On Sunday afternoon, 53 Hong Kong pro-democracy activists reported to police stations months earlier than planned, where 47 were charged under the national security law with “colluding in subverting state power”. They were detained immediately, held overnight for a court session on Monday and face life in prison if found guilty. After 15 hours of proceedings , the arraignment and bail hearing was adjourned at 2:45am until 11am on Tuesday. Some of them arrived at Lai Chi Kok at 6am, meaning that they had only a very short rest period, or even no sleep at all.

This has been the largest single political case since the 1997 handover.

Before the proceedings began, everyone was worried and nervous, and suddenly a text came in saying “Gwyneth just yelled ‘the problem is, I don’t get to see my lawyer before the trial!’” And my initial response was something had to be very wrong about the judicial process. And then another text message said: She began to ‘test’ the mic in defendant dock. “Hello everyone, welcome to the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts…Can I sing? I would certainly like to sing a song of Mirror.”

And she did sing before the court resumed in the afternoon. She read the lyrics of Anson Lo’s song - “be a fighter all my life/that’s the meaning of my life” , then sang Keung To’s Say I Love You, and asked what else the attendants wanted to hear. “It’s noisy, there’s a demonstration outside (the court). When I came here today, I saw a lot of people. As compared with the last three months, there are a lot of people today.” She also said to herself, “Hello, welcome to the National Security Defendant Podcast.” It is said that Lester and Tiffany joined in and said a bunch of really funny things too: Lester said he would pretend to be remanded on bail, while Tiffany asked if she or another activist was prettier.

I couldn’t stop laughing when I was reading it. This was so on-brand. They are the funniest, nicest and bravest people I have ever known by great fortune.

Since Gwyneth and the others were arrested in January, I had been privately worried about her well-being in such tough times. But after Monday, I knew I had been mistaken. She is well-prepared for what is to come. She is well aware of what she signed up for as an activist from the very beginning.

One year ago, when Gwyneth visited me in Germany, we talked about her role in the election and all the possible outcomes. I asked if she was ready for jail, she said she knew that would be the most possible outcome for herself and still decided to go ahead. This is the route she chose and will always embrace; she considers it to be ‘playing her part’ in the course of democratization of Hong Kong.

On Saturday night, I called Gwyneth for a brief farewell. I wanted to say something nice because that might be the last time we could talk, but I found myself speechless. She was excited to see me and told me a lot about Anson Lo and Keung To, and danced a little. I finally managed to say, “You play your part and I play mine, OK? Take care and see you later.” She gave me a smile and asked me to take care too.

There is a Chinese swear word that perfectly depicts the kind of humor they delivered in their crazy funny speeches before court. It is this kind humor that conveys a heartfelt understanding and brings a smile to the face of the sorrowful. Gwyneth and many of the 47 have always been humorous. I guess in the face of oppressions and crackdowns, maybe staying humorous is one of the few ways to stay positive and motivated.

(Glacier Kwong, born and raised in Hong Kong, became a digital rights and political activist at the age of 15. She is currently pursuing her PhD in Law and working on the course for Hong Kong in Germany. Her work has been published on Washington Post, TIME, etc.)

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