Former lawmaker Roy Kwong has hardly slept since Sunday. On the fact that he has been spared prosecution under national security laws for now, he can only give a strained smile.

“There’s a song lyric that has been looping in my head these few days, ‘Hold on, be strong to overcome.’ This is so true,” Kwong told Apple Daily on Tuesday, struggling to keep his spirits up in the eye of the storm.

Kwong, from the Democratic Party, is one of 55 prominent democracy advocates arrested by Hong Kong national security police in early January for taking part in an informal primary for a September 2020 legislative election that was later postponed.

On Sunday, police laid charges against 47 of them over alleged subversion of state power. The launch of the prosecution process meant all were remanded in custody that very night, then taken to court for mention and bail applications on Morning morning. The other eight, including Kwong, have not been charged and continue to be out on bail.

Emerging from the police station, Kwong did not let himself rest. The man was seen queuing up in front of the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts at 7 a.m. the next day, hoping to offer help and show his support to those in detention.

He took notes at the session until 2 a.m. on Tuesday. After Wan Chai district councilor Clarisse Yeung passed out in court, Kwong gave her family a ride to the hospital.

On the second day of the proceedings, he again appeared in court, determined to stick around for as long as the marathon hearing lasted.

For the whole day he had eaten only a sandwich given by a friend, he said, and could not remember if he had drunk much water at all. But Kwong said his own circumstances were nothing compared to what the rest were going through.

“No matter how hard it is for me, it cannot be as hard as it is for the other friends. I’m on the outside and will do as much as I can,” Kwong said, his eyes barely open.

He was particularly concerned about the families of the defendants and wanted to show his care for them. “I don’t know how far I can go, but I will go as far as I can to help my friends.”

On people who had lost hope in Hong Kong, Kwong said that he had always wanted to face all hardships with a smile, though he knew how tough it was.

But, on seeing the crowds who showed up outside court on Monday and supported the defendants, Kwong said he believed that regardless of the situation, “we are all keeping together.”

His focus at the moment was on handling the current difficulties, he said, dismissing thoughts about the next Legislative Council election. “As usual, I only want everyone to be well and safe. The good will stay safe forever.”

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