The ‘Old Age Protesters’ on front line of Hong Kong democracy fight
It is not just the young who have taken to the streets of Hong Kong. Meet the protesting pensioners who are braving tear gas and risking arrest in their quest for democracy
Photo: mage 1 of 4 Uncle Wong of Admiralty, 70 and one month. "I have five kids: three support me and two are against. All my eight grandkids support me. They think I am a hero!" Photo: TOM PHILLIPS/THE TELEGRAPH
By Tom Phillips, Hong Kong
6:59AM GMT 12 Nov 2014
It was one week after 70-year-old Lucy Tang was sprayed with tear gas by Hong Kong police that protestors gave her a nickname.
"They call me Grandma Democracy," boasted the retired factory owner and mother-of-four, grinning cheek to cheek. “Everyone around here knows me.”
Hong Kong’s ongoing “Umbrella Movement” protests, now in their seventh week, have been overwhelmingly driven by youth - disillusioned university students and even school children frustrated at a lack of opportunity - and democracy - in the former British colony.
Key leaders include Alex Chow, a 24-year-old literature and sociology undergraduate, Yvonne Leung, a 21-year-old debating champion, and Joshua Wong, a secondary school student who only turned 18 in October.
“Cometh the hour, cometh the kids,” said Martin Lee, 76, a veteran pro-democracy activist, as he strolled through the largest protest camp, in Admiralty, heaping praise on the students’ determination. “I wish I could have done that [at their age].”
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Yet despite the Umbrella Movement’s youthful complexion, an older generation of protestor has also taken up the fight. Many chart their political awakening back to Beijing’s bloody 1989 military crackdown on demonstrators in Tiananmen Square.
"I'm here because God taught me about justice,” said Lucy Tang, 70, a Kowloon resident who once ran a jewellery factory but now spends her days engaged in political debate and keeping student protestors well fed. Her speciality is duck tongue with ginger, soy and chilli.
Mrs Tang said she was enjoying her time on the front line – “Time flies when you are having fun!” – but had not relished tasting tear-gas for the first time on September 28 when police unsuccessfully attempted to disperse protesters.
Grandma Democracy of Admiralty, 70 (TOM PHILLIPS/THE TELEGRAPH)
“I walked away slowly. I didn’t want to be a burden to the students,” recalled the elegantly dressed pensioner, who wears a yellow sash around her waist that reads: “Non-violence”.
“If I had fallen over or something, I would have had to be taken care of. I didn’t want to give them extra work - so I left quietly.”
Also at the Admiralty protest camp - one of three such sites across Hong Kong - is 70-year-old Simon Wong, a grandfather of eight who has been camped outside government headquarters since late September.
“There are many old people here. I believe I’m one of the youngest,” said “Uncle Wong”, who estimated that of the hundreds of protestors still occupying the area around 30 were elderly.
Mr Wong shares a tent with his 68-year-old wife but their family is divided. "I have five children - three support me and two are against,” he said. “But all eight of my grandchildren support me. They think I am a hero!"
Grandpa Ng of Mong Kok, 78 (TOM PHILLIPS/THE TELEGRAPH)
One of the oldest protestors is “Grandpa Wong”, a 90-year-old retired horticulturist. He carries a bamboo walking stick and was recently arrested for the first time in his life.
Mr Wong, who asked for his first name not to be published, was born on the mainland in May 1924, less than three years after the Communist Party’s foundation, and a quarter of a century before it would seize control of China in 1949. “I was so busy working before that I didn’t do enough. Now I don’t want the students to be alone,” he said.
Hong Kong had fallen into a “horrible state,” complained “Grandpa Wong”, who was imprisoned for several hours following a pro-democracy sit-in earlier this year. “I didn’t care at all. I was ready to be arrested,” he said, laughing. “I am also expecting to be arrested now.”
The Mong Kok protest camp, across Victoria Harbour, also has its share of elderly protestors including Benedict Ng, a 78-year-old retired taxi driver known as “Grandpa Ng”.
Grandpa Wong of Admiralty, 90 (TOM PHILLIPS/THE TELEGRAPH)
Mr Ng said his hatred of China’s Communist Party had driven him onto the streets. "I'm not tired at all. I could stay for a year,” claimed the sprightly pensioner, showing off the silver thermal blanket under which he has slept from more than a month.
Mr Ng came to Hong Kong from the mainland in 1957 to study theology but was jailed when he returned in 1969, during the Cultural Revolution. “They suspected I was a spy. It was very tough. There were interrogations all the time.”
He was eventually released and returned to Hong Kong but the experience stuck with him. “I saw what a totalitarian regime was like so I understand how important democracy is.”
Every evening “Grandpa Ng” catches the train from his home in Wong Tai Sin and arrives at the protest site at around 9pm, just in time to bed down with the students.
Supporters were most needed at night, when the risk of an attack from groups opposing the protests or a police clearance operation, were greater, he said.
“Uncle Wong” said he also feared a violent police offensive to remove demonstrators.
Protestors are now expecting such an operation at any moment after Carrie Lam, Hong Kong's number two official, warned students on Tuesday they would be arrested if they did not retreat from the streets “quickly and peacefully”.
Lester Shum, the Hong Kong Federation of Students' 21-year-old deputy leader, rejected those calls. "I would rather be arrested than surrender," he told the South China Morning Post.
Asked about his role in the Umbrella Movement “Uncle Wong” replied: “I think, if police decide to shoot the students, I’ll tell them to please shoot us first.”
“We haven't been able to help the younger generation in their fight for democracy. So if police decide to kill protesters, I’d tell them to please shoot us first. Don't kill the students.”
Moments later Mr Wong became overcome with emotion. “I hope the students are safe,” he said. As tears rolled down the old man’s face a younger protestor came near. He placed a hand on Uncle Wong’s shoulder and offered him a tissue.
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Asked about his role in the Umbrella Movement “Uncle Wong” replied: “I think, if police decide to shoot the students, I’ll tell them to please shoot us first.”
“We haven't been able to help the younger generation in their fight for democracy. So if police decide to kill protesters, I’d tell them to please shoot us first. Don't kill the students.”
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