Hong Kong is an international city
It is a dynamic city
A financial hub with a diversified culture
But do you know?
What is it that Hong Kong is presently fighting for at this very moment?
Let’s begin with a brief account flash back of Hong Kong’s history
For over 100 years, Hong Kong has been a British colony
Under British ruling, Hong Kong thrived as the strategic geographical location – being the ‘door to China’
In the 1980s, China and the United Kingdom signed a Joint Declaration
which sets out how Hong Kong is to be governed after the handover in 1997
On 1 July 1997, Hong Kong was handed over to China
The Basic Law came into effect
It is the mini constitution which confirms of Hong Kong as China’s Special Administrative Region
Under the Basic Law, Hong Kongers were assured a high degree of autonomy
reservation of its capitalist system for 50 years
Hong Kong people are entitled to choose its own leader
What happened since?
Since 1997, the first, second and third Chief Executive of Hong Kong were elected by an election committ
The present Chief Executive, C Y Leung, was elected by 1,200 election committee members
Only a small portion of these members were democratically elected
With a population of over 7 million, Hong Kong is being ruled by C Y Leung, elected with only a vote of 689
What are the consequences if our leader is elected by ‘small circle’ interest?
Ever since the handover, Hong Kong’s policies and political landscape
were largely controlled by special interest groups, from the mainland or from powerful businessman
Inequality became worse – the rich becomes richer, and the poor becomes poorer
Property prices rose to a level where many cannot afford to buy their home,
but the businessmen prospered and resist all kinds of changes
Under the Basic Law, Hong Kong people are promised the right to have universal suffrage – the rights to choose its own leader
But what exactly is the rights to universal suffrage?
Rights to nominate, rights to be nominated, and rights to vote.
All of them are essential, and not one can be missing
The international standard is that people are born to have equal political rights
What China is trying to do at the moment to limit the people’s right of nomination
They want to be able to nominate whoever they like
And screen out whoever they do not like
The Chinese government wants a controlled election with a predictable outcome
If people do not have the right to nominate, it is not true universal suffrage
Picking out a rotten apple and a rotten orange,
and letting you choose which one is to be eaten, such cannot be true choice
If Hong Kong’s leader is handpicked by the Chinese government,
chances are he or she will not genuinely care about what Hong Kong people need Imbalance and inequality will continue
Hong Kong will gradually become more and more like the Mainland
Will it be that the Chinese-picked Chief Executive uses his or her mandate
to impose brainwashing national education on all primary school students?
Will the Chief Executive make speech which undermines judicial independence?
Will press freedom further deteriorate, and be completely wiped out one day?
Can people continue to be able to say bad things about the government without fearing any revenge?
Will the Chinese-style corruption become part of Hong Kong’s day to day life?
We do not know, but it is very likely to follow if Hong Kong people lose this final chance
to choose its own future by picking its own leader
What is being done now?
Civil nomination is widely seen in the pro-democracy camp as the protection of the right of nomination
All it involves is that a citizen will be able to stand for election
after collecting a certain number of nominations from fellow citizens
The threshold is negotiable
Some people see this as the only way which Hong Kong people can be guaranteed with true universal suffrage
From 22 to 29 June 2014, Hong Kong people participated in an informal ‘referendum’,
organized by the Occupy Central with Love and Peace Campaign
More than 700,000 Hong Kong people eligible to have casted their vote to support civil nomination
The bottom line is this: if there is no civil nomination in the proposed methods of electing the Chief Executive,
many ordinary citizens will commence a series of civil disobedience activities
These may include occupying the main streets in the heart of Hong Kong’s financial hub, Central,
blocking the transport and bringing the day-to-day running of Hong Kong’s financial system to a halt
The aim is to raise international awareness and put pressure on the Chinese government
to come to the negotiation table, and give Hong Kong people what they have promised for,
that is, true universal suffrage
It ought to be highlighted that the core principle of the Occupy Central movement is a non-violent civil disobedience
If the police are to come and arrest the participants, they have vowed not to resist with any violence or with the intention to hurt others
Isn’t there any alternative?
No. The government won’t listen to the people’s voices.
On the proposal submitted to the Chinese government in respect of the political reform,
the Hong Kong government did not represent civil nomination as a mainstream opinion
on 1 July 2014
More than 500,000 Hong Kongers took it to the street to demonstrate against the Hong Kong government
The demonstration was followed by a peaceful overnight sit-ins at the main financial zone in the heart of the city
Some of them were arrested
Some experienced other consequences
But The 500,000 odd people was simply neglected
The 700,000 odd vote in the informal referendum was likewise neglected and regarded as legally ineffective
We need your concern and awareness on what is going on in Hong Kong
We need your understanding and sympathy on the civil disobedience activities which may happen in Hong Kong,
that they are not acts of violence, but purely acts of fighting against an unfair system,
that if we really have a choice, no one wants to take it to the street
We need you to spread the words for us
It is the last chance of Hong Kong to remain the way it is
It is the last chance for its people to fight for what they have been promised
It is the last chance for the peace-loving people in Hong Kong to be guaranteed
equal political rights and the right to choose its own leader and way of living
We hope you will support us when the time comes,
by telling others our story, by voicing out your support on various forums, and to pray for us