January, 2004

From Moments to Movement

Rose Wu

On Dec. 23, I was invited to share my thoughts about the film July produced by independent director Tammy Cheung-heung that sought to capture the significant events which occurred in July 2003. During the discussion, a gentleman asked me a very meaningful question: How do we transform the moments of July to a sustainable people's movement for democracy? I believe there are three trends outlined below that we should continue to pursue in order to transform the moments of people's power in July 2003 to a sustainable movement for democracy and justice.

1. We should enable people to see the link between the problems of society and their political participation. The mass turnout of people – more than 500,000 protestors – not only forced the Hong Kong government to defer the Article 23 legislation; it also created moments of inspiration for many people to see the power of solidarity and new possibilities beyond Hong Kong's present political reality.

One indication of the impact of the people's power since July 1was a larger voter turnout during the Nov. 23 district council elections. One million people voted, pushing the turnout rate from 35 percent in 1999 to 44 percent. Many people who previously did not vote wanted to use their ballots to send a message to the pro-government camp. In addition, there was a substantial number of newly registered voters who cast a ballot for the first time who favoured democracy. As a result, the pro-democracy camp enjoyed a significant victory while the pro-Beijing party, the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB), lost three out of every four seats they contested. This election again proved that the people's power can make a difference if they are determined to put their will into political action.

2. We should make political participation a normal part of the local political culture with more people joining political parties and running for public office. For a long time, many local people, including Christians and social activists, avoided politics because they thought politics was dirty and that politicians could be easily corrupted. However, after the inspiration fostered by their experiences in July, many young people showed an interest in politics, joining forums, seminars and camps on political issues or organising political activities and establishing political groups, etc. Two newly formed political groups, for example, were Civil Act Up and July 1 People's Pie. In spite of their lack of resources, experience and popularity, they were very courageous to run in the district council election and declare that their objective was not just winning a seat but to offer an alternative option for voters. To many people's surprise, three out of seven of their candidates won a seat! Their success went beyond these results; rather, it was their decision to turn politics into an act of participation. Instead of criticising the government and politicians, they wanted to demonstrate how to use politics as a way to seek democracy and justice.

3. We should transform the existing political culture that views politics as a privilege for the elites, such as the rich and professionals, to a level playing field with the equal participation of ordinary people. In Hong Kong, the media as well as the government constantly emphasise the importance of the opinions of the business community as well as academics and professionals. Among the legislative and district council members, most represent the interests of the business community as well as the middle class and professionals. Only a few are from the labour sector and trade unions. As we push for the early advent of a fully democratic political system, we must also face the challenge of how to empower the grassroots and underprivileged to attain the same equal rights and access to political participation. We also believe that unless ordinary people are given the opportunity to participate in the decision-making process there will not be a complete realisation of democracy.

However, the political future of Hong Kong not only lies in the hands of the people of Hong Kong: it also depends on the Chinese government's good will. While the people of Hong Kong were urging the Hong Kong government to release its proposals for the electoral methods for selecting the chief executive and Legislative Council (Legco) after 2007, a mainland legal expert, Xu Chongde, said in December that any change in how the chief executive and legislature were elected would not be decided solely by people in Hong Kong: the central government, he said, would make the decision. He even questioned that, if this were not the case, is it not tantamount to independence?

Another disappointment was the decision of the chief executive to appoint 102 members to the 18 district councils – the maximum permitted. Presumably, an aim of this decision is to secure the district council seat in the Legco elections in September for a pro-government candidate to support Tung's policies.

As long as the basic political rights of Hong Kong's people are denied, we must prepare ourselves to pay a higher cost for a better future. Let us remember the moments of people's power in July and transform them into a sustainable movement of people to seek justice and democracy.