Be Your Own Sun — Don’t Wait for ‘Stars’ to Save You

In recent years, as more Hongkongers have settled in the UK, the Liberate Hong Kong” flag and other slogans from the 2019 movement have become a familiar sight on key dates. After joining Bonham Tree Aid (細葉榕), Ah Sing has helped organise rallies and curate exhibitions. Our UK gatherings go beyond cooperation among Hongkongers; we often join forces with other diasporic communities, especially Ukrainian groups.

Also living under authoritarian pressure, the Ukrainian community in Britain has protested Russia’s aggression at every level since the Donbas invasion in 2014. From political lobbying to weekly demonstrations, Ukrainians have never been absent. What surprised Ah Sing when he first began organising was how deeply Ukrainians already understood Hong Kong’s situation under assault.

Even before Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, Hongkongers in Manchester had long been offering support and solidarity. As the war approaches its fourth year, it further reveals how the China–Russia axis endangers global freedom. But Ukrainians’ empathy with Hongkongers is not built solely on geopolitics. It is selfless commitment, free of political calculation, that truly wins hearts. Even when words fall short, steady, practical support over time is the best way to show resolve.

Ukrainian rallying does not target only individual authoritarian governments. In Manchester, for example, beyond weekly protests, they often co-host rallies and marches with Tibetan exile organisations and with Hongkongers. From the perspective of Hongkonger organisers, Ah Sing believes there is rich mutual inspiration with Ukrainians, Lithuanians and Tibetans, bringing benefits on many fronts.

Through organising, Ah Sing has learnt how to set processes and manage logistics—supplies, staffing and the craft of coordination. More precious still has been learning the meaning of perseverance from companions who have endured so much. He says Tibetans march from the city-centre rally point to the Chinese Consulate in Manchester — a journey of over an hour — chanting continuously along the way and after arriving.

That perseverance, embodied by Tibetans, helped him see that every action that seems futile is in fact a grain of sand that builds a mound — a record for those who come after us. This is why Bonham Tree Aid often chooses to co-organise and even downplay its own banner: it honours our friends’ will, and let each rally belong to every participant.

The long resilience of our Ukrainian and Tibetan friends has reshaped how Ah Sing views organising and the future of Hong Kong’s democratic movement. Beyond rallies, his other main task at Bonham Tree Aid is curating exhibitions on Hong Kong. Looking back at pivotal moments through the years, he finds that Hong Kong has kept evolving — and so has he.

Like many Hongkongers in their twenties, his political awakening came with the 2014 Umbrella Movement. Then a secondary-school student, he admits he did not fully grasp the disputes and emerging issues; he only knew that without standing up, genuine universal suffrage would never come. While preparing the “Lennon Wall: Ten Years On” exhibition, he revisited the confusion and disappointment after Umbrella. Through artefacts lent by collectors, he realised how hard the previous generation had worked — efforts many had overlooked. Now, by curating one show after another, he hopes to share his thoughts with more participants and Hongkongers, and to help bring to light the people and work that still carry on.

As he gathered his thoughts, he drew on a sun-themed painting from “Trees that We Are Planting”, an exhibition co-created earlier this year by Bonham Tree Aid and diasporic artists. Through his own experience he wants to say to Hongkongers who see themselves as “ordinary”: rather than waiting for political celebrities or foreign heroes to rescue us, let each of us become our own sun driving back the dark as we move forward.

Over 200,000 Hongkongers have made the UK their home, forming communities from south to north, town to city. Before debating whether we might one day wield influence in British public life like Indian or Pakistani communities, Ah Sing hopes his experience shows that every small success in the struggle — no matter how modest the act — flows into the wider community, building momentum to keep going.

Joining Bonham Tree Aid turned a blank page into a crash course. In three and a half years, he has learnt to be brave — “don’t worry about looking foolish” — and to articulate ideas in English, stating demands clearly. He is grateful to the many Hongkonger companions who, guided by the spirit of “do whatever you can”, have encouraged him to keep going.

* Bonham Tree Aid provides £380 per month (approx. HK$3,800) to families of imprisoned protesters in need, easing the burden on those left behind. Since October 2021 it has disbursed over HK$13 million, supporting nearly 300 families. Around 110 more are currently on the waiting list.

Illustration: @wl.aandd

Text: Vincent Vega

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