Hong Kong bookstore draws stream of visitors with HK$6.4 candles, ‘35/5’ displays on anniversary of Tiananmen crackdown
- Candles on sale for HK$6.4 among the draws for curious visitors heading to Hunter Bookstore in Sham Shui Po on June 4 anniversary of Tiananmen Square crackdown
- Shop caught attention online over weekend when police officers stood outside and checked ID cards of visitors
Hunter Bookstore in Sham Shui Po caught the attention of some residents after it posted on Instagram that police officers had stood outside the store for an hour on Sunday afternoon to check the ID cards of shoppers, with the news seemingly helping to draw in more curious visitors on the June 4 anniversary.
“I’m so disappointed I didn’t get to be checked today,” said Wong Chi-kan, 65, who works in social services. “At least they have not taken further action [against the bookstore]. But even so, we will continue to stay here.”
Wong, who was visiting the store with three friends, said she planned to “take a stroll” in Causeway Bay later on Tuesday, which she had done “since the 1980s”.
Over the past three decades, a candlelight vigil in Causeway Bay’s Victoria Park was the only large-scale commemoration of the crackdown on Chinese soil.
“I don’t think there’s anything to be scared of if it is the right thing to do,” she said.
The owner of the bookstore, former district councillor Leticia Wong Man-huen, told the Post that a police visit two days earlier was related to a street obstruction caused by armchairs placed outside.
“They also took photos of the storefront, as those things were already on display,” she said.
The owner was referring to decorations that were refreshed the day before police visited. The centrepiece of the current “monthly theme” is a display featuring the numbers “35/5” obscured by a large red canvas.
The display appeared to be a reference to May 35, a fictional date first used by mainland Chinese internet users to get around censorship of posts related to June 4. Wong declined to elaborate on the design.
References to the historical events 35 years ago did not stop at the storefront. A number of publications focusing on the crackdown were on display inside the shop, including not-for-sale collections of newspaper clippings on the 1989 coverage of the student movements in Beijing that were at the centre of the crackdown.
Candles were also on sale for HK$6.4 each with a sign that read “no change”.
A shopper, who identified himself by only his surname Chan, decided to buy some.
“I just found those candles attractive. Very attractive. I can buy them every day if they are selling them,” said Chan, who played down the significance of the date.
“Let’s not treat it as anything special. It’s just another regular day where we can do whatever we like. That’s good enough.”
The bookstore also announced on Instagram it was celebrating the birthday of one of its staff members, 30-year-old Wayne Mak, on June 4.
Mak, who was wearing a T-shirt with the numbers “64” on the front, posed for photos from reporters but refused to speak to the media.
Only three uniformed police officers were seen patrolling near the shop on Tuesday afternoon, but Wong said she observed some in plain clothes watching from across the street, and Mak also had his ID card checked by these officers.
In the past week, the force has arrested eight people, including activist Chow Hang-tung who has been on remand in a correctional facility for a separate offence, for posting seditious content on a Facebook group since April. The posts concerned what appeared to be personal reflections of Chow’s involvement in organising the annual candlelight vigil at Victoria Park in the past.
Bookshop owner Wong declined to answer when asked whether she had concerns about displaying June 4 materials in the wake of the arrests and a warning by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu over behaviour that endangered national security.
“I’m sorry, I am not answering that,” she said.
