雙學發動包圍政總的一晚,我們幾日前也有所聞,亦有參與討論行動計劃,但會議期間,我們的意見都被否決,結果四防七十人退出會議。但在行動當晚,我們還是留守在現場,由前線到後援,都有我們的人。最終我們傷了很多人,有幾個兄弟更要「入廠」。
整個運動裏,我們對大台的支持逐漸減退,覺得他們做事墨守成規,沒因應運動的節奏而行動,到後期已變成一個信仰平台。大台原本起着維持和平氣氛的作用,但後來卻把不同意見掩蓋,甚至抹黑,變成金鐘佔領區的獨裁政府。
其實無論溫和派與勇武派對任何一方的指摘,都是不應該的。我們只是一隊小兵,要打贏極權大兵,一定團結才有勝算。但無論如何,我確信佔領運動只是一個開始,我不會就此作結。抗爭才剛開始,我們之間那團火才剛剛燃起,火花會在社區裏蔓延,燒到我城的每一角落。
撰文:防線義工大嚿
“Smoke dense resembling a twisting white dragon, swirling and engulfing the maddening crowd, on a familiar road that now seems so foreign, sea of glistening eyes stern with determination stares straight back at me ,as if penetrating my soul. September 28th was the day, the day that left a permanent imprint on my mind, after which life could never be the same again.”
As I became one of the 200k people who stood fearlessly in the face of brutality, I felt a sense of solidarity, a sense of belonging, a sense that I have never felt with my HK brethren. I thought to myself “ these are my people, honourable, courageous, valiant… never have I been more proud to share my identity as a Hong Konger with these brave and unwavering souls” The following days I got busy. I got to know people, I began to form networks, when a crackdown seems imminent, a make shift community began to form to prepare itself for battle.
For those who have not personally went through the Harcourt village experience, let me paint a picture for you. At the centre stands a monolith known as 大台, under which orderly young people enjoined in songs, dance and art creating a utopian society that slowly began to take place. Unwittingly mimicking a primitive social structure in which the priestly class ruled at the centre, the 大台’s construction resembled a phallic symbol that helped paved the way for an organically developed paternalistic social structure.
As you step into the peripheral away from the utopian ambiance at the centre, the imagery takes a marked turn. Wild jutting bamboos stabbing proudly into the sky through metal barricades, chain smoking tattooed youngsters ,skating, chatting and well… sitting around not doing very much. However, the idleness one witnesses is merely a facade, these youngsters were preparing for war, they were on alert 24/7 surviving on a diet consisting a ghastly concoction of nicotine and caffeine, and in such copious quantities, it could turn a tranquillised cat into a cheetah going for the kill.
It was in this environment reminiscent of the 1979 Walter Hill’s dystopian epic “The Warriors”, a group consisting of around 30 people began to look to my lead. To protect ourselves we utilised quite literally everything solid that can be bounded together by 索帶, building barricades using anything from 鐵馬 to bamboos to chairs. As their leader, my men’s well being became my chief concern, and this meant adequate food, equipment and communication supplies, to do so I knew I had to form a network and an internal system fast. In no time a community was formed in Admiralty, a communication system was put in place and we began to work together as a community to deal with outside forces.
In mid Oct my job became chief security personnel in the Harcourt village. Kicking out desirable drunken characters, physically confronting loud mouth speaking triads threatening to burn the place down, searching and finding countless weapons hidden in duffel bags that could potentially decimate the entire village if our enemy’s executed their job properly.
Here, one incident still remains fresh in my mind. As most of us slowly drift to sleep on an otherwise quiet Saturday night, at the wee hours of 04:30 a raucous happened. 4 drunken men began dismantling barriers next to the Police headquarters in an angry attempt to vent their frustrations. Awakening from our dreamy stupor, we gather our focus and began retaliating. Knowing full well that each of us had to abide to the Love and non-violent nature of this movement, we used minimal force to deal with the vicious attacks of these intoxicated brutes. Although the instigators were eventually submitted, most of our boy suffered blows to the face during the inevitable skirmish. I can assure you that the matters would have been dealt with far more expediently if appropriate force was an option.
We prepared ourselves internally, our communication became fluid and intuitive, a deep 默契 began to develop. Then November came, the month that became a critical turning point for the entire movement. First came the Legco attack which was preceded in an hour by an attack to the power structure of the occupied area - 大台。I and those who followed me decided to take a neutral stance as most of us had a eerie feeling that something far bigger was about to happen. Low and behold, we heard of disturbing news that someone has broken into Legco. Although I disagreed with their actions, I sympathise that they were merely frustrated young people who wanted to escalate their actions to exert more pressure on the unresponsive government. Without caring about the merit of their actions, I took the lead in transporting resources for those who have participated in the movement. Running around with boxes of water, helmets, face mask and goggles, we worked tirelessly for 3 hours, our bodies weak but our willed carried us through when our limbs no longer work. Although our intentions were benign, we were nonetheless treated as rioters by the indiscriminate and growingly emotional police force. After suffering few blows to my back by the cold shaft yielded by raging police, my comrades and I continued to run back and forth the frontline to do what we believe were the right thing to do, and that is to minimise casualties. One of the girls who we pulled out was barely recognisable, her face bloody, her body convulsing in pain and hysteria, she exuded a sense of helplessness and deep sadness towards her government. We later found out she was only 15 years old.
Our discontent with the police only rose, as we saw more drastic and inhumane actions were the norm in dealing with us. It was then that we heard of Mongkok being cleared. That evening 50 of us Admiralty crew made our way to MK to stand with our brethren in the face of brutality. Needless to say, that was the bloodiest battle to date. Although we did not instigate any of the charging against police line, we viewed it as our responsibility to stand on the frontline, whether to save people, to show support or simply as a protest to the long standing criticism that “Admiralty group” suffers a distinct case of hopeless idealism and cowardliness - to the point of being castrated. So we stood on the frontline in Portland street and Shangdong Street, fiercely beaten by batons, pepper spray permeating the atmosphere, we held onto each other’s backpack shouting “ 一個不能少”. On that date we are proud to say that at least 10 students were rescued from the police line, all of whom would have been the subject of extreme brutality.
After a two weeks of relative peace, the watershed event of the last Lung Wo offensive were instigated by Federation of Students and Scholarism. It was an offensive doomed to fail. 5 days prior to the offensive, we were approached by key representatives from the two groups. They asked us details of strategic planning, analysis of the geographical layout of the occupied area, the patterns of police patrol, the number of police officers present etc… all of which would have vastly increased the chances of success… but nonetheless all these suggestions were turned down. As the defence unit of Admiralty all 70 of us walked out of the meeting denouncing the juvenility and inexperience of these organisers.
Yet when battle time came, we all supported in our personal capacity. From the frontline to the supply line, we operated. In the end most of us got injured. Although we understood full well that this was a suicide mission, the solidarity with our fellow protestors drove us to do what we intuitively believed was the right thing to do. And that is to stand by our brothers in arms through thick or thin, win or lose, in struggle and in peace.
I firmly believe that the movement has only just began, I will not write a conclusion here, I will only reiterate what I said on stage during the final day of occupation. The struggle has just begun, a fire has been risen inside of us, and the fire will only spread to every community and every corner of our beloved city.