At 39, Richard Tsoi Yiu-cheong has seen the city through some momentous episodes in the demonstration of 'people power'.
As an undergraduate student, he took part in organising local students' support for the pro-democracy movement in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in the spring of 1989. He soldiered on in his fight for labour and human rights in subsequent years, staying at the forefront of many demonstrations before becoming convenor of the Article 23 working group for the Civil Human Rights Front in 2002-2004 - a position that put him in the role of commander for the 500,000-strong march on July 1, 2003.
From the command post on that bright summer day, Mr Tsoi declared to the hundreds of thousands who had sweated their way through the bustle of the city to demonstrate their discontent against the Tung Chee-hwa administration: 'The people of Hong Kong have stood up. We made history.'
Four years after the climax of 2003, the ardent social activist does not sound as positive in his assessment of social activism, or the power of the people to effect social change in Hong Kong.
'The future of social activism in Hong Kong is rather bleak,' he said.
Activists like Mr Tsoi have a goal of pursuing social advancement through representing the interests of the minority or the underdogs - from those living in destitution to the silent supporters of the preservation of some of Hong Kong's heritage that stands in the way of development and, to an even wider extent, those who are disenfranchised under the existing electoral arrangements.
In the 10 years since the handover, most of them have gone about their business in much the same way as in the pre-1997 years. Protests and petitions are still a common feature of Hong Kong's everyday life.
