Support for the protests in Hong Kong has come from around the world, from Helsinki to Christchurch, but in Vancouver the response has been particularly emotional.
Geoff Ho joined a crowd at the Vancouver Art Gallery on Sunday afternoon. Together they sang Under a Vast Sky, the 1990s hit Canto-pop song adopted by protesters in Hong Kong as a rallying cry.
“Yah, it felt good to get that out,” said the professional engineer who came to Vancouver from Hong Kong in 1986.
As an uncertain Monday morning was breaking in Hong Kong, Ho was staying in touch with family and friends and feeling the tensions across the Pacific.
“I have to switch gears when I speak to my parents on the phone as they have different views. My Dad is very passionate about the protests, but my Mother is, ‘Ah, OK, as long as it doesn’t impact my day-to-day life.’ I have to try to explain this is part of Hong Kong’s future.”
Toting along her two young children, Eva Wong blinked back tears thinking about the past week. The music therapist moved to Vancouver from Hong Kong in 1995 when she was 12 years old. “A lot of us have many ties still and we have friends and cousins who went back to Hong Kong to work,” she said. “It’s hard not to have worries.”
Leo Shin, a professor of history and Asian Studies at the University of B.C., attended the gathering with friends he’s had since primary school. He wondered how Hong Kong would recover from the many rifts caused by the protests. “They cut across economic and many other different lines. I hope somehow it will heal, but I am not sure how.”
“A lot of us here are influenced by radio, television and newspapers from Hong Kong,” said Helen Leung, a professor at Simon Fraser University. “Even friends who have never been to Hong Kong grew up watching Hong Kong soap operas and know all the popular songs and stars.”
“This is Hong Kong’s struggle,” she said. “But in the cultural expression of it, it’s also about ourselves.”
