VictoriaPark4June2005. Contributed by David Clarke. For this memory capsule I...

Sun, 29 Jan 2006 09:53:26 GMT

VictoriaPark4June2005. Contributed by David Clarke.

For this memory capsule I have chosen a photo of an event that is itself about memory, the annual June 4th memorial rally in Victoria Park. I took this photo myself at the 2005 rally, one of many I have attended. On this occasion, as on others, I was struck by the number of young children that had been brought by their parents to take part in the rally. Clearly many people are determined not just to remember the tragedy of the violent repression perpetrated by the Chinese state in Beijing on 4th June 1989, but to pass on that memory to children who weren’t even born when it happened. The June 4th rally is about memory, about looking back, but also about the future, about looking forward, since it is about the aspiration for democratic government in China and Hong Kong. When this memory capsule is dug up will democracy have long been a reality in China? Will the story of the 1989 democracy movement be a recognized part of the historical record, or will it have been erased from view? One of the things I like about Hong Kong is its freedom of expression, and the willingness of Hong Kong people to peacefully take to the streets in exercise of their political rights. Hong Kong is the only place in China at this point in time where such an open commemoration of June 4th 1989 can take place.

Photo by hkfringe club

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VictoriaPark4June2005. Contributed by David Clarke. For this memory capsule I...