Dear Samuel: Thank you for this incisive examination. I am at a loss as to how to understand the mindset you mention, that of being so intent “on pleasing the powers-that-be in the government at all costs”, at the expense of truth and justice. Do Hongkongers really want to live in such a society? I’d be grateful too if you could let me know how I can write to Chow Hang Tung. You mentioned in your Stand News interview that receiving letters in prison was very uplifting for you, and I’d like to be able to do the same for others in Hong Kong.
Thank you, Simon. I don't think many of these judges and public officials see their positions as a professional calling or a duty to the public, but rather as any old job where the most important thing is pleasing the right people to get promoted. It's shameful and really shows that public institutions like courts and legislators really require their members to feel the weight and responsibility of their duty, otherwise the institutions can't survive.
Thanks so much for offering to write prisoners--it is so important to get these letters inside. I have an address I can give you to write Chow Hang Tung. Send me a private message on twitter (@samuelbickett) and I'll send it to you.
“Court is nothing but one of many readers and its ruling cannot dictate how other readers understand an article,” Chow Hang-tung told the court in her mitigation. “Even the court continues to judge my words, it’s not a reason for me to stop writing.”
This from a tweet by Xinqi Su of AFP.
She also tweeted that Magistrate Amy Chan interrupted Chow and said the court does not allow expression of political view, which led to angry shouts from the public gallery. The plucky courage of Chow and the people in the public gallery is what makes Hong Kong the city it is.
Apparently when she scolded the crowd for clapping, two people even stood up and yelled "I clapped!" I feel like Chow Hang Tung's courage is infectious--she certainly inspires me to have more courage, and I'm sure that's the case for many other Hongkongers.
Hey Samuel, thank you for explaining the case from a legal point of view. It certainly helps me to understand better. I just want to point out one minor detail. The Chow article in Mingpao maybe published online at 9 am on 6/4, but it could also be printed in the newspaper on the same day. If it is published on the same day, that means the public could have read the article as early as 6am, before her arrest. Nonetheless, as I said, this is only a minor detail because the police explicitly mentioned that the arrest of Chow was based on her tweet on 5/29.
Thanks Andy for the comment and the support. Yep there is some discussion of this issue in the article via an update that clarifies that the Police specifically referred to the online publications, so didn’t know about the paper publication before the unlawful arrest. But yeah it was an error not to include it originally.
Dear Samuel: Thank you for this incisive examination. I am at a loss as to how to understand the mindset you mention, that of being so intent “on pleasing the powers-that-be in the government at all costs”, at the expense of truth and justice. Do Hongkongers really want to live in such a society? I’d be grateful too if you could let me know how I can write to Chow Hang Tung. You mentioned in your Stand News interview that receiving letters in prison was very uplifting for you, and I’d like to be able to do the same for others in Hong Kong.
Thank you, Simon. I don't think many of these judges and public officials see their positions as a professional calling or a duty to the public, but rather as any old job where the most important thing is pleasing the right people to get promoted. It's shameful and really shows that public institutions like courts and legislators really require their members to feel the weight and responsibility of their duty, otherwise the institutions can't survive.
Thanks so much for offering to write prisoners--it is so important to get these letters inside. I have an address I can give you to write Chow Hang Tung. Send me a private message on twitter (@samuelbickett) and I'll send it to you.
“Court is nothing but one of many readers and its ruling cannot dictate how other readers understand an article,” Chow Hang-tung told the court in her mitigation. “Even the court continues to judge my words, it’s not a reason for me to stop writing.”
This from a tweet by Xinqi Su of AFP.
She also tweeted that Magistrate Amy Chan interrupted Chow and said the court does not allow expression of political view, which led to angry shouts from the public gallery. The plucky courage of Chow and the people in the public gallery is what makes Hong Kong the city it is.
Apparently when she scolded the crowd for clapping, two people even stood up and yelled "I clapped!" I feel like Chow Hang Tung's courage is infectious--she certainly inspires me to have more courage, and I'm sure that's the case for many other Hongkongers.
Thank you for your insight. Just noticed that the news outlet whatsnewsmedia.com has done a report on your article: https://www.whatsnewsmedia.com/6045/13/04/05/
Excellent, thanks for letting me know
Thank you for your analysis. HongKong is indeed in a very sad state.
Hey Samuel, thank you for explaining the case from a legal point of view. It certainly helps me to understand better. I just want to point out one minor detail. The Chow article in Mingpao maybe published online at 9 am on 6/4, but it could also be printed in the newspaper on the same day. If it is published on the same day, that means the public could have read the article as early as 6am, before her arrest. Nonetheless, as I said, this is only a minor detail because the police explicitly mentioned that the arrest of Chow was based on her tweet on 5/29.
Good work and please take care!
Thanks Andy for the comment and the support. Yep there is some discussion of this issue in the article via an update that clarifies that the Police specifically referred to the online publications, so didn’t know about the paper publication before the unlawful arrest. But yeah it was an error not to include it originally.