當年今日
關於我們

Tyranny Weekly | Chan Pui-Man

蘋果日報 2020/12/06 10:23


This week has been particularly rough. It has been a tough week emotionally, and life has been hard.
When I wrote this article, I looked out of the window and saw the blue sky and green trees in the landfill. At that moment, Jimmy Lai, who should be reading and working next door, has already lost his freedom and is now detained in the Lai Chi Kok Detention Center. I never imagined that we would be so sad when we realized there would not be any more cursing coming from Lai’s room for a long time.
Having experienced the Aug 10th raid of the office headquarter by authorities using the national security law, everyone at Apple Daily had predicted this day would come sooner or later. However, when this day suddenly arrived, everyone was still shocked. Apple Daily’s publisher and Next Digital CEO Cheung Kim-hung attended the court hearing and thought there was no reason that a case of land-lease violation should be non-bailable, but the more he listened, the more he realized something was wrong. When I talked to him in the evening, he only said, “Those of us outside should work harder to protect Apple Daily.”
He can rest assured. The news that Jimmy Lai was denied bail and remanded in custody was circulated by the following morning, and a colleague had already left a note on Facebook: “We will work hard.” Indeed, for more than three months, all my colleagues have been saying, “We will try our best.” The pan-democratic en masse resignation has led to the fall of the legislature; the resurgence of the epidemic in the city reflected the government’s negligence to do its job; the failure to uphold justice in cases involving the resistance for democracy, some people went into exile, some people have been imprisoned, the temperature is getting colder and colder, and the darkness is getting murkier and murkier. It seems to be a cliché to say that we will stick to our posts. Nevertheless, many colleagues are still working hard to deliver quality work and keep the company running.
The head of the supplement sent over the newspaper that featured Lai’s article this week, and we discussed the way forward as if nothing had happened. Lai has always been anxious about the columns, and I heard that he was still editing an article on Monday. The whole article talked about the political situation in China and the U.S., but the epilogue actually included his nostalgia for Sang Kee’s delicious braised goose. I was especially sad to read this.
Originally, Lai should be enjoying great food with his family. Originally, Agnes Chow should be celebrating her 24th birthday, the best years of her life. Originally, i-Cable staff should be fighting for the news instead of being insulted by those that are despised and ridiculed even by Carrie Lam. Too much of what should have been and too much of what have happened.
Friends and other people in the same profession have asked me how can we survive in this state of collapse?
I do not have an answer, but when I saw the i-Cable colleagues would rather be ashes than dust; when I saw the 17-year-old volunteer paramedic testified at the inquest into the death of Alex Chow and Chow’s father’s long-lost smile; when I heard the coroner went through the investigative materials on his own and found key pieces of information, then requested that the police ensure the investigation was complete before the court inquiry continued; and every day outside the courthouse, a large group of “car escorts” desperately chase after the prisoner vans, and even though they are not sure who is on the vans, they still try to huddle around the windows, just to try to let every possible passenger hear “Stay strong!” before they are imprisoned, then I knew why we have to hold on.
(Chan Pui-Man, Editor-in-Chief of Apple Daily)
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