emblem. That led to Beijing stepping up its management of the protests; it denounced the vandalism of its property, particularly the emblem, and state media began reporting on the protests, calling the people actively involved as "rioters". 

Chinese emblem at liaison office was defaced

Up until that point all the protests had been censored on the mainland.

Then the other event that happened that shocked the city and beyond -- was the attack of innocent people at the Yuen Long MTR station by men in white shirts with sticks ranging from bamboo sticks to metal rods.

These people purposely wore masks and indiscriminately beat people, from young and old, even a pregnant woman. There are horrific images of people bloodied in the face, welts on their backs, screaming for mercy and traumatised for life.

It was a planned attack, orchestrated by whom is unclear, though pro-Beijing legislator Junius Ho Kwan-yiu seems to have been involved, seen shaking the hands of men dressed in white.

And the police were no where to be found, leaving people to fend for themselves.

One reporter was on the scene, Gwyneth Ho Kwai-lam, who was with Stand News at the time, filming not only on the chaos, but herself being beaten by a middle aged man in a pink shirt. Is he in jail? Strangely Ho is.

A chef whose back was covered in welts

Other journalists have tried to get to the bottom of the incident. RTHK produced a documentary on Hong Kong Connection called "7.21: Who Owns the Truth." It analyses and identifies individuals suspected to have participated in the Yuen Long attacks based on surveillance footage that day from nearby businesses.

It also questions the slow police response to the incident, why it took them 39 minutes to finally arrive at the scene.

After the documentary was broadcast on July 13, 2020, the government began dismantling the publicly-funded broadcaster, cancelling hard-hitting current affairs shows, resulting in journalists either being let go or fired. 

That was not all -- the government prosecuted one of the producers of the documentary, Bao Choy, for misrepresenting herself when she filled out a Transport Department form, requesting information on the owners of cars that were caught on camera leaving the scene in Yuen Long based on license plate numbers. 

Choy was convicted for finding info on attackers

Apparently on the form there was no option to choose requesting information for media purposes, and she was convicted of misstating her intentions and fined HK$6,000 (US$764). She had pleaded not guilty.

After that the Transport Department made it harder for people to request information based on license plates, terminating one of the ways journalists can do investigative reporting.

Choy did not let go of the 7-21 incident.

A few days ago she and a few colleagues produced another documentary, talking to three witnesses that night. One couple even took 4K pictures of the assailants that clearly identify their faces. They gave these images to the police but to no avail; only a handful of the over 200 attackers have been charged and convicted.

Choy is now doing a fellowship at Harvard University. But the chances of her coming back to Hong Kong are even slimmer after this latest documentary.

Lam was grilled by reporters the next day

Remember the day after the incident? Then chief executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and her senior ministers held a press conference on the afternoon of July 22 and she was unprepared for the reporters grilling her, in particular RTHK's Nabela Qoser.

She asked questions in Cantonese like: "Did you learn about it only this morning? Were you able to sleep well last night?"

Lam looked like a deer in headlights and cut short the press conference. Embarrassing really for a woman who is known for micromanaging and always wanting to be the best. 

And it was a sign that Lam was no longer in control of the government response to the protests -- Beijing was.

We are all still processing what happened, frustrated there has hardly been any justice for the victims. Another documentary interviewed an elderly woman who injured her knee in the Yuen Long station and had to get surgery. Previously fit and taught dancing to elderly people, she cannot do this anymore, and her mobility is severely restricted by this injury. Thinking back to the event traumatises her, still shocked at what happened.

Looks like collusion between police and attackers

Meanwhile the government has been trying to change the narrative of this incident, now saying both sides were evenly matched which one would like to laugh at, but the injuries were so graphic that one can only have even further resentment at the authorities for not taking witnesses seriously.

They were also caught on camera communicating with men in white shirts, not even investigating or interrogating them.

As a result the Yuen Long attacks also abruptly ended any respect Hongkongers had for the police, from then onwards calling them "black police", not trusting them. Some are traumatised at the sight of these people in uniform even three years later.

So much happened as a direct result of July 21, 2019.

Which is is why we will never forget it.