II. “As the vehicle passed by, I stood there, unable to move, for two hours.”

Previously: Bonham Tree Aid’s volunteer Yung (not his real name) was sentenced to imprisonment for his involvement in the Umbrella Movement. His days in the juvenile prison were mostly spent with insufficient food to sate his hunger, with insufficient clothes to keep him warm and deprived of dignity. Yet even after the long-awaited release came, he realised his suffering was far from over.

“I couldn’t get back to school after release. I could only find work.” The juvenile prisoners in Hong Kong are usually held at 3C. The rationale of the 3C system is to ease juvenile ex-convicts’ integration post-release into society through ‘rehabilitation’ and ‘training’. Therefore, there were activities meant to ‘help’ prisoners in these centres, such as lectures or skills workshops. However, the lectures that Yung attended were only up to S.3 (equivalent to Year 10 in the England & Wales education system) level. The lectures consisted of the juvenile prisoners copying the answers just once. As for skills training, there was only one skill training available for all juvenile prisoners. The certificate bore the words ‘The Correctional Services Department’, which is not conducive to ex-convicts in finding work or continuing education post-release. This is not helped by the supervision orders imposed on juvenile ex-convicts after release. If the supervising Correctional Services officer finds a juvenile ex-convict’s behaviour dissatisfactory during the period the supervision order was in effect, the Correctional Services Department can remit his imprisonment. As Yung was a student at a tertiary education institute, he was only permitted to find work instead of continuing his education.

“I was on my way to see a clinical psychologist when I saw a Correctional Services Department’s vehicle passed by. I had an immediate panic attack and stood there, unable to move, for two hours.” A supervision order is limited by its expiry date, yet trauma is not. Recovery from the trauma inflicted seems like a possibility only for an uncertain point of time at the distant future. Imprisonment not only destroyed Yung’s health and dignity, it also destroyed Yung’s emotional well-being, such as giving him depression and panic disorder. Living and working remained an uphill battle for him post-release, even after receiving counselling and pharmacotherapy. Seeing a prisoner transport vehicle on the street was enough to freeze Yung on the spot. At the time, Yung did what he could to live a normal life. Looking back now, he realises he was still living under the shadow of his traumatic experience in prison. He was averse to speaking to anyone about his time in prison. In his day-to-day life, he often lashed out at people around him in unexplained fits of anger. He also hated the Correctional Service officer he came across in his social circle, without any trigger.

“I was hit by a rubber bullet at a protest in 2019.” Yung stepped into the frontlines of the protest in 2019 once more, putting himself at risk for another arrest, despite his unhealed trauma. He has no regrets despite his injuries. It was not until the promulgation of the National Security Law in 2020 that Yung eventually made the decision to leave Hong Kong as he appreciated the risk of prosecution under the said law when his personal details were recorded by the police in the 2019 protests.

“It is over here that I am truly starting to heal.” Before fleeing Hong Kong, the Correctional Services officer in his social circle apologised to him on behalf of his colleagues. The officer also got rid of things in Yung’s possession that reminded him of his time in prison. It was then that Yung finally realised he might be able to cast aside the pain he carried. As Yung started receiving regular counselling from an experienced Hong Konger counsellor living in the same host country, he finally started getting his life back on track. He was able to talk about his time in prison and started volunteering with Bonham Tree Aid.

“Bonham Tree Aid helped someone I know. Their donation platform is also very secure. I have been paying attention to their work and trust that they have genuinely helped so many prisoners and their families.” When he first arrived in his host country, Yung made the effort to avoid Hong Kongers there. “I didn’t want the trouble.” Now, however, as he overcame the trauma imprisonment inflicted on his body and soul, he is able to start his life afresh with vigour. He has even gained a professional qualification to work in a field he has always been interested in but was unable to get into in Hong Kong. To Yung, the best way for the diaspora of Hong Kongers to tell their stories is by living their lives to the fullest.

Story compiled and illustrated by @WL.AandD

Translator: Jasmine