Hong Kong’s Christians attend extradition bill protests in good faith
- The Occupy Central movement in 2014 planted the seeds for many Christians to join the demonstrations five years later
- The protests have brought the church closer to today’s youth, and revealed a peaceful yet anti-authoritarian streak among the clergy
When Polly Lui On-yee’s shift at the Queen Mary Hospital ended one afternoon in 2014, the police were firing tear gas – for the first time in nearly a decade – to disperse thousands of protesters outside the government headquarters complex in Admiralty.
She immediately hopped on a taxi to rush to the scene. Wary of the clashes, the cab driver would only go as near as Sai Ying Pun, so Lui, then 45, ran more than 2km to reach the area.
Petite and soft-spoken, she is neither a natural leader nor a seasoned activist. But with a sudden surge of courage, she hollered upon her arrival, gathering the scattered protesters to form a line of defence. When police neared, Lui held her breath and walked into the clouds of tear gas, dragging out the collapsed protesters.
Five years later, she once again found herself on Harcourt Road amid tear gas. As panicking protesters fled towards Central on the evening of June 12, she deliberately fell behind, picking up those who had tripped in the chaos.
“Most of my peers have families of their own, so they assume I can go out and protest because I have no family burden and can afford to be reckless. But that’s not true,” said Lui, who is single. “I do it because I believe that is right and trust that God will watch over me.”
